I judge not, for I cannot understand,
Even with my experience, any other being.
It is futile to be angry when my kind words
Are met with the vicious baring of teeth.
How can I attempt to help another poor soul
Or ease the pain of one who hurts in ways that I do not?
It would be easier to explain to a man, blind from birth,
What it means to see the light of the sun on a summer day.
To understand my world would cost him a miracle,
A price not affordable to any who draw breath in life.
It is futile to be angry, but I must ask why
My fruitless compassion is met with hate and disgust -
For how can a seeing man comprehend the world of the blind
Except to have the very eyes cut from his skull?
Should I change the title? I'm not 100% sure about this one - all other comments are welcome!
Sorry, you cannot respond to an archived poemReviews
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Good stuff PG
Not sure about the title either, but I think we all may struggle with titles sometimes. I think the poem, however, is excellent and really gets the reader thinking.
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We definitely struggle with titles as poets... If there were one word to describe the main idea of this one, I would simply call it that, but there's not just one word. "Contempt for Compassion" is the subject of the poem - It's about being the recipient of hate and disrespect when I try to be there for others whose problems I may not have experienced. It's a terrible feeling when you try to help someone, and you get burned in the end. That's what this one is about.
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Great starting lines... It reminds me of a great person named "Ramakrishna Paramakhamsar" - an Indian sanyasin - (Swami Vivekanandha's Guru)and his advice to a Sugar-Eating little boy...
OWwwhhh...am sorry, if I had taken your precious time narrating a story....
The very first line of your poem reminded me of this story....
Well... I would say, this subject you dealt with is really superb and it works out well for this modern sonnet form...the technique of placing the sestet in the middle with a relatively twisted idea is brilliant...
Final couplet gives right finality to the thought or uncertainty…yes... A seeing man can view empathetically but could only reach the remotely relative world of a blind man…
My take a stupid one? If yes, my sincere sorries!!!
Thanks for sharing!!
welcome to Sharepoetry!!!
Love
-Kiddy
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I really like the title aand feel its appropriate for the words you have here
Powerful words..the love the questioning last two lines there, awesome writing
Overall this piece is a real attention grabber
Cindy
. Rewarded 4
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This was an interesting read and the lines flowed well. I don't think i can offer any better suggestion. Being from the other side of the compassion giving, it is hard to receive 'compassion' from people who have not been in the situation you are in. I have encountered people who simply go on telling you things are alright without comprehension of what state you are in. This poem captures the situation well and accurately.
On the title, well, i cannot suggest a change since its the title that drew me in.
-iphios -
Besides the theme, Adam, which I'll talk about later, I'm impressed with the musical tone and feel of this poem. The lines' rhythms and vowels move along like musical phrases, in sync with each other, just like a good melody - pop or classical - should do. Many of your lines have slightly different beats, so the contrast among them keeps monotony away. Yet those dissimilarities add up to a satisfying whole for me. Nice work.
The theme is cleanly and clearly exposed, which is refreshing to see in a poem about deep things. I like that - I believe that the simpler the words, the more deeply they can probe. And you've probed here the startling contrasts between blindness and sight: "To understand my world would cost him a miracle" and "For how can a seeing man comprehend the world of the blind...?" Those are excellent lines for me to think about - they are plain-spoken yet dig deep.
And as to the main question in the poem, who can know its answer as to why compassion is rejected with "the vicious baring of teeth"? Some people, I suppose, no matter how much they need empathy, just don't want to be beloved - it's much harder for them than loving. That's just my take on it, but it might be true.
Good poem, thoughtful and perceptive. As to the title, maybe a less literal one might work better, something more suggestive: perhaps "Indifference" or "Different Eyes" could be it?
Later..
Lad -
No, I like the title
and it's a very big theme so a big title is suitable I think. The lack of compassion in the modern world would have horrified some of our ancestors... and others wouldn't have understood the question, possibly.. As you say, "I judge not..." best RA
February 22, 2008