fundamentally the same---
no matter how many times
you dye your hair,
bleach or tan your skin
change your clothes
you remain biologically
human
no sex change
or hormone injection
will change that
yes! HUMAN
sadly, that is our limitation
fascinatingly,
its seemingly endless
climbing everest
swimming through ice
making pie out of apples
bring water to houses
leaves to paper
males to females
and vice versa
yes!Human
gods of their own fates
demons of their own destinies
tragically happy.
breeding hitlers and churchills,
Nobles and Einsteins,
Bin Ladens and Gandhis
celebrating industrialization
condemning pollution
creating economies
destroying capitalism
yes! Human
villains of destruction
heroes of change
ironically existing
yes! Human
for there is nothing more beautiful
than the possibility that lies
within these creatures
never has darkness and light
in its oneness in spectrum
ever been rendered
in this masterpiece
greater than any haunting grin
from a thousand Mona Lisas.
Yes! Human
fundamentally the same
unarguably different
perfectly imperfect.
Reviews
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hey iphios
i think this relatively short piece captures the duality of man, driving the point home with image after image of opposites, contradictions and justapositions. but as you point out this is what makes humans so dynamic and is to be celebrated.
dave. Rewarded 4
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Hey dave,
Yes, the contradictions is worth celebrating. Somehow it makes me think that even the worst of people have in themselves the ability to be better people, though many rather stay in the dark. Thanks for the read dave.
-iphios
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i check "other" when i have to give my race
Iphios,
once you got started, there were some profound lines. my favorites being:
"greater than any haunting grin
from a thousand Mona Lisas."
my main suggestion is to remove the "you"'s and "your" from the first stanza. consider not addressing the individual. hmmm... maybe you could address yourself. oh! and what colors are the hair dye? that image fell flat for me because there was nothing for my mind to cling too.
but ahhhhh... so many contradictions. so much uniqueness. yet so fundamentally HUMAN!
yes!
-Pap
p.s. - some people get so anal about being politically correct regarding minority "races." which is why so often i see on paperwork and applications both "African American" and "White." pshhh! what the heck is white? i find it just as offensive as black. so i check "other." screw skin color!
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Hey Pap,
i'll give your suggestion some thought. The suggestion on color of hair will be taken, however on removing the 'you' and 'your' will take some time, as doing so will change the flow of the first stanza. I'll try to rephrase it.
Good point on the skin color or race. I think the more we become politically correct, the more it becomes prejudice, it doesn't really help much. Political correctness doesn't change mindset and paradigm. Using the right term doesn't make anyone less discrimnative. Though superficially it does seem that way. Such practices however are hard to undo. Anyway, thanks for the read. I appreciate the suggestions.
-iphios -
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double-take
Iphios,
i re-read your poem and the flow sounds much improved. maybe i am more awake than the last time i read it, or else you tweeked it a bit. anyhow, the internal and subtl almost-end rhyme kicks butt. not over done. i can't help but speed up as i read this. the energy and the flow rushes out faster and more freely as the lines progress. i deffinately feel this piece could be read aloud. it needs and begs to be.
deff. my favorite poem of yours thus far. really grew on me.
best,
Pap
( p.s. - oh, thought... is there a tense change in the fourth stanza with "their" ? should the speaker not be saying "our" ? )
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June 13