' Live-Poets Society ' – A Corner For Poetry

[AC Benus]

I managed to eek out a small poem at work yesterday. Here it is 

 

 

Within a dog's glance is worry, 

But it's couched in loving concern;

What might a dog see when we stare,

Totally lost in our own thoughts....

 

 

_

[Mikiesboy]

41 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

I managed to eek out a small poem at work yesterday. Here it is 

 

 

Within a dog's glance is worry, 

But it's couched in loving concern;

What might a dog see when we stare,

Totally lost in our own thoughts....

 

 

_

i often wonder what they are thinking. wonderful poem, AC

[AC Benus]

5 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

i often wonder what they are thinking. wonderful poem, AC

Thanks for the support, Tim ❤️

[Zenobia]

10 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

i often wonder what they are thinking. wonderful poem, AC

I second what tim said - I wonder if we are projecting our own thoughts into their face or if it's a universal language. Perhaps something in between?

I've seen that you have 2 (?) dogs in your album, how wonderful!

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Zenobia

[Zenobia]

Not sure if it's the right place here but your poem reminded me of this, AC:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expression_of_the_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animals

[AC Benus]

5 hours ago, Zenobia said:

Not sure if it's the right place here but your poem reminded me of this, AC:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expression_of_the_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animals

I don't know if you have seen this BBC series, Animals in Love, but it's great. Episode 3 (I think) shows that same-sex partnering among adults in every animal species studied so far shows same-sex couples make up about 35 to 45% of all couples. That's the new science of this century; to make this understanding of Gay widespread. it's not rare, it's not "manmade" 

 

And in this clip, you get to see a baby chimpanzee laughing. It's so cute 

 

 

[Parker Owens]

18 hours ago, AC Benus said:

 

 

Within a dog's glance is worry, 

But it's couched in loving concern;

What might a dog see when we stare,

Totally lost in our own thoughts....

 

 

_

 

I love this poem for several reasons. It makes me think of a new point of view; it forces me to think about getting outside my own thoughts, too. And of course, it has an interesting rhythm.

[Mikiesboy]

1 hour ago, AC Benus said:

And in this clip, you get to see a baby chimpanzee laughing. It's so cute 

 

3 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

 

I love this poem for several reasons. It makes me think of a new point of view; it forces me to think about getting outside my own thoughts, too. And of course, it has an interesting rhythm.

I look at the chimp's eyes.. and then a dog's .. is there much difference? I mean there is intelligence in both. If you spend time with any animals, and pay attention to them, you can tell they are intelligent, not simply 'mindless animals.'

[MichaelS36]

19 hours ago, AC Benus said:

I managed to eek out a small poem at work yesterday. Here it is 

 

 

Within a dog's glance is worry, 

But it's couched in loving concern;

What might a dog see when we stare,

Totally lost in our own thoughts....

 

 

_

Dog's are not called man's best friend for nothing. They are wonderful beings. I miss ours very much. Wonderful poem AC! I know you have a pair of your own. 

[Zenobia]

17 hours ago, AC Benus said:

And in this clip, you get to see a baby chimpanzee laughing. It's so cute 

Thank you - what a cute video. In my opinion, most people are afraid of how similar we are to some animals and also of the fact that in general we humans are some kind of animal, too. And every animal has emotions; even if the way they utter them isn't always similar or even difficult to recognize, they have.

16 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

 

I look at the chimp's eyes.. and then a dog's .. is there much difference? I mean there is intelligence in both. If you spend time with any animals, and pay attention to them, you can tell they are intelligent, not simply 'mindless animals.'

 

15 hours ago, MichaelS36 said:

Dog's are not called man's best friend for nothing. They are wonderful beings. I miss ours very much. Wonderful poem AC! I know you have a pair of your own. 

This is both so true. I didn't have a dog on my own but my aunt had, a wild and energetic and also so gentle crossbreed (<- hope that's the right word) - a saw her quite often and we loved each other to pieces. She died more than 15 years ago but I remember her as a family member.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Zenobia

[BDANR]

On 8/20/2018 at 12:05 PM, AC Benus said:

Hello, All! I'm working on a fairy tale poem about badgers taking over a Japanese temple. It's called Shojoji, and here is an excerpt  

 

 

Aww :). I'm already imagining the scene like it's a children's book. Fun read ^_^. 

[Parker Owens]

Tanka for today:

 

More stars in the sky

twinkle with an ancient light

than grains of fine sand

made from dinosaurs' old bones

where my footprints lie fading.

[MacGreg]

20 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

Tanka for today:

 

More stars in the sky

twinkle with an ancient light

than grains of fine sand

made from dinosaurs' old bones

where my footprints lie fading.

A very strong and evocative Tanka, my friend. There is a melancholic tone of time passing, yet it's a fitting perspective of life and our place in the universe. We are but miniscule in the larger picture of existence. 

[Parker Owens]

2 minutes ago, MacGreg said:

A very strong and evocative Tanka, my friend. There is a melancholic tone of time passing, yet it's a fitting perspective of life and our place in the universe. We are but miniscule in the larger picture of existence. 

 

Thank you. I wrote this on my classroom marker board while the students worked on a Pre-Calculus assignment. One student looked up and asked, bewildered, "Is this an English class?"

[MacGreg]

2 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

 

Thank you. I wrote this on my classroom marker board while the students worked on a Pre-Calculus assignment. One student looked up and asked, bewildered, "Is this an English class?"

Haha, I hope you told him it'll be on the next test.

[Parker Owens]

37 minutes ago, MacGreg said:

Haha, I hope you told him it'll be on the next test.

 

You read my mind... you have to be psychic...

[AC Benus]

Perfect purity is possible

if you turn your life

into a line of poetry -- 

written with a splash of blood.

Yukio Mishima 

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by AC Benus

[Mikiesboy]

7 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

Perfect purity is possible

if you turn your life into

a line of poetry -- 

written with a splash of blood.

Yukio Mishima 

much poetry is written with blood ... wonderful quote, AC.

[Parker Owens]

12 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Perfect purity is possible

if you turn your life

into a line of poetry -- 

written with a splash of blood.

Yukio Mishima 

 

 

That is a fantastic poem. Beautiful and thought provoking. Thank you for posting it. 

[AC Benus]

This struck me immediately because in the Lyrics of Dedication to the Tony Sonnets I wrote a few years ago: 

 

...now quatrains living in my blood 

will always make your beauty sit 

like heaven's dome with stars be-stud. 

 

   

 

 

[Parker Owens]

5 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

This struck me immediately because in the Lyrics of Dedication to the Tony Sonnets I wrote a few years ago: 

 

...now quatrains living in my blood 

will always make your beauty sit 

like heaven's dome with stars be-stud. 

 

   

 

 

 

😀^4! 

[AC Benus]

I was looking up one of my favorite poems today, and bumped into a bevy of brilliant Oliver Wendell Holmes quotes. This one follows Mishima's (and my own) quote quite well. 

 

"Language is the blood of the soul

into which thoughts run

and out of which they grow."

 

 

Edited September 25, 2018 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

I sketched out the start of a new Ballade today, and once again came into contact with that form's undisputed master, François Villon. I found a poem that was unknown to me, and love Galway Kinnell's literal (i.e., non-Ballade) translation. Reading it like this makes the master's message come across in a timeless way. That's the mark of all great poetry. 

 

(I provide the original French after the translation.)

 

 

Ballade of Small Talk

 

I know flies in milk;
I know the man by his clothes;
I know fair weather from foul;
I know the apple by the tree;
I know the tree when I see the sap;
I know when all is one;
I know who labors and who loafs;
I know everything but myself.

I know the coat by the collar;
I know the monk by the cowl;
I know the master by the servant;
I know the nun by the veil;
I know when a hustler rattles on;
I know fools raised on whipped cream;
I know the wine by the barrel;
I know everything but myself.

I know the horse and the mule;
I know their loads and their limits;
I know Beatrice and Belle;
I know the beads that count and add;
I know nightmare and sleep;
I know the Bohemians' error;
I know the power of Rome;
I know everything but myself.

Envoi:

 

Prince, I know all things;
I know the rosy-cheeked and the pale;
I know death who devours all;

I know everything but myself.

 

 

-------------------

 

 

Ballade des menus propos

 

Je congnois bien mouches en laict;

Je congnois à la robe l’homme;

Je congnois le beau temps du laid;

Je congnois au pommier la pomme;

Je congnois l’arbre à veoir la gomme;

Je congnois quand tout est de mesme;

Je congnois qui besongne ou chomme;

Je congnois tout, fors que moy-mesme.

 

Je congnois pourpoinct au collet;

Je congnois le moyne à la gonne;

Je congnois le maistre au valet;

Je congnois au voyle la nonne;

Je congnois quand piqueur jargonne;

Je congnois folz nourriz de cresme;

Je congnois le vin à la tonne;

Je congnois tout, fors que moy-mesme.

 

Je congnois cheval du mulet;

Je congnois leur charge et leur somme;

Je congnois Bietrix et Bellet;

Je congnois gect qui nombre et somme;

Je congnois vision en somme;

Je congnois la faulte des Boesmes;

Je congnois filz, varlet et homme;

Je congnois tout, fors que moy-mesme.

 

Envoi:

 

Prince, je congnois tout en somme;

Je congnois coulorez et blesmes;

Je congnois mort qui nout consomme;

Je congnois tout, fors que moy-mesme.

 

 

 

_

Edited October 9, 2018 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

-

Edited October 9, 2018 by AC Benus

[Mikiesboy]

7 hours ago, AC Benus said:

I know everything but myself.

It's so simple when you read this, but that's its brilliance. It's simply the truth for so many people. We know what is around us, but fail to know ourselves. Thanks AC for posting this wonderful piece.