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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
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By Chance or Appointment - 19. Definitions

Another sonnet. As is always the case, all the errors you find here are mine.

Ten thousand thousand words might we deploy

in service to description of a man

that colors him as subtle, sharp or coy

to picture him as well as artists can

which lets us see such light as there may be

at play upon a face or outward frame

acknowledging some confidence or glee

or thoughtful contemplation of the same.

But plentiful though dictionaries prove,

they have but little power to express

what makes the inner soul and spirit move

nor map sweet secret thoughts in faithfulness.

All detailed definitions are in vain

when we our truest natures would obtain.


Thank you for taking time to read this sonnet. If you want to hear an audio version, you can follow this link. https://gayauthors.org/profile/26911-parker-owens/ Your comments and reactions are always welcome.
Copyright © 2022 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
  • Love 13
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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  • Popular Comment
Parker Owens
  • Popular Comment
17 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

The impact of this poem's truth has my mind reciting another powerful couplet. For as Billy said, "If this be error and upon me proved,/ I never writ, nor no man ever loved."   

Billy wrought wonders in language. This poem is but the palest shadow of his skill, yet it makes my heart sing to know this made your mind recite him. Thanks for sharing your reaction. 

  • Love 7
  • Popular Comment
Parker Owens
  • Popular Comment
46 minutes ago, weinerdog said:

Perhaps I'm wrong to what your point was but what I got out of it was the human soul is far too complicated to be just describe by words it has to be experienced. IMHO very insightful

Thank you. You did indeed get the idea: each one of us defies definition, we are too complex for that.  The question yet unasked is why do so many people insist on turning their neighbors and acquaintances into one-dimensional simplifications?

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Headstall
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As a former artist, I appreciate how you tie writing to painting or another form of art. I have always seen the similarity of deft strokes by either pen or brush. And like a work of art that hangs on a wall, a portrait crafted by pen can only see so much into a soul. Writing needs a reader to complete the work, just as paintings need a viewer. I think, done right, we can get pretty close, though, and what is left is beautiful mystery. Lovely sonnet, expressing how deeply we can love... or desire. 

  • Love 8
Parker Owens
4 hours ago, Headstall said:

As a former artist, I appreciate how you tie writing to painting or another form of art. I have always seen the similarity of deft strokes by either pen or brush. And like a work of art that hangs on a wall, a portrait crafted by pen can only see so much into a soul. Writing needs a reader to complete the work, just as paintings need a viewer. I think, done right, we can get pretty close, though, and what is left is beautiful mystery. Lovely sonnet, expressing how deeply we can love... or desire. 

You say it so well. The painting needs a viewer, and the writing needs a reader. Our arts still leave us on one shore, searching for ways across to the other, where full understanding lies. Thank you very much for your thoughts. 

  • Love 5
Parker Owens
4 hours ago, pvtguy said:

As with all true mystery of existence, words point a way, but are not the end or definition in themselves.  Words are by nature limited - but can point to that which is not limited.  That said, you have used the power of your words to lead us into the sublime.  Well done!

Thank you very much for your response. Yes, the written word, as perfected as it might be, is yet limited in its power to get at the essence - and this must be all the more true as one writes about another complex human being. 

  • Love 5
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