Sargon and the Dead

[jisbell00]

Sargon and the Dead

There is another world, and it is this one.
Paul Éluard


Blind watchers at the gate in Khorsabad –
great straight-winged bulls with the blank heads of men –
show me the way to Sargon. And the bulls
see all that nears, as if prepared to step
down from their plinth to ward off any evil.

Your royal line is gone and you, preferred
to some bright room in Paris. But the dead –
are they now free? Is your long vigil through?
Shall I yet bend my knee; remove each shoe?
The crowd mills by. The bulls say not a word.


Here is the story of how I went mad.
What walked my brain. What led me by the nose,
in this world and the next. The time I had.
The news is hard, but that you might suppose.

Says Mr. Ramsay, an oak table is
philosophy. And what is madness then?
An empty room? A looming precipice?
Or some dull thing that’s lost beyond our ken?

The gap between the human and divine
cannot be bridged. It ground my mind to pulp,
when I went mad. How could I walk the line?
I failed. I fell and shattered beyond help.




Edited: Reach out and touch faith.
Depeche Mode

[camus]

John,

An intriguing read as ever. I do though find (personally) your prolific output and oft archaic approach to poetry and language sometimes difficult to penetrate. I'm actually amazed at your deft use of philosophical thinking and occasional histrionics, it confounds me!

There are some brilliant lines in this poem for example:

An empty room? A looming precipice?
Or some dull thing that’s lost beyond our ken?

But I often fail to put it all together, to enjoy it enough! Probably my failing.

As you were.

Cheers
Kris

[jisbell00]

Hi Kris,

And thank you! I like the idea of deft - I do my best, and it's nice to know that my poems deal with thought somewhat effectively. I am a bit of a thinker.

Might it be that some of the archaism is recondite vocabulary and syntax? But irrespective of that thought, your comment seems to me a precious insight into how well-disposed readers may find my poetry on the screen or page.

Cheers,
John

[ray miller]

Bulls get led by the nose - I grasped that much. And I discovered that the bulls' are now in the Louvre.

This is the story of how I went mad. - I don't see the connection between the first two stanzas and the rest.

[jisbell00]

Hi Ray,

I think maybe Here is the story is better, for that reason? It's the entire MS. that is the story, and this is page three. The entire MS. is a patchwork where few poems stand on their own, they are usually an assemblage of disjointed stanzas, like here. This MS. keeps failing in contests, and I think the jigsaw puzzle effect likely contributes a good deal to that. But I don't have an easy fix. Then there's also the archaism Kris points out. It has on the other hand been polished by me for years! As of yesterday, the MS> is titled The ALder King.

Oh - yes, the nose is a bull thing. But it's also me as a dumb animal or helpless ward of forces outside myself, in my mad years.

Cheers,
John

[Macavity]

Rather like the first two verses John, especially after googling. L10 is classic John.

[jisbell00]

They are rather impressive! Thanks for googling - I think many won't. But it does add to the poem.

Cheers,
John

[capricorn]

Hi John

I did google too which helped me understand this thought provoking piece. Each time I read I find something else I missed. A fascinating read.

Eira

[jisbell00]

That's very kind of you, Eira - I'm glad you've enjoyed it! Mr Ramsay is of course from Virginia Woolf, he's the rather arid philosopher in To the Lighthouse.

Cheers,
John