Mouth

[desiderata]

Somebody once told me to shut my mouth –
I was just thinking.
Was it to stop things getting in, or things coming out?
That was when I was a child and people told you what to do.
I still think with my mouth open.
But they no longer tell me not to.
They simply ask why.
As if now I’m grown up I might have the answer.

Why.
Why’s your mouth open?
You catching flies?
To which I might answer,
“Noape.”
Or worse still, simply observe
“Your mouth’s open. Did you know?”
To which I might answer,
“Yeap.”
I can see
It still makes them uncomfortable
But they don’t know why.
Are they afraid of things getting in
Or things coming out?

People come and go
They look at my face and make calculations
Based upon it, regarding
The state of the universe.
You look sad.
You look cross!
You look vacant.
Perhaps I should wear a hat today.
What does it all mean?
These things, my mouth, my face –
They are not the universe
And yet they are open.
Black holes in a dusky sky

Perhaps they too are afraid
Of getting sucked right in
And never coming out

[camus]

another fine poem.

I like the way you take the simple observation and apply it to universal feelings.

a couple of observations, Shouldn't it be wear a mask instead of a hat?

also not sure how the last stanza ties in, it seems too obscure.

[Arcadian]

nothing wrong with last stanza camus,

Black holes absorb light ..and just about anything in near proximity.
The question if it absorbs space debris and light where does it end up ?
Is it a wom hole to another parallel universe ; mirror reflection of the present one or perhaps as in the poem the protagonsist does know the answer why the mouth is open - just the person at the other end who has mouth closed

maybe ive been watching too may babylon 5 dvd's -lol

in any case i enjoyed this piece desiderata - are u a trekky or babylon 5 fan by any chance ?

Arco

[desiderata]

thanks for your comments guys. i like the mask idea. the hat thing was a tribute to the arbitrary every day decisions people make based on assumptions about other people. im not a trekkie actually - i rarely watch anything to do with space - perhaps it terrifies me too much to entertain. at the same time i do remember as a child a sensation of wordsworth style tranquility on my first visit to a planetarium (of course, that could have had something to do with the reclining seats...) my idea in the last stanza was the seductive nature of truth and indeed art - as keats says "beauty is truth, truth beauty" - but it is not an easy life to follow.....or something like that. i like your interpretation though.
Desi

[cameron]

Babylon 5 !!!!!!?????

[Arcadian]

Cameron,

you mean you haven't seen Babylon 5 ?

where have you been ? stranded on a desert island ?

Babylon 5 - surpasses the writing of gene rodenberry( star trek) - by leaps and bound - ask ant trekky fan or science fiction space afficianado

The writing: character development, plot, ideas are brimming with innovation and vibrate with a awesome futuristic world - there is more alien character development that is alluring, intriguing...well worth buying the boxed season sets ( the writer wanted it to run for 5 seasons) - visit sites below.. then you may entertain writing a space sit-com
with wry humour - as this hasnt been done as yet !



http://www.visi.com/~wildfoto/spoilers.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105946/

http://www.b5tech.com/

[cameron]

No, I have seen it! That's the problem.