Thursday, January 04, 2007

Stained Glass Window

My experience shapes my poetry
I want to shape my experience
By living how and where -
I want to write those poems

It must be said the mind
Shapes all experience
But sometimes you must
Be crazy to see what you want
I put my bookmark on my pillow
And get up to pen the dawn

There is a street we all live on
All ordinary experience is had there

I cross the street nearly alone
And find my bookmark

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do I have to be alone to get to that bookmark?

Any answers? Why do I find more questions than answers here? Why do I relate?

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks gautami tripathy! Dreams transform the dreamer. The more unusual the dream, the more unusual the dreamer becomes. Those who are unusual are, for the most part, alone. I make the decision to accept that and cross from the busy street to the quiet one. Thanks for the wise comment!

Anonymous said...

yes, oh yes. But it hurts at times.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Yes it does gt! Like the Abba song that says "I cross the street; I have a dream," we must believe in angels, we must find something good in everything we see.

ozymandiaz said...

So if life were but a dream
That would mean
The more unusual the life
The more unusual the living
But who dreams the dream
Are we but fabrications
of our own subconscience?

Russell Ragsdale said...

Life, Ozy, is driven by the past and the future. If my past has taught me that working in a video store is not capable of meeting my personal needs for acceptance and if I dream that I am capable of being a talented actor who has a unique view of life and violence, then I become Tarentino. That means that today I do some specific things differently because my past and my future are pushing and pulling on me.

Interestingly enough, our subconscious impacts how we understand what has happened in the past and what we wish for in the future. But, that is not to say life is just a dream, all historic and futuristic dreams can affect our every conscious moment. Those moments are what we call reality and they have a large component of wide awake sensorial experence.

What interesting directions you pull us in with your comments, my friend. Thanks for droping by and sharing your thoughts!

Pat Paulk said...

Quite interesting. We are being pulled like taffy, backward and forward. Very thought provoking. Good one Russell!!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Pat! Glad you joined the discussion on this one. Sometime it seems like the discussions are better than the poems that caused them. Thanks for the great comment.

Anonymous said...

Excellent, Russell! There's much to ponder in this one. :)

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Aurora! My curiosity gets carried away at times. I think this has something to do with the road less taken that Frost talked about. It certainly is what I was trying to write about. Thanks for your wonderful comment, my sweet.

Anonymous said...

Wow - what a great poem to hold in mind for this new year! Thank you, Russell!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks jpd! I'm glad this was useful for you. Thanks for the great comment and Happy New Year, my sweet.