Thursday, May 10, 2007
Eveyone's wings
Read between the lines
bring to mind...what words obscure
as they attempt...to contain the inner state.
the power of certain words is unmistakable
the power of certain words in what truly transpires
is unmistakable. They move us along.
We are in motion
we move toward certainty
whether we know or not
one cannot live in empty words indefinitely
they simply do not carry one along
only fall away, can't keep up with what you've become
one taste of native tongue will make you feel
how alive you are also. as alive and unmistakable
as song, enables flight........
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5 comments:
Hey! I hope all of you will forgive the spelling error in this post's title. I plan to leave it as such. A personal contribution to current baby talk was kind of what I had in mind.
What about the power of uncertain words?
I'd never thought of this before (thanks), but maybe what makes figurative language so powerful is the same thing that makes for emotional ambiguity in a movie moment (especially an ending): that we're in more than one world at the same time, or moving between them and not necessarily sure from which to where.
Naomi Shihab Nye's phrase is "the words under the words" -- and that idea has always resonated with me. Certain words in certain contexts become "uncertain" because they have other words under them--which is why poetry is three-dimensional. When we say something is "deep," it's exactly what we mean. All the associations you have with a word (whether collective or individual) are really what make the word The Word.
I've always thought of you as a natural metaphorical thinker. But the only clear example in this piece is "one taste of native tongue," where the word "tongue" means both language (the essential subject here) and the physical organ.
To savor language is to kiss. Who are we kissing? Everybody who has contributed to the creation of the language? Language itself?
If I say "April," I'm kissing Geoffrey Chaucer, T.S. Eliot, Paul Simon, and a girl I knew named April. Who else? Language is so promiscuous.
But it's May. Sorry I missed this until nine days after you posted it.
Dear Jim, thanks for getting back on this one,I relish your insight. As redundent as the logic sounds: The power of uncertain words lies in certain words. You are speaking of figurative language and I'm saying that all words have power.
After posting, my first reflection was to the difference between the power we impart to words and the power we surrender, a suggestion that we can receive from and lose power to words. To respond to words in any dimension indicates that we act as transformers within the limits of capabilities. In this sense all words have an uncertain value and act as capacitors.
My intrest is the essential nature of being, potentially available on the formation side of this relationship. The certainty referenced here is not in any way to be confused with literal or figurative predictability as far as meaning or lack of the same. It makes all words possible metaphors for a language of inner states.
Thinking and speaking are governed territories, which I respect and find advantageous even while trying to tune to an inner significance.
Still the curious come to pleasure June,
to steal what can't be borrowed or bought at any price,
a kiss which starts the journey into darkness' the mystery of a lesson not taught twice.
How does a writer feel when he realises that all words can be/are metaphors.
This means that although on the surface the words are clear, they have their own meaning to each of us.
Wouldn't that just drive you mad if you pondered it too long, or doesn't it matter...
Hi Jackie, After finding you'd been digging around I'm glad you came upon Jim's responce to this post. His love of language,artistry and communication are just 2 of the great qualities Jim is blessed with. I treasure the connection and friendship he's given.
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