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Poetry


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A Single Question With Many Parts

By Diplomat

13 April 2007

I wrote this while fighting the frustration that dogged me for three years. I still get frustrated from time to time but that is with slow progress.

How do I catch it ?
This will-o-the-wisp that eludes my grasp,
This seed of a beginning that tantalises me with a brief glimpse,
teases me with promises of blossoming,
Then disappears into the depths of lost ideas.

How do I catch it, nurture it, watch it grow,
When I have no knowledge of what it is,
where it is or how it came to be.

What is this thing that haunts me,
that keeps me staring at a screen, a sheet of paper, a blank wall.
Is it what I need, what I'm searching for,
Is it the key? But the key to what?

How do I catch it?
When every time I try I drive it deeper,
Deeper into me, into the black infertile depths of long dead memories to be forgotten to be mourned.

How do I bring it into the light of my consciousness,
give it air, give it food, give it life, grant it a beginning.
How do I catch it?

--------------------------------------------------------------

Tell me, what is the shelf life of the seed of an idea?
How long before the seed case hardens and wrinkles,
before the soft kernel dries and dies?
How long before germination is impossible, before the chance is gone?

How large a void is the storage for ideas,
How small is the seed of inspiration.
How long before the distant, pinpoint light of promise is extinguished?
How will I find it then?

Reviews

Written by Phil (6713 comments posted) 13th April 2007

Look in the other direction and catch it unawares?

Interesting - and your frustration shines through.

Phil.

Thanks, Phil
Written by Diplomat (28 comments posted) 13th April 2007

Look in the other direction and catch it unawares?

I do that by going for a walk.
Strangely, the frustration is not born of a lack if ideas, but rather out of deciding which ideas to use.

Diplomat

Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 13th April 2007

I liked this too, and I do sympathize with your frustration. Deciding which ideas to use is almost harder than thinking of them in the first place.

Sometimes it's best to think of Admiral Nelson's famous quote -- 'Damn the manuevers, just go straight at 'em!' (Or something similar.) You may decide to do it differently and end up throwing out your initial efforts, but the process is often worth as much -- or more -- than the product.

I deal with the frustration by raking up stuff in the garden. And pulling dandelions.

Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 17th April 2007

I think this is a nice idea but perhaps a bit longer than is required to carry the idea. You could chop a fair amount of it and not lose anything. But worth developing - we've all been there in one form or another.

Elli

Written by wltshr (314 comments posted) 20th April 2007

I loved the line: "Tell me, what is the shelf life of the seed of an idea?"

Frustrated but not angry. Nicely put across.

Regards

Wltshr

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