Philosophy
2/27/2000
How many men have wondered
if we are only spots and lines
floating out in space
images resolved in mind
then given time and place
have you ever questioned
this shared concept: reality
ever thought it something foreign
something you could not agree
if the matter's moving in your mind
must these pictures be true
or is there world that hides behind
the painted me and you
these questions may seem foolish, but
they've been tossed round for years
in various schemes and logic dreams
to set aside our fears
that all may just be chaos
without system, draft or plan
and God won't watch or guide us
the accidental men
Sartre said our consciousness
is being with a nothingness
can that explain your caress
or sensations that have passed
we used to ask philosophers
what man should be doing here.
it's harder now to find man's place
for we don't recognize his face
the mind and body live in worlds
separate, yet connected
how can it be bad faith to think
you are what you think
you are
are you being, are you not
seems so far from
I think I am
yet they're just different incarnations
of philosophic dissertations
each framed as a new creation
for a different time and nation
similar to new sensations
you may find on different days
you may see in different ways
we call logic our redemption
a set of tools for mind's action
set of rules to govern motions
to judge ideas' interactions
or is it language governs me
when I frame philosophy
language that will set me free
or burden, bind and bury me
it all goes back to the question
if all is the mind's construction
if we do see what is true
if we are just what we do
next ask if it really matters
Point of View
12/12/99
Who would believe that just once
I threw back my arms and soared,
and the ground,
the people and buildings below,
all grew small?
experience of airplane
takeoff to the heights,
entering existence serene,
separate.
looking down over the folly,
the imagined distinctions
and divisions
is not all
really one,
or is that point of view?
Pretty Flowers
5/6/99
Pretty flowers for my love
do not blossom sweeter
than the passion in my heart
that cherishes and keeps her!
I hope these strands of words in verse
I'm weaving here for you
are cherished as love unrehearsed,
spontaneous and true!
SINGING
12/4/01
I hear the world
singing to me
in voice so soft
yet clear.
I must take this moment--
this endless moment--
to see if I can hear.
I listen to the silence,
the sigh between the beats of heart,
the peace underlying
the whistle of the everyday.
Drifting through each phase of trance,
recalling light and shadows' dance
each day is just another stance
another flashing mirror's glance
until it all breaks down.
how do you start
from zero
and how often
must you
return
But still I hear you
whispering your song
and I wish I could stay
longer.
Links to other sites on the Web
Animated figures, lines, etc.
Alternative Media Site
Click Here to Go Back to Joe's Poetry Page
Get your own Free Home Page