for The Sunday Whirl: Wordle #64
http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/
In One Flashing Moment
The are some who deliberately
choose to be ignorant, spurning
any truth that would subtract
from facts they themselves
have re-arranged, envisioned.
Folding events like common
housewives fold just-washed clothes,
storing them in lined mental drawers,
or winding them like balls of yarn,
threads wrapped over and over,
to create blindfold rind wound
round peculiar reality.
Ever a seeker of light, truth
might choose to hide its face
in deepest darkness for months,
years, buried in brittle fear/hope
of forgetting for eternity.
Then in one flashing moment,
truth lets fall its mask, begins
task of acceptance, where all things
wing into place, and feel like sting
of a thousand angry bees.
Elizabeth Crawford 7/8/12
Notes: This was the second piece I wrote for the word list. The first one was simply too cutesy for my liking. Denial is a necessary coping mechanism to the human condition. To stand in complete conscious awareness is to stand in the midst of godhood. Thus denial
becomes an opportunity toward acceptance, and a chance to forgive the reality of being only human.
Soul's Music 
Wow! You have an uncanny knack of making me look all round, above, below and into things. Well wordled.
Thank you Viv, I’m still drooling over your slide show.
Elizabeth
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“the chance to forgive the reality of being only human” – in summing up you say something that sounds so deceptively simple but is really of a complexity beyond most of us from time to time … I’m glad you wrote a second poem as this one is very good and sheds a good deal of enlightenment “In One Flashing Moment” … brava
http://leapinelephants.blogspot.it/2012/07/choosing-now.html
Thank you much Sharon, the first poem was what came fast and easy, but I just didn’t like it and wanted to stretch a bit further. I too am glad I went after the second piece, it reminded me quite clearly of why I ever started writing poetry, because it keeps me honest and aware as nothing else does. It has given me more of those ‘flashing moments’ and bee stung feelings, and yes the acceptance to forgive myself for being only human,
Elizabeth
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Yes truth does come like that, “in one flashing moment”…I like how you use clothes as metaphor.
Secret Irene? I was really worried about that word “housewives” (perhaps because I haven’t ever been a really good one? Too many other things that interest me?), but after writing the first stanza, the next line just sort of fell into place. I have watched myself and others fold events to personal preferences, all too often. Thanks for visiting and commenting,
Elizabeth
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So many of us do live in denial because it hurts too much to face the truth, but, most of the time, we still have to face it in the end. There is a lot of truth in your lovely prose Elizabeth.
Thank you Daydreamertoo, but have a question? You often use the word prose, even though you are addressing efforts to write poetry. For me, there is a distinct difference between the two, because I do write both and they do take different skills. Am wondering if you see all writing as prose?
Elizabeth
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One can’t hide from the truth / reality forever. Even though hard to face sometime, eventually it has to be dealt with one way or another. This poem has much truth in it. I marvel at the message you got across with your words, Elizabeth.
Lol, Mary, so good to know that one can still occasionally make another individual marvel. What a delicious compliment you have served up for me. Kudo box, here I come. Thank you my friend. I remember when we both despaired at these strange lists of disparate words, and of late, the marveling aspect is very openly mutual. We have come a long way, have we not?
Elizabeth
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Another gem, Irene. I’d love to see the first one, too.
Thank you Laurie. The first one was about a little miss who spurned all advances (out of fear of becoming just another complacent housewife), then tripped on a discarded orange rind falling into the eternity found in a pair of laughing green eyes. It actually worked, used all of the wordle words, but was so Harlequin romance that I seriously thought of ducking out this week. Then I had one of those ‘flashing moments’ and really got to work, lol. It’s good to know I’m only human,
Elizabeth
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This is one of my favorites! Just so good!
I really liked yours as well Annell. We are going and growing and constantly getting better. Not bad at all,
Elizabeth
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The sting of a thousand angry bees! The ending packs a punch.
Nan, I was thinking of that ‘flashing moment’ and my own reaction is most often to duck and curl, even though no one else is around. It reminded me of stinging bees, because the realization seems to come in layers, one right upon the next. So I went with it. Glad you liked it,
Elizabeth
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Clever, clever. You used housewives as a simile. You must have quietly cheered when you knew what to do with them.
Margo, you are so right. When it fell into place I was relieved, but the list started with ‘ignorant’ and once I got past that, the rest of it was simply trying to stay coherent and still get the message through to its conclusion. I suddenly knew that I have been playing around a lot lately, and it was time to get serious, especially with my poetry. Thanks for stopping by,
Elizabeth
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“…where all things wing into place”…..beautiful writing, kiddo!
Sherry, you are the staunchest fan and I am, as always, so grateful I met you,
Elizabeth
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There is such wisdom here, Elizabeth. Your poet’s voice speaks deep truths. I love that about you. Thank you so much for your continuing presence at The Whirl, and the honesty of your voice.
Ah Brenda, your wordle list is the only prompt I respond to at this time. It’s been hard to come back after staying away for as long as I did. I chose it because the list of words is like a word puzzle to me, and I do love playing with word puzzles. I was hoping that by giving myself that wee bit of edge, eventually I would choose to sink my teeth in to it. That happened this time around. As I sat to read that first poem, a very distinct voice, inside my head, said, “When you gonna stop playing, dancing with lip service and get serious?” My own ‘flashing moment.’ Thank you for your very generous words,
Elizabeth
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Powerfully truthful, wise and rhythmic – a delightful read!
Thank you very much Tumblewords, I found your image and poem both gifts.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth –
I’ll echo the others who have stated their gratitude for your writing a 2nd piece. You ought to let us read the cutesy one too, but I’m glad to have been graced with the depth of wisdom from your words. (Oh yeah, and this was a wordle!?)
Loved the line about storing events in lined-mental drawers…that was a strong image for me.
Here’s mine: http://whenwordsescape.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/among-the-ordinary/
Thank you Paula. I don’t mind the echoes, my hearing has been going downhill for a while, lol. And I could make a book out of the cutesy ones I’ve written, shudder. There are specific challenges to each of the distinct stages of growth and development in human existence. At my age and stage of life, the challenge is to find a way to pass on the lessons learned by surviving to this point. Seeing as I didn’t start writing poetry until I was almost forty, I took that challenge seriously and began to prepare a vehicle. And I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t always relish those lessons while learning them, however poetry eased a lot of that distress. So glad I found it,
Elizabeth~Paula
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Beautiful write. I like it as it is. Sometime we are hardest critics of our own work. Its good to have the perception of other poets/writers that are more objective. There are poems that I’ve written that everyone likes but when I read it I can’t stand it.
Benjamin, thanks for visiting and commenting. I tend to believe we are our own harshest critics. That is a double-edged sword in many ways. The first poem I wrote for this wordle was not a draft of this one. It could have stood alone, but it was not what I wanted for me or for my writing. This poem is far closer to that and is far more satisfying to me because of it. However, what I post here, I consider to be good drafts only. Were I to submit them for publication, they would definitely be given a much closer look and go through some amount of rewriting. I do value these comments from others. They tell me if I’ve missed the mark or even gotten close. I very much value these responses from that wider community of poets and it is one of the reasons that I come back here again and again. Thank you for joining the discussion,
Elizabeth
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I like how you used the word rind…a blindfold of reality. Very clever. It has been quite fun to see how the three words I thought were challenging have been used; housewives, rind and drawers.
Thanks for your visit and kind words. I was wondering how to use housewives…and well – I had one…’Mother’. Sometimes the wordle lists just leap out and say; I’m good for another story verse. And then there it is…
Jules, I’m with you on that. Very often, as I am writing out the list, one or two will jump out and start singing, lol. If that happens, that’s where I start. This time it was ignorant and spurn. There is no real logic to that, just strong association factors, I think. But then, there are the ten other words to make a space for, lol. These words were interesting, and I also looked to see how those three were used. It is intriguing to see how different or similar we all use them. What I found funny was that at least three of us used bee stings in our pieces. Thanks for visiting and commenting,
Elizabeth
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Beautiful and powerful, Elizabeth. I too, like how you used housewives as a simile. Very clever.
Pamela
Thank you much Pamela. Actually the image of folding clothes came with the word housewives so I used it. It surprised me but I liked it, so it stayed. Sometimes the wordles are difficult, even frustrating, other times they are just plain fun. If it weren’t for those fun ones, I wonder how many of us would actually continue.
Elizabeth
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“to create blindfold rind wound
round peculiar reality.”
Wow!
Thanks for the Wow! Mama Zen. It goes to the kudo box.
Elizabeth
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Well done! You found meanings in the words that eluded me…
Thank you Merlin, but I truly believe we all find what we need, want, and sometimes don’t care to grasp, lol. Words have strong associations for all of us, and when we follow them, they often take us on an adventure. And adventures are notorious for unexpected things and happenings. May you enjoy your adventure,
Elizabeth
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I think we came at this from the same place. I had trouble with housewives, too but then it became the center focus. Funny how that happened for you too.
Annette, each week there are one or two words in the list that make me groan, or want to duck and run. I find that when I get something that works for one or both, the rest of them fall into place. Thanks for stopping by,
Elizabeth
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Your words make me take a second and third look around and allow me to see things I hadn’t noticed before. New inspirations abound where your poems are found, Elizabeth!
Oh Walt, I’d do a bit of a bow, but I’m an old woman and stopped trying those kinds of things years ago. However, I will thank you profusely for those very kind and generous words. And it’s really good to know one can still turn a head, especially at my age, lok,
Elizabeth
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The clarity of your vision fills your words.
Thanks, but not sure its clarity so much as luck and a deep love of words. I have ever been a seeker after truth, even when it has hurt to do so. I want to believe that all those who endeavor to write poetry are of like spirit on some level.
Elizabeth
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excellent but I wish had let us see the other one.
Thanks for the “excellent” Cathy, it goes in the kudo box. The first poem simply got me past the surface level and into the place I prefer to be. That happens sometimes,
Elizabeth
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There’s so much truth to this wordle…your last stanza holds the essence!!
Hannah, thank you very much. I was taught by a poet who believed it was best for the final stanza to hold a turn line, and thus the key to opening the whole piece. It would please him to hear what you have to say,
Elizabeth
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Oh, Whoo, powerful, excellent, brilliant. A treatise on how people become blind to truth to make their own truth and that lie succeeds like a thousand angry bees, WOW
Thank you Diane, for your kind and generous words. The word brilliant always gives me a problem. I’m sure it is meant for some other far better individual. But, I’ll sneak it into the kudo box, anyway, lol.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth, just wonderful. I like the images you use in the second stanza, and then it really takes off in stanza three. I love where you follow your thoughts there – and then the conclusion. We all choose not to see sometimes, but those flashes keep coming – thank goodness.
Richard
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