You Talking to Me? ~ Philip Brent Harris

~~~~~

Where is the inspiration for poets,
Wordwrights, artists, composers,
Choreographers, others who sting
I neglected to mention them now?
Will another’s expression reach us,
Inside us, to draw forth our spirit?

For me, it is music, spoken word,
Creativity, creation, what’s around
Me, the way the wind blows, trees,
Standing as they have stood, years
Upon years, thoughts deep, silent,
At least to us, as we race past, die.

Rain or lack of life-giving water.
Our orange, tabby cat stretched
Across my lap, shifting until she
Creates a comfortable spot, now,
Seeks warmth, feeling, a simple
Trust, hers for me, mine for her.

I haven’t studied poetic forms
Since so long ago in my iambic
Pentameter youth, that for years
Had been missing-in-action till
It crashed upon me, my distant
Shore, washed away the oughts

Battered shoulds, false hubris,
Tries, my ever-present doubts.
Mostly, words come unbidden,
Land while I scramble, scratch
Marks on paper, strive to catch,
Alive, the meaning I transcribe.

Then I try to create a neat copy,
A scribe, sifting meter, meaning
From, into my hole-filled vessel,
Its shifting holes change without
Any warning or advanced notice
Forcing me to do the best I can.

I plug some holes successfully,
A kinsukuroi, markings in gold
To remind me a mended vessel
Is not useless, if it contains me,
Can hold meaning I may collect.
Riddled with ever-moving rents.

 I didn’t answer my question, yet.
Pondered now, I think all answers
About where we find inspiration;
All are true and also all are false.
Depends on who, where and when
The query is posed, our perspective.

Such questions and answers as full,
Empty and numberless as seconds
Across the length of moving time.
The vast awareness of the cosmos
Reaching, inside, moving outside
As needed to offer us clues, hints

To add meaning to life far beyond
Comprehension within our scope.
Despite pain, doubt, angst, anger,
Fear, war, famine, hate, bigotry,
Land, fecund or barren, the unrest
Of the souls housed all around me.

Spirits, whose current journey may
Seem too hard to bear the weight,
The wait without the certainty that
We all express truth our own way,
To find the image and reflection:
Our merging, emerging universe.

~~~~~

Peace is Purpose, Nonviolence is Strength, Diversity is Unity, Empathy is Empowerment

~~~~~

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Brent Harris Fine Art

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