deepundergroundpoetry.com
LIFE AND POWER
LIFE AND POWER
Power, you are what we need
to attain the joy of life.
Hearts prosper when they are calm
and without you, tense they are.
There are people whose main job
is to wreck the joy of life.
When you are ready to fight,
like the rats they seek their flight.
Power, you're the arm of peace
used to save man from the proud
who can't control their own vice
if they are not curbed or forced.
Strength is used to deter those
whose main purpose is to mar.
Force exists, they disappear
as aggression's stirred by fear.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________________________________
Power, you are what we need
to attain the joy of life.
Hearts prosper when they are calm
and without you, tense they are.
There are people whose main job
is to wreck the joy of life.
When you are ready to fight,
like the rats they seek their flight.
Power, you're the arm of peace
used to save man from the proud
who can't control their own vice
if they are not curbed or forced.
Strength is used to deter those
whose main purpose is to mar.
Force exists, they disappear
as aggression's stirred by fear.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________________________________
Published 6th Aug 2021
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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reading list entries 0
comments 10
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Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
"Hearts prosper when they are calm
and without you, tense they are."
Hello, Yoda. Nice of you to drop by the list. Or is that "to the list to drop by, of you nice"?
In any case, what you say above about power contradicts what Jesus, your professed Lord, says about how those who beleive in him should not be seeking power:
42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45).
and without you, tense they are."
Hello, Yoda. Nice of you to drop by the list. Or is that "to the list to drop by, of you nice"?
In any case, what you say above about power contradicts what Jesus, your professed Lord, says about how those who beleive in him should not be seeking power:
42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45).
8th Aug 2021 8:40am
8th Aug 2021 9:46pm
Please do me the kindness of articulating just what the particular "insight" that you claim this piece from J-Z reveals actually is.
8th Aug 2021 9:54am
Thank you very much, Lil, for your read, like and comment. Indeed, you are very kind.
9th Aug 2021 2:30pm
"Strength is used to deter those
whose main purpose is to mar.
Force exists, they disappear
as aggression's stirred by fear"
Leaving aside the fact that you've misused "mar" since it is a transitive verb and that when used, as it is here, without an object, does not convey any meaning, haven't you engaged in a contradiction? If force causes fear that stirs up aggression, then it's hardly something that deters a retaliatory response to a show of strength. On the contrary, it elicits it.
So, contrary to what has been said above about this piece, it seems that there's actually very little insight regarding power shown here. What's displayed is that you don't know what you are talking about and that you are more interested in getting rhymes than in making sense.
If someone were to say to me
that it’s my job to “mar”,
I’d have to ask him for the object of that verb,
since it is one that’s transitive,
demanding nouns (or pronouns too)
to give this stern command
a clear and sense filled comprehensibility
and, more importantly,
because not knowing what
that object is
(a face? a situation’s ambiance? a race?)
I’d be at a loss to follow his instructions
very far.
whose main purpose is to mar.
Force exists, they disappear
as aggression's stirred by fear"
Leaving aside the fact that you've misused "mar" since it is a transitive verb and that when used, as it is here, without an object, does not convey any meaning, haven't you engaged in a contradiction? If force causes fear that stirs up aggression, then it's hardly something that deters a retaliatory response to a show of strength. On the contrary, it elicits it.
So, contrary to what has been said above about this piece, it seems that there's actually very little insight regarding power shown here. What's displayed is that you don't know what you are talking about and that you are more interested in getting rhymes than in making sense.
If someone were to say to me
that it’s my job to “mar”,
I’d have to ask him for the object of that verb,
since it is one that’s transitive,
demanding nouns (or pronouns too)
to give this stern command
a clear and sense filled comprehensibility
and, more importantly,
because not knowing what
that object is
(a face? a situation’s ambiance? a race?)
I’d be at a loss to follow his instructions
very far.
8th Aug 2021 4:34pm
If you don't know the implied meaning of the object of MAR from the previous lines, it's useless to tell you. Why don't you enact a rule, 'There is no implication in poetry."
8th Aug 2021 5:07pm
There is also -- and should be, if one wants to write well and communicate effectively - clarity in poetry and a following of the rules of grammar that adheres to the critical dictum made by Ezra Pound that to be good, poetry must be as well written as prose. It is not a puzzle to be solved or something that contains gaps to be filled in or guessed at..
And thanks for not speaking to the other points I raised. Your not doing so so makes you appear to be a coward.
And thanks for not speaking to the other points I raised. Your not doing so so makes you appear to be a coward.
8th Aug 2021 7:54pm
Who uses the word COWARD is a coward, but l am no ready to waste my time on NONSENSE. Say whatever you like you reveal yourself to the readers. You have a lot of leisure time, l don't.
"You have a lot of leisure time, l don't."
Then why do you spend what little time you have dealing with what I noted was a peripheral point instead of dealing with the main one(s) I raised (not mention showing rather than declaring that it is [they are] nonsense)?
Then why do you spend what little time you have dealing with what I noted was a peripheral point instead of dealing with the main one(s) I raised (not mention showing rather than declaring that it is [they are] nonsense)?
