Vixility's comments

Every autumn I visit Fairmount (one of Colorado’s biggest cemeteries) and stroll and try to contemplate the lives and experiences of all those many who have gone before us.

I enjoy poems like this one because it allows me a glimpse into the lived life of another real person. Thank you for sharing. Again, a big fan of your works. more »

Just two days ago at work, there was a baby cooing and giggling and murmuring articulations—it could be heard throughout the whole clinic and everyone was moved with tenderness and deep delight by it.

Your wonderful poem captures perfectly moments like those. A lovely and adorable piece, Sue. more »

A very lovely piece, Darla. I’ll have to visit your page and read more.

Two quotes that have taken a deep root in my innermost self:

“Why is there something rather than nothing?”

and

“The most incomprehensible thing about existence is that it is comprehensible.”

None of this needs to be—and yet, here we are. If none of this needs to be, and we are nevertheless here, there must be some teleological purpose behind it. And the fact that there are laws and structure to all of it (principles to which the mechanics of evolution are subject), and that we are coincidentally endowed with the cognitive self-awareness of these … unless one is deliberately blind—and make no mistakes, people actively engage in their blindness—how could one possibly attribute this to chance rather than Intelligence?

A refreshingly philosophical work!! more »

I forget off hand where the phrase came from, but your poem (especially the first two stanzas) reminded me of it: “I sunk a thousand fathoms too deep for tears.”

We have all been there, Francelle. Hope you never have to endure too much of that kind of pain again. Tearfully beautiful imagery.

Lovely piece … more »

Steve, the language you use here is incredibly exquisite, intensely eloquent: lush hyacinth and fragrant dianthus: until, at last, its freeze bludgeons to pelt away at my poverty …

I swear I hear Poe and Frost in these words. And the accolades given you by Sue couldn’t be truer. Nice work, my friend. more »

I like it! There is this eerie and overwhelmingly dark sense of an impending apocalypse. Why am I reminded, by the imagery you use, of the Army of the Dead (from Game of Thrones)?

Again, nice piece.

I love the opening lines and the subsequent whiplash imagery that follows.

Someone somewhere once asked how the French Revolution affected the future of world history (an oxymoron of sorts). The reply was: Not enough time has gone by to give an adequate answer.

Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar are heroic figures in our western culture. Go back in time and ask the millions and millions of Persians and Celts who endured a crippling holocaust beneath their rapacious war-machine and I imagine their answer wouldn’t be so … accommodating.

But the again, there is that very useful saying: you can know a tree by the fruit it produces.

If I fell asleep and had a dream about a man who was an egotistical megalomaniac—an adjudicated rapist convicted of 34 felonies—who incited a violent overthrow of a democratic government and was suspected of colluding with that nation’s enemies while dissolving longstanding alliances,—if I had this dream and woke from it, I wonder what my opinion of this man would be? I would wonder, based on the fruits he produced, what kind of tree he would be.

As usual, and to no surprise on my side, another thought provoking poem, my friend. more »

That second paragraph: ❤️

I recently read a poem by Yeats titled: A Model for the Laureate. Traditionally, in some countries, the poet laureate recites a poem to usher in a new political leader. In this poem, Yeats urges poets that are in this position to decline such traditions of a tyrant or an authoritarian has been brought into power. A passive protest.

I hope poets and artists actively engage corrupt governments. more »

Steve, please stop. You’re making me blush.

In all seriousness though: thank you! Your works, your style, and the subjects you chose are some of my favorites.

I tried desperately to seek out the best words to articulate the experience. I felt myself drawn to some of the terminology used by philosophers such as Heidegger and Plato, and appealing also to erotic symbolism to express my encounter with ‘naked’ reality.

It’s a piece I’m particularly proud of. Thank you for stopping by with such a thoughtful comment. more »

Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon (especially Sassoon) were the first war poets I read, and both happen to be WW1 poets.

The imagery in this particular piece of yours, like many of their works, is vivid and intense! I felt like I was hopping over that edge (into the fury) with you.

As usual, I am always impressed with the forms you choose: stanza type, meter, rhyme-scheme, etc. I find that when these are pulled off well (along with what’s being expressed) it is a sign a poetic skill. Clearly you have skill … more »

Incredibly kind words! Thank you for them. I was hoping to combine as many poetic devices in a single stanza that I could. I knew that the cadence of a tetrameter would be the best meter for this … the question was: what subject? more »

I have always envied (in a good way) the aesthetic power of Emily Dickinson’s poems, and marvel at their brevity and defiance of Standard English and punctuation. She is the truest and most authentic poet I have ever encountered. more »

We humans are an exceedingly creative bunch—both male and female. I have no doubt that there are cultural equivalents expressed by maidens that mirror the same anxieties my poor stanza reflects.

“Keep inking” … I like that.

I certainly have!

Exactly

It is of no surprise to me that you would have this in the arsenal of quotes you carry. Love it!

Wow! Thanks for the kindness and analysis. It was fun trying to figure out how to combine humor and fatalism.

I thought I would try my hand at a little bit of an aphorism sprinkled with humor.

I felt very deeply the anxiety shadowing every word in this piece …

The language here is lovely, the metaphor perfect, the message: one hundred percent agreed!

Your comment and kindness are deeply appreciated. Thank you for taking the time and leaving them.