A Poem Thread

Write4U said:
Old man

Old man sitting, rocking , dreaming
summer evening, swamp air steaming
he's a'thinkin, puffin smoke
pipestem worn, burned out bowl
crops of corn, grandma's stole
he's a'thinkin, puffin smoke
Jody's dog, what a scare
Billy's hog, last year's fair
he's a'thinkin, puffin smoke

Old man, sitting all alone
thinking and a'dreamin, ain't no phone
he's had a good life by and by
now he's resting , time does fly
silver watch, cousin Joe
boxing match, what a blow
he's a'thinkin, puffin smoke
caught a trout in the rain
damn that gout causin pain
he's a'thinkin, puffin smoke

Old man sitting, rocking , dreaming
summer evening, swamp air steaming
he's a'thinkin, puffin smoke
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I love it!
 
Desolation

Left emptiness, vacant room
stark walls, lonely broom
tilting table, checkered cloth
coffee stains, lifeless moth
human beings here once dwelt
perhaps hope here once was felt
but look around and see
could it have been but misery
desolation dwells

Uninspired ornaments of alabaster
molded scrolls of casting plaster
windows smudged with coated grime
wooden floors revealing time
desolation dwells

Left emptiness, vacant room
stark walls, lonely broom
tilting table, rusty knife
reminders of the time
this lonely place once was alive
human beings here once dwelt
joy and sorrow once were felt
now shadows cast a silent spell
and desolation dwells
 
Trooper said:
Well, OCD sufferers feel the need to control everything. There is no room for doubt or uncertainty. Emotions are necessary, though. We have to have them. We wouldn't function well without them.
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Ants function perfectly well without them.

What you mean is that we wouldn't function well as humans without them... and in that case, I'd agree. My quibble is that in acknowledging their usefulness, we tend to ascribe to them too much importance. Doubt and uncertainty are useful only in that they aid in decision making once one overcomes them.
Emotions are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. Romantic literature gives the illusion otherwise, and that illusion is the bane of many.

Might try my hand at poetry... again... someday.
 
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The Marquis said:
Ants function perfectly well without them.
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Well, perhaps we are pheromone insensitive but we're not blind, are we? Chemicals used to elicit social and reproductive behaviors; how are emotions any different? Distant signaling was probably very useful. You’d never want to be up close and personal with a potential enemy now, would you?

The Marquis said:
Emotions are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
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"Modern cognitive science and neuroscience show that studying the role of emotion in mental function (including topics ranging from flashes of scientific insight to making future plans), that no human has ever satisfied this criterion, except perhaps a person with no affective feelings, for example an individual with a massively damaged amygdala or severe psychopathy. Thus, such an idealized form of rationality is best exemplified by computers, and not people. However, scholars may productively appeal to the idealization as a point of reference." [Wikipedia]

Are you a psychopath, Marquis?

The Marquis said:
Romantic literature gives the illusion otherwise, and that illusion is the bane of many.
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What? I thought you enjoyed verbose romance novelists, e.g. Ayn Rand, Tiassa, etc. :D

Where do you think the answer lies? Is it the internal vs. the external, your self-interest vs. others? Even selfishness is codependent. Self-love is even a chemical reaction, right? Rand and her lotus eaters, hah, that’s why I asked you if objectivists overestimated their independence from society? The internal and external are always interdependent.

Is love a reflection? Hmm…I don’t know. We do seem to seek ourselves in others, do we not?

"We're born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."—Orson Welles

Perhaps that's the nitty-gritty; love allows us to escape ourselves.

Not knowing how to live is separateness, the division of the world into self and others. I sit inside my skull and look out as a frightened man from a moated castle. Me in here and the world out there. We negotiate, we make deals, exchanges, but we are not one. I am an entity, complete. Never do I lose sight of where I stop and the world begins. With sleepless vigilance I patrol the edges of selfhood, warn visitors away. I am independent within this domain, but I am dying. It is my wholeness that destroys me. I long for partness in a greater whole.

Knowing how to live is oneness with the world. I die of the hunger of oneness. I find it never. I read about, and the words are ghosts. Dharma is not for me, nor “the way” of Lao Tzy. I feel it in the patience of the trees, the wind in their branches sigh about it. I hear it in the rote of the surf and the song of the lark. I see it in animals and in children. I touch it but cannot make it mine. Mine! I’m trying to grab it, I suppose, ravage it back into this moated castle, and that’s the trouble—this division of everything into self and others which I can’t escape because it’s not something that limits me, it is me. I stand on a ledge.—Allen Wheelis
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Well, you certainly can't escape by standing on the ledge gazing into the abyss, that’s for sure. You don't exist there. :eek:

Chemical reactions are real. However, love is fed by potentialities through our imagination. Maybe that's where the illusions lie.

But here's the kicker…the "self" that, too… is an illusion.

Ha-ha… funny, huh? :bugeye:
 
Trooper said:
Well, perhaps we are pheromone insensitive but we're not blind, are we? Chemicals used to elicit social and reproductive behaviors; how are emotions any different? Distant signaling was probably very useful. You’d never want to be up close and personal with a potential enemy now, would you?
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Ants and other hive insects communicate on a chemical level. Even a brainless slime mold exhibits a pseudo intelligence by leaving chemical trails.. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brainless-slime-molds/

"Modern cognitive science and neuroscience show that studying the role of emotion in mental function (including topics ranging from flashes of scientific insight to making future plans), that no human has ever satisfied this criterion, except perhaps a person with no affective feelings, for example an individual with a massively damaged amygdala or severe psychopathy. Thus, such an idealized form of rationality is best exemplified by computers, and not people. However, scholars may productively appeal to the idealization as a point of reference." [Wikipedia]

Where do you think the answer lies? Is it the internal vs. the external, your self-interest vs. others? Even selfishness is codependent. Self-love is even a chemical reaction, right? Rand and her lotus eaters, hah, that’s why I asked you if objectivists overestimated their independence from society? The internal and external are always interdependent.

Is love a reflection? Hmm…I don’t know. We do seem to seek ourselves in others, do we not?

"We're born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."—Orson Welles

Well, you certainly can't escape by standing on the ledge gazing into the abyss, that’s for sure. You don't exist there. :eek:

Chemical reactions are real. However, love is fed by potentialities through our imagination. Maybe that's where the illusions lie.

But here's the kicker…the "self" that, too… is an illusion.

Ha-ha… funny, huh? :bugeye:
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IMO, without some form of cognition there would be no human civilization. In addition to chemical (odor) and other physical signals most of our actions are based on the mirror neural network which allows us to experience empathy and understanding of morality.

Why can a poem (strings of words) create an emotional response and why does a psychopath not show social skills? When we look at others we are looking at ourselves. Why do we respond emotionally to someone else's tragedy?
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0893608006000268

A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.[1][2][3] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate species.[4] Birds have been shown to have imitative resonance behaviors and neurological evidence suggests the presence of some form of mirroring system.[4][5] In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.[6]

The function of the mirror system is a subject of much speculation. Many researchers in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology consider that this system provides the physiological mechanism for the perception/action coupling (see the common coding theory).[3] They argue that mirror neurons may be important for understanding the actions of other people, and for learning new skills by imitation. Some researchers also speculate that mirror systems may simulate observed actions, and thus contribute to theory of mind skills,[7][8] while others relate mirror neurons to language abilities....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons
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IMO, this is why smileys and emoticons are so effective.
 
Write4U said:
IMO, this is why smileys and emoticons are so effective.
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Ya, I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was Ramachandran that suggested the body is the only thing that prevents us from actually feeling other people’s pain. That mirror neurons are necessary for learning and mimicking, but also a prerequisite to self-reflection. That self-reflection was a byproduct from this. I'm not too sure but it is interesting.

Hey, thanks for the tip on the pottery wheel, BTW. I would have never figured that out. :)
 
Trooper said:
Ya, I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was Ramachandran that suggested the body is the only thing that prevents us from actually feeling other people’s pain. That mirror neurons are necessary for learning and mimicking, but also a prerequisite to self-reflection. That self-reflection was a byproduct from this. I'm not too sure but it is interesting.

Hey, thanks for the tip on the pottery wheel, BTW. I would have never figured that out. :)
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Always wanted to have a potters wheel. To take a lump of clay and shape it into a utensil or a work of art appeals to me. It must be one of the oldest skills of the "toolmakers".

And this little clip may be of interest regarding the mirror neural system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zfgFfC5kOs&list=PL20167D4F8FFB717E
 
Sprite

gratitude
is like autumn leaves that disperse
from the being of tree
in rite
at severance the
gratitude for being
is a mutual will
of thanks
that feeds cosmic love & trust.
 
Here Here :D

Politics are yet distinct of humaneity.
As humaneity is distinct from politics in the idea of family.
Hurtred exists for beings whom dictate their lives through religion of one another
religion itself as if sects where political.
Sects of religion are cultural fields.
***********************************
A field and I what a joy to see cosmic love of the religion of the cosmos at play
making flowers for sight,
I like the truth of existence
an earthling
I suppose words
for I am sort of a sunflower
with good seeds of words
and shell
for paper
a cosmos flower child
of tithonia tithonia will
and lavender
breeds my sage intelligence
of forget me not words
I needn't be shy of myself
for I am free
a being
secrate
in the word
humaneity.
 
I Don't Know

Dear Life
it grieves me from time to time.

How many have fallen ill or died
because of negative language

Especially the warnings of risk of health on pharmaceutical commercials since the 1990's...
dear trust,
it makes me so sad
when I think of the beautiful
that became
numb to life starting in those years

real life

simplicity of let's say the greater health our country had around about and afore 1969

I don't know.

:(
 
(just writing ? behaviorist poetry)


?Freedom exists in a schoolbook

Adequacy is relative to action.
I know
idea is directly related to will
and that
mirror mixed with electronic light and idea change view of soluble matter beyond a peek



hmmm rite and adequacy
and spirit grease of a sought passed on (dead) domestic pet or eaten eyed food that interest
mergeing with a body
could it be childhood cancer

a child with parents that are fascinated by creature comfort's in a superficial way
yet lacking in adequate time and attention relative to good times of free play..


A child spending too much time in the house
is often somewhat lonely
and
'lo thinks children are born responsive and thoughtful yet need care and friendship, scholarship interest and freeplay

O' what lack in esoteric thought is this
concerning eyed food or death of a domestic pet
the child seeks
and the spirit grease responds to the calling
that a somewhat advanced lonely child merges with
and ends up unwell

because perhaps the parents neglect
for different reasons

writing writing

abacus slider to clean the theme - ha.. reincarnation & incarnation are a freedom of choice field of nonattachment hmmm

and a book titled good times
chase away cancer
 
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