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Tag Archives: Romantic poetry
Mirror Poem Reflection on Personal and Cultural Introspection
Since 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections was published Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has travelled Scandinavia for a Channel 4 documentary series. In the Denmark episode he interviewed Soren Malling, star of The Killing and Borgen, and asked him about the contrasting image of Denmark as the happiest country in the world and the dark side shown in Nordic Noir fiction. The episode is on YouTube:
Romantic Poet to Shock Rocker
The impression given by Malling and Fearnley-Whittingstall was that they thought it was healthy for a society to investigate and discuss the negative sides of their collective cultural psyche, and that it was probably their free press and open thought tradition that made Denmark one of the most free and progressive countries in the world.
Poetry also does this of course, including my human parallel, legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Yes, regular readers will probably have guessed that it’s the greenYgrey poetry correspondent, William Wolfsworth.
This search for truth and meaning is often done in music too, and one of the most innovative and legendary proponents of self-analysis and exposition is Alice Cooper.
Mirror Poem Reflection
So, after Marc Latham’s first poetry collection had bipolarity in the title, Alice Cooper’s greenYgrey Alice Does Alice album cover showing his two sides reflecting each other seemed a good topic for a Halloween Folding Mirror poem in October 2010.
It was first published on fmpoetry.wordpress.com, and then in 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections along with…
Reflection 14:
The mirror image of personality and humanity has been a regular theme in Folding Mirror poetry. Vincent Furnier‘s Alice Cooper alter-ego allows him to investigate and release his internal demons; demons that once sent him into alcoholism and a sanatorium.
Societies that have the freedom to analyse and criticise themselves, with a free press and human rights, should be healthier in the same way as Furnier is now, while societies that do not have the same reflection and release will probably grow more demonic.
Bipolar Mirror Poem and Reflection
Is happiness a neglect of duty? It seems that avoiding bad news is the best way to be happy if you’re single, unattached and comfortable financially. Travel can give you that freedom to be happy, as you’re away from the usual concerns you have at home.
Mirror Poem Reflection
Hi, it’s William Wolfsworth, poetry correspondent at the greenYgrey inspired by legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth and wolves.
At home you feel like you can and should try and make a difference, even if the political system ultimately seems to do what it wants anyway.
However, when travelling or on holiday you can have other problems, such as feeling isolated or hassled.
Even if you escape humanity you can be left wondering why the world is the way it is, and if there’s any point to existence.
Of course there are good times too; and times when the world seems all wonderful and perfect.
I think that’s what Marc Latham was trying to say in his Mine Bipolar Mind poem available from the above link on fmpoetry.wordpress.com and included in his 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections book along with Reflection 13, which premieres online below:
Reflection 13
You cannot escape –
thinking you’re free
one side of the mind
on the same body.
Sun Seasons Mirror Poem and Human Nature Reflection
The seasons don’t fight against each other, or argue about allotted times, but that’s because they are human constructions, and don’t really exist; although they are useful in dividing the ‘year’ into different weather patterns. In reality, our planet is just circling the centre of our solar system, because the ‘sun’ is controlling us with gravity.
Human Nature
Hi, this is William Wolfsworth, poetry correspondent at the Greenygrey inspired by legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth. The second sentence of the introduction was about Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem, which was inspired by hot sunny weather in Blighty over the last few days. The first sentence was about Reflection 12 from his 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections book.
Here’s Reflection 12, followed by the newly imported from fmpoetry into the Greenygrey world seasonal mirror poem. As with most of the topics, it is an observation and comment on universal human nature, not inspired by anybody in particular.
Those who feel hard done by
often seem to want to get even
not necessarily with whoever
caused their upset
but with anybody
who’ll balance the books
return their equilibrium
as they see it
for the unloved to feel love
for the bullied to feel powerful
for the unlucky to feel lucky
for the poor to feel rich
for the insane to feel sane.
Spring or Summer, Sun flares Whenever
summer can’t arrive too soon
although not expected until June
sun doesn’t know northern reasoning
each hemisphere’s split seasoning
it just sits centre burning fuel
although solar winds wave like fool
our planet circles fusion fire, life on Earth reaching higher
comets dance around gravity bound moons
shooting stars whiz space like loons
judged on falling brightness
without knowing journey light years
hot weather come what May
spring doesn’t claim every day
Related articles
Poetry Reflection Inspires Mind Freedom Search
Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem needs no introduction.
If you follow the tale
to the end of the tail,
you may get the idea
but you might also fail.
Limits of Freedom Poetry Reflection
The above is the introduction to Marc Latham’s Tale of the Weakness Tail Folding Mirror poem posted on fmpoetry in July 2012. I wish its reflection didn’t need an introduction, as I could be out enjoying the delightful spring sunshine, but we believe in doing things properly at the Greenygrey, and time waits for no-one in the fast-paced modern rebranded greenYgrey world… and by the end of writing this post I had found a happy place…
Hi, regular readers and garrulous greenygreyliens might already have guessed that it’s William Wolfsworth, satirical comedy poetry correspondent at the Greenygrey inspired by legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth.
What is Freedom?
Freedom’s just another word, for nothing left to lose sang legendary songstress Janis Joplin. Having escaped a negative upbringing, she found fame and success, but it helped drive her over the edge. Would she have been happier if she’d sought a normal life? I don’t know.
Legendary travel writer Jack Kerouac found freedom On The Road, but lived long enough to reach its end; ending up disillusioned with the counter-culture’s helter-skelter spiral towards self-destruction at the end of the 1960s.
British homes children under the New Labour government thought they had more freedom, but many ended up being enslaved by child grooming gangs. Their social workers believed in them having freedom, so they left them to the mercy of the groomers, who only believed in their own freedom, and cared nothing for anybody else.
Limits of Freedom
When birds have freedom
they don’t fly into the stratosphere
but sometimes bump into windows.
Reflection 11
Yes, the above Limits of Freedom was reflection 11 in 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections, reflecting the mirror poem Tale of the Weakness Tail.
Eagle-eyed readers might be scratching their heads, as they may think that reflection had a totally different meaning to Reflection 10, which wrote about seeking the mind void.
The greenYgrey
They will have forgotten that this is the greenYgrey world, where like in a parallel universe, two ideas and theories can coexist, and sometimes even merge.
Explaining this in human terms, Marc Latham has lived a life of youth, and now crossed the hinterland into middle-age. Crossing from one world into the other doesn’t mean he has left all his youth behind, or forgotten how he felt then, so he is in some ways living two lives; or three if you count the transitional stage.
Is There Anybody Out There?
once sang Pink Floyd. It’s impossible to tell if searching in the void brings any benefits. Although it can seem as if it brought new insights, it’s not really possible to separate them from other factors: such as ageing, life experiences, education, physical changes, world events and exercise.
I remember reading about an enlightened Buddhist monk who thought that recreational drink and drugs in modern society were short-cuts to what he searched for in life. He didn’t regret the time he spent meditating. I guess that’s because he enjoyed it.
I recently read Mark Rowlands in Running With The Pack write about finding and loving that kind of mental place when writing and running.
Now my time in that place must end… but I’m off to get ready for a run in the sun now… the transitional stage spent in the ‘real world’.
I guess that at it’s essence, Reflection 11 is saying that freedom is about having the freedom to choose, and not necessarily choosing the most extreme option.
Poetry Reflection on Modern Society and Political Speech
Hi, it’s William Wolfsworth, poetry correspondent at the Greenygrey, inspired by legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth. There’s no new poems to import and report from the fmpoetry world this week I’m afraid, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have time for reflection.
Modern Politics and Society Poetry Reflection
Reflection 9 reflected the Folding Mirror poem Quality Words are like
Koala(ity) on a Eucalyptus Tree at Sunset.
The reflection comments on the changes in modern technology that has created a 24-hours news and media world; and a desire for instant information in society.
Politicians have had to adapt to this change, and this has perhaps caused a lowering in political dialogue, as politicians seek to avoid saying something that could be considered negative, and try to talk in soundbites created to achieve good instant media headlines.
Is there time to think
before talking
in modern society,
where everything is instant,
silence is belligerent
and noise is magnificent.
Politicians still try to do it,
play for time
get answers to mind
see the interview through
hide the reality
reveal nothing on telly.
New Mirror Poem and Poetry Book Reflections
All in good time for this blog, Marc Latham created his latest Folding Mirror poem yesterday, and posted it on fmpoetry.wordpress.com
Mirror Poem
Hi, it’s William Wolfsworth, poetry correspondent at the Greenygrey inspired by legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Here’s the latest poem, and it’s followed by the latest reflection from Marc’s 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections book.
Winding Between, Two Roads
where was the wind
before now
had it already inspired
thoughts, dreams, wonder
beating
tender hearts
Cihuatecayoti remembered
mind refreshed
riding the magic, blades green grass
march awoken
Cinderellas released
captivity ceased
creating
tribal, dance, writing
other planets have breeze
similar chemicals
is their reaction poetry
Reflection 8
Reflection 8 in Marc’s 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections mirrored Orbital Perceptions, which was about how we usually make sense of the world from our limited sight and knowledge; usually forgetting the massive scale of the universe, and what we don’t see beyond our personal life and experiences.
Like many reflections in the book, you get two or three for one, with this one containing a little poem and a little philosophy. Here it is:
The doors of perception
should not be an obsession.
They will open in time
without such a steep climb.
There is little smaller and more insignificant in space than our planet.
There are few things on our planet that last less time than a single life.
There is little more significant to us than our lifetime in our place in space.
Long Poem Introduces Poetic Reflection Thoughts
Whether you look
left or right
west or east
north or south
there is no complete
truth in the words
of humanity
living in
superficiality.
The future is all pure
clean and untainted.
And if you look
far enough to the past
when humanity
lived with nature
it looks maybe.
But I wasn’t there
so I don’t know
how true that is.
And the only time
in the future
I know will be true
for me
is when I cease
to be.
Those who succeed
are not the ones
who see the iceberg
and it try to dismantle.
They are the ones
who ready themselves
on approaching the iceberg
and go around it.
Hi, it’s William Wolfsworth, poetry correspondent at the Greenygrey inspired by legendary Romantic poet William Wordsworth.
Sorry about the long poetic introduction, but I was inspired by Marc Latham’s See Below Sea poem and its reflection, which it was paired with in his 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections book.
I just noticed the book has come down to a new super low price of £2.83 in the U.K. on Amazon; which is about a penny for each of his thoughts; and lots of other currency equivalents I’m sure.
The above See Below Sea link is for fmpoetry.wordpress.com, and an original version of the poem was also published on EveryDayPoets.
I know you’ve all got busy Saturday things to do, and I include relaxing in that, and think I am in danger of overstaying my welcome, so here’s Reflection 6 of 121:
Although inspired by nature, the iceberg of this poem is a metaphor for the human psyche.
As it is only an iceberg’s tip visible above the surface, most people only have a little of their personality, experiences and thoughts on show in society at any one time.
Family Fortunes Wolf World Poem Parody
Wolf Family Fortunes
There’s a show in the wolf world
like Family Fortunes
the quiz show on British television
called Pack Portions.
There’s a wolf quizmaster
like Vernon Kay
called Herman Gee
some think he’s a greenygrey.
His alpha female is fit
like Tess Daly
named Howl Nightly
they live in a den most stately.
Knowing WoO
Hi, it’s William Wolfsworth, poetry correspondent at the Greenygrey inspired by the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth.
Although previously in Goodbye to WoO week we’ve shown how the Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps has put Australia on the map and changed its culture with the Boomerang social craze, some of you are probably wondering what the WoO’s done for us.
Knowing Me: 70 Poems of Literary Nonsense Poetry
Well, I think the Greenygrey is much happier within itself since its epic Ozyssey, with Green saying Grey seems much closer to it since it achieved the dust sandy path travel quest, and met lots of great characters along the way.
And I think that writing up its journey, and including seventy literary nonsense poems, has made it a better writer and poet, as the above poem suggests to me.
- Link for Amazon book and kindle.
mistYmuse 