Absolute Resolution

[Jamie~poetshare.forumotion.com]

Perspective sings these shaded grays awake--
Long not for the surety of your youth
When absolutes were easy ground to stake:
Resolute positions absent of proof.

Maturity brings those faded days to fore,
Introspection births new philosophies,
Incredulity that I was so sure,
Now aware of my mind’s monstrosities.

Black
Black hats in westerns, bad luck from black cats,
Evil easily defined in pictures--
Such simple immemorial combat,
Basing bias on some scripture’s strictures

Shine the light of nuance on certitude:
Social stains once paid such veneration
Often spring from absolute platitudes—
Witness: American segregation.

White
Was a time when polite society
Cherished this immoral privilege.
Racially defining society,
Which is, by any measure, sacrilege

More than race, age, sex, division of creed,
We fall prey to baseless supposition
Showing certitude to justify deed
Seldom contrite of our own volition.

Life presents itself in the subtlest shades:
Chords of certainty birth arpeggios
Trailing our fervent youthful escapades
As certainty fades diminuendo.

Independent thought, born to make contrasts
Examines not just what but also why,
Begging youth's expectations be surpassed,
Asking what purpose Black and White belie

Resolve to witness your remaining days
Examining everything astutely--
Give consideration to all the grays,
Measure the minutia resolutely.

[polonius]

A very clear rebuttal of absolutes, Jamie. But if we reduce everything to relativities and uncertainties, we are left with a splintered society, where the fabric has no clear form, which can't function because it has no common values. ==> There's an idea for a poem. See Enoch Powell's speech, "Rivers of Blood."

[Saffron]

Dang Jamie, You really hit the nail on the head with this one. The older I get the less I know. I long for the surety of youth when my absolutes were firmly in place with all my naivety. I must commend you on the form. It really leads the eyes to make all the right pauses. Penny

[stacy (FINALLY back!)]

I loved the structure of this one, Jamie. It really set it up a notch for me as I read it. Incredibly penned. And I think you spoke for many of us in this one. I know you spoke for me. You have a way with words, and I know that when I'm feeling that certain way that I just can't describe in words, I can come in here and read one of your many talented poems and you have described that indescribable feeling in me to a "T". Loved it!

[apocalypticjay]

This was absoultly stunning, the growth between Boy to Man, and ubderstanings fade and come back to light then fade again, we are all suns and we fade behind the clouds sometime. You touch very well on narrow mindedness and opening windows to let the light in too. Another great poem Jamie!

[matw63]

Jamie - a very clever write and the assonance of each stanza is first class.

exalt!

Mat