A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Tuesday 15 December 2015

One Morning I Woke Up With Nothing

One morning I woke up with nothing
But a half-empty bottle and a half-written poem.
I finished the bottle but not the poem.

Then I slipped the poem inside the bottle
Which I floated on the ocean of my mind.
The waves were deep but kind.

It fetched up on the shore of my real self,
My self of truths and dreams
Which had no need of things 

Luckily, for they had been given away
Or sold or stolen — what more I can say.
All that remained was my true self,

My sea-green mind and my bottled message
In all its poverty and obscurity,
Yet somehow innocent in its purity.

8 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

I like this Robert - there is a sadness there and yet there is too a new beginning.

donna baker said...

Beautiful thoughts and words remain.

am said...

You've got my full attention with your poem this December morning. A vision of innocence and experience. Thank you, Robert.

The Solitary Walker said...

Thanks for reading my poem, everyone. 'Innocence and experience' — yes, that's it, I think: the social, exterior self or persona — the one that accumulates possessions, the one that often gets corrupted by hypocrisy, ambition and superficiality — contrasted with the individual, interior self, which may still retain a core of truth and innocence (often revealed through art).

Schopenhauer once wrote: 'We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.'

dritanje said...

Oh this is brilliant Robert! You've really caught the essence of what I feel human life itself is all about. (Especially I like the 'sea-green mind'; more and more that is becoming the colour I want to wear and have around me)

The Solitary Walker said...

Why, thanks Morelle! Green, blue and grey/black are my colours, I think — though, of course, each 'colour' contains within it a million shades, tints and gradations.

Birdiehop said...

Beautiful, you've got a new follower now after I have just stumbled across your blog. I relate so to the sentiments you express here. To wake with no possessions or feel nothing about them is key. And the 'Sea-green mind' is such a evocative concept, and one I share also a favourite hue :)

The Solitary Walker said...

Welcome to my blog, Birdiehop — and thanks for following.