Little is gained by trying to defend oneself
To those who see only what they want to see
Who refuse to consider the possible reality
Of what others know as real
Or learn to distinguish the imaginary from the actual
Only touching what was never real or tangible
Except within the windmills of their own making
Many have stipulated truth
From within the fears and desires
Of their innermost convictions
And will never confess to a deaf center of listening
For they can only hear immutable voices
Echoing off the canyons of their own earth bound beliefs
Many refuse to accept
The principle of transformation:
That people change and have the ability
To transcend their surroundings
I mean, why would they?
They are happy in being grounded
In what they have grown to believe
And nothing else matters
And nothing more is to be considered
Or validated
I have learned
Little is achieved by being deceptive
Or being declivitously close to the edge
Of a vortex leading only to heartache and ambivalence
And I wonder if these unhappy people will ever realize
Little is gained by losing forever
The joy that can be found
By rising above the dreams of their own making
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Reviews of "the Dreams and Windmills of Their Own Making"
eloquent offering that rises above. rather than spinning another windmill you demonstrate with this poem your embrace of the larger vision, in which the need for right and wrong, you and me, life and death is no longer the overriding concern. neither is the world shrunk to whatever our own persepective in a given time may be. a little harder sometimes, and uncomfortable for most of us, but surely the more excellent way, reaching always for that something more. true to me and striving to remain open to others, even when their dreams and the surrounding thoughts to which they attach themselves strike me as a bit off. a gracious response, Jude, and one that provides much to consider. Dawn
Powerful Idea, Robert. Perhaps that is what seperates poets from the rest of the world. We see not only what is, we see what could be. We dream grand dreams, and see beauty where others see only ugliness.
Well done, my friend. This one is worth reading everyday.
Bobbi
One must feed the mind/brain along with the heart/soul to be truly engaged in this world. Sadly, our current culture tends to beat the desire to do so out of many at far too early a life stage.
Another suberbly expressed write, Jude.
Peace,
Carolyn
We suffer needlessly when we hold he key to such truths within our minds. Thnak you for saying what most of us feel as a dull ache in our hearts that we mostly fail to articulate. Your words/works transcend this coil and cast a long shadow...
There is a lot of wisdom in this write that comes from experience and I suspect some of it has been very painful. Those that continue to learn will rise within higher levels with these thoughts implanted. Those that will not learn as you have said:
" Little is gained by trying to defend oneself
To those who see only what they want to see."
Still waiting for the picture ;-)
Reviewed by Ron (sketchman) Axelson (Reader)
Reviewed on January 26, 2006
The first lines are very true...
One sided people never understand..
They only hear what they want to hear..
Thanks for sharing.....
Well, ting-a-ling on that Bermudan triangle and bang the gong! Old Mellow Yellow San Mistico is at it agin!! :)) Can feel Sage's deliciously sweet, Sevillian Orange (por supuesto!) creative spit dribbling all the way down my spine on this one, Jude, bonding us all together in creative fusion! :)) I am not a lesbian, but I share her dreams. I am not multifaith, but I share likeminded hopes of on-going life, resolution and fruitful harmonies to come. Dreams are the vehicle by which we get from where we are now to the place we desire to be - if we are Journeymen. Guess some, however, might elect for a perceived and received status quo that roots and grounds them as if on a bedrock that will hopefully stand fast. Whatever... but surely our stance might be: "Don't tell me you can see my arse hanging out of my Emperor's suit of invisible new clothes, and I won't tell you that your belly is hanging over your tight old belt of acquired information and received knowledge!"? The sources of our dreams are just different, right?! Who is, after all, to say which is of more worth - the new invisible suit or the worn old belt? Otherwise, as you say, we can just get into the mindset that "I am what I think I would like to be, and YOU are what I think you are"...
Judgmental mindsets create a gulf: "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream... merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but I dream..." - know that one? If you can't see my boat, don't tell me it don't exist from where you're standin on the bank. The fact that I'm floatin away and not standing static next to where you are probably means, in fact, that it does! :))
Of course, all this "me" and "you" reference in this uncreative drivel is totally impersonal. Which is how I feel after a day sluicing down after my poor old Mum. But guess we are all, one way or another, into building the walls of that poetic city of adventure up, rather than knocking them down, and each of our little poetry bricks is a stone of endeavour to that end. Another good soliloquy, Jude, which we all seem anxious to eavesdrop on and butt into... the phrases "I have learned" and "little is gained" shows that you, at least, have a teachable and humble spirit. And this is another brick in The Wall of which Pink Floyd would be proud. "Meddle" is a great track... and I think you've earned one after all this: black belt in self-defence! Quiet and gracious as always. :)) KasablanKa Kate xx
If we have our own truth, and that truth sets us free to not be judgemental, to have joy and to accept diversity, then are we stuck? I don't feel stuck. I feel that I learn more everyday through my belief. Excellent poem, Jude. As you see, you got me thinking.
Reviewed by Joseph* OneLight*® (Reader)
Reviewed on January 26, 2006
To embrace diversity, to celebrate ever-expanding thought, to keep moving ... this is what moves Life forward!
Love & Light,
Joseph
Reviewed by J M (Reader)
Reviewed on January 26, 2006
Powerful theme and message with so much truth evident within your message wonderful job.
To be unhappy is often of our own making and choice,its all in how we precieve. To dream is one the greatest gifts! To live that dream is most precious, well done Jude!
Now there's a stirling idea Jude, I'll try a dream, instead of a stinken nightmare night after night!!! Reckon that will help. Thanks for this, as always you bounce me out of my own reckoning.
Hugs
Ch'erie
Reviewed by Betty Torain (Reader)
Reviewed on January 26, 2006
I love your POEM. It has deep meaning to my spirit. My desire in life is to fulfil my purpose in life, The reason God put me on this earth and how I am to live my life brings me great Joy but, not always happiness. Thanks for sharing. Love, Betty Torain
Flexibility is the key to harmony. Whatever a person "believes" becomes a big part of who they are. I try to subscribe to the "Judge not and ye shall not be judged" philosophy and I have learned that I don't have all the answers. (did I really admit that??? LOL) I think that what I believe is simply put "my belief" and I try not to ever judge another by my abilities or my beliefs. Evil rests everywhere and I have yet to find a spiritual path that doesn't include a certain amount acceptance, evil and deceit; afterall, humans are involved and that is human nature. We all want to believe that what we have decided to be the truth, is the only truth and in doing so, we discount what another may believe to be true, feeling that they are mislead and their beliefs incorrect. The trick is to be flexible and open to change and difference of opinion and not see either as a threat to who we are. There is no right or wrong in this, simply a sight that comes from a different perspective.
Take care,
Sherry
Dreams, goals, ideas...They are all built within one's own mind and body..
They are kind of like watching a movie without video..You can have them. You can hear them, but unless you figure out how to see them, you are really missing the whole picture!
Good write Robert!
Interesting Jude, though I also wonder if the reverse is also true and if man is capable of literally dividing dreams from the outside reality of life.
"And I wonder if these unhappy people will ever realize"... that voluntary blindness and deafness to anything that is not the "absolute truth" no one owns, least of all those who like to think they do, is at the root of their unhappiness, and no one else but them is to blame if happiness does not blossom. To be open to evolution and growth is what takes us to the awareness of our own power... to tell dreams apart from "windmills" and new worlds from "sea monsters". An exceptional pondering in an exceptional poem, as always, dear Jude.
Love&Light*
Alexandra*
You've hit the nail square on the head here Jude in this truly sagacious write. There are plenty of people,I see them everyday, who I doubt have ever had a dream in their lives and walk about blinkered, devoid of aspiration and inspiration...I believe they're afraid to dream, let alone rise above dreams of their own making. Superb Piece.
Paul;-)
Reviewed by Andy Turner (Reader)
Reviewed on January 26, 2006
Seek the divine will/dream. That, lasts for eternity.
Taking ones eye off of that, one soon gets in a mucking fuddle...
obviously, everyone creates their own dreams ... every dream has the appearance of validity ... some are inspired dreams whose foundation is in reality and aspire to a creative goal while others are insensible, living in deceit and distrust and crawl to the whims of a destructive objective ...
nice one jude. i think this piece echoes the sentiments of many poets who've been through the same mill. it still amazes me how someone's fixed idea can make what you you've written agree with it & then go on to elaborate what you really meant & so in reality manage to completely ignore the work & it's intentions. another nice piece of writing from as usual your prolific pen saludos
Ah Jude, so very deep and true, this is outstanding, just loved this:
I have learned
Little is achieved by being deceptive
Or being declivitously close to the edge
Of a vortex leading only to heartache and ambivalence
And I wonder if these unhappy people will ever realize
Little is gained by losing forever
The joy that can be found
By rising above the dreams of their own making
The drive of wisdom and earthly knowledge is irresistable to the person who loves. This is the person who loves sunsets, oceanviews, coyotes, picnics, companionship, creative dreams, and windmills which are guaranteed not to wreck in any storm. Such an overpowering instinct often is denied by the rational mind or transformed, sublimated into some other activity, such as art or religion, and expressed through a code of symbols. Those individuals who do not fathom an existence other than their own, ferociously attack and displace our images that are personally intense to us, why we damn well create them. That person's failure to indulge his or her own mind furnishings can cause anguish and misery and try to become the focus of the center of attention when they possess little to offer. These are ones with tiny minds with no intention of expanding. They, like the grass will soon wither, their dreams will burn in Hell and their windmills will pump mud. This deceitful poet who penned "Creative Drivel" is certainly not one of the limestone poets of my poem 'We Built This City.' Absolutely not! I would not want my Walls touched by his weak hands. Below is Jude's review of my poem 'We Built This City.' The windmill on my upcoming novel cover stands for my creative dream. It represents the height of my dreams and my goals were met for that particular novel. If I feel like spitting some creative spit off that 20-foot wooden tower, I will climb up with my strap-on shooter and spit good spit for the collective good of AD poets, the glue of creative spit that binds all of our poetic dreams together as ONE!
Reviewed by robert Jude forese 12/19/2005
the city is the center of poetic adventure
the collective dawn of motion
the calm at the end of commotion
the wall that is invisible to dreamers
for they can see through its design
Robin Ouzman Hislop's poetry is certainly in dialogue with some of the key architects of the 'poetics of indeterminacy' – both the Modernist strands represented by the likes of Beckett and Stein, and the postmodernist strands represented, initially,
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Ron
It pays to keep an open mind Jude !
Peter
to the reads
excellent write
William
Peace
Regis
Great verse!
love and peace...
Carole
Well done, my friend. This one is worth reading everyday.
Bobbi
Another suberbly expressed write, Jude.
Peace,
Carolyn
We suffer needlessly when we hold he key to such truths within our minds. Thnak you for saying what most of us feel as a dull ache in our hearts that we mostly fail to articulate. Your words/works transcend this coil and cast a long shadow...
Peace,
B
TRASK
" Little is gained by trying to defend oneself
To those who see only what they want to see."
Still waiting for the picture ;-)
One sided people never understand..
They only hear what they want to hear..
Thanks for sharing.....
Judgmental mindsets create a gulf: "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream... merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but I dream..." - know that one? If you can't see my boat, don't tell me it don't exist from where you're standin on the bank. The fact that I'm floatin away and not standing static next to where you are probably means, in fact, that it does! :))
Of course, all this "me" and "you" reference in this uncreative drivel is totally impersonal. Which is how I feel after a day sluicing down after my poor old Mum. But guess we are all, one way or another, into building the walls of that poetic city of adventure up, rather than knocking them down, and each of our little poetry bricks is a stone of endeavour to that end. Another good soliloquy, Jude, which we all seem anxious to eavesdrop on and butt into... the phrases "I have learned" and "little is gained" shows that you, at least, have a teachable and humble spirit. And this is another brick in The Wall of which Pink Floyd would be proud. "Meddle" is a great track... and I think you've earned one after all this: black belt in self-defence! Quiet and gracious as always. :)) KasablanKa Kate xx
Love & Light,
Joseph
Hugs
Tina
Hugs
Ch'erie
Take care,
Sherry
They are kind of like watching a movie without video..You can have them. You can hear them, but unless you figure out how to see them, you are really missing the whole picture!
Good write Robert!
Lisa
Felix
*smooches* ~~Nordette
Love&Light*
Alexandra*
Paul;-)
Taking ones eye off of that, one soon gets in a mucking fuddle...
You have such an open mind...thanks for sharing it in verse!!
Being a dreamer myself and...
"The joy that can be found
By rising above the dreams of their own making"
Love is understanding a dreamers mind!!
Love Tinka :)
I have learned
Little is achieved by being deceptive
Or being declivitously close to the edge
Of a vortex leading only to heartache and ambivalence
And I wonder if these unhappy people will ever realize
Little is gained by losing forever
The joy that can be found
By rising above the dreams of their own making
Reindeer
Reviewed by robert Jude forese 12/19/2005
the city is the center of poetic adventure
the collective dawn of motion
the calm at the end of commotion
the wall that is invisible to dreamers
for they can see through its design
Sage