Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point

So what do we think?
When we bother at all.
Of staying in straight lines?
Following the uniform in front?
Followed uniformly behind?
Up marble steps hollowed down by those before,
Past sleeping lions heroically carved to guard…
What? From whom?
Taken in perspective, all lines converge.
Until the mind - that willing fool -
Begins its urging. First quietly, in seditious whisper:
“Yes, this is real, real. Simply reach out and touch to feel.”
So convinced, we break away, slip beneath the velvet rope,
Past guards lost in stuporus dreams of cigarettes and coffee.
We know! Truly know what depth is there.
That hands may feel what eyes may see,
So we reach, reach,
Reach until suddenly,  surprised fingers are stopped.
Stopped short by the grain of brush strokes,
Stopped by the taunt bounce of canvas.
Then, oh then, there is the slow walk back
Back into place
Then there is the mourning,
Mourning that unnamed thing, lost.
Lost forever by the act of discovery.

 

Author's Note

All comments and criticism welcome

Reviews

[Laz K.]

I've read this a few tines trying to take it all in.

First, there's the realization of conformity that breeds discontent.
Then, comes the desire to explore.
The poem suggests that we re fooling ourselves.
Disappointment follows, and disillusionment.
Maybe, it all just seemed so enticing and wonderful in our head?

I appreciate poems that speak of some deep realization - and this one certainly does that.
The imagery used throughout is very vivid and masterful as well.

[Delmar Cooper]

Thanks for reading and for your comments. I had the notion it was a loss of innocence poem pretty much.

[Nusquam Esse]

This one really speaks to me... as in life I have become convinced that there are truths which cannot be understood by seeking them, beauty which is not absorbed by seeking understanding, that words both give expression yet also strip away an element of profundity. As if your every touch brings something to reality, and leaves a fractured dream in its wake. I guess your mistake was letting euclidean geometry dictate the nature of lines and queues... perhaps then the dream would manifest as reality crumbled to your fingertips?

Thanks for this, sincerely,
N.E

[jen]

Can I ask what the inspiration was for this poem? The reason I ask is because I relate to different parts of this for different reasons. Discovery and the delight of that discovery is mostly what I receive from this. Really good in that it puts me in a space that I can remember how I felt that way before. Thank you for sharing.

[Delmar Cooper]

Thank you for your kind and generous comments. I can't recall if there was an exact moment when I felt compelled to scribble this : no inciting incident comes to mind. Perhaps I saw an architectural rendering of a "vanishing point" at any rate one thought led to another and at some point led to a pencil.

[Casey Truax]

On one level this looks to tell the story of someone in an art museum giving in to the temptation to touch the artwork. The sense of touch can bring a sense of reality that sight cannot but sometimes what we find does not live up to imagination.

[Delmar Cooper]

Yeah pretty much a fellow whose fingers give the lie to his eyes. Losing and gaining perspective at the vanishing point. Or something like that. Thanks for reading.

[Aura]

So beautiful indeed. What happens once we explore beyond the lines, beyond the skies limit? What happens when we bend a rule, or not go in uniform? That's when we stand out, and not become another point that needs to vanish, because we are unique and it needs to be looked that way, that we aren't someone else and no one else can be us.

[Delmar Cooper]

Thank you for reading and for your cogent comment.

[Aura]

My pleasure

[Red Brick Keshner]

Once we've scaled the heights and sailed the vast oceans we come to a point where everything about the unknown, of what's out there is laid bare. We can no longer be innocent or wide-eyed about those things. As children of a single parent we pretty much had to take hold of much of the domestic reigns. One day a younger sister asked rather pointedly, and then retorted, 'You can tell me! I know. But everyone keeps it a secret.' Our loss of innocence was rough in many instances and wondrous at others. So we grieve and mourn and look at the next thing in front of us, less pristine, more knowing. Perhaps this is part of evolving that evolutionists don't always touch on or validate; our inner evolution. But that's just me. Thanks for sharing. /Frederick.

[Delmar Cooper]

Frederick, thank you for reading and for taking time to comment. I appreciate it. I like your term "inner evolution" your usage makes it distinct from mere growth.

[Red Brick Keshner]

Thanks, Delmar, it was difficult to find an apt and already coined term so decided on that. I'm glad it helped describe what I felt the poem was conveying at some level. Cheers. Frederick.

[roarke]

Hi Delmar, This piece touches many themes. The inner perspective shows how deep from the ethers the ideas come. Blind uniformity, loss of the sublime for the mundane by following in lock step, then touching, coming close to original creativity, only to be pulled back into line, never getting to explore the discovery.
And more. Your few words suggest so much, allowing room for the reader to relate their own experiences. Nice piece.

[Delmar Cooper]

Glad you read this one. I enjoyed writing it.

[Dave]

A cry against the commonplace. A challenge to be daring and to break the mold and venture into something new,untried. It is only in the daring that things are found worthwhile and worth the effort of pursuit. Thank you for the inspiration.

Take care - Dave

[Delmar Cooper]

So glad you read this one. Thanks for your patience.

[Amber Stone]

An excellent poem, Delmar!!! seems wandering the whole process of the canvas of Life, or Love, or Death, or wandering and processing the phases of every single Discovering. seems even speaking about the transcendence and the briefness of each moment ...this feels a very multipurpose poem and its reading opens and sets mind free. lines and rhymes of the poem are soo clever and well structured and well conceived, specially: "Taken in perspective, all lines converge" epic line this yours. Thank u for magically sharing and, indeed as Laz, masterful delivering. :) my humble respect and full admiration, Amber

[Delmar Cooper]

Dear Amber,
Thank you for taking the time to read and then comment about the poem. That alone is a great pleasure to me, but then the comments are kind and gentle so I am induced to purrr. I like your comment "this feels a very multipurpose poem" so it seems I have written the Swiss Army Knife of poems. My hats are all now too small.

[Amber Stone]

LOL big hug,
Amber

[Zoe Richardson]

Hey! I'm over here in Walker County, in case you thought you were the only poet in the area. To me, this seems like an homage to rule breakers. To those who see beyond, and break the rules because rules for rules sake are death to the creative mind. As someone who goes out the in door often, and touches wet paint just to see if they are lying to me, I can identify with this. As I often told my children, "Rules are for people who can't think for themselves."

[Delmar Cooper]

Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. Y'all come.

[barleygirl]

Since I read tons of true outdoor adventure books, especially about "firsts" -- your poem harkens to the ever-shrinking untouched wilderness. Your last 2 lines are what stomp the hell out of me (((HUGS)))

[Delmar Cooper]

Thank you for your words. They are a comfort.