Incongruent Flight Plan

Incongruent Flight Plan

 

 

statements of information

the lines deciphered

one interpretation is the bomb

 

cities of thought demolished

so many readers dead to literature's

best genre, poetry

 

the devastation is palpable

the mind sent to impervious destination

War heroes learn exactness

 

Teachers applaud,

they got it,

they survived

 

so many casualties

but they learned the secrets

the poet was carrying

 

War heroes get medals

Teachers are honored for their methods

statements of information like Purple Hearts given

 

now, no one reads anymore

the risk is too great

that mistakes might be made

poetic planes might errantly

invade unchartered skies

 

something new might be deciphered 

from the misread dials

Oh my God, "Mayday, Mayday,

I think I am having an experience!"

 

 

erin-cilberto

3/16/24

Reviews

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Brilliant writing with pertinent points subliminally whispered ...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind words, Marve,
j.

[John the Baptist]

The air war imagery is well chosen, for poetry seems to have slipped in the public esteem. Kids today would rather tune in to their phones and "influencers" than giving Tennyson or Eliot a go. You noted a grim truth: no one reads anymore. Damn Tik Tok anyway.

PS: Check out the third word of verse two.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thanks for the catch on verse two...MY writing skills are diminishing as we speak.
and thanks for your other words...very sad.
j.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

A new favorite from you Jacob and I am impressed but not surprised. This has so eloquently stated the sad overall decline in intellectualism and thirst for eclectic education in modern society. Why learn anything? If you want to know you can always ask google. Ask your AI what opinion it holds of Van Gogh or Matisse; Alexander Pope or John Donne. Put that answer down on your college exam. My kid read The Wizard of Oz at age 7 and only had to ask for clarification on a few words. Someone here pointed out the other day that most college kids today can't decipher the common language of O. Henry. Forget about Shakespeare, Chaucer, Homer and Horace. The system has been so involved in teaching the material lessons that it has forgotten the most important lesson of all, to inspire a lifelong love of learning in the youthful mind. I enjoyed the sympathetic observation and the bit of satire at the end.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

no inspiration, just texting...and AI used to pass writing papers...
thank you, Fabian,
j.

[Jon Mahaffie]

Young people are largely growing up with insufficient physical, in your face, unstructured bloody hands experiences (a blessing and a curse) to use as a personal lens for appreciating poetry. There is no "Road Not Taken", because you have to leave your house to travel on a road, and you need to be lost to question which road to take (which is impossible with app directions, and you have to ultimately have a direction in mind in the first place. The collective unconscious is now something we're told rather than something we contribute to

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Jon,
Imagine if Frost had had an app...we might not have had several of his poems.
j.