How To Catch Butterflies

Maybe the circumstances made the butterfly
Not the butterfly made the circumstances
Maybe this, maybe that
Maybe this here chain
Maybe that there event
Maybe things can change
Maybe nothing's set
Probably... something's though
Pobabaly something's set

     (from one prisoner of a present to another)

          you and I, well, we just time traveled together 

Reviews

[KTizzle]

Allo! Hmm, makes me think of the concept of destiny. Does destiny really exist or do we create it? What if it's a little bit of both, or some other third thing. Very thought provoking, but I have to ask. If you are a prisoner of the present, are you really present? So, is the butterfly supposed to represent the present and how hard it is to catch and whether or not circumstances make it is an age-old question psychologists have debated for years?

Kind regards,

Kianna.

[Davidgeo]

Your question "if you're a prisoner of the present, are you really present?" is self evident. Yes, you are really present... you don't have a choice, hence the word "prisoner".

Can you directly change the past? No. Can you directly change the future? No. Can you directly change the present? Yes. Do you have a choice in any three of these questions? No. You can't even not not directly affect the present, just being concious affects it so not only can't you do anything but directly affect the present... you don't even have a choice but to do nothing else but affect the present one way or another.

The butterfly is the present. To "catch it" is to remember it... how to remember it is to consciously experience it and the easiest way to do that is to simply contemplate it intelligently. "I think therefore I am" - Descartes.

[Andrew Nelson Stewart]

Strong emphasis of nature tugging at your feelings, loved the line "Maybe the circumstances made the butterfly Not the butterfly made the circumstances." Patterns woven, cycles naturally created to create what it's supposed to do. Yet felt comparison to William Blake's poem Eternity Sunrise... sought in this poem some insight into the nature of life. The way Eternity implies that we have glimpses of beauty in nature makes us all the more aware that Eternity, like beauty, is immaterial, and thus eternal. I enjoyed your work... keep writing sincerely your friend in writing and life

[K]

I don't understand it, but I like it nonetheless.

[sL]

Love this poem. It’s playful like a butterfly. Or at least it’s perceived playfully, like a butterfly.

[Erudite]

Meh. Doesn't really say much.

Maybe some things happen

Or they don't.

Or butterflies might affect things.


It's faux deep if you ask me

[Davidgeo]

Not a fan of chaos theory or physics in general I take it...

Ironically your review says, more or less, the same thing as the poem. Too bad you didn't get it, you'd have identified with it if you did.

That's why I don't usually include a score with my reviews. I'd feel like a total a*s clown if I rated something 0/100 and then later realized I just didn't understand it in that moment.

Thanks for your review none the less.

[Erudite]

Nah, i get the intended food for thought. And I do love me some chaos theory.

Your just not leading the reader to any conclusions. It's just vast, open questions with no real direction or purpose

[Davidgeo]

If you think there are conclusions to be "led" to via chaos theory without talking in numbers you don't understand chaos theory.

That you expect conclusions from poetry means you should probably not expect to enjoy my any of my poetry.

Sorry to disappoint you.

[ms. understood]

Always been a fan of the butterfly effect theory.

[Davidgeo]

It's not really a theory in itself as much as it is a metaphor used within chaos theory to refer to the extreme difficulty in predicting complex motion/chaotic motion. Look into a couple fellows named Edward Lorenz and Henri Poincare, the math gets a little funky if you really want to understand chaos theory though. It's like they're speaking an entirely different language, without words, and eventually "talking" about something no everyday rational object could be compared to for reference and, of course, always eventually coming to a point where things don't make sense even for the people who know the most about it.

Personally, I'll always prefer the metaphor to the math.

[Kay Salisu Titilola]

Truly yes, We are all prisoners of time, walking together as its counting keeps events alive but no one knows where, when and how is going to end.
We all are wanders in its confusion asking questions we think that needs answers.

well penned.

[Davidgeo]

Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I think time's just a measuring device like a meter or a kilogram. We just don't really understand what we're measuring like we do with the meter or kilogram so it seems like something else... but I don't think it is. One day someone will figure something out, but not in our lifetime. Confusion and wandering is probably all you and I are going to get.

[Kay Salisu Titilola]

And that is true.

[DAH]

Maybe this is a good poem or maybe not, either way
I like it, it's a fine delivery and nicely played.

Bravo, David!

DAH

[Davidgeo]

Thanks. Maybe's good enough for me.

I wanted to use the slang version "prolly" instead of "probably" because it works better with the flow but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'd rather the end be a little clunky.

[DAH]

I agree! And you're welcome

[TPK Stories]

Some things to ponder. Good read.

[Lyanth]

I actually have nothing to say. I'm a bit brain dead at the moment. All I'll say is this, there are a whole damn lot of different types of butterflies..
Can something ever really be a product of circumstance only?

[Davidgeo]

Depends if you're a fatalist or a determinist or whatever else-ist. What are your thoughts on free will? If you believe it exists, even just a little bit, then you can't ever really be the product of your circumstance only. But the ratio of free will to circumstance with regard to outcome is always different for everyone. Some people are set up for success, some people are set up for failure and everything in between.

[Lyanth]

True, suppose it's another subjective topic..

[Anne’sRants]

your inquisitive mind encourages me David. Those last two lines tie the whole thing together. Nice write

[Davidgeo]

Thanks. Those last two lines butchered the flow and rhyme scheme of the previous one's but I had to leave that information in and ran out of time to clean it up... I could go back and fix it but, eh, probably not.