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Kevin Taylor
Member

since 1999-12-23

Posts 185
near Vancouver, BC, Canada

0 posted 2000-01-19 08:16 PM

.
i, I ain't
but name
and named
are all but same
to some
though none
I'd care to id with
if id had one iota
of truth beyond its pithless
fruit of grinning idiots.

We are, nameless,
I-men, striving
far above the beggars notion
of spare change and spartan motion
(less the discipline, of course, and honor too) -
to chart the vistas of our own creation
while lesser men misspell their lives awry
and so become (already were?)
phonetic beings (all!).
Trading i for I
the i-man reaching downward
splits the rhizomed root
whence I- had parted
splicing fungused-i to feed
upon his stolen
I-man grace. And struts.

A parasite, then.
Galt knew. At least Ayn said he did.
i-man, i-beast, i-mud-man-beast. I have no patience left.
Waste them all.

*Galt is a character in "Atlas Shrugged," a book by Ayn Rand

< !signature-->

Kevin

"Poetry is, at once, what you get... and how you got there."

[This message has been edited by kevintaylor (edited 01-19-2000).]

Vincent Spaulding
Member

since 2000-01-16

Posts 59

1 posted 2000-01-20 04:49 AM

An unusual poem, but a good read. Good meter and the spacing is a visual treat. Poetry is after all both a visual and verbal art.

Wordshaman
Member

since 2000-01-17

Posts 110
Illinois, USA

2 posted 2000-01-20 04:52 AM

This poem starts off reeking of e.e. cummings, then ends off with a Beat Poet ramble. Kinda cool in a hipster, kooky kinda way.

Wordshaman

Kirk T Walker
Member

since 2000-01-13

Posts 357
Liberty, MO

3 posted 2000-01-20 12:06 PM

I read over this a couple times, and am still not sure exactly what you are trying to say (I wish I had more time to decifer). I sort of got lost in the last part of the second stanza. I would like to say, however, that the rythym/meter of this poem is really great.

Very nice sound and idea here:
"We are, nameless,
I-men, striving
far above the beggars notion
of spare change and spartan motion"

I loved the sound of the last stanza, but once again, I am unsure of the exact meaning:
A parasite, then.
Galt knew. At least Ayn said he did.
i-man, i-beast, i-mud-man-beast. I have no patience left.
Waste them all.

jbouder
Member Elite

since 1999-09-18

Posts 2534
Whole Sort Of Genl Mish Mash

4 posted 2000-01-20 05:31 PM

Kevin:

Hah! Once again you surprise me (I apologize for not expecting something like this from you). I'm not an Objectivist but I've read enough of Rand to be familiar with her world view. I (capital "I", by the way) never read "Atlas Shrugged" but I thoroughly enjoyed "Anthem" (much shorter too).

You stated the philosophy of self-reliance wonderfully with this. Your first stanza is masterful ("i, I ain't but name and named are all but same to some"). Thanks for the read.

Jim

"If I rest, I rust." - Martin Luther

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