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digital watches and Kafka
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digital watches and Kafka |
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Sven
since 1999-11-23
Posts 14937East Lansing, MI USA 
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This is something totally different from me, I don't know where it came from, but here it is. I have found that you are what keeps me awake When I am fast asleep Dreaming a reality that I've been living Since I was born A reality that moves and tells time like the hands Of a digital clock Something that could definitely be called (oh, what's the word) Kafka, um Kafka, um yes! Kafkaesque Just like that painting The Persistence of Memory You know, the one with all of the melting watches? I've always wondered how I could bend time like that Get it to do what I want Get twenty-six hours out of a day that they say Should only be twenty-four Or to suspend time in such as way that I could finally Program my VCR (I wonder if Kafka ever had that problem?) Do you think that he solved it when he became a bug Like in that story he wrote? Because I know that if I had a couple of extra appendages It would make it so much easier To get my digital watch to tick Why is it that when we go forward that we want to move back? We want digital to tick We want contemporary, but with that "Old World Charm" again As if the Old World was ever charming I think that if the Old World was ever as "charming" as they say They would have never left They would have just moved it over here when they came Called it "The Old World II" Or something like that (Do you think that Kafka found his world charming?) But no, they called it "The New World" like it was a big deal When all they were really doing Was just setting us up for that time when we would want our digital watches To tick like they used to Tick, Tick, Tick Sounds so much better than Beep Beep Beep Doesn't it? But, does it really matter how we measure time? Whether by ticks or beeps By months, years, days, minutes, seconds, nanoseconds, and smaller Who's to say? All I know is one thing I've found that you're what keeps me awake When I'm fast asleep ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To the world, you may only be one person. But to one person, you may be the world. |
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| © Copyright 2001 John Garcia - All Rights Reserved | |||
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catalinamoon
since 2000-06-03
Posts 9543The Shores of Alone |
Wow, this is different in a really interesting way. I like this side of you. Lots of good points rise from this poem, also. I think I would still take the old world.. Sandra |
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doreen peri Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812Virginia |
"All I know is one thing I've found that you're what keeps me awake When I'm fast asleep" great lines for your ending! indeed, what does it matter how we measure time when it's either too slow or too fast and you can never go back and all that good stuff.... i liked this.... it was very dali-kafkaesque.... no matter what, the thing to do, chant dali-dali-in-free, and maybe she'll come back to you, if not, watch Oprah Winfrey! i gaurantee that Oprah, see, will make the time pass oh so slow, compare that then to missing her, and time goes fast, sir, don't ya know? your last resort, my poet friend, should you begin to kafka, take robitussin chased by shots of absolute straight vodka! hahahahahehehehe.... teehee whoops!! you inspired me!!! geeeeeez...... thanks!!  keep writing like this... i LIKE it! |
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Lone Wolf Member Ascendant
since 2000-03-16
Posts 5842Lansing, MI USA |
Very interesting write here, Sven. I love the Kafka references, but then again you had to know I would. Nice job! All writing comes |
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Dopey Dope
Moderator
Member Patricius
since 2000-08-30
Posts 11132San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Very dif. indeed from what I have seen from you Sven....but then again all I've seen from you are some poems in Adult and in teen  I enjoyed this one very much.  I was born myself, raised myself, and will continue to be myself. The world will just have to adjust. |
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Yu Lan Senior Member
since 2000-04-13
Posts 1462New Zealand |
Yeah, interesting thoughts Sven! I like it, and different is what makes everyone interested in anything at all.. Gotta keep the spice.. “One word can be magical. Imagine then, the effect of several words, together..” |
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brian madden Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374ireland |
Sven, all I will say is keep experimenting, this is a refreshing poem. Some light hearted moments mixed with more deeper thoughts. I really enjoyed this and incidently I am reading Kafka's short stories at the moment, some great stories but others are a bit too long. The Burrow just drags on. anwyay I am ranting here. "Like Sand underneath the snow, I make you mine." Kristin Hersh |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Sven--I really enjoyed this look at time...the humor, the thought...thinking about time sometimes just makes me crazy, it is so fickle! |
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Sven
since 1999-11-23
Posts 14937East Lansing, MI USA |
Thanks to everyone that's replied. . . I just thought I'd try a new angle on things. . . thanks for your input and your comments. . . ---------------------------------------------------------- To the world, you may only be one person. But to one person, you may be the world. |
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Temptress
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-06-15
Posts 7136Mobile, AL |
I would love to see more of this different you. You could hurt me with your bare hands. You could hurt me using the sharp edge of what you say. JEWEL |
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Local Parasite
since 2001-11-05
Posts 2527Transylconia, Winnipeg |
Oh, this is definitely something special... I'm glad Temptress bumped it. The style is something that a lot of people use in their poetry and depends on depth of thought rather than actual technique or execution, but the depth of your mind doesn't disappoint one bit, Sven... it's extremely fascinating and even a bit amusing in places, your lengthy description of time... digital watches... progress and advancement vs the old charm. You know, for a few years I've wanted to write a poem about the fad that food manufacturers have of calling their food "just like home made," and thinking for some reason it's going to sell. What's wrong with factory perfect? And why buy it if it's just like you would have made it yourself? It's how we lie to ourselves, that "old charm," because we're never sincere about it... it's just a supreme hypocrisy. When it all comes down to it, we'll prefer the newer, more dependable and more efficient things to the older.... we'll prefer the beep to the tick. My favourite Emily Dickinson quote: quote: About says it all, wouldn't you say? Pardon the digression, your poem made me think, and I like to share the thoughts one's work stirs up in me. Lovely writing, Sven. Parasite Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. |
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fractal007 Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958 |
heh, this is a cool poem. It's very casual in its tone. I liked the last line. But I don't think that Kafka's bug would have been able to program VCRs all that well. As I recall he had a problem with his legs constantly writhing around uncontrollably when they weren't on the ground... 2+2=5 for sufficiently large values of 2 |
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