Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

Now comes the slow fog –
Not looking when you could have
Becomes not looking now you can’t –
Now comes the eternal now:
A balancing act of letting things be,
Addressing nothing, accretion of complication,
The only consideration remaining how
This state of grand denial took over entirely.

All hail the smooth ageing –
Looking in the looking glass,
Just not becoming anymore –
All hail the mortal coil:
An unbalanced state of letting things go,
Recalling nothing, accretion of pathology,
The only clear morality cowers, despoiled
By the acts of dereliction and dumbshow.


Adam Cole

The speaker is addressing an 85-year-old reader who is quite sure he gets the message. Soon, no more becoming. jim

Wonderful poetry, Adam!

Welcome to the Studio! I'm looking forward to reading more of your works!

The only clear morality cowers, despoiled
By the acts of dereliction and dumbshow.

I am taking that bit to dwell on for a while.
thinking so many tangential thoughts.

I appreciate the poetry.

jim: Thank you. I suppose it's as much about no more becoming as it is about standing still and watching, rather than participating. The Larkinesque conclusion is that life gets used up whether you get your hands dirty in it or not. But my thrust is that it's far better to have got involved and lived than to have cowered from things. I think (I don't know whether other writers feel this: trying to explain in prose the meanings behind what you've written in verse is a slippery and nebulous undertaking!).

Doreen: thanks for your kind words, and it's my pleasure to have joined. I shall be a regular visitor (and commenter - I read your post!!) from now onwards.

stilltrucking: Well I appreciate your appreciation! I hope your dwelling on those lines bore fruit. All best wishes. Adam