The problem with God

[PrinceMyshkin]

The problem with God
is the problem rivers have
when they attempt to flow against the tide.

To God, existence and inexistence
are a one-sided coin but we,
haunted by death, prefer to believe
there are two sides,
which we can flip at will.

In this hollow beneath the mystery
of God’s existence/inexistence
(the distinction between the two
being an artifice of our quotidian minds)

we have heard Sumerian, Hebrew,
Aramaic, Choctaw, each
with a vowel or half a vowel,
a consonant of Godspeech

fragmented, while we stand
firm on Dais Earth,
passionate and fluent,
addressing each other and God

in clicks and glottal stops:
stubbornly, irredeemably polyglot.

[Hawkman]

Mein Dieu, that's profundo

A nice idea, god battling against a tide of multi-denominational un-belief in all the languages of the planet. Brilliant!

Live and be well. H

[Demeter'sDauter]

I really enjoyed this; I especially like the image of God as a warrior. Well done!

[hillwalker]

A clever piece, Prince.

Smacks a little of the Tower of Babel - but also exposes Man's arrogant assurace that his interpretation of 'Godspeech' (super word, by the way) is the true interpretation, according to whatever 'civilisation' he happens to be in at the time.

And the last two lines in a way echo the poem's theme - rather like a recurring soundtrack to the whole problem of why men can never communicate effectively while they are so busy babbling.

A brilliant poem.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Hawkman: I'm thrilled that someone (or several) could make sense of this because I wasn't altogether sure that I had.

Demeter's Dauter: Thanks. I hadn't actually thought of God as a warrior but, if I had, I'd have meant Him to be seen as an unarmed one.

Hillwalker: Yes, the Tower of Babel was very much on my mind, though of course I took it a bit further than the OT version.

[MorpheusSandman]

I love this and, again, maybe it's the place my mind's been lately but this very much seems to echo the themes I was trying to express in my last sonnet. FWIW, I think the second half, with its focus on polyglot language (and, suggestively, multi-cultural) and its relation with God is stronger than the first where I don't think the God as river simile plays nearly as well. I might considering excising the third stanza all together; just let that be suggested in the rest of the second half and second stanza. Also, it's a minor point, but I don't know if "irredeemably" polyglot works. I probably would've gone with "unresolvably".

[PrinceMyshkin]

I love this and, again, maybe it's the place my mind's been lately but this very much seems to echo the themes I was trying to express in my last sonnet. FWIW, I think the second half, with its focus on polyglot language (and, suggestively, multi-cultural) and its relation with God is stronger than the first where I don't think the God as river simile plays nearly as well. I might considering excising the third stanza all together; just let that be suggested in the rest of the second half and second stanza. Also, it's a minor point, but I don't know if "irredeemably" polyglot works. I probably would've gone with "unresolvably".

I'm afraid I'm wedded to that first verse, which was the seed of the poem. And as for the third, I regret the prosaic nature of it but thought well of my metaphysical point that "God" was exempt from the limited options, of existence vs inexistence, that we seem to live by, the either/or of the mortal imagination.

I'd need to think more of your preference for "unresolvably" vs "unredeemably" but many thanks for your usual very thoughtful reading.

[Virgil]

Very interesting Prince. I'm not sure I understand the simile of the openning stanza in the context of the rest of the poem, but it's very solid and deep poem. I like it.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Very interesting Prince. I'm not sure I understand the simile of the openning stanza in the context of the rest of the poem, but it's very solid and deep poem. I like it.

As I mentioned in my response before this one, the first three lines came to me from my subconscious, and I often make an intuitive stab at what such lines mean. In this case, in keeping I hope with the rest of the poem, just as there are laws that govern the direction a river may take, my intuition was that neither we nor God could quite reach each other.

[Virgil]

As I mentioned in my response before this one, the first three lines came to me from my subconscious, and I often make an intuitive stab at what such lines mean. In this case, in keeping I hope with the rest of the poem, just as there are laws that govern the direction a river may take, my intuition was that neither we nor God could quite reach each other.

I guess it fits. It definitely makes the poem more powerful.

[MorpheusSandman]

I'd need to think more of your preference for "unresolvably" vs "unredeemably" but many thanks for your usual very thoughtful reading.

I think "irredeemably" is a bit strange in this context. I could relate to the metaphor of the "coin" you use earlier, but what exactly is it that can't be redeemed and what should it be redeemed as? I like "unresolvably" because it fits with what's being described; that these different versions of God and the languages used to express, praise, claim, etc. their conflicting conflicts can't be resolved into one.

[lallison]

I love the analogy between god and a river, love it so much I'm going to have to agree with it. God is like a stinking river flowing into the high tide, isn't he. Water flowing into a long, winding river, always changing, always the same that ends up battered and diffusing into the sea. I like its Taoist implications too. Also brings up Siddhartha.

Not crazy about the textbook-like third stanza. Then the poem turn a bit into the linguistics i had to take in grad school. I like linguistics (it's my profession) but figuratively, I like your first stanza best, and feel the rest of the poem doesn't fit with it as well as it could. Not that its bad, I just love your stuck river flowing nowhere more than ancient Mesopotamian languages with a native American one thrown in to boot. I want to hear more about the river.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I love the analogy between god and a river, love it so much I'm going to have to agree with it. God is like a stinking river flowing into the high tide, isn't he. Water flowing into a long, winding river, always changing, always the same that ends up battered and diffusing into the sea. I like its Taoist implications too. Also brings up Siddhartha.

Not crazy about the textbook-like third stanza. Then the poem turn a bit into the linguistics i had to take in grad school. I like linguistics (it's my profession) but figuratively, I like your first stanza best, and feel the rest of the poem doesn't fit with it as well as it could. Not that its bad, I just love your stuck river flowing nowhere more than ancient Mesopotamian languages with a native American one thrown in to boot. I want to hear more about the river.

Delighted that you appreciated the first stanza, the spark for the rest of it. As for the third stanza, I often find it hard to sustain the music of the inspiration and, instead, all too often descend into didacticism.

[blank|verse]

I, too, had problems with the opening simile, mainly because rivers don't have problems flowing into the sea! They're composed of water, which just finds a way round things if they encounter obstacles.

Poetically, this is the more moralistic side of your writing Prince! It's rather too moralistic for me, as it is clear the narrator believes in the existence of God and that it is man who is wrong.

But it's always an honour to be afforded a glimpse into the intellectual workings of the Prince!

[Hawkman]

B/V, In prince's defense I draw your attention to the Severn Bore (I hope I've spelled it right) Rivers can attempt to flow against the tide and when they do can result in little tidal waves that flow upstream. H