| Monday, May 7, 2007 |
| Epiphanies |
When I noticed that you guys were post-deprived yesterday, I thought I'd pull out something from my email drafts for ya'll: a poem I wrote in sonnet form, a long time ago. It was inspired by the following Jon Foreman quote:
4AM is a great time of night. The day before is long dead but the morning is yet to come. All the commotion from the night before has died down and every sane upstanding citizen is asleep. It's a great time to go for a walk. You've got the planet to yourself for an hour or so, so peaceful...even the stars look different: waiting dawn. I feel the same way that the stars do sometimes. Anticipating... the night is nearly over, the day is almost here.
I don't know what I think of the poem now that time has passed, but here it is... thanks for reading.
Epiphanies
It's 4 a.m. as I walk out. Counting
Every 1-2 step, saving clipboard
Every fifth. Oftentimes stopping,
I walk, my gait by whoredings lured.
I pull myself away in time, before
Fleshly lust ruins my poem. "Civil!
Decadence!", cry fables and folklore,
Mapping our fall, but hey we're invincible
Aren't we? I know I am--in pretense, shallow.
I sense a smoother path, staring at graffiti outside the mall
I stop, wanting more than humps, lovely nor hollow.
My city sleeps inside, ignoring the writing on the wall
But I, I anticipate like the stars, in the words of a seer:
"The night nearly over, the day almost here."
- Philemon Thomas
...and I hear podcast 22 is out!Labels: miscellaneous. |
posted by phil @ 4:04 AM  
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| 14 Comments: |
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that was nice of you phil!
I think that quote has to be one of my favourite Jon quotes. It's so true, and best to think about it when you're up late at night, and you're the only one. And it seems like you're the only person alive, it's nice.
I like the poem too, especially this part:
"But I, I anticipate like the stars, in the words of a seer:
"The night nearly over, the day almost here"
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wow, nice. that reminds me of the begining of the song "Redemption".
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@sarah
haha the 'wow' could mean one of two things...hmm. :D
and thanks, the rest of you.
@keith, why what's wrong with it?
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That is such a good quote from Jon. I love the way he thinks, as I'm sure, do all of you.
An excellent poem from you too Phil!
-Nat
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sorry phil, i know that was sort of ambiguous. It's just that i'm not sure i understand it.
Nothing against your writing i assure you-i'm just stupid.:)
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however, i really liked the " but hey we're invincible, aren't we? I know i am" part. it gives you something to blush about. how many times i've thought the same thing, perhaps at times with different predicate adjectives.
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aaaaaaw Phil!!!
that's sooooo beautiful...^^
"...but hey we're invincible
Aren't we? I know I am-..."
that's defenitely my fav. part!
I sometimes feel like that.
bye bye
<33333
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thanks guys!
With "I know I am" I was actually playing around with grammar a bit for an effect where you could read it as EITHER "but hey we're invincible aren't we? I know I am" (admitting to my pride before I point my finger at anyone) OR "I know I am in pretense, shallow." :) It's kind of reaching for both ways of reading it, depending on how the reader wants to see it. A hologram-line, if you might.
Did anyone notice the pop culture references? Ciara's "1-2 step", BEP's "My Humps"...
"Counting every 1-2 step, saving clipboard every fifth" is also a reference to the way a sonnet is supposed to be written - the rulebook says it should have a 1-2,1-2,1-2,1-2,1-2 beat repeating 5 times (hence 'every fifth') i.e. 10 syllables in each line. Referring to that in the sonnet was I think to reflect how I felt bound by rules... a sense of lack of freedom. and as you can see, towards the end of the poem the rule is broken, as I use more than just 5 "meters" (I think that's what it's called).
Also, the poem's appearance on paper is shaped a bit like a boot.
So there's a few things about it I recollect...
Oh and 'whoredings' is a word I created for 'hoardings (billboards) with whores (not literally, but people who sell their bodies in a way, by showing sex appeal / skin and inviting lust for money)'. I don't know if that was clever or amateurish...
of course, I would've probably gone about it a bit differently had I written the poem now.
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and yeah that Jon quote is one of my favorites too, as you might've guessed.
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Well I thought those little things you mentioned above were pretty clever.
Some of those explanations make it even better, I wouldn't have a clue about sonnet's so I was oblivious to the whole 1-2 beat thing.
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that was nice of you phil!
I think that quote has to be one of my favourite Jon quotes. It's so true, and best to think about it when you're up late at night, and you're the only one. And it seems like you're the only person alive, it's nice.
I like the poem too, especially this part:
"But I, I anticipate like the stars, in the words of a seer:
"The night nearly over, the day almost here"