I am not fond of confrontation,
mental jousting,
porous logic,
mind game fornication .
There is that plastic moment,
stiff stilted thought,
mindless blather,
constipated congress.
Then the vociferated spilling,
contrite harangue,
sphincter spewing,
tiresome gibberish.
No one wins emotional articulation,
vacuous debate,
obtuse dogma,
overweening interest.
The truth is in you and me,
the human need,
pliable understanding,
agreeable acquiescence.
Opposite views are never black or white,
red or yellow,
limitless or yoked,
right or wrong.
Take my hand, see through my eyes,
trade shoes,
change chairs,
hug difference.
Together we will find similitude,
appreciation,
harmony,
peace.
Copyright: 2009, Donald Harbour
Donald Harbour Poetry 
A true humanist you are O Donald. You have a very august style ahem.
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I agree, life is all shades of gray. Not black and white. And even those shades of gray are colored gray (it is a shade of gray one gets by mixing complementary colors)
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Whilst I’m not at all certain that I agree with your POV, I certainly enjoyed the well crafted way you spelled it out.
I’m also not at all certain I disagree with your POV….just sayin’
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I like the way you pattern the stanzas as a long line clause followed by three short lines, each a nominal phrase except for one stanza’s adjectives. (It reminds me, btw, that my family’s first phone was a crank phone, and our “number” on the party line with five other families was two longs and a short…)
stiff stilted thought,
mindless blather,
constipated congress.
Very nicely done!
_____
Paul Oakley
Blogging his ReadWritePoem poems at
Inner Light, Radiant Life
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I do like the stanza: take my hand…
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I like the equal share of wry ironies and optimism in this. I also like the poem’s progress and turn: you begin with a litany of dislikes and end with overtures of empathy. You coyly bring in many aspects of the photograph and of the game, and even the “take my hand” at the end is a little precarious even as it’s hopeful, given that the foosball players have no hands…On the other hand, often negative words, particularly in an adversarial context like “plastic” here have alternative positive interpretations. If a moment is plastic, then it is a moment in which fate is not predetermined, where change (for the better) is possible, where things and people are pliable.
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Oh, such a lovely thought at the end…the whole piece is like you were speaking to me, I feel much the same – what is the point of argument…
Well Done!
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I love the idea of moving from rivalry to a harmonious place. Thank you for this optimistic outlook, Donald. =D
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thanks again for sharing this Mr DH…enjoyable as usual..and thanks also….for reading my words and your much appreciated comments
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My favorite lines:
There is that plastic moment,
stiff stilted thought,
Very nice.
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Interesting transpositions, heavy and light. Clearly by sense alone is the choice given in this poem. And as so well demonstrated in word and sensibility here…
No one wins emotional articulation,
vacuous debate,
obtuse dogma,
overweening interest.
The truth is in you and me,
the human need,
pliable understanding,
agreeable acquiescence.
Quietly provocative, those two in sequence as you’ve done. Pliable. Nice Donald!
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I like how the inflated logic & language (perhaps even a tad self-deprecating?) simplifies as the concepts move towards harmony.
Subtle. As it should be. I think.
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Surely, the human need is buried much of the time…nice work.
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Another thought provoking work from you…
let the red bleed
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I’m up for a spot of mental jousting, porous logic, even mind game fornication now and then so I guess I might be a little out of step with the poem’s agenda. But this is a fine clattering and chiming of images towards the pacific message of the piece.
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Your word combinations are such fun…among my favorites are….
mental jousting,porous logic,mind game fornication,
stiff stilted thought,mindless blather,
vociferated spilling,contrite harangue,
sphincter spewing,
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Hi Donald,
Lots of great word combinations to appreciate here even when they suggest unpleasant things. I ‘m glad that things soften towards the end and we can stop being adversaries. I like
“Take my hand, see through my eyes,
trade shoes,
change chairs,
hug difference”
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You have some verrry interesting word groupings. I esp liked “mind game fornication” and the stanza:
“Then the vociferated spilling,
contrite harangue,
sphincter spewing,
tiresome gibberish.”
So spot on! Wonderful!
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