the eXternal mind

I was procrastinating today and found a big sheet of lined paper so I started solving some math problems, then started writing part of next week’s lecture for the Science Club, but finally settled on….writing a poem?!?! Yeah, I know, me and poems don’t mix, but I decided to give it a try in mock epic style: iambic pentameter rhyming lines. The result is below. At first, I was going to write about being bored (1st stanza) but the poem quickly transformed itself into a “Maggie: Girl on the Streets” type of poem (2nd stanza) so going along with the flow, I kept writing. In the last stanza, I was thinking about a particular story in Lone Wolf and Cub where Ogami thinks about when his path with reach peace. For any part that doesn’t flow as well, I cite literary license and the fact that I did that on purpose to create a special rhythm and tone. If you don’t believe me, you probably have a point.

the Blind and Tea

Sitting at one spot with nothing to see
staring at white walls, what should she be?
The smoke curls carefully to skies it flies.
The tar runs into lungs. Soon, she will die.
Bored and listless she lounges free from thought.
Through beauty born and can always be bought,
knowledge none and never to gain again.
Will weak, nothing to weep, easy to bend.

She walks along the streets at night searching
for a living. Standing at corners perching
for a man, any man, no, not any
for she wants better than to scrounge pennies.
Offers herself to a handsome fellow;
he hesitates but leaves. Another fellow, hello.
Nothing. Desperate, she asks the fat man
who boisterously laughs and says he can.

It’s another day in her gloomy life.
Every minute slices her like a knife.
When will her path end in glorious light?
When will the blind finally gain their sight?
Oh troubled world, stormy seas guide our souls
so that peace will finally take its toll.
Another girl on the streets cannot see.
Another man at home drinking his tea.

Good? Bad? Never write a poem ever again?