{"id":1766,"date":"2015-06-19T13:30:38","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T18:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2015-06-19T13:30:38","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T18:30:38","slug":"poem-to-not-mirrorly-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/19\/poem-to-not-mirrorly-be\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: To Not Mirrorly Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

The powers that be
\nScrew you
\nThen you screw me
\nI don’t blame you
\nDo you blame me?
\nEither weigh
\nWe don’t have
\nTo be that way
\nAn open secret
\nFor awe to see
\nAnd not mirrorly be
\nEverywhere I look
\nFar and near
\nStrange and dear
\nThere’s power in me
\nThere’s power in you
\nIt’s up to you
\nIt’s up to me
\nMuch the same
\nThe powers that be
\nA tempting
\nTo possess awe
\nBut a clue
\nOf sow sow much
\nThat is
\nReally
\nToo due\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Eric Hoffer said, “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” While in many situations this may be perfectly acceptable, the evolution of humanity and each human depends upon exercising a judgment that transcends the reactionary forces of an equal and opposite reaction for every action.\u00a0 This judgment, or will, is by its very nature counter-cultural, that is transformative of any given set of cultural conditions, oft referred to as the powers that be.\u00a0 Any set of rules present in any society are not inclusive of our fullest being.\u00a0 It is this fullest being, or perhaps a glimpse or shadow of it, which haunts our highest hopes as part of humanity.\u00a0 The notion of human rights is rooted in this vision.\u00a0 This perpetual journey toward fulfilling our fullest being unites us as actors on the set (a shared reality) of a play defined partly by the powers that be.\u00a0 The more space we carve out in our collective and individual lives for this fuller being the more we act freely, not simply having our lives written for us, and following a script handed to us.\u00a0 Shakespeare’s take on this metaphor outlines the typical stages in which we act, albeit more morose than my own:<\/p>\n

“All the world’s a stage,<\/em><\/p>\n

And all the men and women merely players;<\/em>
\nThey have their exits and their entrances,<\/em>
\nAnd one man in his time plays many parts,<\/em>
\nHis acts being seven ages. At first the infant,<\/em>
\nMewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.<\/em>
\nThen, the whining school-boy with his satchel<\/em>
\nAnd shining morning face, creeping like snail<\/em>
\nUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,<\/em>
\nSighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad<\/em>
\nMade to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then, a soldier,<\/em>
\nFull of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,<\/em>
\nJealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,<\/em>
\nSeeking the bubble reputation<\/em>
\nEven in the cannon’s mouth. And then, the justice,<\/em>
\nIn fair round belly, with a good capon lined,<\/em>
\nWith eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,<\/em>
\nFull of wise saws, and modern instances,<\/em>
\nAnd so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts<\/em>
\nInto the lean and slippered pantaloon,<\/em>
\nWith spectacles on nose and pouch on side,<\/em>
\nHis youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide<\/em>
\nFor his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,<\/em>
\nTurning again toward childish treble, pipes<\/em>
\nAnd whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,<\/em>
\nThat ends this strange eventful history,<\/em>
\nIs second childishness and mere oblivion,<\/em>
\nSans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”<\/em><\/p>\n

from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It<\/strong><\/em>, spoken by the melancholy Jaques in Act II, Scene VII<\/p>\n

May you find yourself acting freely amidst whatever stage you find yourself, and not mirrorly be made in the image of simply an amassment of whatever reactionary forces operate upon your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The powers that be Screw you Then you screw me I don’t blame you Do you blame me? Either weigh We don’t have To be that way An open secret For awe to see And not mirrorly be Everywhere I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[294,289,440,559,388,122,305,579,408,402,359,548,379,594,658,94,110,114,491,557,601,600,696,290,529,287],"class_list":["post-1766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-awe","tag-counter-cultural","tag-evolution","tag-history","tag-hope","tag-human-rights","tag-humanity","tag-image","tag-journey","tag-justice","tag-life","tag-modern","tag-nature","tag-play","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-powers-that-be","tag-present","tag-reactionary","tag-reality","tag-rules","tag-shakespeare","tag-society","tag-time","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: To Not Mirrorly Be | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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