{"id":1831,"date":"2015-08-13T16:44:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T21:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1831"},"modified":"2015-08-13T16:44:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-13T21:44:03","slug":"poem-a-thoreau-reading-owed-to-awe-that-sucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/13\/poem-a-thoreau-reading-owed-to-awe-that-sucks\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: A Thoreau Reading — Owed To Awe That Sucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some say<\/strong>
\nThat he sucked<\/strong>
\nThe marrow from life<\/strong>
\nAnd resin ate<\/strong>
\nDown to my bones<\/strong>
\nBlood brothers<\/strong>
\nIn what is<\/strong>
\nNot a race<\/strong>
\nTo judge knot<\/strong>
\nIn won slice of life<\/strong>
\nOr as-certain fine truth<\/strong>
\nFrom lowly metaphor<\/strong>
\nAnd in due coarse<\/strong>
\nDon’t wait<\/strong>
\nFor meaning found<\/strong>
\nIn dried bones<\/strong><\/p>\n

This poem is a tip of the hat to Henry David Thoreau and the value of raw experience and overflowing passions over disembodied philosophizing and moral asceticism.\u00a0 Thoreau’s famous mission statement for his life in the woods is recorded in his book, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods<\/em>, as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Life is to be delved into, dived into, not dispassionately observed from the sidelines.\u00a0 The passions embodied in following our bliss are great teachers of both the extravagantly abundant and radically simple facets of life.\u00a0 The greater sin in life is to be bound to material and moral finery at the expense of an uncertain coarseness and careening zest for life.\u00a0 Mistakes will be made, but few greater than resignation or trepidation yielding that which is narrow rather than marrow.\u00a0 May you suck at life and on the marrow find life sturdier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some say That he sucked The marrow from life And resin ate Down to my bones Blood brothers In what is Not a race To judge knot In won slice of life Or as-certain fine truth From lowly metaphor And … 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":[294,428,539,359,486,155,494,658,94,197,657,421],"class_list":["post-1831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-awe","tag-experience","tag-facts","tag-life","tag-meaning","tag-moral","tag-passion","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-radical","tag-thoreau","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: A Thoreau Reading -- Owed To Awe That Sucks | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: A Thoreau Reading -- Owed To Awe That Sucks, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Awe, Experience, Facts, Life, Meaning, Moral, Passion, Poems, Poetry, Radical, Thoreau, Truth Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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