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Monday 25 March 2013

Not to be Reproduced, by René Magritte




Sometimes the light surprises us
with what it knows
the way old light from space
brings images
of stars that died
millennia ago,
the way an image grows
and is not simply seen
remembering times past
how light becomes the handmaid of all time,
the way it flows around us
like water round a boat,
the way the mat of rays is warped,
the surface of the lake deformed,
both warp and weft
the way time is by gravity.

A man stands looking in a mirror.
We stand behind
and see his rear view twice --
once in our reality
then once more in the glass.
So should we now assume
that he sees in the mirror what we see?
Perhaps his light
has different memories,
has not been wrenched
or made to flow
in some more stressful way.
He sees his face.
His face looks back at him.

His face looks back at him...
Consider for a moment
how strange that sentence is.
Familiarity has packaged it
as something obvious.
It's nothing of the sort.
If time could but reverse,
then his reflection in the glass
might look out of its world and see
the back of its own head.
The virtual see the real.


Written for The Mag, to whom thanks for the image as a prompt.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

like how you linked the image up to the aspect of light

anthonynorth said...

Mind and science merging nicely here - in a relative sort of way.

model busana muslim murah said...


nice job for posting this.It’s exactly what I was looking for!

Jinksy said...

That's tied my mind in knots, for sure! *smiles*

Gerry@Strummed Words said...

I enjoyed your musings on the light...nice one!

Ginny Brannan said...

Fascinating and thought-provoking take. Especially liked the "twist" on the last line:
"The virtual see the real."

izzy said...

The first verse flows in a stunning way! -just love it. Then the tone changes from a song to speculation
& it is believable- but
the first really could stand alone. Thanks!!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Amazing take - that's one of the most interesting pictures I've ever seen!

Anonymous said...

Intriguing :) Tigerbrite

Lyn said...

The light...pure cosmic wonder here. Full of mystery, not necessary to solve...Brilliant!

Brian Miller said...

should we assume we see things the same way as others...well when we do it often leads to trouble...there is also a blessing in that when we take the time to see the perspective of others....

Helen said...

... 'the way an image grows and is not simply seen' ~~ how very true.

Cloudia said...

Word perfect. I so enjoy your eye & voice, Dave


Aloha

Janine Bollée said...

How delightfully quirky in point of view.
And so disturbingly logical at the same time.
Brilliant.

Liz Rice-Sosne said...

This is a really interesting poem. It is thoughtful ... makes one really think about your words and what the reader may perceive you to be saying. A poem I will need to read several times. I like it!

Laurie Kolp said...

Nice and vivid, Dave... really, stanza 1 could be a stand alone poem, and 2 & 3 another.

Berowne said...

Wow. Powerfully inventive. Well done...

Grace said...

A different perspective Dave ~ But I like this line best:

how light becomes the handmaid of all time,
the way it flows around us
like water round a boat,

JBinford-Bell said...

Your reality is not my reality poetically said.

hedgewitch said...

The first section of this is really startlingly sharp and bright, David--and the ideas you work up through the warp and weft of your words make us re-examine the real and the surreal, make us question the solidity of things themselves. Excellent poem--and I love Magritte.

haricot said...

An unique image and provocating lines...your long spanned vision always makes me rethink about the reality which I see now.

Mary said...

Amazing, Dave. You made that picture speak.

Tumblewords: said...

Full of intrigue and steady science!

Elephant's Child said...

Oh wow. Thank you.

Dave King said...

Many thanks to you All
for your kind comments. It is always of the greatest interest to me to know your thoughts on my posts. This time around you have collectively come up with a range of particularly fruitful observations and suggestions. As luck (and life) would have it, I do not have time available to answer them all individually, but they will all be given due thought and will, I have no doubt, be useful to me in the future. Thank you all so much.

Unknown said...

Ok I shall get back to you on this one, I partially understood and partially befuddled...it's me not your writing.

Susan Anderson said...

Intriguing response to an equally intriguing prompt.

Well done.

=)

Kat Mortensen said...

If anyone could explain this, I knew it had to be you, Dave. Thank you for always living up to my expectations - and beyond them. Kat