There was a man who had a book
Of Things Which He Believed;
He followed it religiously—
He would not be deceived.
The story in its pages was
The Truth that he adored—
The world outside its ancient script,
He faithfully ignored.
When someone found a falsehood
Or a small mistake inside it
(Or even some tremendous flaw)
He eagerly denied it.
The Truth was there inside his book
And never found outside
If something contradicted it
Why then, that something lied
And when he met another man
Who had another book,
He fell not to temptation—why,
He didn’t even look.
And, surely, there are other men
With other books in hand
Who walk, with views obstructed,
Here and there across the land
****
There was a man who had a book
(I find this quite exciting)
Who looked upon a tangled bank
And then… he started writing.
He wrote about the things he saw
And what he saw them do
And when he found mistakes he’d made
He wrote about them, too
He shared his book with other men
And women that he met—
They found the catch is bigger, when
You cast a wider net.
They shared their observations
So that everyone could read;
They worked as a community,
The better to succeed.
They found they saw much further,
And discovered so much more
When they stood upon the shoulders
Of the ones who’d gone before
It’s a book that keeps evolving,
Always growing, as we learn.
Many people help to write it:
Would you like to take a turn?
I'll take a turn.
Merci, coffeeandsci!
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Nice poem. Nice contrast.However, DM's poem comment doesn't even rhyme. Methinks he could benefit from an exorcism.
Quite right, Inquisitor–much better like this!
Ooh Cuttlefish, I love it!@DM: Since I don't believe in hell, I'm not too worried about being annihilated.
1. I'm with coffeandsci…I'll take a turn, too. 2. Are you on twitter? I don't use facebook…because of the evilness and all.
Anonymous–I am on Twitter, technically, but when I use it I get the feeling we have simply re-invented semaphore signals. I am not what I would call twitter-savvy. I'm also not facebook-savvy, so I'm with ya there; I have help (read: someone who knows, does it) on the Facebook page. Mostly, I communicate by leaving hand-written notes on small scrolls, tucked into clefts in stone walls, knotholes in trees, and wax-sealed bottles tossed into the ocean at high tide.
Love this, although it sounds a bit preachy (pun intended.)Thanks for another great one.
Beautiful contrasting parallels! One of your best.Don't know if it counts as taking a turn, but I did help some fine people to use that machine behind me in my photo to make it possible for lots of other people to take a turn.
That actually made me a bit teary, Cuttlefish. Absolutely beautiful.