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Tuesday 28 August 2012


 Circle of Knowledge
 

As mysteries are removed
and science proved a bright
revealing light which pushes
back expanding blackness;
so too, do all but few observers
find they’re caught within a thin
expanding ring of constant dusk.

On the border of two zones
they grow, but cannot bear
the brilliant glare of brightness
knowledge brings.

Nor does the cold
far older night of ignorance
comfort with its touch.
They know too much
for such a sweet escape
to greet them with its
numbing chill.

Still, they’re trapped in unmapped lands
between voids close to hand
and lights of bright despair
that there, they shall remain.
To sing their song of longed for fame,
and prepare their barren
stage for future pain,

Lamenting sunshine
squandered in their name.

© James Rainsford 2012  



Note to readers: Posted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets. Your views are welcome and I'll respond to all who visit and post a comment. Kind regards to all my fellow poets. 

8 comments:

  1. Stuck between where they should and need to be or where they want to be because of an over inflated sense of self, sadly many are stuck there it seems.

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  2. So many are entrenched...mired in the dogma of yesterday's faith, ignoring today's science...and they can't move for fear of new directions. Such a well penned piece, as they always are, but it is the ideas, thoughts and inspiration that comes spiraling from the read that always impresses me. Your message always clear yet at the same time, always respectful of the responses we are move to. Wonderful to read you, James...it always is! Happy OpenLinkNight wise wordweaver!

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  3. Beautifully written...I love the rhythm of your poem...but it holds a sad truth, education is so important.

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  4. Great write, with some excellent lines, as always. I liked
    "Nor does the cold
    far older night of ignorance
    comfort with its touch."

    "Still, they’re trapped in unmapped lands
    between voids close to hand
    and lights of bright despair"

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  5. The knowledge that one acquires through science seems ever expanding, doesn't it? Though despite this knowledge, so many DO remain in that constant dusk. I admit that there would be a lot of 'dusky' areas in my own knowledge, as I don't think a person can possibly keep up with what is new in every area. But if your poem is talking about people not being OPEN to what is new, but continuing to embrace the old that is a different thing. I think we always must welcome new knowledge, even if we can't understand or keep up with it all. A thought provoking write, even though I am not sure I've got it right.

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  6. So true, James--there's just an ever-growing blight at the center, spreading gradually outward--hard to fight when it swallows everything one says and does in a mass wave of facelessness. I especially liked:
    "..cannot bear
    the brilliant glare of brightness
    knowledge brings..."

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  7. it is interesting to me how science and religeon battle so much when each in many ways could validate the other if they every worked together...they seperate something that for me that should never...knowledge and magic....

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  8. how does one escape the dusk? more importantly which is better the light of knowledge or the dark of ignorance? both seem to hold an interesting allure.

    Nice poem!!

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If you wish your views and opinions to be published here, please be polite and respectful. I welcome feedback on my work and will try to respond if you take the trouble to post a comment. Thanks for visiting 'The Sanctum of Sanity.' Hope you enjoyed the experience, James.