A Poet's Journal: April 18th, 2013

April 18th, 2013

There are many situations and ideas, even of the simplest sort, to which we cannot give a name, and find ourselves at the end of our reason before the understanding of it has brought us any favor.  It is amusing to note how often they come upon us, and in our efforts to find something as simple as the word spoon, when it has slipped our mind, we digress into soups and stews before we find ourselves being fed through a straw.  For if the person next to us can perceive and name the object in front of him, he is having a good day, and may even be able to give a reason as to why he shaves.

But misunderstanding people is for most of us a common nature.  We speak the full extent of our minds upon their situation and their motives before they have said something that truly reveals their character.  It is an educated guess, some of us say, but if we are biased in that way, we have not been taught otherwise.  I perceive objects as they are placed before me and use the information in my power to overcome any and all such prejudices, but sometimes cannot arrive at its essence and fall to calling out names and slanders as an impotent means to come to my point.  Sometimes I am overstocked with thoughts and refuse to speak if only for the insults I should let slip, but even this leads to no better conclusion.  Thus if we are to look around us, we shall find that the familiar world we know is only familiarized by the shortest and most imperceptible moments of our lives, the rest lies in belief, and it is this, truly, that is always the most difficult to name.

Douglas Thornton