The answers are far less certain
than even last week, to all those
perennial questions or solutions
you might seek.
What do you believe, or
what do you believe in?
Come Monday, you have fewer
questions than you had last week.
For a while there are less doubts
in what you believe.
Whom do you believe in,
and who believes in you?
11/18/2024 j.g.l.
We want to know what
we don’t know, or hadn’t thought of,
or forgot.
What mattered then,
or what mattered when, shifts over time.
We notice.
Perception is what you don’t see.
Deception is what know.
You see it differently through your aloneness.
The truth behind a lie,
you question how and why.
It made sense.
Anticipation keeps us waiting
for only so long. Will it matter
if you felt it never did?
© 2021 j.g. lewis
Slow down: even with the ideas that come to quicky. Take the time to acknowledge the feelings that arrive, as they arrive.
Write it down. How else will you remember what you were thinking?
Print neatly. You hardly understand the thoughts at the time, why make it more difficult to comprehend weeks or years from now?
Follow your own logic; only you need to truly make sense of what is happening, or all that has happened.
Pay attention to the lessons of the past. Be mindful that not all are worth repeating.
Clarity. Make corrections as you go. Flaws become more difficult to correct the longer you live with them.
11/14/2024 j.g.l.
I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Fortunate I, very recently, to come across a copy of The Sonnets by William Shakespeare, and to not only re-discover the magic of the bard’s words, but also the interpretation and analysis of a complete stranger.
In curiously tidy printing (in both pencil and ink) within the pages of the hardcover are passages of marginalia, contrasting or calling into question the poet’s words. Perhaps the book was a text used in university study, or maybe just a strong interest or Sunday pastime, but the notes are a total reminder of how we all interpret words and statements within our own realm or context.
Although the interpretations, at certain points, differ to my take (though my eyes have been opened to another way of looking at certain aspects of Shakespeare’s work) it reinforces my point that every poem may provide a new meaning for each reader.
In fact, one of the wonders of language itself is its ability to take on varied meanings, depending on use or phrasing. In that, it is both exciting and confusing.
Shakespeare himself is considered both exciting, and confusing. Some of that comes more from getting past the language of the day than true meaning. Those of you who may still feel the hangover of studying Macbeth or Twelfth Night in Grade 12 English, would be encouraged to look at the man’s sonnets, where storyline is limited to 14 lines. Perhaps his style is more easily digested in the non-dramatic works, or in small doses.
Words are an amazing thing — for both what they say and don’t say — in our day-to-day reading or general communication. Sometimes saying what you think and saying what you mean are two separate and distinct things.
Sometimes, whether marginalia is provided or not, you have to read between the lines.
04/10/17 j.g.l.
I’m like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
One reply on “Mondays are just young Fridays”
Interpretation and perception are key elements in these times. Great theme to start a new week!