poem

 IdiomWhat is the realAnd what ’s merely metaphor?Everything is just a received signalFrom something else, after all;Olfactory, audible or visible.Is the signal just a symbolFor something hard and unchangeable,Imperceptible as itself, at best bridgeableWith words and conceitsLike a ghost that shows itself as a sheet?A ghost is a metaphor for deathAnd death is a metaphor for absence For a ghost is the missingThat sends shivers down your back  Even the word metaphor is a metaphor.  I ’m proud of you, my son is a metaphorOn call again, working a double shift again Making good use of my talents and gifts Not wasting a watt of energy Grinning and bearingShowing up on timeHaving a nervous breakdownHaving a good cryA bowl of vanilla ice cream,June, summer evening, 1984Watching the Celtics and Lakers.These are all metaphors tooThey don't have to be beautiful or clever.Not even cute. They only have to be true.Maybe metaphor is just the realBlossoming into beautiful, most true . Which would be nice but, see above, I just said it didn ’t have to be.Which is something I sometimes regretTry this:Metaphor shares a soul with the real This metaphor, that metaphorTwo sides of the same coinFlipping interminably through the airWithout ever actually landing.Yeah, no.That ’s not for me.What about this one:A metaphor is when the realReveals itself as somethingWe already know to be true,When it bursts into beingWhen it becomes...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - Category: Surgery Authors: Source Type: blogs