Where I'm From

[shurgaree]

Sorry, not trying to be mean but some of this seems to have an unrealistic over romanticized aspect to it, making it ring somewhat false.

1) "The Tao Te Ching
         where I stopped resisting the tide;"

Who has stopped resisting the the tide?  Maybe you are an ascended master, but then what are you doing writing poetry on this web site? Sorry, but it just rings false.

2. (" where I saw light through closed kaleidoscopic eyes;"

The only time I have heard the phrase " kaleidoscopic eyes" was used is in the Beatles song. The idea of closed  kaleidoscopic eyes is kind of senseless, even if ones natural eyes were closed the third eye would need to be open to perceive anything. I understand how one can see sunlight through one's eyelids, but that is not what is being said here, so I struggle to find any meaning in this phrase.)

3. I just have a hard time believing that a person could live through all of this, especially the drug use, and come out with this romantic vision of things, and so the poem just seem to ring false in some areas.

4. I use to read all these books about different places and how wonderful and exotic they were, so I went to some of them. I spent 2 months in Thailand once and although I enjoyed talking with the people who are very open and kind, there was nothing romantic about the environment. It stunk just as bad as any third world country does. There was certainly grace under adversity, and gratitude for even the smallest things, but that did not make the environment any less brutal. Really the only difference between Thailand and Mexico is that American greed had yet to infiltrate Thailand to the same degree as Mexico. Yet, even in Thailand it was creeping in.

Numbered your comments. I do appreciate your critique but you're making some assumptions that are false. It's also clear we're very different people... This is more of a person v. person reply than poet vs. critique for the record.

1) I read the Tao De Ching during a very very heavy semester of college where I was either drinking to forget about school, stressfully considering my future, or studying my ass off to hopefully transfer to an Ivy League (I never ended up transferring, thank fuck). Usually I'm a pretty mellow person, but this particular semester really got to me. I can't recall how it happened but I got my hands on Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao De Ching and holy shit, it woke me up from whatever daze I was caught in. It was a remarkable change- those 84 poems, as much of a before/after difference as a strong psychedelic trip (we'll get to that). Stopped resisting the tide is about trying to do anything more than "be" - to just exist happily rather than doing more than my mind could handle. I'm no master, I'm just a person who learned a hell of a lot from this book.

2) You're not understanding the phase because you have never done psychedelics (I'm making assumptions, but if you've done enough you'd understand that line). They'll show you light through closed kaleidoscopic eyes, literally, and a lot lot more.

3) Everything in this poem is very much real. I've been to all the stated places and have had all those experiences. I could prove it to you if need be, but it shouldn't be hard to accept it as truth. I'd label this poem completely non-fiction.

4) We clearly think very differently about the places we go. "it stunk as bad as any 3rd world country" - you're better off not leaving your house with that attitude. I've spent 4 months in India, 2 weeks in Nepal, and over a month in Peru, and I found extraordinary beauty in all those places/the people of those places. You need to be more open minded - things don't need to be flowery and peaceful to be beautiful. I'm a person who loves the gritty aspect of traveling/unknown adventures, and 3rd world countries is precisely where I find those things. I love delicious street food, smoking hash in slums, drinking with locals, etc. Plus the fact that all those countries are BEAUTIFUL if you like nature.

Thank you Dale and thanks to everybody else for your comments/suggestions. I'll consider them all and revise accordingly