Poetic Challenge: Cupid Hit Me With His Arrow

[TheGreenQueen]

Originally Posted by Abbara

TheGreenQueen.... too funny! I also like the line about pulling the arrow out. And this one... Separating the young from their mothers. Fun poem. I went and read some of your other poems from the links you provided. You have a warrior spirit, edgy, spoiling to do battle with the windmills... reminding me of "ME... just this"close to being cranky about being in life again and having all the memory of expansiveness, capacity to love, power to create... stripped away again.... and I'll find it by golly, just watch me." LOLOLOL Just watch out, note that I turned into a bowl of utter surrender and mushy sentiment when Cupid finally pierced my armor. Oh it was grand... I'll be looking for that fat little Cherub for the rest of my life.

I am not cranky. I am lovin' this life. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

I rejoice in my limited view, mentally modeling other views and knowing all along I know nothing.

"Cupid's Hunting Arrow" wasn't intended to be funny, it was intended to be mournful.

I am aromantic, I have never felt eros nor romance (in this lifetime?), and I am thankful for it. But my heart goes out to those who suffer in the name of "love," which is not real love.

Divine Love never inflicts pain. Ever.

Pain only comes from the Self that is not tuned to it. Out of sync, the frequencies clash.

The Buddhist tut-tuts
at your fixation on fulfilling
a want.
I simply smile
And pat your head, my child.
My fellow child, that is.

Eros and fixation, as Miss Hepburn subtly pointed out, is not Divine. It is an illusion. Singling out one human being 'for love' when all is love. It can evolve into real love, certainly, but more often it remains, bringing attention away from all others.

The closest I ever came to what the world calls "love," went something like this:

I have a higher song in my heart than ever before
It used to play frequently but now the frequency’s up more
We both know that it’s too early to tell
But there’s a quiet revolution inside of myself
How can I convey what’s going on here
Maybe these words will make it more clear

Here, let me begin
I’m here to get my fix
You’re like a medicine
You’re like a therapist
You’re like a doctor
You’re like a detox

I can sleep better now knowing you’re out there
Slimmin’, sheddin’ stress weight like I haven’t got a care
This old soul feels less creaky, feels squeaky clean
This Georgia Peach is feelin’ peachy keen
I do not know what our future entails
But honey I’ll be runnin’ straight on the rails

Here, let me begin
I’m here to get my fix
You’re like a medicine
You’re like a therapist
You’re like a doctor
You’re like a detox

I want to run with you until we both hit runner’s high
And then fall down on the grass and watch the sky--- go--- by
Isn’t all that water funny, lookin’ fluffy and dry
Every shape we meet will so quickly say goodbye
The same exact ones will not exist again
Isn’t it funny, we may be only ones to catch them

Here, let me begin
I’m here to get my fix
You’re like a medicine
You’re like a therapist
You’re like a doctor
You’re like a detox

[Abbara]

TheGreenQueen, the reason I said "too funny" about your poem was because it awakened memories in me that are somewhat mournful. I choose laughter to wrap them in, because they were wonderful growth experiences. Your words and insights are clever, I just responded to the poem out of my own life experience.

You are the first person I've encountered who labels themselves “aromantic.” I don’t believe everyone has to experience romance to be complete as a loving individual. There is great joy in living and breathing the atmosphere of divine love, but we are creatures of the flesh as well, and flesh has it’s own atmospheric influence. Probably, our social fixation on romance is partially a learned behavior.

I don’t know how one becomes aware they are aromantic. I always long for mutual respect, appreciation and teamwork in my relationships. The deepest romantic experience I've known came at age 63. It was divine. My life is and has been based on love, trust, peace, joy and spreading that in simple ways as I walk through each day.

Now, this poem... While I didn't call either of us cranky, just this"close... to something edgy. I did real all the poems you linked. Perhaps this is what I felt coming through:

But there’s a quiet revolution inside of myself

I like how you relate your cloud watching.

And then fall down on the grass and watch the sky--- go--- by
Isn’t all that water funny, lookin’ fluffy and dry
Every shape we meet will so quickly say goodbye
The same exact ones will not exist again
Isn’t it funny, we may be only ones to catch them

Clever again. I watch a lot of clouds and I'm sure I'll be recalling that second line.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Abbara

Yep! That's what I'm talkin' about! LOVE! Unbrotherly love!

Oh, now that was cute...Unbrotherly love.
We don't miss much, do we...you and I...

[TheGreenQueen]

Originally Posted by Abbara

You are the first person I've encountered who labels themselves “aromantic.” I don’t believe everyone has to experience romance to be complete as a loving individual.

I'm glad you say that, because plenty of us are accused of being inhuman or unemotional.
It's just that we experience other loves. Did you know that Sanskrit has 96 words for different kinds of love?

Originally Posted by Abbara

Probably, our social fixation on romance is partially a learned behavior.

Again, glad to hear you say that. I watch chimpanzee troupes and think, hey, I don't see these guys obsessively pairing off.

Originally Posted by Abbara

I don’t know how one becomes aware they are aromantic.

In a world full of people focused on romance, who ask about it always, it's hard NOT to notice that you're different.

Originally Posted by Abbara

Clever again. I watch a lot of clouds and I'm sure I'll be recalling that second line.

Well I can't take full credit for this idea:

Isn’t all that water funny, lookin’ fluffy and dry

As there was a scene in Avatar: The Last Airbender where a character said something along the lines of, don't the clouds look nice? Like you could jump on them and land in a soft cottony heap?
And the other replies, I'll do it! He flies and dives right through a cloud, predictably, becoming very soaked. He laughs as he lands and says, as you can see, turns out clouds are mostly water.

Every shape we meet will so quickly say goodbye
The same exact ones will not exist again
Isn’t it funny, we may be only ones to catch them

I must say I'm more attached to this part, demonstrating the impermanence and fleeting of life, and the importance of being aware of the moment.

[Abbara]

TheGreenQueen, I love your green avatar. It reminds me of the beautiful little aphids that contend with me for my roses. I apologize as I hose them off. They are amazing, just doing their job and I'm doing mine. My roses need to do theirs for my friends son's wedding in June, then we will make peace.

Did you know that Sanskrit has 96 words for different kinds of love?

No, I didn't know this. That's wonderful, I should learn about those, for I experience love in far more ways than I have words for. Kinda reminds me of the Eskimo's having so many words for snow, which I love.

Yes, I also appreciate your comments about the last lines of the poem demonstrating the impermanence of life and the need to drink in the joy of every moment. I watched an astonishing rainbow encircle the sun today while a glorious cloud dancd beneath it, dangling from the Rays. I thought of you. I laid on my back in the front yard shooting the marvel with my iPad camera... As people drove or walked past and I wondered if I'm the only one who saw it?

[Miss Hepburn]

Cupid cannot be trusted.
No, he cannot.
There have been too many times
He has suddenly fallen short of arrows,
Yet, proceeded to let loose of only one.

[Abbara]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Cupid cannot be trusted.
No, he cannot.
There have been too many times
He has suddenly fallen short of arrows,
Yet, proceeded to let loose of only one.

My first OUT LOUD chuckle of the day. Oh, such stories you have to tell of life and loving... for such poetry is not born out of sitting in the back row of life, hoping not to have to interact.

[TheGreenQueen]

Originally Posted by Abbara

for such poetry is not born out of sitting in the back row of life, hoping not to have to interact.

I'm sorry, but it's hard for me not to take that comment personally.


How can some people not be live wires
The greatest tragedies in the history of the globe
A click at your fingertips to hold
Also the greatest triumphs.
And the ironies.
And the fascinating mechanisms
Of what we call "the universe"
From atom and energy
To light years and galaxy
while I sip my tea
and sit in PJs comfortably
Our parents had to trek to libraries
I catch the eye of someone else
Who shares my special smirk.

The best songs are about
Existential crisis, soliloquies, sociopolitical commentary; cemented laments in memories
and one-on-one joy have their place.
But there’s so much more to experience, Earth, and the human race.
Reflective, refractive.
All these songs I’ve mentioned were written by, yes, romantics
Who knew there was something more to say
I’m a Romantic, not a romantic.
An aromantic, not a romantic
Yes, Aro’s a real term. I didn’t make it up. There are others.
Some may not believe it
I identify with intense emotions
Urges over a wide variety
But I've never really been attracted to anyone.
What's in their heads,
Not so much what's in beds
Half-dizzy, yes, I've had that,
In fact, not even half.
Information overload and circuits fried,
A deep need for reassurance, contact,
Re-established regular flow,
And someone with whom to go on and on.
It's a different color pallet, sure, but only grayscale? No.
They say I’m “missing” something, just like you.
My kindred spirit, sounds like you're listening to
Drama with no backdrop
Drowning in too much mainstream and pop
And then giving yourself grief over not being able to swim or breathe easy there. Stop.
Let me pass on some advice from the smirking one and some back home
Widen your horizons and change your lens filters.
Indie, alternative, 70s, 90s, protest, underground,
Dig into the corners of albums
Whose most repeated songs
May have been chosen by a populous of lust
But hidden diamonds abound.

Don’t feel bad.
Do not mourn what you never had.

This is an opportunity
to be dazzling,
not a missed chance
to be ordinary.

[Abbara]

Originally Posted by Abbara
for such poetry is not born out of sitting in the back row of life, hoping not to have to interact.

Responded to by TheGreenQueen
I'm sorry, but it's hard for me not to take that comment personally.

Oh, my darling GreenQueen, it was not spoken to or about you at all. The context of this thread began about Cupid's arrows and the highs and irony's of romantic love. I responded to Miss Hepburn's clever poem out of my own experiences, as we are discovering we've had much in common.

With your recent contributions to the thread, I see that it was insensitive of me to say such a thing quite the way I said it. I'm very fond of green things, plus I'm usually very conscientious about not treading on any toes. Forums are a new thing for me. Please accept my apology.

[Abbara]

TheGreenQueen, I'd like to share this bit of me with you.

I lost a 6 year old grandson to cancer. I helped with the battle, sitting in hospital rooms, making laughter and fun any way I could; getting my fanny handed to me playing cards with that clever little scamp; wearing fake Groucho Marx nose and mustaches to surprise his doctor; dancing to Springsteen's Hungry Heart until he got diarrhea from our antics and the chemo.

Isolated for a bone marrow transplant in a children's hospital, he asked me to go buy coloring books and crayons so he could share them with the other kids on the ward. He played jokes on his family and his nurses and cried for other's pain and suffering. When he had painful procedures he just complied bravely and all he ever said was, 'owie owie owie.'

I listened to the things people said when he died. I was amazed at how many verbalized the 'tragedy' that Adam never got to grow up and know love, get married, have children. I stood up at his funeral and said, 'Adam was a complete man. He was honest, loving and compassionate. He was full of joy and appreciation.' I meant it. When I told you I believe it isn't necessary to experience romance to be a complete person, I meant that too. In many ways, he was a better man than his father, his grandfathers and a great many other men I have know. But I have known some wonderful men that were not romances for me. I love having male friends. And I thank God over and over for the experience of eros in my life. I assume I've had other lives in which I was aromantic, able then to do wonderful adventures since I was free of that drama. It's all been GRAND!

It was grand having the little boy, not the losing of him. But he came back for me, twice. Once at his grave saying, 'I'm not heereer Gramma.' The second time, a little boy was dying with cancer in my hospital. His mother fretted because she didn't know anyone in heaven to be there for her son. One night he stood up on his bed, transfixed, his arms in the air, looking up. He told his mother he was talking to Adam. His nurses called me up to tell me about it. We all cry-laughed together. 'That was just like Adam, taking care of others,' they said.