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Through inexorable cycles of misery and pain, of joy and redemption, the human spirit surges through unending days and nights of mortal life, magnificent yet pitiful in its futile quest for the peace of absolute truth, the rest of eternal life or death.
In rare moments of courage, when we force ourselves to wake to the unbearable truth, we realise that we are both alive and dead, and that our brightest joys are but the burning of the withered leaves of innocence, our bitter torments nothing more than the whispering of death’s transient shade through the dark demesne of mortality.
Had we the choice, would we really endure the eternal Phoenix-like series of spiritual deaths and resurrections that comprise our lives? Or would we choose the gift of darkness, and cease in bloody death, impaled upon the dual cusp of unbearable joy and torment, casting aside both our joy and our anguish?
These thoughts I have reflected into the Haiku of the Phoenix…
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Phoenix
Cocooned in darkness
Death’s lovers wake and flutter
Withered leaves burn bright
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MagickMirrors
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| Reviewed by Eileen Granfors |
1/20/2010 |
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Yes, FIRE renews. Tyger, tyger, burning bright.
I like this one, Keith. |
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| Reviewed by Stan Law (aka Stanislaw Kapuscinski) |
2/9/2009 |
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| Suffering or not, are we not caught in the eternity of being and becoming, or as you put it death (as in inertness or stasis), and life, (change due to becoming). The problem arises when many choose to remain dead, even when in the becoming mode. I think Buddha was wrong (how's that for impudence!). I think the Wheel of Awagawan is eternal (as in I’m a living god). I.e.: we have no choice. |
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| Reviewed by J'nia Fowler |
11/16/2008 |
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Rises once again. responds to spiritual yearnings deep within the agony of growth. Excellent.
J'nia |
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| Reviewed by A Serviceable Villain |
10/24/2008 |
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Keith,
Exceptional . . .!!
Take care,
Lance |
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| Reviewed by Linda Law |
10/2/2008 |
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| two sides to your writing is in the eyes of the beholder... lindalaw |
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| Reviewed by Sheila Roy |
3/29/2008 |
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Keith,
Your comments ahead of your poem prove you are one to be consumed in thought over deep and spiritual topics. Of course, having read your short stories, I know this to be true. A very tricky question you pose. I've often fantasized about being immortal; the benefits and the drawbacks. I think watching those you care about die would be similar to those "spiritual deaths and resurrections that comprimise our lives". There is no escape from the cycle. Even after death, I believe we will watch others who live and die - experiencing those feelings once more. However, the cylce serves a purpose. We are strengthened, hopefully we are wiser, and we see things anew after each 'death'. Dramatic imagery in this poem! One of your talents is stopping a reader in his/her tracks and forcing him/her to think about what he/she believes. I have come to know that 99% of your work has duality; there is meaning beneath the meaning. Bravo~
Sheila |
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| Reviewed by Willie Maartens |
2/2/2008 |
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| Very good. I like it. Willie |
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| Reviewed by Theresa Koch |
1/26/2008 |
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| Powerful and outstanding write! |
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| Reviewed by Axilea MU |
1/25/2008 |
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To answer your question - to give my personal answer, the one that I feel close to now - I do prefer the cycle of spiritual deaths and resurrections. It would certainly be pointless if it was a repetition of exactly the same pattern. As far as I'm concerned, it is always a different aspect of me that is challenged and learns from the process. I do feel the improvement as a whole.
I think you put so much in these verses, much deeper and jagged than the usual haiku... Where are the reviewers? Wake up!
Startling work Keith.
Axilea |
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