Poet Republik-Joanna Fuhrman
This month’s featured poet, Joanna Fuhrman asks, among other questions “the meaning of the space/between the prongs of the unplugged iron?” What shouldn’t we allow in? In this age of surveillance and sophistry, what remains sacred? What profane? Does one bleed into another? Is all the world a stage? and if so, then must we let everyone watch? Where do we locate the real? Post a poem, video or story that reveals that every elusive commodity: truth. Yeah, I know you’re thinking about John Keats right now, we know what he has to say about truth, but what do YOU, tiny human giant, have to say?
The World is Burning, But Everyone Needs Sleep
Why bother to lift the cloud’s galvanic veil?
Why remove the halo contact lenses
from my solid white eyes?
If so many crows like to watch the blurred
screen of my face, how can I be expected
to understand the truth of the obstinate
fire hydrant? The meaning of the space
between the prongs of the unplugged iron?
Maybe it’s enough to bask in the shadows
of the thighs of the monumental icon,
to rescue dented souls with the tongs
of a sparkling imagination, to stretch out,
on the floor of our carpeted basement,
counting the heads of our ceramic turtle collection
until the meditative gesture
becomes you, and you it.
So don’t ask me to sleep on the other side
of the bottled-water bed.
Don’t tell me to flick on the light, and stop
drinking cocoa from the Van Gogh
museum’s ear-shaped mug.
Yes, there may be a river of tomato-juice blood
surrounding our neoclassical-pueblo duplex condo,
but that doesn’t mean the blinds should be open,
that everything should be allowed in.
As the sun begins to rise
As the roosters begin their song
The masks begin to come on
Is it real? or is it fake?
As the layers begin to unravel
Like an onion begging to be peeled
Does anyone even know what is real?
With fake posts and stretched truths
Like a mime pulling a rope
Round of applause this is the show
Like the sun piercing the clouds
Will the truth be revealed?
Or will it remain hidden in the clouds?
Is it sacred if it makes life harder?
Is it good if it makes things worse?
Is it precious if it hurts?
She asked me if she looked pretty, I said “no.”
She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks.
He asked if everything would be okay, I told him, “maybe”
He walked away, head down, looking at the ground.
They asked me if I finished my homework, I sighed, “I didn’t”
We fought for hours.
When asked if the dinner was good, I replied, “yes.”
I became their favorite.
When asked if a dress made her look fat, I answered, “no.”
We cuddled for the night.
When asked if there was an afterlife, I exclaimed, “Absolutely”
They smiled and sang all day.
Should truth be revealed if it hurts?
Should lies be told it make us smile?
Should promises be made if they only last a while?
The Truth In You
I seek the truth in you
The weak lie is not you
So speak up, yes you
The truth hurts but it works
The truth simplifies and dignifies
The truth soothes preserving your youth
I ask the truth of you
Cry now, take a tissue
So speak up, yes you
The truth signifies and modifies
The truth is within and the best way to begin
The truth is a good start especially for sweethearts
I need the truth of you
Simply choose your venue
So speak up, yes you
The truth to any degree
Is a starting point to be free
Just like one and two make three
So speak up, yes you
If you agree
-Sylvia Chidi
Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?
Everyone says life is easy
but its because they haven’t lived in mine.
The world has a lot to offer
but if you face it with your arms crossed it will whirl you in.
People come and go in our lives
and pass like a summer breeze.
Some stop by to smell the flowers
others stay long enough to pick them.
The people who make a difference
are the ones who stop and plant the flowers in our lives.
Life is a daily challenge and we must face it like warriors.
The more prepare we are for the battle
the more victorious we will be!
Well-being
my mind is filled with dreams and thoughts
things that will never happen ever
things that my teachers and employers taught
to try and make me clever
things I love but also what I hate
imagining a beautiful first date
my mind is filled with beautiful things
like world peace and my future wedding ring
I hate the fact that I’m always stuck in the clouds
but for me
it’s always the best place to be
I don’t know what it is to lie
Jeans have never made anyone look fat
The dog really did eat my homework
The tire on my car really went flat
I swear I was studying with my friends,
Not drinking beer and smoking pot
The only time I lied
was in bed, when I had that bug
Yes, it was a coincidence
there was an exam that day
My mother has never cooked a bad meal
My father has never told a bad joke
I stand by all my choices
I really do love myself
Lately I’ve been tough to reach. I spend a lot of time on my own. Sometimes I feel so depressed, I can’t seem to get out of this slump. A lot of things are hard to swallow: losing a loved one, heartbreak, lonliness. All these things can get to someone but one cannot let others say you are not beautuiful. Maybe we should trade shoes to see what it is like to be you or me and see our struggles through eachothers eyes.
This poem makes me reflect on things that have happen in the past. It makes me feel that some times in the moment of not knowing what to do things are crystal clear but their is always something that makes t difficult to face reality.
What is real to some might be ignored based on someone’s level of understanding and acceptance. My perception on reality focuses on visual experiences this planet has faced and it takes one image or clip to express 1000 words into thoughts. For me one monumental experience that became vivid was loosing a family member in a car accident. That day was a dark moment in time for me and became crucial for me to accept. I didn’t realize what kind of impact it brought into my life until the very moment of realization. That loss gained more then just sympathy, it created an outline on life that determines what separates me from the truth. It can happen to anyone and it happened to me, these visuals only existed in movies or television I never believed I would encounter such a tragedy, but I did and that allowed me to build character. As much as I wish it wouldn’t of ever happened I accept the consequence and I carry faith within an eternal after life. To some people that might be oblivious but for me its a safe zone that keeps me connected with my lost family member and I carry them within me hoping to someday meet with them again after my time has passed on earth. That reality is the truth behind my spiritual beliefs.
We can find true in the same place where we hide it.
We can tell the truth, but we always choice to lie.
We can express what we feel, yet we choice what others think we feel.
We show society we are strong while we are not.
I think we all know the meaning of true, but most of the time we don’t accept it. Sometimes is more comfortable for us to be living a lie than tell what we really feel and think. It is easier to say you are okay than tell everyone why you are sad or mad. Life events such as losing a loved one could make you feel the desire to not accept truth. We live in a society were stress is present in everything, and for some reason this could help people to be more susceptible to lie. Accepting the truth and what does it means, it is a process because you have to be able to accept everything the way it is. You have to be strong to accept the good and the bad. You have to be honest to tell the truth without any lie. You have to be intelligent to recognize when someone is lying to you.
Recently I came across an image that made my heart saddened. The image showed a service man of some kind picking up a lifeless body of a child laying on the shore of the beach. I hear about violence and war around the world, but living in the United States in the beautiful state of California I don’t recall reading nowhere in the books people fleeing for safety. The image was real, being a mother of two and my only instinct as a mother is to protect wish the best for a child. The image really gave me an eye opener of what life is outside and the meaning of protection.
One very true fact that will always stay is that no matter how many friends or followers you have on Facebook or Twitter, you will always just have 150 true friends in your life time. It doesn’t matter if you have hundreds or thousands of these people on social media we now know thanks to The Dunbar Number, that you will never have any number that large of close friends. This is simply because that ‘s just how we operate as humans no other reason is out there for this fact, you may feel special about all those Twitter followers but in reality they may just be there to look at your pictures than to have a conversation with you.
I believe truth is within reality. The things that we go through, the hardships we face.. pretty much inhabit everyone’s life. But the thing is we learn from out mistakes and move one. Whatever happens in life, we ultimately have to accept it one way or another. In life the people we meet affect us more than we think……. Things happen in this world that are just ridiculous, and there are tons of dangers out there that few of us are lucky to be unaffected by could ever know or understand. Others bring out our qualities, and the places you go, affect you and basically every person is a sum of their individual experiences. Kid Cudi basically describes all of that in a nut shell from his song GHOST! where he portrays going through the undeniable truths of life.
Anyone can smack a smile onto his face every morning
Anyone can write a “Thank You” letter to an estranged relative
Anyone can compose feelings of guilt and remorse after hurting another person
You can lie to the world, but you can’t lie to yourself
You can trick your brain into thinking you’re right when you’re not
But you know when you are wrong
The world is a deceptive place
Everyone is two-faced
Everyone is fake
Everyone lies
The world has no honesty
No sincerity
No truth
But all we can do is trust one another
Because without trust, the world would be an empty place
Without trust, there is no love
And without love, there is no hope
As someone who’s seen one mother and three step-mothers and a stepfather whose relationship with my mother is based on half-truths and just a general dishonesty, I have been taught and led to believe that true love has to grow from a foundation of lies because true honesty brings pain and sorrow and that just breaks hearts.
Over the last few months, I have unlearned this so-called truth and learned the real truth – that this pain and sorrow brought on by hard truths is well worth it when one sees the light that comes at the end when people are made stronger and closer.
Because your reality is different than mine, I trust what is not a lie. You speak to the sky and I speak to the moon, fact is we all evaporate and reality remains a question.
And I feel as I cannot hide, no matter where I turn there is one in sight. It’s soft skin and gentle cry, as the square screen mirrors what I want.
I often wonder If your reality is my desire, as I emerge in endless happiness one day at a time. But as I continue to show my expression for everyone to see, don’t really know if I should keep it to me.
The world expresses three is a family, as the world is a fixed reality. My reality is different than yours, but for now I leave it for the sky to choose.
You know what hurts the most now a days?
Lies
Lies that are told by your loved ones
Lies that literally feel as if you were punched in the stomach
Lies that feel like a sharp knife going through the skin and feeling the warmth of the blood,
Honesty became a rare quality in people
Honesty is rare to find
Honesty is like finding a needle in a haystack
Honesty is like a precious diamond, pretty to look at, but only a few can have
Honesty became like a pricey and rare thing to have
Honesty I have, do you?
Just yesterday, I was at my grandma’s house watching the news when out comes this heartbreaking story that made me teary-eyed and deeply saddened. At a church service in Charleston, there was a 21-year-old boy, Dylann Roof, who shot and killed 9 African Americans including a pastor. As more information was being released, there was an interview of one of the victim’s mother who was present that day and was talking about how her son, Tywanza Sanders, had taken several shots and still tried saving an old woman’s life before he died. And with his last breaths, he managed to tell his mother that he loved her. After the nightmare that day Sander’s mother went to Roof’s hearing and said that she herself had forgiven him for killing her 26-year-old son. That very moment was real; a mother who had lost her son had forgiven her son’s killer. And Sander’s, who had managed to tell his mother that he loved her just as he was about to die. This tragedy really opened my eyes to what life is and how one should not take life for granted, because you can be here one day and be gone the next. This dreadful moment of reality that took place at a church in Charleston really gave me an understanding of what the meaning of truth is.
There are who people who cry, suffer, and worry each day
there are people who smile to hide their pain
and it wont wash away you’re hurt
even if you rub off the dirt
we dissemble ourselves from what is real
which limits the time
we take to heal
we pretend, we don’t see the things we do
we pretend we see the things we do
to chastise everyone’s thoughts
will continue to make the world distraught
The world and all that we see
The false limits of reality