painting by Danny O'Connor
Bliss be a Lady
“Each of us could extract bliss from grief,
and knowledge from gloom.”
--Khalil Gibran.
There are certain
intangibles
in this life--
perfect happiness,
pure love,
actual liberty,
perhaps truth;
but they remain
worthy goals--
bliss for a nano-second,
relative truth,
imperfect love,
truncated liberty,
accommodated guilt,
and good health--
extended
for as long
as they may
last.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub Q44
17 comments:
Well done!
I think we never can get perfection... and maybe that is a good thing. There are always ways to make it better.
Intangibles are hard to grasp...but they are worthy goals to aim for ~ Bliss for even a nano second is heavenly ~
We live for the nanoseconds! This is beautifully written, Glenn.
I love this poem. I love what it stands for.
Bliss may b for a nanosecond but it is still bliss. Bliss can last for a long time. This is a well written poem and you used the word, unlike some people who think the required word is an option. We can never get perfection until after we die and become transformed. My day is filled with nanoseconds of bliss as I constantly strive for something to feel blissful about rather than living in a state of pragmatism. But I do like this quadrille from you Glenn. It speaks to the yearner in all of us.
Oooooo! I always love your quotes, Glenn. :) This is great.
Bliss for a nanosecond. That is what keeps us going in the midst of so much confusion and pain. I can't imagine what it is like for those so affected in Texas right now.
Right off the bat, you planted that fabulous song in my head ... "Luck Be a Lady Tonight."
As for you poem, I love the stretched out spacing at the end, calling me to rethink surface-level meanings and apply them.
I really like this section:
"bliss for a nano-second,
relative truth,
imperfect love,
truncated liberty,
accommodated guilt,
and good health"
You have a gift for build-ups and reversals. You are a list man, a fine one.
I like the second list for the most part, the more tangible parts of life. I guess most people do. Still, I strive for the first
"bliss for a nano-second,"...It's worth it.
Worthy goals and bliss for a nano-second - I hope we all have these at least once in our lives.
It is good practice to extract bliss from grief as Gibran suggests. We will get the grief and have the opportunity to try.
Sometimes bliss is found in unusual places. I often find small wonders in the day and it creates a moment of bliss. The magic of a double rainbow after a rain, a shooting star, a dragonfly passing by.
...sounds very Catholic :) Make the most of each day - keep trying.
Perfection is a worthy goal...bliss of nano-second is reality! LIKE this very much, Glenn.
Soooo late to the reading -- apologies Glenn. Our grandkids were with us from Sunday until last evening...so just getting to it.
LOVE the title! Somewhere in the crevices of my mind I recall some song title that rings similar? Sung by Tom Jones or Frank Sinatra perhaps? No matter....love the ideas here. Bliss does come in many forms...and is ethereal and fleeting at best. Pure bliss? Not sure it exists and if it does, but for a moment perhaps as the clock ticks on.
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