O Water 25/10/2005 Many years ago I worked in the High Court of Zimbabwe. It was a very large and rambling building, constructed in the 1920s I'd guess, and contained several courts and many large offices. Wandering corridors connected the various parts and in some areas the building became a maze in which it was easy to get lost. Walls were thick and strong, ceilings very high and the floors were that polished, wear-resistant concrete that seems the norm for government buildings everywhere.I was employed in the deceased estates and company liquidations section and, because there was so much space within the building, for most of my seven years there I had an office to myself. In those days I had dreams of becoming a great artist or a great writer (I had not yet decided which) and it became my habit to speed through the work so that I could have plenty of time for writing poetry or drawing afterwards. In time I could guarantee having a clear desk by about 11:00 am and would spend the rest of my day scribbling on the backs of old court reports or merely pondering and dreaming.The powers that be eventually discovered that they could give me any amount of work and it would be done in a morning; they steadily increased my workload, perhaps to see whether I had any limits. And, not wishing to give up my free time, I accelerated to stay ahead. I worked there for seven years and, by the time I left, I must have been doing everyone else's work for them; certainly, they seemed to spend most of their days in sitting around and chatting. Perhaps that is just normal for any government department, however.I remember a day when I was sitting back in my chair, musing, when I noticed a drop of water hanging from the ceiling just above me. There was no sign of how it had come to be there; it could have been condensation for the thick walls, narrow windows and large rooms kept the place pretty cool, or it may have been a leakage from some part of the plumbing in the floor above. But, whatever the reason for its appearance, it did not seem to grow or change. It just hung from the ceiling, being a water drop.I watched that drop for a long time, expecting it to fall, but it did not. It seemed to have found its place in the world and have resolved to stay there forever. I pondered its existence and what it meant. After a time it dawned on me that there was much to be learned from this one drop of water and I wrote a poem about it. This was in about 1972 and is entirely reproduced from memory, so you will understand that it may have the odd word or two not quite as it was in the original; but it is as close as I can get:O WaterSurface tensionInner calmLike a womanThe water dropIn grasping the holdless ceilingDefies the sight and mind of manDenies the fact of riverLake and streamProposes cloudbed rivers borneBy windy banksTo seas and oceansOf the skyYour human lawsOf gravity and surfaceDo not describe the natural factBut only lend it reasonI do not subscribe to the idea that any artist should explain his work; it should stand alone for so it will have to do after his death. On this one occasion, however, I must mention that the word "describe" is not meant in its narrow sense of telling what something looks like. This is rather in the sense of "giving the complete story of" and comes very close in meaning to the word "circumscribe". And that's all I'm saying.
Clive
Kurt Interesting choice of words with 'circumscribe', Clive. If we think of it in terms of roots, what you're really doing then is 'writing around' the water drop, rather than, say, a dry clinical description, or mere writing down of. That in itself is a somewhat tender image; careful not to disturb the drop with so much as a word on its surface, you gingerly write around it, careful to tell as much truth as you can without a clinical description that would take out the 'O' and leave it as just a drop of plain old water like any other. Date Added: 25/10/2005
Gone Away I'm impressed, Kurt. Most scientists immediately take me to task by saying that science does not attempt to describe but rather explain. But you have seen that that is exactly what I'm saying - that we lend reason to a phenomenon but too often forget that it's only a loan. ;) Date Added: 25/10/2005
Kurt I'm in an awkward situation re: the scientist vs. artist camp, I think. Although I identify with scientists, I don't really consider myself one (more of a logician in training, if anything), and I still have fond enough memories of the time when I actually wrote fiction that I'm wary of disclaiming myself of an artistic nature. Date Added: 25/10/2005
Matthew I dig it. :) Date Added: 25/10/2005
Gone Away Ah, you're a renaissance man, Kurt. And nothing wrong with that! Date Added: 25/10/2005
Gone Away Glad you do, Matthew! :) Date Added: 25/10/2005
Madmin *Checks the MadTV poetry levels -- finds it below the toxic level -- continues on his way in the dark labyrinth of the Internet* Date Added: 25/10/2005
Ken "Like a woman", that's the phrase that interests me, Gone Away - not that I'd ask you to explain! I am reminded of a certain Bob Dylan lyric, though. Date Added: 25/10/2005
Gone Away .oO(Whew, that's a relief. Never know when I'll be able to get some poetry past the Madmin...) Date Added: 26/10/2005
Gone Away Nothing to do with Bob Dylan, Ken! Date Added: 26/10/2005
Steve Thorn I'd say that you have a complete and profound poem in just the first two lines. 'Surface tension Inner calm' Beautiful. Date Added: 26/10/2005
Gone Away Thank you, Steve. I kinda liked the offsetting of the scientific term with its artistic equivalent. ;) Date Added: 26/10/2005
Matt What I find amusing about it is that while it is in description of a water droplet which is just sort of dangling, not really appearing to do much of anything (if you are willing to accept that dangling is not an activity that generally requires much in the way of its doing) the prose attributes a rather gratuitous number of action verbs to it (denies, defies, grasps, proposes...). Animating the inanimate through the attribution of actions which are accomplished through inactivity. It's brilliant! ;) Date Added: 26/10/2005
Gone Away Well thank you, Matt. It must have been a very accomplished drop of water! ;) Date Added: 26/10/2005
Marti Dang, I always seem to show up after someone else has already expressed my thoughts - LOL I was struck by the number of "action" verbs as well (didn't think them gratuitous though LOL) Being a woman (the only female commentor so far?) I can identify with "Defies the sight and mind of man". Lovely Clive, you're a gem. Date Added: 27/10/2005
Gone Away Aww thanks, Marti. *blush, blush* :) Date Added: 27/10/2005
mensa B What a wonderful journey I've just just been on, here.. And for your words to have 'circumscribed' the event, in a lovely and simplistic way.. (^__^) Date Added: 27/10/2005
scribeswindow your past working days sound very similar to Jorge Luis Borges. Like you, he would spend his morning finishing his work and then spend the rest of the day reading and writing. Spain dubbed him as the most read man in the world. Admittedly he got to do this for all of his working life, lucky man... Date Added: 27/10/2005
Gone Away Thanks for your kind words, Mensa. It's good to be appreciated. :) Date Added: 27/10/2005
Gone Away Nice work if you can get, huh, Scribe? Unfortunately, all my jobs after that one proved to be more time-consuming and I have had to wait until now before getting heavily involved in writing again. But such is life and it gives us something to write about... ;) Date Added: 27/10/2005
Beltane I'm in a feminist mood today I suppose, so the phrase 'like a woman' cued me into curiosity. I think it offended me more than anything. We're always so objectified/subjectified. However the poetry remains well done. :) Date Added: 27/10/2005
John (SYNTAGMA Ah, a water drop hanging from the ceiling in suspended animation. Why do I hear a "plop" coming on? It's those dratted haiku again. They get everywhere.
In fact the similarity with haiku is real, except you've extended it into a period of reflection, like an old-fashioned "brown study". Nice piece of poetry, Clive, very evocative. You know, you should take up haiku ^_^ you really should. Date Added: 27/10/2005
Gone Away Am I to take it that you are saying that women are just like men so there's no meaning in the phrase "like a woman", Beltane? Whether we like it or not (I happen to like it :D), there are differences and the words were quite deliberately chosen to highlight how some of those differences make women somewhat of a mystery to men. If you feel that demeans women, I'm sorry, but I don't agree. But thank you for the kind words re the poetry. :) Date Added: 27/10/2005
Gone Away How much money is there in haiku, John? ;) Date Added: 27/10/2005
Beltane You're just old fashioned, Clive ;) Date Added: 27/10/2005
Gone Away You're quite right, Beltane. And I take that as a compliment. :D Date Added: 27/10/2005
Janus The sign of a true artist, you write poetry at work. I drew pictures of my boss in a noose at work (at least back at the desk job.) Especially when everyone else gives me their work It's a good poem and you remember it well. I wish I could do that, I have to take notes so I remember 3 grocery items. Date Added: 09/11/2005
Gone Away Three grocery items is my limit, Janus. After that, I have to write it down. ;) Date Added: 09/11/2005
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