'Tis the Season

[Tim J Brennan]

Poem deleted.

[Tracy Mitchell]

Hi Tim,

Isn't this a deceptive piece of writing! Each stanza poses its own collection of challenges. I am having a hard time finding a way into this poem. I am also finding it difficult to find the thread running through the stanzas. It is definitely thought-provoking.

S1 – Xmas and Xmas – the religious and the commercial? Each are birthed from differences and responsibilities – which is not the same as saying Xmas and Xmas are different from each other. What are the responsibilities?

S.2 – “beneath” is chosen, rather than “below”, which to me implies more likely standing on the earth rather than looking down on it. Must the “you” be punished as a pre-condition for the ability or opportunity to ‘love like this’, or is the need for punishment for loving like this a result of antecedent actions by “you”?

S.3 – sounds like a complaint to or about the grand deity.

S.4 – presumably the ‘you’ of S.4 is the same as the ‘you’ of S. 2. The speculation is that winter likely comes without the aid of either Xmas, but ‘you’ are not sure and therefore afraid.

S.5 – is this a declaration by or a declaration to the ‘you’ of the poem? The sense is stronger if it is a declaration by the ‘you’, though I can’t say why. And if so, then we have an oily lover who is hurting, and both uncertain and afraid of the effect of Xmas.

If this is a statement of the N.’s annual emotional disquietude, enui, and agitation occasioned by the holidays, it seems like the long way around.

Sorry I didn’t get more, Tim.

Happy holidays to you and your family.

T

[Tim J Brennan]

Merry Xmas, Tracy. 

Sometimes I don't "get" stuff in a poem. But I can still enjoy it. That's half the fun of art. 

[Tracy Mitchell]

Tim - I certainly did enjoy the poem and again, the challenges.
And I can see the art in the process.

Cheers.

T

[Colm Roe]

Merry Christmas Tim.
I read this as a person questioning their faith.
But they're aware that either way, there'll always be a price to be paid.
Anywho, I ejoyed the read.

[indar]

Hi Tim,

I see the division of x and x as the division between the Greek letter X or christos which honors Christ. and the other as a modern use that cancels the religious tradition that celebrates the birth of Christ. 

I read the "love" as agape in the following lines. In Christian tradition there is indeed sacrifice and therefore suffering involved in selfless love. I am trying to connect that to the final question and answer that follows and wonder if the reader might assume that the "responsibility" to one another at this time in history is for us to love one another enough to make sacrifices in order to keep all of us alive and well.

[Tim J Brennan]

Merry Christmas Tim.
I read this as a person questioning their faith.
But they're aware that either way, there'll always be a price to be paid.
Anywho, I ejoyed the read.

Thanks for your interpretation, Colm. Been awhile.

[Tim J Brennan]

Hi Tim,

I see the division of x and x as the division between the Greek letter X or christos which honors Christ. and the other as a modern use that cancels the religious tradition that celebrates the birth of Christ. 

I read the "love" as agape in the following lines. In Christian tradition there is indeed sacrifice and therefore suffering involved in selfless love. I am trying to connect that to the final question and answer that follows and wonder if the reader might assume that the "responsibility" to one another at this time in history is for us to love one another enough to make sacrifices in order to keep all of us alive and well.

I like that. Thank you, Indar. 

[Dave]

There seems to be a grammatical glitch in the last line:
It (life) keeps things (plural) as it (singular) should be: surely It keeps things (whatever they are - they seem to be something separate from life) as THEY should be.

There are quite a lot of pronouns with unclear antecedents in the poem in fact.

Dave

[Tim J Brennan]

Not in my mind, Dave. But thanks for the read.