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31_days2010-05-14 11:16 am
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2010-05-14 11:16 am
[May 14] [Original] Poets' Obligations
Title: Poets' Obligations
Day/Theme: May 14, 2010 "A poem can begin with a lie"
Series: original
Character/Pairing: Yusonne & Kessen
Rating: G
"How do you start your poems?" Yusonne asked his brother. It was a lazy, rainy day and he could never really be bothered to do anything substantial on a day like this. The rain of early Autumn wasn't like the rain of late Winter. It was tepid and sticky. He couldn't bear to go out and wander around the city in it. At times like this, he really felt for those poets who were beggars. He was fortunate to have a roof over his head. He had only his parents to thank. He couldn't have managed such a feat on his own. He had been fortunate enough to barely have to work in his life. The house was their only inheritance, but it was good enough.
"Um, it depends." Kessen wasn't as lazy as him. He was a good brother and his industrious behavior belied his health and stature. He would be polite and answer Yusonne's inquiries, but, honestly, he was trying to get some writing done and this was not making the creative process any easier.
"Well, maybe how you start isn't as important as content in general. For instance," Yusonne waved a hand around abstractly, "Does a poem have to deal with the truth?"
"I do think there's a tendency in poems these days to focus on the truth, but that's a trend, not a requirement. I think in tough times though, people might need more than the truth. I don't know about you, Yusonne, but I think there's a need for fantasy."
"There's a need for fantasy," the older brother agreed, twisting a long strand of black hair around his finger, "But allow me to play devil's advocate for a minute, if you will! Some people consider fantasy to be the same as lying. Do lies have a place in poetry as well?"
Kessen put down his pen. Like it or not, Yusonne had tempted him into an interesting discussion. It appeared his work would have to wait until later. "I would argue that it does. Writing poetry isn't like writing history. ...And I suppose even in the case of history you could argue that it's not all truth that makes it into the official documents, what with authorial bias and all that."
"So poets have no obligation to tell the truth?" Yusonne smiled. He liked it when Kessen would bite the verbal lures he tossed out into the waters of these homebound days. It didn't always work. His younger brother was a bit more serious-minded than him. Perhaps it was just Kessen's innate nature or perhaps the strain of constant illness sharpened his mind toward production and accomplishment. He was more aware than most his age of the finite nature of time.
"Poets have only to answer to themselves and the One, Yusonne. At least that's how I see it. Sometimes a lie reveals a greater truth."
Day/Theme: May 14, 2010 "A poem can begin with a lie"
Series: original
Character/Pairing: Yusonne & Kessen
Rating: G
"How do you start your poems?" Yusonne asked his brother. It was a lazy, rainy day and he could never really be bothered to do anything substantial on a day like this. The rain of early Autumn wasn't like the rain of late Winter. It was tepid and sticky. He couldn't bear to go out and wander around the city in it. At times like this, he really felt for those poets who were beggars. He was fortunate to have a roof over his head. He had only his parents to thank. He couldn't have managed such a feat on his own. He had been fortunate enough to barely have to work in his life. The house was their only inheritance, but it was good enough.
"Um, it depends." Kessen wasn't as lazy as him. He was a good brother and his industrious behavior belied his health and stature. He would be polite and answer Yusonne's inquiries, but, honestly, he was trying to get some writing done and this was not making the creative process any easier.
"Well, maybe how you start isn't as important as content in general. For instance," Yusonne waved a hand around abstractly, "Does a poem have to deal with the truth?"
"I do think there's a tendency in poems these days to focus on the truth, but that's a trend, not a requirement. I think in tough times though, people might need more than the truth. I don't know about you, Yusonne, but I think there's a need for fantasy."
"There's a need for fantasy," the older brother agreed, twisting a long strand of black hair around his finger, "But allow me to play devil's advocate for a minute, if you will! Some people consider fantasy to be the same as lying. Do lies have a place in poetry as well?"
Kessen put down his pen. Like it or not, Yusonne had tempted him into an interesting discussion. It appeared his work would have to wait until later. "I would argue that it does. Writing poetry isn't like writing history. ...And I suppose even in the case of history you could argue that it's not all truth that makes it into the official documents, what with authorial bias and all that."
"So poets have no obligation to tell the truth?" Yusonne smiled. He liked it when Kessen would bite the verbal lures he tossed out into the waters of these homebound days. It didn't always work. His younger brother was a bit more serious-minded than him. Perhaps it was just Kessen's innate nature or perhaps the strain of constant illness sharpened his mind toward production and accomplishment. He was more aware than most his age of the finite nature of time.
"Poets have only to answer to themselves and the One, Yusonne. At least that's how I see it. Sometimes a lie reveals a greater truth."