LA MER
Can’t see the sea,
but can hear it,
which means it‘s there,
la mer, la mer.
But what’s the point?
There is no point
except to be,
except to be,
unlike the ones
with minds
who give themselves
a raison d’etre;
must have a goal,
must have an aim,
unlike the sea
from which they came.
1/10/11
That's something that I've always admired about many of your poems, Jimmy: they have the accepting attitude towards sublimity--the 'ordinary mind'--that is cultivated in the very best zen poems. Not complicated, not simple, like eating when hungry and sleeping when tired. And with this comes a light, laughing benevolence.
ReplyDeleteMaybe something that struck me here was remembering the perfect, almost tragi-comic way that the new remake of _Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy_ with Gary Oldman concludes with a montage of terrible and hopeful consequences, all set to Julio Iglesias' bravura cover of "La Mer." I think you'd laugh at how fragile the lives of these Cold-Warriors are revealed to be. One bunch of professionals is fired in disgrace; another crew replaces them. One lover is assassinated, another unexpectedly returns. They waver like a stiff breeze could knock them all down, while Julio Iglesias swings the changes. ;)