Temptation

By L G Meadows

Fri, 30 Sep 2011
  • 7917 reads
30 comments
 

You are temptation on two legs
An egg whisk in my thoughts
A roller coaster ride
Mainly in the dark

You are an itch on my back
That won’t go away
The sun in my eyes
On a bright sunny day

You are a haunting melody
A gentle refrain
That runs through my mind
Again and again

You are the yin to my yang
A story I don’t want to end
The snake in the garden
That tempts me to sin

Certificate U
Poem
Words, silly
Romance

Comments

Submitted by ScoZen on
Ahh my LGM. I liked this one. This reminds me of DH Lawrence's "Snake" "...On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat..." You're not in pj's, are you ?
ScoZen

Submitted by L G Meadows on
lol nooooo comment scozen.. in this heat.. maybe? love it though.. and thanks Blessing and scozen for reading and comments

 

Submitted by animan on
a very nicely sketched state of being - nice use of images - the snake felt slightly out of keeping tho - is there any other image of temptation other than the genesis icon, i often wonder. perhaps not.

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Thanks, I think it is the most universally recognised? If you can think of another am happy to hear about it!

 

Submitted by RachelPatricia on
Really enjoyed this LG :)

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Thanks PenandPaperdreams

 

Submitted by animan on
like a tub of hagen daz staring at a girl on a diet?? only kidding!

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
lol nahhhhh doesn't work animan... you can do better than that :-p

 

Submitted by animan on
hmmm, I'm struggling with this one. I see the problem.

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Sometimes the oldies are the best ones...

 

Submitted by animan on
yes and no - re-invention is good too? boringly, there's something about genesis that troubles me; it seems to imply there is a necessary sequence of innocence, temptation, disobedience, awareness, experience, shame, punishment, suffering; is 'myth' a determiner of experience? re-invent the myth, re-invent experience? i fear i grow dull ...

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
There are many creation myths. Most of them are more or less the same. Always some type of conflict resolution. It's an attempt to define or explain human nature I suppose. Can one re-define human nature?

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Yeah I like a good debate, particularly with Animan.

 

Submitted by animan on
Cheers! Now, I'm going to push the affective boat out and see if I can get myself in a fine mess as Laurel?Hardy?? says! Surely, human nature is in a constant state of redefinition - it's not static. There is a radical interplay of culture (inc. myth), society and personality (ego, alter-ego and id). Playing out that dynamic, changing it, watching it change is what we do every day. Also, feeling stuck in it. I suppose it's the morality issue that intrigues me most tho', in that if we change the myth then we change the morality and that feels a times a bit like playing at being god. Myth, accepted, saves us from that kind of god-playing gig?

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Ah, no god complex here. Yes culture, personality and society change. I think a lot of poetry explores that, I know mine does. I try on alter egos, explore 'what ifs' and just see if writing helps me to define or clarify what is going on in the world, my life, etc. If we change morality (and I do think it is changing) it does not change the myth as much as make it a parody of itself. If we change the myth it just comments on morality, myths don't change anything (in my humble opinion). Myths are only an exploration of what might have been, not what was. Am I an danger of sinking into a quagmire? If so, throw me a line will you?

 

Submitted by animan on
Sorry you're sensing a quagmire. I don't think I can throw you a line exactly, but only pursue my perception of enquiry which may or may not be in contradiction with the enquiry you're pursuing. My own sense is that myths are, in some ways, universalization of the repeated process of inception, growth, evolution that occurs in every life. The proliferation of animal types in genesis is another way of looking at cell growth and diversification within the human body. One cell realises that it's located in one's left little finger and so it thinks right I'm going to do all the things that a cell needs to do in this position within the geography of the whole body. By analogy, the garden of eden story is a playing out of the growth pangs of adolescence. (Quick caveat - I'm not intending to upset religious people here in any way - I'm simply exploring avenues of thought in the same way that one might explore theories of quantum physics). It occurs to me that the snake has an allusoriness and connotativeness with sperm and the penis. Sorry! It's an icon of the whole 'problem' of male sexuality - that's how it gets its implicit imagistic power. It's not an exploration 'of what might have been' but of what is repeatedly occurring. The myth sets up a dynamic of shame/concern/worry about male sexual evolutionary processes as much as it does reflect one. Myths do create as much as they reflect in my view. What if god had said: okay, girls and boys, enjoy, go to it!? ... And, then said in a quiet rueful aside to himself: darn it, why didn't I remember to create a Juno to my Jove first off??

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Sounds a bit Freudian to me, the penis/ snake thing. I also think this topic is a bit deep considering the lightheartness of the original poem. I also hope no one's religious beliefs are upset by this. Maybe I should have ended it ' you are the doughnut that tempts me to sin'. nahhhhh doesn't have the same ring to it, just doesn't work. Eating doughnuts isn't a sin but here we go again with the whole myth/ temptation/ sin. Maybe I should have worked Pandora's box in there somehow... hmmmm but basically, I can't be bothered. PS. I know less about quantum physics than I do myths,temptation and sexuality so lets not go there!

 

Submitted by animan on
okay :)

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Whew, thought I was gonna have to read up on quantum physics!

 

Submitted by animan on
There's always the Bluffer's Guide to ... lol My library is almost entirely stocked from that series!!

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Wait...... you mean you cheated on the discussion??????? You definitely ran rings around me but with the help of a guide?.... errrr where can I get this Bluffer's Guide??

 

Submitted by animan on
At your local Illusionist's.

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
You're all fog and mirrors, animan?????

 

Submitted by animan on
I think I'm more of an onion.

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
ahhhhh layer upon layer.. and sometimes make people weep?

 

Submitted by animan on
Yes - I fear so. I think I've met my mirror - and what I see is not pretty. Thank you - I feel sadder and wiser.

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
nooooooo was not meant that way, the tears are not of saddness when caused by an onion, its actually the fault of the peeler, if he or she had left the onion alone to begin with, no tears would be shed ( she says trying to dig herself out of a uncomfortable corner)

 

Submitted by animan on
Sorry, didn't mean to put you in uncomfortable corner. Sometimes, it is good to see oneself for something that one does not want to see/be. Be of good cheer! All is good! Have a swim or something!!

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on
Actually that statement was on a piece of needle point on my mum's wall... Life is like an onion, you peel off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. Thought that was pretty profound for needlepoint. Your onion statement brought it to mind, was more flippant than mirrory. I shall watch my flippancy in the future! Also, I never have really liked needlepoint and I do so hope needlepoint isn't like your most favourite thing in the world so I am sunk again. Need a emoticon for foot in mouth.....

 

Submitted by animan on
Needlepoint is good. And clearly very usefully philosophical. Dont know what needlepoint is exactly, but I'm sure it is good. We were never taught needlepoint at Preppers - the extra-curricular syllabus focused more on buggery and battery. Only kidding! well, largely! Flippancy is good. Much a truth came from a flippant thought. I feel sure. Conversation/debate, for me, is about shared exploration - I see no scope in it for achieving a sense of inferiority or superiority, of triumphancy or self-castigation - that has no interest for me. I actually needed to have this debate to clarify in my mind that I have had a tendency to slip from emotionalism into intellectualism, from questioning thought into self-justificatory casuistry, from caring into manipulativeness. Slipperty customers onioins. Good up to a point, but to be treated with caution. All of this is good as a hologram Cherokee chieftain implicitly indicated to me recently - welcome to my world! - that there was a waitress who I had been ignoring for three months who needed a bit of help and to avoid doing so showed a lack of responsibility. This discussion has indicated/confirmed to me the things I should avoid slipping into slipping into in trying to help. So, it would seem my life has a reason and an interconnectedness that is hopefully, as of now, in some kind of virtuous circle. And yes, in case you're wondering, I think I am a bit mad.