Saturday, November 13, 2010

Two Pithy Poems about Existence

(One I have liked since high school, and have been feeling more as I've gotten older; the other discovered in reading a sample translation once, much enjoyed, and never forgotten.)

A Man Said to the Universe
by Stephen Crane

A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."


Untitled
by Polleke
(a character in Guus Kuijer's Polleke series)

When I see a cow,
Then I know that God exists.
But if I say so to the cow,
She starts to moo.

2 comments:

  1. I like them both. Very short and sweet, yet thought provoking. Nothing is as we expect, but we feel entitlement. Nice poems.

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  2. I've carried around this ditty by ... oh, he's the guy who wrote the Uncle Remus books. Joel Chandler Harris, that's it!

    When you have a thing to say
    Say it! Don't take half the day.
    When you tale has little in it,
    Crowd the whole thing in a minute!
    Life is short, a fleeting vapor
    Don't you fill the whole blamed paper
    With a tale, which, in a pinch
    Could be cornered in an inch.
    Boil her down until she simmers,
    Polish her until she glimmers.

    Though I think he could have cut that poem by half and been fine with it.

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