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Saturday, March 1, 2014

(in)Visible

There is a line between
you & me

we play hopscotch across it

entering
each other's worlds
yet
never crossing paths

You glimpse a side of me
hidden from the world at large –
those who can touch & see me
or rather the hologram
I project out
so in truth they cannot
see or touch
not really
not more than I will allow

but you & I
connected by + separated by
this line between us

or maybe it's these lines
(perpendicular lines)
allowing me to be – to you –
the opposite reciprocal that
perpendicular lines exist upon

for these lines that lay between
you & me
allow me to be in-tangible

and yet
touched & seen as no one
here
standing beside me can claim




Behind the math:  When I first pictured the line in lay across separating like cutting a room in half, then it switched creating a conduit between us.  Together the lines form perpendicular lines.  The interesting thing about perpendicular lines is that their slopes are opposite (one positive, one negative) reciprocals (3/4 vs 4/3).  And somehow this idea just felt fitting to the idea that in one case the touchable was untouchable, the seen was unseen vs. the untouchable being touchable and the unseen being seen.  Anyway, it made sense in my head.  Originally, the way I had fit it in felt wrong...threw off the flow.  And so I was about to get rid of it completely before I managed to find a way for it to fit better within the flow of the piece.

Inspiration for this piece (part 1):  This began with the inkling of a prompt that would be presented at dVerse Poets Pub for their Poetics prompt about invisible.  At first, I thought of the line as the invisible entity, but as the piece moved forward, it took on a new meaning.

Inspiration for this piece (part 2):  This is for all of the insane people (and I mean insane with all the love and affection possible) that visit here.

22 comments:

Brian Miller said...

smiles...i like your use of geometry...its what i teach so i hear you and hey i like insane people...they make life fun you know...this is much like us...touching never but jumping into each others lives just a bit...parallel...again though it is all in what we are willing to project...

Mary said...

It is good that there are at least a few who can glimpse a side of the person not readily seen. We all need to be NOT invisible to at least a very few people. And you mentioned the lines...I think we all have them, even with people with whom we are visible.

Grace said...

I like the marriage of math & relationships ~ That line speaks so much, separating us, yet also separating us from the rest of the world ~

Good to see you ~

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

I love the hopscotch image, and the way it becomes a metaphor.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

I love the hopscotch image, and the way it becomes a metaphor.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

This is cleverly written. Like Mary, I am glad there are people willing to look and see beyond the surface to the real person. Cool write!

Gabriella said...

I too like the idea if the person being able to catch a glimpse of who we really are. Maybe one day they might wish to step over the line and get to know us more.

lynndiane said...

Interesting take..now i'm thinking of lines and relationships...there are those parallel lines too, that never even touch...hmm

kaykuala said...

It gets to thinking there are invisible lines separating one from others. It's good to venture out where possible and create connections when the coast is clear. Nicely rmp!

Hank

Anonymous said...

but you & I
connected by + separated by
this line between us....

I really feel these lines Brian; separation is such an illusion. Beautiful piece!

brudberg said...

Using geometry and math in a poem is a fascinating idea.. I like it a lot. Last week I wrote a poem about the Riemann sphere.. And it makes a lot of sense to me.

Claudia said...

interesting on these invisible lines that we touch and cross and retreat back into our lives...it makes life interesting and makes us taste a bit of other cultures as well

Anonymous said...

lovely. the idea of hopscotch...the glimpse of the enigmatic side...:)

Anonymous said...

The perpendicular line metaphor works really well

Ron Shields said...

A brilliant take on the prompt. Insanity is the spice of life and a very necessary character trait for poets in particular. This poem describes, for me, the way in which we can/do interact in the virtual world, in our virtual lives, which involve very real emotions and relationships with our fellow travelers...really like this poem.

Kathy Reed said...

for my part, I was never very good at geometry, excelled in trig..to me this talks about boundary lines.....each othere' space and where we are allowed to tred or not...sometimes we cross a line we ought not have,,,invisible of course

Pat Hatt said...

insane is sure fun indeed, can go with that at my feed. Like the hopscotch line too. Math can sure add up one plus one

Abhra said...

Absolutely love the effect in here - the marking of invisible but so real - personal space and stepping into one another's world - very well done.

Jennifer Wagner said...

"insane" -hey, I resemble that remark! ha! Great poem, really well done...and I so identify.

The Bizza said...

I read this as the invisible lines separating me the reader from the writer's words, while simultaneously inviting me in to share a few lines from your world.

I greatly enjoyed this poem.

Cressida de Nova said...

I agree with Ron,you can't be a sane poet.Sometimes the line blurs a bit.

Mystic_Mom said...

Completely cool...love this.