Friday, June 17, 2011

What is memento mori?



Down the well there lies misfortune.
Below the surface lies mistrust.
I was calm when I unearthed them,
From the blackened mud and rust.

Above the mire lies such beauty.
Flowers afire from the sun.
Life creates such brilliant moments.
Death exhales, the moment's done.




The whole idea of remembering your mortality appeals to me. As an artist,I recognize the beauty in nature and in moments, but recognize that these will not last. I am learning, as I get older, that all we have is this minute. I am trying to live my life "in the moment." Something I've only recently learned to do, something I will continue to have to learn everyday of my life.




Word of the Day: Frenetic.(adjective) Frenzied or frantic.

12 comments:

  1. Yesterday is gone and Tomorrow never comes.
    All we really have is Today. (Carpe diem!)

    But I also recall William Cullen Bryant's classic poem, Thanatopsis and remember that death is just a part of life, something everybody shares in the end.

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  2. Beautiful! I love the imagery. I'm with Eric. Carpe diem! You know that's my life motto. Thanks for the spiritual getaway.

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  3. Eric,thanks. I just read the poem "Thanatopsis".
    Wow!Very beautiful. I spent a lot of time living in the future,never present in my body.Now,I am living each moment to its fullest.
    I have known death as my enemy,but now recognize him as a trusted companion and reminder to breathe every breath like its my last.

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  5. that's why i try to savor every sip of my beer.

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  6. "Respice post te! Hominem te memento!" - "Look behind you! Remember that you are but a man!"

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  7. Live in the moment.... That is my motto.

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  9. nice...think i would cut lies in the second stanza to play off the rhyme....and tighten the 3rd line...like this...

    Down the well there lies misfortune.
    Below the surface mistrust.
    Calm I unearthed them,
    From the blackened mud and rust.

    overall like this much..

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  10. This took my mind into a whole story line. What misfortune put them down the well? Was it the result of that mistrust? Calm because there's no guilt felt? Apparently very evocative for me. I could see a movie in my head.

    I really liked the meter and rhyme. It played like an ominous drumbeat score to my little mental film.

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  11. The short, two stanza addressing of life, death and that thin space between we call the present is right on. I love the construct and the message.

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  12. Some comments longer than your poem. I would call that a good thing. To write something to gove so juch to talk about. Excellent write. I can relate and even go along with most of the feedback. Ya done good.

    http://henryclemmons.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/red-petals/

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