It’s a repetition of the recurrence
Don’t believe the hype
This ain’t no singularity
Nowt new beneath
The gaudy painted disk
That meanders monotonously
Against the banal backdrop
The Ingenue is always searching
In other people’s bathroom cabinets
And the Melancholy Lieutenant
Is eternally on the verge
Of nodding off, drifting away
To a place that only exists
Within the confines of his skull
While the Rebel is forever swerving
Just a fraction too late
On the rain slick Parisian street
The serpent eats it tails
So that whatever happens
Happens again just so
Everything returns
Exactly as it was
And there is no end in sight
Because there was never
A starting point to begin with
It’s the recurrence of a repetition
So there’s nothing new under the sun… around and around we go doomed to repeat ourselves, snooping in bathroom cabinets and drifting off to dreamland. Well, what do say we bet it all on black?
For sure. The Ingenue and the Melancholy Lieutenant are certainly set up to go another round, and another…. (I like the line about the bathroom cabinets)
Thank you… this was a late night special…the bathroom cabinet just came to me… the Ingenue and the Melancholy Lieutenant are characters, they haunt me. I have only recently discovered Ernst marvellous late period, simple but stunning art.
Mr. Cake, the Ernst is stunning, as is your poem. Perpetual repeat, that’s what it is, there’s no getting out, ever! Nice to see the Ingenue and the Melancholy Lieutenant again, yet I suspect they are always close at hand, as is the Rebel. Truly, a captivating poem, crossing over the threshold into a realm of an otherworldly dimension, the stuff dreams are made of. ~ Miss Cranes
This is a wonderful way to say something so simple yet with so many implications. I think I’m like the lieutenant. At least I’m always drifting inside my head…
I am very fond of the Lieutenant… he is my alter ego after all and a very good friend. He tries to maintain his dignity in a universe he has absolutely no understanding of. Can anyone ask for more?
Well he only exists in my head. He is a bit spacey but he tries to maintain upright, stoic. He first made an appearance in the story To Come Up Here, I sent you the link.
Ruskin in “Of Truth of Space” has the triumvirate of unity, symmetry, and truth… (just read that, thought I’d add here. Though he’s referring to Turner’s paintings and observation of nature.)
Chance is just as slippery (practically the definition thereof). And if you pick it as the “third” in that triad, you are essentially admitting that beyond unity and symmetry the only Truth that remains is Chance.
(Sophistry for the win.)
Soothing thought, because you can’t be right or wrong anyway. Everything will happen just the way it has to. That’s how humanity grows and stagnates at the same time, it’s the growing realisation that everything has been there before.
So there’s nothing new under the sun… around and around we go doomed to repeat ourselves, snooping in bathroom cabinets and drifting off to dreamland. Well, what do say we bet it all on black?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely that’s a plan
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hopefully I did Nietzsche proud on this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
For sure. The Ingenue and the Melancholy Lieutenant are certainly set up to go another round, and another…. (I like the line about the bathroom cabinets)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that one too. I fear that this one is a little too downbeat, though I put a lovely picture with it
LikeLiked by 1 person
I forgot to mention that: love the painting. You wove it in nicely. Doomed to repeat? Downbeat? You think?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The many moods of Cake, I think it’s a good poem though, even if it was written at 3am
LikeLiked by 1 person
Since that’s my ‘witching hour’ I can relate. There’s something about that particular time…
LikeLiked by 1 person
The hour of the wolf… I added a closing line that is the first line inverted… makes it a loop, fittingly
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perfect
LikeLike
Well they are old friends of mine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh more than friends I imagine… at least the lieutenant
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup he is my alter ego really
LikeLiked by 1 person
The question is then, who is the Ingenue?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is for another time…
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Ingenue and the Lieutenant certainly get around to some metaphysical places
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh funny I just said something like that
LikeLiked by 1 person
Neat poem and I love the painting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you… this was a late night special…the bathroom cabinet just came to me… the Ingenue and the Melancholy Lieutenant are characters, they haunt me. I have only recently discovered Ernst marvellous late period, simple but stunning art.
LikeLike
Mr. Cake, the Ernst is stunning, as is your poem. Perpetual repeat, that’s what it is, there’s no getting out, ever! Nice to see the Ingenue and the Melancholy Lieutenant again, yet I suspect they are always close at hand, as is the Rebel. Truly, a captivating poem, crossing over the threshold into a realm of an otherworldly dimension, the stuff dreams are made of. ~ Miss Cranes
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Miss Cranes…you are right they are never far away, always returning
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a wonderful way to say something so simple yet with so many implications. I think I’m like the lieutenant. At least I’m always drifting inside my head…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am very fond of the Lieutenant… he is my alter ego after all and a very good friend. He tries to maintain his dignity in a universe he has absolutely no understanding of. Can anyone ask for more?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is he? Hmm. I will have to read him more closely. 😉 That is a worthwhile endeavor- dignity. Who understand anything? Not me…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well he only exists in my head. He is a bit spacey but he tries to maintain upright, stoic. He first made an appearance in the story To Come Up Here, I sent you the link.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So much to chew on. Fantastic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Em… happy holidays. I have been away for a while I will be back soon. Glad you have something to chew on
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy Holidays to you! I will see you when I see you. We are all here in waves as time and life allow. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Em I will catch up shortly, I haven’t forgotten you. Happy New Year
LikeLiked by 1 person
The hour glass shape of the poem adds to the idea of time and timelessness, of shifting sand and shape-changing, of reversal and the return. Nice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Roger, it is one of my favourites, the Lieutenant and the Ingenue make cameos
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! This great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes I wonder what remains if one subtracts from the World the ideas of Mirror and Uroboros.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good question… I am not really sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I sense there must at least be a third idea: unity (uroboros) , duality (mirror), plurality? Hmm. Randomness? Chance?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that idea…. I plump for Chance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me being a keen student of the Surrealists and all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ruskin in “Of Truth of Space” has the triumvirate of unity, symmetry, and truth… (just read that, thought I’d add here. Though he’s referring to Turner’s paintings and observation of nature.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Truth is a slippery customer though…I will stick with Chance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chance is just as slippery (practically the definition thereof). And if you pick it as the “third” in that triad, you are essentially admitting that beyond unity and symmetry the only Truth that remains is Chance.
(Sophistry for the win.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Slippery slopes indeed…sophistry is important for art I believe, though it does seem to invaded the realms of the real.
LikeLike
Soothing thought, because you can’t be right or wrong anyway. Everything will happen just the way it has to. That’s how humanity grows and stagnates at the same time, it’s the growing realisation that everything has been there before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You pretty much capture the essence of Nietzsche’s thought on Eternal Recurrence there, it adds weight to the unbearable lightness of Being.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How very beautiful! Just made my day…
LikeLiked by 1 person
What again?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes again and again and again. Nowt new. You are funny.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on lampmagician.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very kind… I am glad I am meeting your standards my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As I’m 🙏👍
LikeLiked by 1 person