酷我-北美枫

[ericcoliu]

Reading, Writing, and Life on the Page

The Diving-bell and the Butterfly

Though locked in a silent body
In refinement prolonging your agony
Your spirit can still sing
The songs of free life
Through a blinking eye
The only window to your cocoon
Your mind is winged
By imagination unfolding
Flying into the garden of memories
Yet Dancing across time and space

Penetrated by occasional sadness
But never slumping into resigned indifference
You are not dragged down
Encased by the diving-bell
Because you will yourself
To be a soaring butterfly
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Reading, Writing, and Life on the Page

The Diving-bell and the Butterfly

Though locked in a silent body
In refinement prolonging your agony
Your spirit can still sing
The songs of free life
Through a blinking eye
The only window to your cocoon
Your mind is winged
By imagination unfolding
Flying into the garden of memories
Yet Dancing across time and space

Penetrated by occasional sadness
But never slumping into resigned indifference
You are not dragged down
Encased by the diving-bell
Because you will yourself
To be a soaring butterfly
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

I appropriated The Diving Bell and the Butterfly from the English title of a French memoir, Le scaphandre et le papillon, by the late Elle magazine editor-in-chief Jean-Dominique Bauby. His memoir describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome, a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to a complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body. It also scantly describes what his life was before the stroke.

Bauby dictated his slim memoir by blinking his left eye to spell out words one letter at a time to a transcriber. The book reflects, in its brevity and its plain, clipped sentences, the difficulty of getting it onto paper; the sheer patience that was necessary for everyone involved is mind-boggling.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

I appropriated The Diving Bell and the Butterfly from the English title of a French memoir, Le scaphandre et le papillon, by the late Elle magazine editor-in-chief Jean-Dominique Bauby. His memoir describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome, a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to a complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body. It also scantly describes what his life was before the stroke.

Bauby dictated his slim memoir by blinking his left eye to spell out words one letter at a time to a transcriber. The book reflects, in its brevity and its plain, clipped sentences, the difficulty of getting it onto paper; the sheer patience that was necessary for everyone involved is mind-boggling.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[dundas]

[[dundas]]

[dundas]

[[dundas]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[Lake]

It's always a good idea to get inspiration from reading.

Well done.

[[Lake]]

It's always a good idea to get inspiration from reading.

Well done.

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[christine]

[[christine]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[ericcoliu]

I've revised my poem.

Here are the replies from my fellow poets at Poetry Connection:

Personally, I did not find the Ayn Rand theme (sorry) to be one I appreciated (once gain may not have been the intent, just my peculiar mood) but despite that, an amazingly well done concise poem, which overwhelmed any objection I felt to the content (I know, I know- not @ all where you were going;)
-- dr_con

The power and strength of the human spirit comes through loud and clear in this! A sad story but such an uplifting poem! Great write!
-- fader
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

I've revised my poem.

Here are the replies from my fellow poets at Poetry Connection:

Personally, I did not find the Ayn Rand theme (sorry) to be one I appreciated (once gain may not have been the intent, just my peculiar mood) but despite that, an amazingly well done concise poem, which overwhelmed any objection I felt to the content (I know, I know- not @ all where you were going;)
-- dr_con

The power and strength of the human spirit comes through loud and clear in this! A sad story but such an uplifting poem! Great write!
-- fader
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[christine]

[[christine]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]