Natura Abhorret Vacuum

(written December 2000)

Still, I sit
Alone, so empty,
Waiting for the morrow
Sun to rise upon my sorrow.

Just now, does it dawn
Upon me that I have
No song.

Then shall I sing
Of song itself?
Can songs of poverty
Become my wealth?

Reflecting on reflection,
I shall set about to polish
Those beggars which impoverish,
Mirror on mirror,
A fun-house of infinite regress,
My profiles trailing off to points
Euclidean at best.
My emptiness,
That point which has no part,
I,
Poor pundit with no point.

"Nothing comes of nothing."
"Signifying nothing!"
I build my pot of shards
Stolen from antiquity's
Celebrated bards.
Pot? A Grecian Urn,
Odeless in a land so un-Hellenic,
An earthen vessel
Never to hold treasures,
Funereal urn of ashes
Barren of any Phoenix Ascension.
But "Nothing of nothing comes"
Is a something indeed!

And, how avoid
That longing to be filled
With words so simple
Yet profound,
Yearning to be heard,
Seeking the sublime
But finding the absurd?

Ah, to be that poet
Making History of time
And monument of moment!
And why?
Because I am nothing
And no one.

Proclaiming my nothingness
With eloquence:
"Nature hates a vacuum":
One maxim, pithy,
Tomb for my self-pity.

- Sitaram

(feedback 12-17-2000): Regarding this verse:

Ah, to be that poet
Making History of time
And monument of moment!
And why?
Because I am nothing
And no one.

Although I understand what prompts this, I would remind you of two things:

1. The truly original thinkers and achievers whom we seek to emulate had many more factors feeding into their achievements than their intellectual abilities alone. I dont say we should not admire and revere them. But, to be at the right place at the right time and do or say the right thing -- that is more miracle than design, and that is why people realized long ago that humility is one of humankind's greatest virtues.

2. Besides, even if one is a mirror reflecting other thinkers (and one cannot mindlessly reflect, there is an element of one's own paraphrasing, rationalizing, interpreting) you cannot think of that as meaningless if you make even two people out of 2000 THINK, whether they agree with you or not!

You have to expect to be in a minority. That means you might go indefinitely without an answering echo from the void, only radio interference. But if you have a message that is timeless, who knows? You might have a silent readership out there whom you are influencing or reminding to get on with their own process of evolution. I call that significant.