#Love his poetry so much really

[simmyfrobby]

― “Poem,” Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues.

Hockey Poetry Post 8/?

(Photo credit: Mike Stobe, Mike Stobe, Sarah Stier, Mike Stobe, Len Redkoles, Mike Stobe)

#look I just really appreciate the way Barzal talks about his little heart-eyed friend #but I love that guy with- I love him so much #ok. say less. #Mathew Barzal #Anthony Beauvillier #Vancouver Canucks #New York Islanders #hockey poetry posts #I will do ANYTHING except take notes in this lecture huh

[siyuri]

These perfectly symmetrical beings with unique colours, smooth and perfect, better than many beads, they were just food to him? For humans or fish? © Underline the Blue by amazing  @not-poignant

#new #well I broke my promise to myself to never draw oc not from behind #so I am really sorry if he looks nothing like the real one should look and it somehow offends or upsets you :/ #I love him tho #really really much #his poetic colourful mind is the favourite pov I have rn to read #I was in love with his poetry in FFS and always wanted more and now it is a whole story of his magical thoughts so thank you #and apparently I can't draw Princes without any blue #blue and black #it's a rule actually in my head now #and I wanted to draw your clouds #because they are amazing #and even if they look different - yours are the inspiration #and I learned a new word - lanky :D

[moonilit]

Them be everything and consume me

#joshua rosfield #shout out to mothonice for basically saying Joshua name could have been Joanna and now i can’t think how there is an anna in her name #Couple that with how joanna took after her mother too #Do you think she think a lot about that? #Jote is precious in any form and jote will fight anyone for him #But he would die for her first it’s really almost a challenge #I almost give jote loong boots like up to his hips just for fun #Highlight them hips #I know you got them jote #Jote #they are a set do not separate #Shouta evoke so much poetry and feels they are so much for each other i think calling it ‘love’ is suffocating it #Ffxvi #final fantasy xvi

[hyunpic]

hyunjin on bubble: im going to post what i wrote this year, don’t look too deep into it. it’s a bit of a positive phrase.. my writing has some self-pity so STAY will be upset if they read it. i’ll only look at pretty things. let’s love! thank you. translation by @skzlogin & hyunloversclub

#hyunjin #🧼 #skz #MY HYUNEBUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN he’s currently in my heart pulling all the strings #messenger of love… that’s what he is idc idc he is love personified to me #i adore him so much the way he is so open and honest with his thoughts and the way he can articulate them so beautifully #like poetry #i wish i could collect his words and make them into a lil book really #i wish he can go into the new year with light heart and only love and happiness around him #im also gonna need to invent a vacuum that takes away all his nightmares no more of them next year pls #the flower part was so cute cause he’s been sending so many flower pics this year to us

[szynkaaa]

When Kaeya Alberich said "slipping away before the final verse is sung, before the poet has uttered the last lines before everything has concluded... I don't know. Something about it just resonates with me"

And the Doctor said "I always rip out the last page of a book. Then it doesn't have to end. I hate endings!"

#the ham talks #kaeya #kaeya alberich #genshin impact #doctor who #idk just something about those two quotes hits really hard #I know that in Kaeya's context he gets called out by traveler that he is trying to weasel his way out of having to write poetry/songtext #but I can't help but feel like there is a bit of truth in the statement??? #like #kayea doesn't want things to end or his current life #doesn't want to find out what his destiny / fate / job is supposed to be #i just #love kayea so much sobs

[everysongineverykey]

what the fuck do you mean soul brother is about brian may. what do you MEAN freddie mercury wrote a song about brian harold may that went "he's my best friend, he's my champion, and he will rock you, rock you, rock you, cause he's the saviour of the universe, he can make you keep yourself alive, make you keep yourself alive, cause he's somebody, somebody you can love" what do you mean he just wrote that and then casually told brian may about it in the studio one day and was like surprise! i've written a song about you, but it needs your touch! break out that guitar! what do yuo mean they both wrote songs aimed at each other at least once but brian wrote so many for freddie he can't remember which one he was working on at the time. WHAT DO YOU MENA

#queen band #THAT'S SO. THAT'S SO #that's the sweetest fucking thing holy shit they really were besties huh #that's genuinely sooo. cause like i don't think freddie ever wrote songs for any of his other friends! #his lovers sure but as far as i know brian's the only one who got a song dedicated to him #(i mean. he says that he's not sure whether it's actually about him or not but like. why would freddie lie about that?) #'god bless my soul here he comes now / the man with the most how does he do it? / sure he's got style he's so heavy / he's a trip' #'he can do anything anything / cause he's my soul brother' #that's so genuine and sweet and encouraging!!! no flowery metaphors #no poetry or cryptic lyrics #just freddie mercury going I LOVE YOU!! I LOVE YOU!!! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND!! YOU'RE SOOO COOL!!! SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU??? #for three and a half minutes. it makes me SICK #btw if you tag this as ship it is on SIGHT ok thanks xoxo #and the way most of the queen songs he references were written by brian. godddd #he just wrote that for no reason at all‼️‼️ fucked UP!!!!

[winepresswrath]

i've reached drusilla my perfect baby girl oooh it is so good that a) darla picks her out as a present for angelus b) she's actually kind of disturbed by what angelus did to drusilla. like it was a very explicit student surpasses the master moment in text.

#press says btvs #this is also why i'm a darla/spike truther angelus and drusilla are so much always #meanwhile darla and spike are just like. i'm protestant. i get the vibe let's do some desecration but uh #it's just a kink to me i don't have any actual feelings about the priesthood #also man william the bloody awful poet is just a mama's boy? #like this is what dru likes about him. he's nice and a bad poet #admittedly he's about to do some really not nice things #ok but actually william is so much sweeter as a human than i remember #he's just a guy who loves his mom is perfectly aware his poetry sucks and gets his heart smashed

[oatbugs]

oh my god ! haha . anyway a bit buzzed perhaps. anyway here's what happened on the date

#at some point i took the earrings off. the metal clanging was screaming their name too loud and it #was 6 knives to the throat and he confirmed it so. here's the kicker. you can be taught a lot and you can have their hands on your thighs #and you can kiss them but even if they pray even if they tell you about the bible looking into you like really they lost what they believed #in a pennsylvania countryside catholic schools with a protestant family since joining the london school of economics #even if they pray for you to stay the whole way even though their hair was softer than hers you think of her and he thinks of someone else #and be tells you none of it will make sense. they smile and they say what a shame you might miss the train but they hold onto you #the entirety of you - like a religion or a polite insistence or something to keep. #you learned they were used to losing everyone they felt bound to love. they said they got really good at letting go. you were told #you think he's being epistemologically #irresponsible and he tells you he carries a massive task. he tells you the responsibility is monumental #and he feels responsible for defining responsibility. he shows you songs and his poetry. my eyes feel on fire. #she doesnt know this. this is marylebone. the next station is edgeware road. everyone here looks happy and high and clear of the doors. #he says tell me when you get to the station and very especially tell me if you don't. the next station is paddington. please mind the gap #between the train and the platform. you say this to him. he says i minds the gap between you and i. i mind it so much that i need you to #come back. he says this because you kissed him briefly but you kissed him well. she says you're a good kisser but he says you have him #stunned. he asks you who decides the truth. he tells you you decide the truth without his mouth. you're fast enough to make it there before #the wheels do. this world is lit by glass and light and people with a pact to fall in love with the abstractions more than each other. #he tells you to be committed to your various intangible loves more than anyone. you both have to be. they love each other anyway. #i was supposed to find a persian poetry book with her on our fourth date except she was hours late. i found it with him. he didnt give up #he should be perfect and i should really like him.

[apoemadaykeepsthehoesaway]

How Do I Love Thee?

-Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

I cannot woo thee as the lion his mate,

With proud parade and fierce prestige of presence;

Nor thy fleet fancy may I captivate

With pastoral attitudes in flowery pleasance;

Nor will I kneeling court thee with sedate

And comfortable plans of husbandhood;

Nor file before thee as a candidate….

I cannot woo thee as a lover would.

~

To wrest thy hand from rivals, iron-gloved,

Or cheat them by a craft, I am not clever.

But I do love thee even as Shakespeare loved,

Most gently wild, and desperately for ever,

Full-hearted, grave, and manfully in vain,

With thought, high pain, and ever vaster pain.

#naturally the title is derived of Elizabeth Browning’s ‘how do I love thee? let me count the ways’ #the info that the first few pages of this were missing - potentially a result of censorship by Wilfred’s brother Harold #leads many people to interpret this as one of Owens more explicitly gay poems #many editors reference this poem as one of Owens earlier works from around 1914 HOWEVER #others such as Jon Stallworthy believe at least the final draft of this poem to be dated closer to 1917 #which honestly makes sense to me as it doesn’t really come across like too much of his later or much earlier works so middle ground #feels right to me. but hey I’m not a historian #anyways I hope you enjoyed #it’s a very typical/traditional sonnet which honestly contributed so much to my personal interpretation of this as a queer poem #like come on #it’s right there! (imo) #poetry #ww1 #war poetry #wilfred owen #love poem #remembrance #grief

[magnifiico]

this is a classic exploration of "an explanation for a villain's actions" as opposed to "an excuse," but

magnifico's trauma from the kingdom he lost long before ever building rosas is exactly what bleeds into his insanely severe and over-the-top reactions to insubordination of any kind. his previous kingdom fell because of an uprising: because the populace rioted, and the response turned into an outright civil war that burned the kingdom to the ground by the end of it

innocent lives lost. good people left homeless and in despair. he's never healthily recovered from the mark that left on him, and so he is prone to lashing out (and straight-up flying off the handle, jeezum crow) when anyone so much as questions him because his brain makes crazy leaps in logic: the moment anyone starts questioning their ruler, getting ideas that go against the ruler's ideas, a seed is planted that can grow into the worst possible outcome. this is precisely why (on top of sporting a massive ego) magnifico does not tolerate transgressions—even innocent ones that really shouldn't be considered a transgression

here comes the irony though: in all his efforts to prevent this from happening, he still gets a similar outcome. the people of rosas still rise up against him. a conflict breaks out because he's tried so desperately hard to stop it. self-fulfilling prophecy. ✭

#˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 《 headcanon 》 #we love the poetry of being so traumatized you do everything in your power to avoid that happening again #only to literally be the reason it happens again 8D #well fckn done magnifico you really showed 'em #massive ty to my incredible gf for having this discussion with me #and giving me so much food to devour u^u #but cmon i mean we see magnifico legit finding sabino's wish a threat #bc hey ??? inspiring ppl could mean inspiring them into an angry mob 8| #can'T HAVE THAT. NOT AGAIN. #he's so over-the-top and dramatic jfc this man #i feel for him and his trauma but hooboyyyyyy h-holds head in hands #wish spoilers

[angry-roomba-army]

what if the journals ranging from jealousy to near worship weren't that bad what if it was just william's gay ass theater kid poetry about his crush that looked really bad to a divorced police officer without context. i don't actually think that's what happened its just fun to think about. like what if

#angry roomba whirrs #five nights at freddys #fnaf #william afton #william afton fnaf #fnaf william afton #do you think hes a cannibalism as a metaphor for love kinda guy or does he go for a more catholic guilty ohh my love is corruption angle #like i dont really know much about catholic gulit or catholicism in general cause im not a catholic but like ive seen the tumblr posts #and the gay religious fanart #oh shoot i forgot to tag willry #willry #willry fnaf #fnaf willry #ok done PHEW #so anyway like what would a divorced police officer know about romance? firstly hes a cop secondly hes divorced so clearly not much #and we all know william hes theatrical hes a romantic or at least he seems like the romantic type im kinda jumping to conclusions here #so he would write gay ass theater kid poetry about his crush! he would! #and then when some normie ass unpoetic cop reads his DIARY of course hes not gonna understand the poetic passages dedicated to his love #like HELLO????? thats not ““““raving”””” its a SOLILOQUY come on man #and! he read his DIARY. like idc that he was investigating a murder you! dont! read! peoples! diaries! #if i were will and someone read my diary i would be so horrified like im surprised that HE wasnt the one who built a suicide bot after that #also! if you picked a random ass average target goer probably likes golf or something and showed them cannibalism as a metaphor for love #poetry they probably wouldn't see the poetic devotion part of it i think that they might think that you're crazy #or maybe. im just severely underestimating the poetic literacy of the average golf playing target goer that could be true #but anyways maybe thats what happened between clay and will like clay saw his poetry and was like yeah this is weird #oh shit i just realized a lot of the contents of williams diary are just public knowledge now like at least a mention of the raving passage #has to be somewhere in the case file just for anyone to access. oh god they live in a small town too word travels fast ohhh crap #well he kind of brought it upon himself like idk maybe don't kill children and your diary won't be read #by poetically illiterate and romantically stunted divorced cops #sorry im yapping. im yap deprived i needed to yap cough cough yeah that's me coughing from how yap deprived i am cough cough cough

[aylinaliens]

[FIC] i burn for you

fandom: extraordinary attorney woo

pairing: youngwoo/junho

tags: canon universe, fluff, post-ep 10 what if, aka what happened after the screen faded to black, romance, first kiss, jane austen would have loved junho, yes the title is this is reference to bridgerton you can’t tell me it doesn’t fit, they just !!! love each other so much you know??, love confessions, heart-to-heart, vulnerability

summary: “Junho-ssi,” Youngwoo breathed out, voice still raspy. It was almost as if just the effort of speaking itself was hard to do. Yet she barreled on before he even had a chance to reply. “Was I…did I…” a brief look of frustration crossed her features, making her eyebrows draw together in concentration as she searched for the right words to say. “…was that…okay?”

Junho shows Youngwoo just how 'okay' that kiss was. aka 2k+ words of pure tooth-rooting fluff

preview: He wanted to remember this moment—and every other moment he had with Youngwoo—for the rest of his life. He never wanted to forget the way she tasted, never forget the way she took one step forward when he took one step back, never forget the way she blinked up at him, so earnest and trusting, asking him for his pointers. And he would never forget, for as long as he lived, the way she opened her mouth and kissed him back so softly as if he was something precious and worthy of her love.

Read my fic here on ao3!

#extraordinary attorney woo #이상한 변호사 우영우 #youngwoo x junho #woo young woo #lee junho #eaw #eaw fics #extraordinary attorney woo fic #ao3 #kay writes #*deep breath* i just love them so much i love them i really do #junho once again effortlessly waxes poetry about his love for youngwoo. as he should #kdrama #kay watches eaw

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

questions that only your mind can answer:

1. suguru as a poet. y/n? if y, who do you think his favorite poet would be?

2. what siken poem is the most sugu coded?

3. if satoru was a type of poem what kind would he be and why?

thank you for your time my ari.

WAHHHHH MY IO……… 🥺🥺🥺 you have no idea how loud i squealed when i saw this LMAO thank you sm for giving me an excuse to gush over stsg and poetry at the same time i feel so privilieged 😭😭😭 UMMM UM LET ME THINK!!!!

1/ first off. BIG yes. huge yes. he’s so poetcoded it makes me ILL. io i’m convincedddd that this man would be a literature major and i’m not just saying that bc i’m biased ok…. i just feel like he would have a fondness for the arts yk :33 particularly writing. i can picture him as a poet so easily bc everything he does and says is flowery and soft…. poet!sugu would make us swoooooon

i’m a bit sleepy rn so at first i thought you meant y/n as in like .. The Reader 😭😭 BUT THEN I STARTED THINKING ABT POET!READER TOO AND. wow. theee power couple ever !!! aaa io he’d be so perfect :((( sugu would be such a supportive bf no matter what his s/o did for a living but w any kind of writer i just think he’d be so Good. proofreads for you all the time!! he’s your most loyal reader… your biggest fan…. reads alllll your little poems when you’re away and he misses you :((( and he writes you his own !!! they’re so mushy and pretty and sweet…… hhhh. he’s just. the best!!! T_T brags abt your writing to satoru alllll the time but doesn’t let him read any of it w/o your consent (maybe even with it LMAO)… i just think he’d feel so honoured if his shy little poet!s/o only let him read their works :’3

nooo i’m not projecting at alllll… wdym…..

OOOHH AND AND. his favorite poets!!! as much as i’d love to say siken i don’t think that’s really his style. suguru strikes me as the type to enjoy very flowery writing, a bit musical-leaning in the rhythm and structure and stuff!! also season-based…. i’m thinking verlaine and rimbaud and nakahara. french symbolist poets and anyone inspired by them!! as for a more modern example i think he lovesss mary oliver and louise glück :3 october is one of his favorites!!! these lines remind me a lot of him….

Summer after summer has ended, balm after violence: it does me no good to be good to me now; violence has changed me.

This is the present, an allegory of waste. So much has changed. And still, you are fortunate: the ideal burns in you like a fever. Or not like a fever, like a second heart.

This is the light of autumn; it has turned on us. Surely it is a privilege to approach the end still believing in something.

hmmm….. a part of me wants to say he really enjoys frank bidart too. the war of vaslav nijinsky makes me think of him!!! :0 the themes of morality and guilt.. especially this line for some reason:

romola. diaghilev. i have eaten the world.

maybe it’s bc of his ct but . i just feel like he’d enjoy poetry abt hunger and eating in a more abstract sense… devouring…. etcetc. it’s a big contrast to the usual nature-based flowery prose he reads but sugu loves having his contrasts so. i think it makes sense!!

all in all i think he has very good taste. he’s not afraid to dip his toes into other genres either!!

2/ IO . 🥺🥺 MY SWEETHEART….. i literally cried i can’t believe you’re indulging me like this i started shaking w excitement……… i just went through crush + war of the foxes and if i had to narrow it down to just a single poem (<- extremely difficult task!! pls be proud) it’d have to be…… little beast.

if i had to sum this poem up with two words they’d be violent and tender… which is the case for all of siken’s poems tbf 😭 but that yearning for tenderness in the midst of violence is just so, so evident here. it always guts me. there are softer poems that i’d compare suguru to, but if we’re talking about canon suguru, his connection to satoru, his fate and ideals and desperate yearning for love… then i think this one is the most fitting.

obv this is tied to my own interpretation but!! at the end of the day. i see suguru as someone who craves tenderness. he craves love and intimacy and what drove him to his breaking point was the realization that he wouldn’t get it without slaughter. i think that line between violence/gentleness drives him insane but he has no choice but to tiptoe around it. and that’s what this poem makes me think of. some lines remind me of stsg and that dichotomy in their relationship, others just of suguru and his mental state…. and also his charm. that dangerous edge to him. the contrasting softness. the poem gets more violent as it goes on but the love never fades and that’s what really gets me.

the radio aches a little tune that tells the story of what the night is thinking. it’s thinking of love. it’s thinking of stabbing us to death and leaving our bodies in a dumpster. that’s a nice touch, stains in the night, whiskey and kisses for everyone.

someone once told me that explaining is an admission of failure. i’m sure you remember, i was on the phone with you, sweetheart.

i know history. there are many names in history but none of them are ours.

you could drown in those eyes, i said. the fact of his pulse, the way he pulled his body in, out of shyness or shame or a desire not to disturb the air around him.

you could drown in those eyes, i said, so it’s summer, so it’s suicide, so we’re helpless in sleep and struggling at the bottom of the pool.

more frequently i was finding myself sleepless, and he was running out of lullabies.

but damn if there isn’t anything sexier than a slender boy with a handgun, a fast car, a bottle of pills.

we pull our boots on with both hands but we can’t punch ourselves awake and all i can do is stand on the curb and say sorry about the blood in your mouth. i wish it was mine.

i couldn’t get the boy to kill me, but i wore his jacket for the longest time.

…… honourable mentions to landscape with fruit rot and millipede + birds hover the trampled field + snow and dirty rain

3/ aaaand finally !!! this question was kinda tough… but soooo much fun to think abt. <33

i think satoru is the kind of poem that stays with you forever. the kind that pulls you in with a really gripping opening line, forces you to read it all in one sitting, and then you’re left wondering what the hell it was even about. flowery but with no real substance until you dig really deep, and then it’s all you can see. the kind of poem you could pick apart for hours and hours……. a real gem. but it’s comforting, above all else. he’s like a collection of poetry that makes you smile just to hold it!!! :>

now !!! some questions for you !!!!! >:3

how do you think satoru would be w a poet!s/o?

any thoughts on poet!nanami..? 👀

#AAA IO I LOVE YOU…… tysm for the wonderful questions i had SO much fun T_T #seriously i adore you so bad i would fly up to venus and pluck a piece out of her just for you if i could!!! #so you could wear it as a necklace :3 #i loveeee love love thinking abt all my jjk blorbos while reading poetry…. and i truly do think sugu is a poet lover!! #it’s canon 2 me ok #he reads classics and poetry and he’s extremely pretentious but in an endearing way yk… a charming way……….. #though at the same time i could really picture him loving any kind of poetry that strays from the norm #that’s why i think he’d like bidart!! bc his style is so. broken up and jumbled #yeahhh poet!sugu lives inside my skull 24/7 actually 💔 #io i love you i am kissing your knuckles on by one….. my poet friend in arms…… 🫂🫂 #hope your day has been so wonderful <33 #you deserve it!! #ask tag ✩ #io !! ✩

[pallases]

love how hugo’s like courfeyrac is just like tholomyes if tholomyes didn’t FUCKING SUCK

#leigh reads les mis #in other news lovinggg this intro to les amis first of all really interesting seeing the differences btwn enjolras combeferre and courfeyrac #and how they all complete each other to make this little triumvirate of the rebellion #especially the enjolras/combeferre contrasts they’re vvv cool to read abt #secondly JEHAN?? i love him wtf ‘he was addicted to love; he cultivated a pot of flowers played the flute wrote poetry loved the people #pitied women wept over childhood confused the future and god in the same faith and blamed the revolution for having cut off a royal head #that of andre chenier [a poet]’ ‘he was fond of strolling in fields of wild oats and bluebells and paid almost as much attention to the #clouds as to passing events’ ‘he spoke gently bowed his head cast down his eyes smiled with embarrassment dressed badly had an awkward air #blushed at nothing was very timid. still intrepid’ he’s sooo. sorry he’s literally a character from 1862 but he’s so me he had me at flute #thirdly big fan of the line ‘to err is human; to loaf is parisian’ during bahorel’s intro. lmao? #and him buttoning up his coat and taking ‘hygienic precautions’ when he passes the law school wrdkgm 😭

[thebirdandhersong]

songbird's season of general sadness/first real grief/sorrow is coming to an end: (in chronological/journeying order) songs and poetry that helped my heart a lot these past few months :)

Always Good, Andrew Peterson / Marjorie, Andrew Osenga / Ask Polly article I read on a whim: 'My Boyfriend Refuses to Change' / You're On Your Own, Kid, Taylor Swift / One Foot in Front of the Other, Griff / Heavy, Mary Oliver / Monday by @madamescarlette / The Letter, Linda Gregg / Summer's Retrospective by @madamescarlette / Ode to Some Lyric Poets, Gregory Orr

(bonus--from the scraps of writing that came out of this chapter of life, which are slowly being assembled into a more coherent story:)

#yknow i felt so alone at so many points but i really really wasn't #i had such good friends (here and in my church community) who held my hand so gently #and God used the things i understood best to show me His incredible love at just the right moments #still an ongoing journey but i am so so grateful for the secondhand heart-strength given to me and the tenderness that was extended when i #when i was really at my lowest and saddest and most oversensitive and easily provoked to impatience or anger or depressive spirals #anyway i can't remember who sent me marjorie but thank you so much for that it was such a comfort. it continues to be #and thank you eden for sharing your beautiful poetry!!!! it continues to refresh and encourage my soul #mmmm it's hard to put into words what everything (and by everything i mean: the songs here and on my playlists #and the poetry here and the books i've read during the summer and into the autumn #from cyrano de bergerac to tolstoy to rilke's poems and dorothy sayers and dostoevsky and st therese & st teresa and madeleine l'engle #not to mention the night walks and morning prayers and the wonderful times i've had with the other dorm girls! #suddenly quite overwhelmed by the abundance of love and blessing #immensely immensely grateful for everything. i can be such a little wretch sometimes and wallow awfully for days #or act like a little human machine and try to Rid Myself of all emotional surges. or just focus on all the negative things with astonishing #tunnel vision (you wouldn't BELIEVE). but God has been so gracious despite songbird being a silly goose #and every once in a while having mental breakdowns and having to learn the same lesson (surrender and humility) a bajillion times #anyway!! my heart doesn't hurt anymore!! #and i am learning to take it one day at a time and to Rejoice in all circumstances #slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in year 21 #which really is so much harder than i thought at times!!!! but that makes it even more important to do so i think

[queenlucythevaliant]

From “The Literary First-Aid Box” by Marina Boroditskaya

Cordelia, you fool! Would it have been

that hard to yield to the old man?

To say to him, ‘I too, O darling Daddy,

love you more than life.’ Piece of cake!

But you wanted him to work it out on his own —

who was the best of his daughters. Proud fool!

And now he’s dead, you too, everyone’s dead. 

And Gloucester! Oh the bloody horror —

his eye-sockets — the scene of the blinding —

fingers leafing quickly through the pages

as if through plates of red-hot iron...

Here, read it now. I’ll turn away. You weren’t there

in that Act, were you? Go on, read it,

look what you’ve done, you stupid little fool!

Alright, alright, don’t cry, but next time

make sure to be more stubborn, and resist the author:

Viola, Rosalind, Catherine,

they managed — why wouldn’t you? 

Like a puppy, pull him by the leg of his pants

with your teeth into a comedy! The laws 

of that genre will lead us out into light... Here

wipe your nose and give me back the hanky.

I still have to wash and iron and return it

to a certain careless blonde Venetian

in the next volume. I’m sorry I told you off. 

Best regards to your father. Remember: like a puppy!

#thinking about where 'insensitivity' falls on the spectrum of human failings and was reminded of this poem #I wrote a paper for the Shakespeare class i took arguing that insensitivity is the crux of the tragedy in Lear #and then like a year later i stumbled upon this poem in a Russian poetry anthology #Marina Boroditskaya was a translator and critic before she was a poet and I really think it shows #anyway insensitivity: #which i would here define as 'failing to love others the way they need to be loved' #not failing to love them at all #or even loving them wrong #but not understanding what they need from you well enough to love them effectively #i wouldn't call it a sin #but it is certainly a function of the human condition #Cordelia loved her dad so so much #but she didn't understand him enough to know that he was an old man who just needed to hear his daughters tell him that they loved him #so she hurt him #she could have been honest and still been kind #but Cordelia didn't understand that the situation called for kindness #and so tragedy ensues #on my birthday my roommate turned down sharing a leftover cupcake with me because it isn't healthy to eat sweets late at night #and I'm pretty sure it was a cultural thing. didn't mean it didn't kinda sting #she didn't understand #and i'm insensitive towards others plenty #because I just don't understand what they need from me #i hurt the people i love most by not realizing that what they need is a listener not a fixer #or by not anticipating that a certain piece of news will upset them #idk i'm probably overexplaining obvious stuff here #but i find insensitivity sad more than anything #nine times out of ten there's no malice in it #most times it's an abundance of love #that just doesn't understand #literature makes us more human