James Moore Poet Narrative

Notes About The Poem

A Great Unknown

(“The Search For Unnamable Things Merit Badge”, 2011, original oil)

A Great Unknown

I figure there are just a handful or two
Of friends and family who really know me
But last night in a dream a roommate told me 
He didn’t know me well
And it made me wonder,
If this aspect of myself can say that,
Who really does?

I’d think my wife of nearly 18 years does
And daughter of almost 30 would
As I don’t hold much back from them,
But realize they have their own selves 
To worry about and to know
And anyway, see it all, as we all do, 
Through their own shifting filters.

Same for everyone from immediate family
To close friends and acquaintances 
Everyone forming ideas based on perceptions 
Building a notion of each other
Which really only ever hints at the truth.

And this ambiguity is how it is for all of us 
Each of us a work in progress learning on the fly
Who we are, who each other are
As we discover its truth in flashes and layers 
A great unknown becoming known.

A volcano spreading its magma and ash
An ocean bringing itself up to the beach in pieces 
A night sky revealing its depths with the seasons

Until enough is known for us to function
Form opinions and biases and concepts
But enough remains hidden
To give us something to live for
Each day and each night
Another way to discover a little more
Of what is and will remain
An inconceivable mystery.

(12/13/24)

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