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We See What We Want To See

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The following lines inspired this poem:

"Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness"
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty" - Ode on a Grecian urn by John Keats

"The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee" - Daffodils by William Wordsworth

"It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be" - The Flea by John Donne

Daffodils are humble flowers Which inspired great Wordsworth to sing Flowers have attractive powers We see them with eyes adoring What is a flea to write upon? A normal man might show disgust But it's where Donne's insight is drawn We find it stirs, don't get nonplussed A Grecian urn isn't noted much Unless you read Keats' ode on it Now, he gives it a magic touch We see how 'dull' becomes a 'hit' We see just what we want to see Be it the truth, or plain beauty We exalt things through poetry And that is us poets' duty. 05.23.2021 For Daniel Turner's "We see what we want to see" contest

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David Kavanagh

Date: 6/9/2021 12:27:00 PM

Excellent writing Jo, the poets quotes are a wonderful prologue to your poem, and set the stage, indeed a poets duty, is to extract blood from a stone, the mundane underpins all things, reminds me of a great lyric from the Foo fighters, (There goes my hero he’s ordinary) congrats cheers David

Christuraj Alex

Date: 6/9/2021 9:39:00 AM

Another beautiful one from you. Congratulations!

Robert Lindley

Date: 5/23/2021 7:16:00 AM

Such beauty, truth, power ands heart in this gem my friend! Loved the three quotes. The essence within your wonderful new creation. A great fav to have found this bright new morn my friend ... God bless.

Victor Buhagiar

Date: 5/23/2021 6:49:00 AM

Three famous poets and their flowers. And you chose three beautiful flowers. Hugs.

Tom Cunningham

Date: 5/23/2021 3:37:00 AM

Well written Jo, you can write about anything when you put your mind to it, there is beauty in everything. The greats inspired you well Jo. Tom

Gary Radice

Date: 5/23/2021 3:26:00 AM

Your poem resonates with me Jo. I really love your thinking behind your poem. It reminds me of a poetry tip the one time UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion offered up to poets - He said: "..Honour the miraculousness of the ordinary. What we very badly need to remember is that the things right under our noses are extraordinary, fascinating, irreplaceable, profound and just kind of marvellous.." Cheers - Gary

Joanna Daniel
Date: 5/23/2021 5:52:00 AM

What a lovely quote, Gary! Thank you for your encouraging comment:)