Notes About The Poem

["When I Played God" was first published in Quintessence, Spring Issue, 1969. It was reprinted in my first poetry chapbook, The Lady in the Pink Hat, Candor Press, 1969.]

When I Played God

I stopped beside a mountain stream
An intruder in the realm
To watch a fiddler on a stone, then
A leaf with a cricket at the helm, 
A fairy ship on a rabid course
Swirling in a raging sea
I reached to save the tiny crew
Their only God was me.


Listed 95 on PS Best Poems
February 23, 20212
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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Chunn Avatar
March 14, 2021 at 12:59 PM
You seem to enjoy nature and the quiet, isolation of the wild....like I do. Nicely written and nicely observed. It seems difficult today to connect with the simple lessons of nature. Well done and thank you.
Hankins Avatar
March 14, 2021 at 1:53 PM
Thank you so much, Andy. I do, indeed. Solitude out in nature is the best relaxation and meditation method I know.
Proust Avatar
March 5, 2021 at 3:05 PM
I truly love this poem!!! Almost like that Twilight Zone episode where the astronaut finds a population of wee little life forms, but your simplicity is simpler; simply saving the "crew" thus playing god in their eyes. But then in ending your poem, I'm assuming you just go about walking along in your human form; until you might have to play "god" again. BRILLIANT!!! It's more then every child's dream to become a superhero; YOU, for that moment actually become GOD. Amen. Thank you.
Proust Avatar
March 5, 2021 at 7:00 PM
Then you were a caring god. I'm not sure about the biblic god; especially Old Testiment. Kill everyone; let the streets run as rivers of blood. IT seems pretty uptight, and yet ignores horrible poetry to be submitted to already deaf ears.
Hankins Avatar
March 5, 2021 at 4:22 PM
Thanks, Marcel. And, I stayed long enough to watch them go on their way!
Canerdy Avatar
February 17, 2021 at 9:47 PM
Imaginative and appealing poem! Janice
Hankins Avatar
February 20, 2021 at 1:46 PM
Thanks, Janice. I appreciated your comment.
Krutsinger Avatar
February 17, 2021 at 7:42 PM
So whimsical, joyful and energetic! A fave for me!
Hankins Avatar
February 17, 2021 at 8:45 PM
Thanks, Caren. I was reminded of playing in the "crick" when I was just a small boy.
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