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Wonder and Dismay

I'm filled with wonder and dismay.
Is life real, a dream, illusion?
A construct, maybe, I could say,
who'd author such confusion?

If me, I dread what might portend; 
I'm not that good with tools.
Others think they comprehend, 
maybe sages...likely fools. 

Call up all the ones I know;
sample their opinions.
Then I’d have to stem the flow 
of disparate dominions.

Dogmas are too quickly brought,
too readily believed;
words most keenly wrought
serve often to deceive.

Some explain it all away,
ascribe it to God’s will.
Doesn't this free will betray,
doubt in self instill?

So I write what I call verse—
toil with metered rhyme—
crafted well, both tight and terse,
ardor most sublime.

Thank you all for treasured prose,
honor for what’s mine—
stanzas, lines that we compose
touch briefly the divine.

Copyright © Mark Peterson | Year Posted 2013

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Poet Destroyer A Date: 3/16/2014 1:00:00 PM Mark :) It was nice to see your poem featured in the poetry soups, home page this past week. Enjoy the coming week. Always & Forever *LINDA Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 3/16/2014 8:21:00 PM Hi Linda: Nice to see you hear for a visit to this old poem. It will be a rather sedate week for me since I broke my leg a few days ago in a fall, so I sit with it elevated. ;>)

Daver Austin Date: 3/11/2014 1:08:00 PM Yes - words and music, the best tools. Congrats on the selection. daver Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 3/11/2014 1:20:00 PM Thanks, Daver. I'm grateful to share my thoughts and appreciate those of others so much.

Skat A Date: 3/11/2014 10:03:00 AM Mark, CONGRATULATIONS, on having your poem featured on the soup's home page. I'm always enjoying top picks of the week. Take Care ~SKAT~ Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 3/11/2014 1:21:00 PM Great to see you here, SKAT. It's been awhile.

Just That Archaic Poet Date: 3/10/2014 10:26:00 AM Congrats, Mark! This poem is featured today on the home page! :D Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 3/10/2014 11:20:00 AM Thanks for coming down for a second look at this poem, Chan. Hope you're doing well.

Ilene Bauer Date: 11/5/2013 6:38:00 AM you've done a brilliant job here and raise some interesting questions. i love your use of rhyme - toil on! Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 11/6/2013 5:50:00 PM I'm so grateful for your comments and praise. Otherwise, I'd just be screaming in the dark.

Jack Ellison Date: 10/30/2013 11:16:00 AM As JTAP wrote, "You have a great sense and flair for rhyme" I wholeheartedly agree my friend and that's coming from the Quatrain King! LOL! Very thought provoking! Kidos!!! Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 11/6/2013 5:42:00 PM Jack, I think I'm done with it. Thanks for helping me with quatrain rhyme. I'd still be babbling and muttering without your fine examples. Just That Archaic Poet Date: 11/3/2013 10:17:00 AM Thanks for agreeing with me, Jack! I think Mark is an extremely talented fellow :) Mark Peterson Date: 11/1/2013 11:37:00 AM Jack, I tightened up my quatrain, "Patterns and Prose."Maybe you could take another look and tell me what you think. Mark Mark Peterson Date: 10/30/2013 7:42:00 PM Jack, you are the Quatrain King. The rest are pretenders, including me. Nice that I could fool you for a moment, however. Many thanks for the lift. Mark

Just That Archaic Poet Date: 10/30/2013 6:22:00 AM I really enjoyed this piece, Mark. You have a great sense and flair for rhyme. The only thing I would consider switching up is in line 7, and that would be to say "judge me" instead of "me judge". Awesome job; kudos! :) Login to Reply Just That Archaic Poet Date: 11/2/2013 11:53:00 AM I like the changes you've made, but I liked the original thought better. I enjoyed the whole thing as it was, and wish only that you had switched those two words around. I think you have tremendous talent :) Mark Peterson Date: 11/1/2013 11:38:00 AM I tightened up my quatrain, "Patterns and Prose."Maybe you could take another look and tell me what you think. I also posted another poem, kind of dark called "Dying with Regret." Mark Peterson Date: 10/30/2013 8:36:00 AM Thanks. I've been struggling with the second stanza and spent a lot of time trying to fix--to no avail. So I reverted to when in doubt, take it out, hit delete and solved my problem. See if you don't like it better now. Mark

Joseph Matose Date: 10/30/2013 12:07:00 AM This is a great quatrain, a deep analysis of our lives and influence and teaching we derive from writings. Thanks a million times. Friend, JM Login to Reply Mark Peterson Date: 11/1/2013 11:39:00 AM Joseph: I tightened up my quatrain, "Patterns and Prose."Maybe you could take another look and tell me what you think. I also posted another poem, kind of dark called "Dying with Regret." Mark Mark Peterson Date: 10/30/2013 8:40:00 AM Joseph, thanks again for reading my poem and thoughtfully replying. Keeps me going, friend. However, I have had problems with the second stanza and couldn't seem to fix it. So when in doubt, take it out. I hit delete, so see if doesn't read better now. Mark