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Best Poems Written by Jim Hanson

Below are the all-time best Jim Hanson poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Silver Light

SILVER LIGHT

I once knew a man
who thought he was free
then looked in the screen
to see he was me

existing within a
square cage of silver light
watching ones and zeros
form black herrings on white

making instant choices
from what is seen in there
for goods and services 
or victims begging care

watching vague images
upon a cave wall screen 
real on the outside
unreal when inside seen

experiencing a life
whenever now or past
algorithm programmed
from the beginning to last

revising for myself
life-long identity
with beautiful people
appearing to be me

seeking virtual truth
from the assured appeal
of accepting all seen
as being really real.

Copyright © Jim Hanson | Year Posted 2023



Details | Jim Hanson Poem

All About Nothing

ALL ABOUT NOTHING

Long before modern nihilism
Plato spoke of khora, 
the receptacle of nothingness 
as the existential foundation
of all things shown and known.

Nonsense, the men of Athens said
for we stand firmly on the ground,
to which Socrates replied: 
If no space is in and about the ground
how could you or me be found?

(And in China in this axial age
Lao Tzu told skeptical men the same:
The origin of things had no name
but as the nameless eternal Tao
for which nothing could be shown or known.)

Copyright © Jim Hanson | Year Posted 2022


Book: Reflection on the Important Things