TCook and My Confession Into the Confusing!

Ensconced in summer's tacit frame
(From Jones & Son Frame Makers)
The livid skies arrayed in flame
(The furnace, near the baker's)

- Anon -

The trick is to explain it as you go.

Anon (aka Lord Lucan) has written some pretty good stuff. About time for an anthology?

Anon's butler is off to write the rest of this fine drivel and post it. He thanks you for the idea.

Hmmn.
Charles Causley, Poetry Archive:

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=125

With writing it is necessary to engage your audience. It may not be to everyone's taste and it may not engage everyone but it must have some resonance with someone! How far you go down the mystifying path is up to you. If you speak to someone in the street and they understand what you say then you are able to communicate. If you speak in tongues and leap about then they will almost certainly not understand what you say. If you wish to communicate an emotion or an image then you will probably only partially succeed. That is the nature of writing - just do your best for those that you wish to read your material.

Mystifying...I prefer my dross to be just that, not as a cheap trick to avoid deep, stern actual writing; but as a narrative tool to draw the reader in, this lately seems to be failing and having the opposite affect.

Some people would say that 'mysticism' is just a smoke screen, hiding a lack of talent that would be a heinous taint against evident talent. But you are right in the sense that something must be communicated..something must be!

Jospeh Conrad wrote "even if I were in the dark, the meaning would truthfully make itself known to me"

I am still in that same darkness I guess we all are...

We might attempt to reach beyond narrow personal and cultural constraints.
Communicative intent can be recognised in each piece submitted here, how much effort the reader wishes to bestow on a piece is significant :-)

I wonder what the purpose of writing really is. I don't think it is communication.

How would you interpret the motivation of posting a piece here as opposed to a journal, on-line, passworded as personal memoir? Communicative? :-D

Nope.

Hmmm.... My husband is off doing "soldier" things so I had a moment to peruse a bit, and came across this thread.

As I have said before, I am going to tap something out whether some one reads it or not. Does that qualify it as writing all on its own ? Nope... That qualifies it as what my Da used to call " my peculiar little tic "

When I first started writing poetry, it was all about the " self expression, artistic expression, blah blah blah " Did that qualify it as writing ? Hardly... Apes can slap paint on a canvas. Doesn't make it good art.

But... I started to age, read even more compulsively than what I have always done, studied as if I was looking for the secrets of life itself, and LEARN a few things. As I did these things I saw my motives change. It wasn't about being recognized in the fame or money sense, such as that. It wasn't about my "art". It became about the validation of my craft.

I not only wanted, needed to say something, I wanted, needed to say it "perfectly" , like no one else on this planet could say it. I have become greedy, and yet also demanding of my own "voice"

Even if no one but the angels themselves hear it, I want them to say " That is her, and only her "

Vanity then. Exactly what I was saying.

*smirks*

Yeah... in a way lol It would be the vanity I think you are implying IF I thought I had achieved my goal. Here's the deal Darlin. I am not sure I ever will. lol It is the difference in hoping that someday I will have the chops to back that vanity up, and not just having it because I think entirely too much of my damn self. lol

In the beginning was the word, and the word was 'bang'.

van·i·ty   [van-i-tee] Show IPA noun, plural -ties, adjective
noun
1.
excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain; conceit: Failure to be elected was a great blow to his vanity.
2.
an instance or display of this quality or feeling.
3.
something about which one is vain.
4.
lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness: the vanity of a selfish life.
5.
something worthless, trivial, or pointless.

self-es·teem   [self-i-steem, self-] Show IPA
noun
1.
a realistic respect for or favorable impression of oneself; self-respect.

It's all about the chops Darlin ;)

and this would be the chops ( which I so often do not have lol )

con·fi·dence   [kon-fi-duhns] Show IPA
noun
1.
full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing: We have every confidence in their ability to succeed.
2.
belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance: His lack of confidence defeated him.
3.
certitude; assurance: He described the situation with such confidence that the audience believed him completely.

I'm confused!

LOL

If you take Simon and I's exchange, and then add your "Solomon" comment, it makes me not so convinced we are all a bunch of shmucks with a bloated sense of ourselves, particularly in the context of writing. Don't get me wrong, I do think think there are a lot of "paper dolls" walking around, enough to skew our opinion of the world in general. BUT.... there are some writers that I believe it wasn't about their vanity, moreso about their self confidence in their ability to effectively communicate. They knew they could do this "thing" and if they put thought, and effort into, they could do it well. I am not one of them however. I do not always trust that "voice" I strive diligently to communicate with.

But... maybe someday ;)

"...SOLOMON WAS TIRED FOR HE KNEW, EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN IS VANITY..." ecclesiasteses 14:17

Ecclesiastes 1:13

I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!

Ecclesiastes 2:24

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,

Ecclesiastes 8:14-17
14 Sometimes seemingly unfair things happens on Earth.
Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people.
I say that this is pointless.
15 So I decided it was more important to enjoy life.
The best that people can do here on Earth is to eat, drink, and enjoy life, because these joys will help them do the hard work God gives them here on Earth.
16 I tried to understand all that happens on Earth. I saw how busy people are, working day and night and hardly ever sleeping.
17 I also saw all that God has done.
Nobody can understand what God does here on Earth.
No matter how hard people try to understand it, they cannot.
Even if wise people say they understand, they cannot; no one can really understand it.

What a delightful thing!