Saturday, 23 April 2022

Clouds Cannot Cover Us by Jay Hulme

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One of the poems…


The Meaning of Stories


Perhaps it is true that none of my heroes exist,

summed up on a list entitled “fictional characters”.

My life lessons come from the mouths

of people paid to pretend they are

someone they are not,

but I can’t forget what they have taught me.


Because when words mean something,

they stay,

no matter where they came from.

So who cares if I live my life by a line

issued from the mouth of Gandalf the Grey,

on a film set,

it doesn’t mean it’s worth less than something

said by someone who actually existed.

Because attribution is overshadowed by meaning,

and the fact that these words stay with me

means more than the circumstances

under which they were uttered.


So if fiction it the foundation

on which I build my life, I can promise you

that my turrets will reach the sky,

before yours reach my dungeons.

Because fiction holds within it

the promise of a better world;

and I believe,

not just because I can,

but because I have to.

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