What we presume is true we have no doubt.
It lies in shadows where it tends to be
Hidden from inspection, not found out.
Beliefs are more like leaves upon a tree.
Light shines and they are prettier to see.
What underlies them, on the other hand,
Stays hidden like the ground on which we stand.
Text: I am linking this to dVerse Meeting the Bar. I will be hosting and the form is Chaucerian stanza or rime royale: seven lines rhyming ababbcc. You are welcome to join us writing a poem in this form.
Photos: “Trees in the Harvest Moon’s Sun”, above, and “Deeper Autumn”, below, by the author.
Great work Frank,
“stay hidden like the ground “…make sense sometimes !
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Thank you, Ben! We take the ground we stand on for granted.
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A superb analogy. Our hidden assumptions are often not too pretty.
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That’s true! Sometimes they aren’t even as real as the ground we stand on. Thank you!
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Very thought-provoking.
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Thank you, Alison!
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I share you suspicion of beliefs and what they cover up. Your style has such quiet authority.
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Thank you! It is hard to see that ground except perhaps the surface. We have to stand on something.
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This is very good, Frank
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Thank you, Robbie!
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Beautiful sentiment here…..our beliefs and from whence they come. Standing tall…
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They are grounded like trees somewhere. Thank you, Lillian!
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If we wait, beliefs will merge with soil
it will nurture truth and not be spoiled
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There is that aspect to this as well. Our beliefs change and the soil is nourished by that change. Thanks, Bjorn!
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Your illustration for the prompt is bang on, right to the 10 syllable lines. I also agree that to stimulate more participation, we all need some leeway, right? I kind of dream MTB prompts, but each time as I get into them, I feel my knowledge growing, and my style improving. It is good to be a poet who hangs out at a pub with the likes of you, sir.
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Thank you, Glenn! Once one has written a few of these, one can take the form into new directions. The form is just an objectification of a sound pattern that hopefully provides the reader with a pleasing experience.
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Very nicely done, Frank. I like the lines:
‘Beliefs are more like leaves upon a tree.
Light shines and they are prettier to see’.
We know the roots are there, even though they’re hidden.
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The roots have to be there, but it is lovely to look at the leaves. Thank you, Kim!
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Very philosophical Frank.
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Thank you, Paul!
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Like how you structured the thoughts on this one, Frank. A grand bit of philosophy!
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Thank you, Jilly! While looking up at the leaves I was thinking of the ground.
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Your photos are always so marvelous. Makes me long for more moments with my camera.
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Beliefs are more like leaves upon a tree.
Some good imagery here. I like the concept of hidden truths.
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We are unaware of most of what we know like Plato’s cave or the ground underneath autumn trees. Thank you, Vivian!
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You’re welcome !
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There’s just something about this that speaks to me, Frank. Thank you. 🙂
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I am glad you enjoyed it. The form is old in our language going back to Chaucer. I find it hypnotizing. Thank you, Barbara!
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paradigm piercing, Frank! And a skillful use of this challenging form!
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Thank you, Frank! I am glad you liked it!
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My pleasure!
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Very thought-provoking, Frank. It is true, all those hidden things underlying our beliefs and coming from so deep in our past, from good sources and bad. This was a great read!
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Thank you! There is a lot we are unaware of below the surfaces and perhaps don’t always need to be aware of.
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Underneath most every
Living Tree is a Subconscious
Root System that Brings A Life
to LiVinG Leaves Spreading wHere
They Please No Planning Needed
For it is Nature’s Intuition of
Roots
that
Spread
a Vine Higher
iN Trees Above
Leaving Fall
of Leaves
to
Fertilize
More Now A
Rebirth of Life..
It’s interesting Frank
for i have no idea how i write
poetry i have no idea how i dance
but ‘they’ understand it all for those
Roots have been around much longer
than
what
i know
for what i feel
for what i sense
is beyond all i know for now..
Anyway.. what i feel and sense in
a feel and sense is i find a Yin and Yang
of Poetry in Xenia and Frank now at dVerse Poets Pub..
Quite a Seek and Find always for what comes next Freer..
See ya later
Friend
off to
Dance i go
to rest my hands
back to write to rest my feat..:)
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Best wishes on your dancing. I have no idea how I write either. Thank you, Fred!
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SMiLes.. the roots
That/wHo
Reach Beyond
My Feet Drive..
Now.. mY FriEnd..:)
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“i change not harvest moon by day
inside the refrigerator another day
cultural
shadows”
-Frank Hubeny
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Thank you, Fred!
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SMiLeS AGAiN
WitH WelCoME..:)
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It is lovely to look at the leaves, but I’m wary of looking through rose-colored glasses. I want to know the truth. Nice poem, Frank.
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The truth may be more beautiful than those leaves, but the leaves are only part of it. I often wonder if my own cultural grounding might be an illusion about what the ground really is. The leaves are still there and they’re beautiful but my understanding of them is not so much. Thanks, Kathy.
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Learning from you …
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Thank you, Reena! I am trying to illustrate the Chaucerian stanza according to the formal definition.
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You handled this form expertly. Well done.
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Thank you!
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Profound! Leaves turn the light into fuel and provide shelter to those in need. It falls and nurtures the soil in wintry days … But when spring returns, new beliefs form. But I suppose some beliefs belong to the evergreen that may be infallible? The poem is masterfully done. Thanks for this wonderful demonstration.
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Thank you! I tried to illustrate the form exactly. The evergreen needles also fall if I’m not mistaken, but the analogy between leaves and beliefs only carries so far anyway. Trusting that it is good in spite of everything may be close to an infallible belief because the alternative leads nowhere.
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Not only hidden, but buried. (K)
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Good point about “buried”. We would have to dig hard to uncover those roots, not that they should be unconvered. Thank you!
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Your trees much prettier than mine for this prompt!
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The second photo came from last year later in the autumn season when the maple trees were in full color. They haven’t reached that stage yet this year. I liked the covering your leaves made. They fit beautifully your poem.
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Strangely enough, I couldn’t find one photo of my mother in my photo library on my computer. I’m i the states now and all my albums are in Mexico. Must remedy that when I get home.
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I upload my photos on Google Drive, but I keep the originals on disk and flash drives. The originals are full size. Google compresses the photos a bit, but it is unnoticeable (for me). The good part is they are always available being in the cloud. I resize them even more for WordPress.
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I have been trying for over a year to download my photos to Google Drive as well as the Amazon Cloud and I cannot figure out how to do so. So frustrating. I even paid for 1 T. storage but can’t get them heavenward!!!!
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I have the extra Google Drive storage as well. We put old digitally converted VHS videos up there so the children could have access to them. The photos upload directly to Google Photos from my phone. Although I linked Google Photos to Google Drive so they can be viewed there as a folder, I usually go directly to https://photos.google.com/ to view the photos. There is an UPLOAD link which will take a file from your computer and put it on the cloud although I have not used that method. Google Photos should not cost anything extra if you accept the compression that Google performs on the photos. We needed the extra space for the videos. You may also need to use your gmail account to access this. You could also create a folder in Google Drive and copy photos from your computer to that location. That should get them there as well.
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So thought provoking Frank. And so much truth here.
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Thank you, Linda! I’m glad you liked it!
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You set a superb example here, Frank. The sounds and imagery are vivid.
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Thank you, Sara! This is one of my favorite forms.
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This gives me cause to pause and think about. Presumption in shadows, beliefs in light. I like that!
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It is probably good that we do not see everything clearly. There needs to be some ground to walk on. Thank you, Mary!
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Very well written and insightful. The reasons “underneath” a cultural practice are often scary or nonsensical. I agree with you there. We seem to a remain with a sense of superstition even when there are facts.
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There is a lot we assume to be true which may or may not be without realizing it. It takes trust to stand on what seems like solid ground in the best of situations. Thank you, Amanda!
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