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Morals are thin
& easily folded
into the pocket,
bent and molded
to accommodate
the wants-at-hand
(semantic slurries
disband their bans).
But guilt is thick
& oatmeal - heavy :
it hangs in the gut
once wit has left me;
reminds me ( red - faced )
with its throatless groan –
what I swallowed in silence
I'll digest alone .
All I echo is mine, but
in a haunting way:
it feels like a rental,
impersonal to play
& thin in its triumph ...
a little moral spoken
( a prayer over oatmeal;
a flavorless token).
Gr um ble –
R umble –
rum ble –
rumble ...
My words are
proud; my
stomach,
humble.
Humble pie – Etymology:
ReplyDeleteThe expression derives from umble pie, which was a pie filled with the chopped or minced parts of a beast's 'pluck' - the heart, liver, lungs or 'lights' and kidneys, especially of deer but often other meats. Umble evolved from numble, (after the French nomble) meaning 'deer's innards'.
…
Although "umbles" and the modern word "humble" are etymologically unrelated, each word has appeared both with and without the initial "h" after the Middle Ages until the 19th century. Since the sound "h" is often dropped in many dialects the phrase was rebracketed as "humble pie".[citation needed] While "umble" is now gone from the language, the phrase remains, carrying the fossilized word as an idiom.
{Wikipedia – 2012 Jan 3}
* Thanks to Katharina/why-do-children-steal.blogspot(body detail/habit patterns), Leon Lopez (SEED versus Communism-is-Treason!-Fight-it-with-Common-Sense), Ernst Haas (high horse drags man), my dear cousin Laura (“Let's pretend we're little girls...”), and Val/cakecrumbmascara.tumblr (ballerina feet – beneath the surface) for making this collage full.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the structure of the poem “Good Guilt” with the changes in the spacing between the words within the lines and the variation from stanza to stanza. I found that the structure of the line “I’ll digest alone ” characterizes the sorrow and isolation of the speaker the best. The separation of the period from “alone” and the word “alone” to the rest of the line demonstrates the regretful emotions of the speaker as he goes through this internal struggle. The speaker has isolated himself from others by abandoning his morals and now he suffers the consequences of this isolation. Am I correct in interpreting that the speaker is feeling guilt and remorse? Leading up to this line, the phrase “what I swallowed in silence” brought me chills because “silence” is the last word of the line. When I read the poem aloud, I inserted a large pause before reading the rest of the poem. This eeriness from the “silence” caused me to reconsider the other noises made by the speaker’s guilt. For instance, “groan”, “Grumble”, and “Rumble” all bring associations of pain and uneasiness with them to mirror the image of how the speaker feels as he regrets the abandoning of his own morals. Is the title “Good Guilt” a reflection made by the speaker to convince himself that his actions based on his skewed morals were actually positive? What inspiration did you receive to write this poem? Thank you for your superb poetry!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the SPEAKER's (i.e., mine or any other person's) morals are "skewed" per se - they're just easy to ignore ... if you see them as being just words.
DeleteThat's why guilt is "good" - it's more than words. Guilt is visceral; you feel it heavy and uncomfortable in your guts. It makes you remember morals that would otherwise be easy to dismiss.
I'd tell you what I did (that thing that made me feel guilty) if it were a good story - but it's not. It was just a small, human infraction - a presumptive overreach that a friend called me out on. And reflecting on that admonishment , I felt a little guilty. Enough to spur me to set things right. So it was good guilt.
I think this a very relevant poem especially in today's world. It reminds me of a popular phrase, "the convenience of morality." Often times people are moral when they want to be or when it is convenient to an extent for them. I think this poem brings out a good point which I thought was that true morality does not necessarily have to be acting in a moral way. Feeling guilt after doing something wrong is also a sign of morality. In fact, like you said in your previous comment, guilt can make you remember which morals you have ignored. I also really like the structure of the poem: the small size and close spacing of the first stanza, which talks about how easy it can be to ignore your morals once in a while, compared to to the wide spacing of the second and third stanza, which talks about the overwhelming influence of guilt that comes after that instance of moral weakness. The structure really emphasizes the consequence and personal guilt which results from just one moment of ignoring your morals. Also, I'm not sure if you were thinking of this when you wrote the poem but your use of the made up word, "oatmeal-heavy reminded me of "puddle-wonderful" in a poem by E.E. Cummings. This poem is such a great reminder of why many people fear ignoring their morals- they fear the powerful burden of guilt. This poem was really a pleasure to read and thank you for writing it!
ReplyDelete"...true morality does not necessarily have to be acting in a moral way. Feeling guilt after doing something wrong is also a sign of morality." I think feelings are a sign of the true nature of one's actions - feeling guilty shows a desire to act in a moral way. But in and of itself, feeling bad about something does not constitute morality.
DeleteI think a lot of thieves, abusers, liars feel bad. That's just the beginning ... not nearly the constituent whole ... of morality.
*No, I wasn't thinking of Cummings, but he's one of my favorites. So thanks.
You had me at the first line. I cannot get over how clever the metaphor about morals is in context to this poem. I have never been able to formulate a comparison about how transparent an individual's moral compass can be, and you associating it with a thin and bendable object, capable of being neglected, is pretty spot on. Also, I like how instead of just focusing on morals, you focus on the guilt, contrasting the ideas in a way. A conflict is created between the adaptability of morals, and the heavy emotions associated afterward with guilt. As a reader, you can almost physically feel the guilt as the poem continues on, for the dramatic spacing and slower pace of the last stanzas drags on the emotions of guilt throughout. This poem genuinely resonated with me, because I feel like one of the biggest issues we face today is the blurred line between what is considered right and wrong in society. It really gave me an insight into the importance of this almost neglected issue. So thank you for that!
ReplyDeleteWesley
Can you think of a specific example in your own life?
Delete(if not, those are just words)... ;)
I love this poem because of the use of shape to mirror the meaning and comparison between morality and guilt. The first stanza feels very innocent to me, like when kids are taught in school the "golden rule", but once I re-read it the line about how they are can easily be accommodated to fit the "wants-at-hand", my perception changed. It made me feel like the speaker wasn't sure if there really is true morality because we can shape the black/white concepts of good/bad to fit into any situation, so if they're one size fits all are they even truthful? It made the concept of following morals seem not as pure because we can manipulate them. The shapes of the second and third stanza emphasize how different the feeling of guilt is from morality. While the first stanza is evenly spaced and shaped into a rectangle, these stanzas are spread out with uneven lines. They're wider which mirrors the idea that, "guilt is thick/and oatmeal-heavy". Then at the end it switches back into the original form that mimicked the speakers view of morality, and the speaker addresses that his stomach is humble (not thick with guilt) so the shape mirrors that feeling. My question is what did you intend by having the speaker say "my words are proud". Is that a reference to how people who adhere to morals act? I think this poem connects with the introduction to the third book because it is exploring the age-old concept of morality versus guilt which will always be a conflict of man in society.
ReplyDeletePride's weakness is its easy blindness to where it needs to improve.
DeleteHumility's strength is its keen awareness of those areas where work is needed.
While morals sound aware, they do so with an air of knowing, of pride.
The stomach is quiet, but it roils when it needs to, reminding us that what we ingested -- for better or worse -- is now a part of us; unlike words, the stomach is humble.
I found the meaning of this poem to be very interesting. I took it in the sense that morals are easy to escape, whereas guilt is unavoidable. As members of society, we can lie to others and pretend to live a moral life. However, we cannot lie to ourselves because guilt is more than just words, its something that eats away at us.
ReplyDeleteI interpreted the structure of this poem as a reflection of its meaning. In the first stanza, which deals with morals, the spacing and structure is complete, predictable, and grammatically correct, just as the moral code is typically universal and predictable. But although the structure is grammatically correct, you as the poet had the ability to mold the sentence structure into various ways, just as we can slightly bend and alter morals and still fall within the real of society's moral expectations.
However, as the poem changes its focus to guilt, the structure becomes more abstract and fragmented. Every reader interprets these spaces differently allowing the poem to flow at their own individualized pace just as guilt is unique to the individual. Guilt is not external; it is not a shared feeling; we all experience it on our own. We cannot escape it and push it aside, or bend it into various ways as we can with morals. Deep down we feel if something is right or wrong, we understand that concept of guilt. Theres no escape, but at the same time, its unique to the individual. I thought the way you captured this with the structure throughout the remaining stanzas was incredible.
Matt
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ReplyDeleteI interpreted this poem to mean that everyone has their own morals which guide them instinctually and help them differentiate between what is right or what is wrong. Despite this, we sometimes push these instincts aside and find ourselves giving in to or letting go of our morals just a little bit, or at times all together, in order to adjust to our circumstances. The ability to set aside our morals just as easily as paper can be folded is an action done without much thought or consideration. However the aftermath of emotions which occur as a consequent of our wrongdoings act to punish us through guilt. Guilt over our lack of morality can weigh us down, and this guilt is compared to oatmeal for its thick consistency which one can even feel prevalent in their stomachs long after it has been eaten. The food can be hard to digest, just as our choice to act with lack of judgement and character can be hard to stomach. This constant and overpowering sense of emotional guilt can leave us with a drive to live and act better. In the poem this overpowering sense of guilt is shown by the longer and more drawn out phrases which our eyes are immediately drawn to, similar to how guilt is also prevalent and overpowering. The poet inevitably decides that the pain and feeling of guilt are not worth the minimal satisfaction of whatever immoral act he was or might commit in the future. The rumbling of his stomach and the immoral actions which he decided not to go through with are his grumbling stomach, but the grumblings are what he holds and values with pride as his stand against immorality and the guilt which it causes. This was a very relatable poem for me and embodied very interesting comparisons which I had never considered, and I appreciated the formatting structure used to illustrate the meaning behind the poem as well. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it was relatable for you ... would have loved to hear about that.
DeleteThank you very much!
Delete