Lampshade
Looking modest
as lampshades ought,
it tames lurid light
to seeable scenes
lest the naked bulb’s
voluptuous glow
shame small eyes
by their weakness.
As woman’s beauty
must be veiled
lest sight, endangered
by dazzling excess,
be blind to all else,
so naked truth
must be clothed
by metaphor
to mind’s eye
lest blinking,
stunned by desire
we see what is not –
last lust’s love –
rather than glory.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2011 at 4:54 pm and is filed under poetry. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Christian, epistemology, metaphor, perception, poetry, revelation, spiritual blindness, truth, veils
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Caleb's Eye 
July 17, 2011 at 6:41 am
Carroll, I feel this poem speaks to a notion that truth is most palatable or communicable through language when expressed in overt symbolism. Such limitation on the mortal, human mind to digest truth is actually a point to be considered, I think, in terms of what this incomprehensibility says about the grandeur of truth, itself. I really like how you ended the poem.
July 17, 2011 at 11:20 am
Yes, I think the limitations of the human mind are something we have not taken seriously, yet, particularly physical scientists. Mind you, I love thinking…
April 15, 2012 at 4:10 am
Our senses perceive that which reflects our values and level of development (development in both the corporeal and ethereal) – I reckon. That is what I glean from this poem – it is well written and prods thought.
April 15, 2012 at 11:31 am
Thank you. Your comments are continually helpful and I appreciate your taking the time to leave them. I always feel my poetry is somewhat inaccessible, so you are very encouraging.