Seeking Symmetry in Our Chaotic World
As another school year winds down its final days, one is reminded of the cycle of things, even more so than at recurrent holidays. The students’ treadmill is one of begging to have class outside, testing the familiarity of teachers they have gotten to know by now, and talking incessantly about proms, yearbooks, and summer plans. The teachers’ spin revolves around final projects, uncovered curriculum, next year’s schedule, book orders, and exams, all while keeping kids attentive, focused, and engaged. The futility of chaos prevention is kept at bay by the diligence of experience and perseverance. All seems annually predictable and cyclic though every year is distinct.
It is the nature of being human to seek balance and symmetry in our chaotic world. From atoms and molecules to planets and orbits, circles and their three-dimensional counterparts, spheres, inhabit every aspect of our natural existence. It should be little wonder then that the circle would emerge as a central symbol that represents connectedness, infinity, and even truth.
As art is an infinite expression of human truth about our common experience and poetry is art that connects us all at the symbolic level of words, it should not be surprising that poet Nicole Bond chooses the circle as the central image of her poem about a phenomenon anyone who has been to Gettysburg has experienced.
But, notice that within her celebration of the cyclic (that) her sounds and images pull the audience in and lead them through their linear experience until they have completed the circular experience of her poem. Within the poem’s own circle, we can be stuck in a rut of never getting anywhere, only contemplating our limited predicament which seems to be going nowhere fast. Or, we can emerge from the experience of circle, selecting a path or new direction that can lead to an adventure or a chosen destination.
With all her subtle historical Gettysburg nuances, Bond suggests that the seeming chaos of the circle, and thus our lives, can make us feel like we’re ever at war and that our cycle of internal struggle may seem endless. However, others merge with the flow of seeming chaos and see its center and movement as constant and rhythmic, making it a part of the symmetrical dance that gets us through life.
Gettysburg Traffic Circle
Occasionally,
a passer-by will not see
this automotive carousel
and motor over the grassy knoll
—finding a flag pole
in his fender.
The battle rattles
as travelers circumnavigate
—one-eighty, three-sixty.
They never find the right turn
and they can’t take a left.
The sound of motorcycle mischief
and need-not-stop sightseers
arriving as if on parade—counter-clockwise
through the motorcar turnstile
hums and rumbles,
spewing decadent
exhaust onto those pedestrians
who leer too close.
Cyclical progressions
of license plates
drown out the din
of muzzle-loading mumbles.
Spot a rare turn signal,
and behold the anxious to cut in line.
The natives, the tourists
—they waltz, they war.
Hanoverian Bond teaches at Bermudian Springs Middle School and recently won second place in The Reader’s Café annual poetry contest with this poem. She says she has come to an understanding about poetry that it has to go beyond simply sophisticated wit. “I had to find a way with words that . . . really relates to the reader.”
Bond goes on to ruminate(ruminates). “Most of my inspiration comes from the world around me. I’m very fond of the area we live in, and I enjoy writing about Hanover . . . and the little places around it.”
“So what's the importance of poetry? I think it reminds us that we're human, and that in being human we don't just work. We're human and in being human we see extraordinary things every day and sometimes they don't seem so extraordinary until we really start thinking about them. Sometimes the smallest shimmer is beautiful... likewise, so is the biggest, ugliest wart. It’s all about perspective and the ability to share my own with others. It’s about taking snapshots with the mind when I'm out of film, or I can't capture something with film. Asking why poetry is important is like asking why anything is important? Poetry is kind of like air, I just need it to breathe. Otherwise, my mind gets stuffy with all these facts and educational theories muddled up in there.”
Bond will be the feature at First Friday at the Ragged Edge in July. Send poems and comments to michaeljhoover@gmail.com.
As another school year winds down its final days, one is reminded of the cycle of things, even more so than at recurrent holidays. The students’ treadmill is one of begging to have class outside, testing the familiarity of teachers they have gotten to know by now, and talking incessantly about proms, yearbooks, and summer plans. The teachers’ spin revolves around final projects, uncovered curriculum, next year’s schedule, book orders, and exams, all while keeping kids attentive, focused, and engaged. The futility of chaos prevention is kept at bay by the diligence of experience and perseverance. All seems annually predictable and cyclic though every year is distinct.
It is the nature of being human to seek balance and symmetry in our chaotic world. From atoms and molecules to planets and orbits, circles and their three-dimensional counterparts, spheres, inhabit every aspect of our natural existence. It should be little wonder then that the circle would emerge as a central symbol that represents connectedness, infinity, and even truth.
As art is an infinite expression of human truth about our common experience and poetry is art that connects us all at the symbolic level of words, it should not be surprising that poet Nicole Bond chooses the circle as the central image of her poem about a phenomenon anyone who has been to Gettysburg has experienced.
But, notice that within her celebration of the cyclic (that) her sounds and images pull the audience in and lead them through their linear experience until they have completed the circular experience of her poem. Within the poem’s own circle, we can be stuck in a rut of never getting anywhere, only contemplating our limited predicament which seems to be going nowhere fast. Or, we can emerge from the experience of circle, selecting a path or new direction that can lead to an adventure or a chosen destination.
With all her subtle historical Gettysburg nuances, Bond suggests that the seeming chaos of the circle, and thus our lives, can make us feel like we’re ever at war and that our cycle of internal struggle may seem endless. However, others merge with the flow of seeming chaos and see its center and movement as constant and rhythmic, making it a part of the symmetrical dance that gets us through life.
Gettysburg Traffic Circle
Occasionally,
a passer-by will not see
this automotive carousel
and motor over the grassy knoll
—finding a flag pole
in his fender.
The battle rattles
as travelers circumnavigate
—one-eighty, three-sixty.
They never find the right turn
and they can’t take a left.
The sound of motorcycle mischief
and need-not-stop sightseers
arriving as if on parade—counter-clockwise
through the motorcar turnstile
hums and rumbles,
spewing decadent
exhaust onto those pedestrians
who leer too close.
Cyclical progressions
of license plates
drown out the din
of muzzle-loading mumbles.
Spot a rare turn signal,
and behold the anxious to cut in line.
The natives, the tourists
—they waltz, they war.
Hanoverian Bond teaches at Bermudian Springs Middle School and recently won second place in The Reader’s Café annual poetry contest with this poem. She says she has come to an understanding about poetry that it has to go beyond simply sophisticated wit. “I had to find a way with words that . . . really relates to the reader.”
Bond goes on to ruminate(ruminates). “Most of my inspiration comes from the world around me. I’m very fond of the area we live in, and I enjoy writing about Hanover . . . and the little places around it.”
“So what's the importance of poetry? I think it reminds us that we're human, and that in being human we don't just work. We're human and in being human we see extraordinary things every day and sometimes they don't seem so extraordinary until we really start thinking about them. Sometimes the smallest shimmer is beautiful... likewise, so is the biggest, ugliest wart. It’s all about perspective and the ability to share my own with others. It’s about taking snapshots with the mind when I'm out of film, or I can't capture something with film. Asking why poetry is important is like asking why anything is important? Poetry is kind of like air, I just need it to breathe. Otherwise, my mind gets stuffy with all these facts and educational theories muddled up in there.”
Bond will be the feature at First Friday at the Ragged Edge in July. Send poems and comments to michaeljhoover@gmail.com.