A Quadrille Poem
It’s standard practice
to treat disordered
emotional states
by severing connections;
I, the emotional state
drifting through this continuum
snatching
evanescent fragments
time
lobotomising
that which meant
so much
tribal connections;
surviving
memories gathered
together
for warmth
lineal pathways
scattered
- fireflies of the hippocampus.
© Darius the Mate
A poem in 44 words, written for dVerse.
What is life without community? I would love to connect with other nicecissists out there. Reach out, let me know what you think in the comments, and of course, give me a follow for more – nice!
Wordplay Pathway
nicecissist 
This is so clever and thought-provoking! Your opening statement is so true and well-observed.
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A remarkable 44-word delving into the human mind. (and it all boiled down to the butterfly effect!) Interesting.
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That’s very kind, thank you, Bev.
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You have a really unique style … which I really enjoy! Cheers.
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Thank you Helen 🙂
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This is an amazing quadrille. I love the imagery and you have articulated such complicated ideas on a difficult topic. It’s really quite exceptional!
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Thank you Worms 😍
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Whoa, Darius. This is unexpected & intense. Took me totally unawares.
❤
David
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Thank you David 😇
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Cool! I really like that “fireflies of the hippocampus” line.
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I’m very pleased you did! 😄
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A profound piece. Our own experiences and memories, those pathways that stay with us are also influenced by the outside world. It can become quite complex. I do know that pathways form very solidly before the age of six. That is also profound.
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Thank you for your valued insights.
As products of our environment, I’ve sometimes wondered how true to ourselves – our nature – we can honestly, ever be; whether there’s something out there, to be sought, which brings true contentment – something in ancient wisdom, or in our animal instincts which has shunted aside, by the march of progress – something that we’ve lost , or perhaps, have never found.
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“fireflies of the hippocampus.”
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Glad you liked that bit! Thanks for the comment Tzvi.
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Our way of handling feelings is to pathologize them and to tweak them until they meet the lowest common (i.e. manageable) denominator. Who said feelings needed to be managed? I understand extremes of suicidality and homocidality, but how many got the pickaxe that were neither. The last two stanzas make me think of Frankenstein’s monster. I wonder if the lightning bolts from the sky weren’t Shelley’s description of EST…
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That’s certainly a insightful thought, in regards to the lightning bolts, and electric shock therapy.
I do wonder how many of our modern treatments will be shunned, or come to light as completely spurious, in coming generations.
Thanks for hosting Lisa.
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Darius, if we survive long enough to have hindsight, we will shudder at them.
You’re welcome, my pleasure.
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Damn, Darius. Damn.
I am stunned to silence at this beauty of a piece; the emotional longevity of it stirs me and saddens me especially when I resonate here:
“It’s standard practice
to treat disordered
emotional states
by severing connections;”
I interpret it personally two different ways. My first thought is how depression causes us to push away other people, how we want to be alone and away from others. At my own worst, I’ve neglected to interact with friends, I didn’t have it in me and they were concerned. My second thought is how, on a much more psychological level, emotions severe our own connection with the world. We can fail to feel certain things, we also may feel too many things in a different state, it causes a disconnect between self and reality.
I just love how it all falls together and how you weave words with such delicacy and grace.
Also, I really like the photo that accompanies this piece. It made me think of Phineas Gage for some reason.
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I’m incredibly grateful for your support, praise, and insight.
It’s interesting to read your interpretation. It absolutely started with human relationships – growing apart, and all those which pass naturally into our respective pasts, so effortlessly. As I wrote more, I ended up going back and changing some words, as I shifted my thoughts to the ephemerality of our whole existence – and how that makes me feel, and think. It’s very reassuring to know that enough was left in there for you to get both sides – and that makes me feel, sincerely, connected between these two screens of ours.
Thank you for your comment, Lucy, truly.
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