Square or circle?

[hikerchick]

"Here is your square", he said to me,
while handing me a wheel
It's circular, he thinks it's square
It's really no big deal
"It's square, correct? You must agree",
He stubbornly inveighed
"I need you to admit to me
That it's a square I've made."
It would be easier, I'm sure
To say the words he craves
Yet I resist, I can't succumb
I simply will not cave
And so he rails and foams at me
For what, I cannot fathom
But if I fail to use my brains
I may as well not have them.

 

[ranchhand]

Sad in a lot of ways.

Reminds me of my mother, who was irrational for 3 years, before she died in 2004.
And my pal Roger, who was that way for 5 years before he died of Alzheimer's in 2006.
And my MIL Lillian, who died of brain cancer in 2004, after being irrational for 1-1/2 years.

I miss them all. I ended up giving in, otherwise it bacame a battle with no winners.

 

[hikerchick]

Quote:
Oh my. I am sorry to hear about your losses.

It wasn't Alzheimers victims that I had in mind when I wrote this, though.

 

[patyrdz]

Sounds like my husband who I have nick named Mr. Magoo!!

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Oh my. I am sorry to hear about your losses.

It wasn't Alzheimers victims that I had in mind when I wrote this, though.

Sorry, didn't mean to be so glum. But I reread what I wrote and thought what a pity party I'm having!

I don't quite get the intent though, please elucidate and I promise not be be such a sourpuss. I don't see humor, but I felt sorrow? I think...

It is beautifully written though! I am visualizing an old man- living far from town- set in the old stubborn ways-

but I am missing the insistence that it is a square?

 

[hikerchick]

Actually Ranchhand, a poem can say different things to different people. Your interpretation works for you. There is no one right way to read it. I was just thinking of stubborn people, not people out of touch with reality. I am sorry I made you sad..it wasn't meant to be sad so much as lonely, maybe.

 

[ranchhand]

I did get the solitude, and please don't think that you made me very sad- all those people are gone and no longer miserable. The lonliness seems to come from the teller of the story more than from the "wheel maker".

I actually LIKE the poem and find it a joy to see someone actually crafting with words! But I've always been a fan of Robert Frost, and people in general tell me how commercial his work is.

 

[hikerchick]

I WISH my poetry were commercial, instead of a hobby that cannot possibly generate income.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I took it as a good one to pass on to my kids, about thinking for oneself in a realtionship, as they are all approaching that age.

p.s. I liked it, thanks for sharing.

 

[hikerchick]

Quote:
Thank you. Your interpretation is pretty much exactly what I was saying.