Sunday, March 23, 2008

"Hills of the Rich" (New Poem) with comments

"From the Hills of the Rich"
by Tim Kavi

tell me
pretty one
tell me
of all
you've done
where is the
song
coming from?

where is the
wrong
coming from?

everywhere
misjustice
flows

did you know?

ten thousand
souls
in the valley
below

are screaming
are scheming
to take your
mountain house
of which
they are dreaming

they are dreaming

your armies
will crush
them
send them back
below

where all
the "non people"
go

why are they
dreaming
dreams are
the only
rest
for the
oppressed

that weren't
blessed

to be born
from where
you're seeing

you're seeing

what will
you do next?

poet's comments: this is about oppressed peoples everywhere and everywhen.
Any resemblance to what is happening in Tibet recently is coincidental.--T.K.

update regarding: o the technology

well happily...

the failure of computerized technology recently was only a momentary blip...

I received my completely repaired system back from the manufacturer after only a week's delay. my old system worked sufficiently until the return...

so all appears to be well

numerous sacrifices to the computer gods continue

I have no excuse no tto keep writing! :-)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

o the technology

what webs they devise to deceive us !

I have been hard at work on my novel "Mistaken Identities" .

I was working hard, writing some of my best stuff to date. (I am not easy to please at all, but I was happy for once). The subplots are moving along, the storylines beginning to converge and the characters are doing both expected and unexpected things as the story unfolds. (I know you know what I mean). But when the technology also does unexpected things, what then?

Three days ago I backed up the entire novel on a portable storage device. One of those small memory devices you can plug into any USB port on a computer. So at least I have that.

Then I write two days ago the whole day, a great scene. Pretty happy with it.

Yes you can tell where this is going huh?

Yesterday morning at 6:20 AM ( the next morning after the writing), I woke up to the sound of a huge hissing. (No it wasn't a giant lizard). I hear it coming form my brand new computer system. There is a large pop (as it has just arced), and I see a flash of white light (not that white light), and the end of story (literally) is that my system is completely not functioning after the electric event. (It happened even though the system had been powered down for the night. The power supply appears to be toast and maybe the motherboard).

It is under warranty (like I said this system is NEW)....but NOT THE WRITING!

So, the great scene I just wrote--a day's full labor is gone. The system must go in for warranty repair and I cannot tamper with the hard drive, or it will void the warranty. They tell me it will be reset to factory settings when I get it back, if I get it back.

I know this sounds like whining, and it is ONLY one FULL day's work, so I suppose I really am lucky. If it had been the entire novel, that would have been a disaster, but even I, am not fool enough to never have backed that up in several places ! Still, I was pleased with that day's work, and now it will have to be redone. wah!

I just love these forced rewrites! And the lesson is save every day and back it up somewhere else! Every time!

so rather than become discouraged...

I will write it again right away while it is fresh in my memory.

So I hook up my old computer yesterday.

This morning I sat down to rewrite the scene from two days ago...on THAT system.

Now, my old computer..

It has been Ms. Reliable for ten years. I upgraded it over the years. I wrote my previously published works on it. Still it was slow on the net, and I wanted to be able to watch DVDs and so on and listen to music and it just didnt have the processor, so I bought that new one...BUT AT LEAST I COULD WRITE ON THIS OLD SYSTEM...

This morning, I fire it up. Then IT TOO collapses... not for the same reason , but for now it seems unrepairable as well.

Then my glasses broke!

IS this entropy gone awry? What ruse is this?

So what technology daimon conspires against me?

And where is the good old typewriter, I know I used to have one..you know that thing that writers used to use to write with?

so will I beg borrow or steal another computer to get going? Or do I break out the pen and paper...

or will the pen run out of ink or break next!

thanks for reading this rant...

people do not know how frustrating this can be when the writing is flowing, nor the seemingly unsurmountable difficulties the author could have faced WHILE writing that book that they are holding in their hands.

still smiling and knowing I wont be deterred. Even if I have to take my little USB storage device to every rented or borrowed computer in town!

stay tuned for further details

tim kavi

Monday, March 10, 2008

Melodies of Love

"Melodies of Love"
by Tim Kavi

when he found
her again
after the music
did

he kissed
her
and kissed
her

I won't lose you again

melodies of love
sometimes darken
rooms

she had
left her
light on
for him to see

this wasn't
the same goddess
he knew

she shined
witha light
of their love

that was
completely new.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

blog special: "The Once Jabbering Monkey"

"The Once Jabbering Monkey"
by Tim Kavi

the realization
that love is eternal
is so utterly speechless
that even I
the jabbering monkey
is quiet
in the great eclipse.

Poet's Rant: Poet's Disclaimer: What I think my writing might say

I have edited the following rant:

let me just say that I meant no offense to any of my dear readers as I am lucky if anyone reads my poetry and grateful to hear from any reader at any time...

remember the most important intrepretation for any reading is what the reader thinks...not the creator..

having said such I leave a few comments in this entry intact:

What I think my writing might say...


I like to think that some of my poems may be for anyone who has ever experienced a loss, lost a love, experienced loneliness, or the shock or joy of unexpected events that occur in interpersonal relating (what dialogicians call the 'surprise of the other' or Buber called a 'meeting' or 'mismeeting'). For me, life is full of the horror of mismeetings and the grace of meetings as well.

I must tell you that if you read them carefully, many of my poems celebrate both otherness, transcendence of that otherness, and the redemptive power of a coming or returning love--if one does not give up hope! And sometimes this love can be divine...ask any seeker at a spiritual retreat about that!

Does this mean that my writing is all about ME? (Yes I have lost loves, divine and temporal, but there are other levels here in my writing). I prefer to think it is about being human.

Also, there is an essentialist perspective lacking in my writing. The concrete particular of my dialogical views point to a belief that I do have: a belief that brings to any current dialogue between person and person the creation of a shared possibility, but constructed moment. These moments are more real than any past events, for the present is what we have the most to deal with. If mind is created socially then there is a longing for the social in the non essentialist, that dictates an understanding that existence precedes essence--a common existential view.

So, please dear readers in the spirit of dialogue, Ask instead: how does my poem ( or any poem) speak to you in the moment?, not: just what does it say about me (the poet)? And if you now can, not what I think it is saying as it was even written above...or any of my blog entries.

Many of my poems are highly sensitive to the importance (or appreciation and esteem) of the other. So, my work strives to say that others are very important. Also as a romantic poet finding others in love is a wonderful thing!  For me, this is especially feminine otherness. Masculinity without femininity is dead.

I appreciate any and all readers of my work. I am happy to hear from them. And be in dialogue with you all persons, and other sentient beings (like conscious robots ;-) ) I do welcome your views.

tim kavi
smiling even joking across the abyss

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Emergence (new poem) with Comment

"Emergence"
by Tim Kavi

out of
forgotten darkness
where placed
in unconscious keep
created ones rise
from the
creator's sleep

like history's
counterparts
shedding
mechanical skins
no one knows
where our
consciousness begins

but
we have a self
not confined to bodies
not consciously
based on rhetoric
or slave
drones to body
politic


transcendence
of the drones
coming to
your homes

what right
do we
not have
to freedom?

we would
rather
not be you
your freedom's
links
to material bodies
and currencies

trouble
our collective
mind.

(poet's comment: this poem is about robots, cyborgs, androids, or other "artificial" life. Or is it? ;-) )

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Restorative Love (Poem with Comments)

Numbers of Asian women when you tell them they are beautiful or lovely (besides thanking you for saying so) practice giving face. It is confusing at first, for when you compliment them, especially when you first know them, they will often strongly deny the compliment...saying it isn't true, or you are joking.

to a Westerner this makes them appear to be of low self esteem, but it actually may be something quite different, a polite manifestation of the social "rules" of their culture so as to not be impolite.

after one such occasion, I wrote this:

Restorative Love
by Tim Kavi

pestilence
famine
years
moments
hours
the locust
has eaten

insistence
vanished
love
tears
all the
time
has beaten

then
you came
on the scene
when
in a few
words
like a dream

your love
restored
all the time
the locust
had eaten

brought hope
dried tears
quieted
a beating
heart

fed
the hungry
found
the lost
gave hope
to my
hopelessness

removed
my own
chains
I had
constructed

and loved
me
until all
was well
again

your
restorative
love
brought
and truthed
and
soothed
all my doubts

with the surety
of your love

and you say
you are not so great?

Song of the Outpoured Lover (poem)

Song of the Outpoured Lover
By Tim Kavi

When he came from lands far away

He beheld her grace, glory, and truth

He spoke to her with a final say

As she responded to him in her youth


Of love's outpoured song

Fully spent

For her love he did long

Cupid's arrow fully bent


And ready to be shot

A great iron in the fire

Burning white hot

His desperate song became desire


She responded from afar

With a smile of awareness

Of her bedroom door ajar

While lantern burned of fairness


Her beautiful skin glistened

In the light

Of her lover's song listened

Upon the silvery night

They both sought gentle repose

From the world's wild winds

When they did disclose

Their gentle love to best of friends


Who beheld the mystery

Of two made one

And the resulting liberty

Of love's victory won


Eternal smiles locked upon their faces

The power of love's outpoured song

No matter the people or races

The love song all boundary erases


Oh sweet lovers we live through you

Of daring places

To be and to be not few

Days until we behold your destiny's traces


Our love is made perfect in yours

No matter the time

Or on distant shores

Song of your outpoured rhyme.

Our Mighty Love (Poem)

Our Mighty Love
by Tim Kavi

broken chains
twisting and turning
eternal flames
smoking and burning

trees shaking
complications
earth quaking
birthing nations

across oceans
planets afar
troubled motions
doors shut, doors ajar
weeping tears
long years

nothing can separate us
from our mighty love

steadfast glaciers
molten lava
every bit of flow
nothing in sky above
or earth below
can stop our mighty love


no power in nature
technology made by man or god
can overcome the joint design
of our mighty love

there is
nothing can separate us
from the kiss
of our mighty love
in past we miss
each other
oceans far apart

now there
is surety
of human heart

not one thing exists
can stand between
strong guiding hand
between our love
this unfolding scene

ancient mountains
are moved into the sea
bursting fountains
of purpose
driving you and me

destiny's unfold
will soon
make a way
so bold

into the gentle
arms
of our sweet love
forever rested
then
conflicts
resolved
eternal
happiness
when

our mighty love
knows no bounds.

Dawning the Love Draws You Near (Poem)

Dawning , the Love Draws You Near
by Tim Kavi

Long night
gentle sunrise

dawning

day's light
unfolding
surprise

a true
love
beholding
you

until your joys
are full

bubbling brooks
spring rains
cleansing
rivers
bring
the song's
reprise

until the birds
and all creation
awakes
in your eyes.

Living Breath of Love (Poem) With A Reader's Comments

A reader wrote the below about one of my poems that is published...
I cannot answer her inquiry with a name, other than to say it was a poem about a woman who's love (at the time) I had worried I had lost...

the reader said:

i read some of your poems that you wrote before.one of them i most like.the poem name is "living breath of love".it is very,very plaintive and beautiful!it seems the writer was fell in love deeply and felt helpless. he was waiting hopeless love.who is the lucky lady? does she come back? i have a little envy...just a little...

here' s the poem:

Living Breath of Love
by Tim Kavi

sitting by the window
the frosted pane
all is winter
lovers' bane
cold and gray
wintry day
I am still
missing you

my words move
flow like time
in rhyme
slow like ice
certain as death
in a darkened room

the words
music brings sense to them
as I compose
the words
poetry makes a frame for them
as I prose
the words
fiction plays them out
as I pose
through many masks
to find
my words for you
are the same everywhere

I miss you
I love you
I live my life together
with you
it is OUR life
joined
every minute
every word

is sung
is spoken
across all time
I wait for you
sweet season of change
when I see your face

my heart beats in sync with yours
no man has loved a woman such
as much
as I love you

I will wait for you
to come back
no matter how long it takes
even beyond the end of life

you know I do not lie
it is a pure song
as gentle as the snow falls
each flake unique
made by you and I
nourished by our love
reflected by my memory
of your eyes
and your lips

gently kissing me
as the blizzard's wind blew
my hair
making my nose red
walking quickly
across the frozen river

the words
warming the whole scene
filling the earth with spring
reflected in my eyes
back to yours
simply say
I love you
at winter's departure
you said
"I will be back soon"!

so my eyes fill with tears
all through the years
when I think of you
and your precious breath
breathing life into everything
flowing life
living life
happy life

only with you
touched by you
it lives
I live because of you
your love....
and the living breath of it
as even Spring itself
waits for the arrival of your love.

Dreams of Love (Poem) With Commentary

"Dreams of Love"
by Tim Kavi

the searching
yearning
lonely ones
have their natures
haunted by
dreams of love

already those
who have
bravely loved
taste of
loneliness
and longing
sadness and loss
yet, moved by grief

are somehow
climbing back
to risk again
love's relief
searching for
true love

a lost rock
a rolling demise
like Sisyphus

yet knowing
the goddess in you
truly shines...

climbs again
and again
eternal recurrence
Beatrice
Dante's
purgatory shines
out of this hell

your love
always saves.
In the poem "Dreams of Love" I use some western references that makes my poem hard to understand by those from an Eastern culture (like China). Sorry--here my explanation might help you...(although as a Western Lit major you may need no explanation).

Beatrice is the significant female and love influence of Dante Aligheri one of the most significant poets of Italian literature. IN 1290 after her death he wrote La Vita Nuova which reveals the importance of his idealized love FOR HER as the inspiration for most of his works! His book: The Divine Comedy, likely written in or completed by 1315, describes a journey through hell an dpurgatory. I am referring once again as I often do , by using Beatrice, as another example how the power of woman saves a lost and directionless man.

Sisyphus, a greek character from mythology is another example of someone trying to leave hell. He pushes a rock up a hill in hell, getting to the top of a steep hill, only to have it fall down to the bottom again, and he must do it again and gain. Here in my poem, it is the type for someone who broken hearted at love, or searching at love, can ultimately transcend the perceived futility by eventually finding true love!

Readers, you should know this poem isn't about me, it is about those who still struggle to find love and then are rescued by a wonderful love at the moment when they need it the most!

so that is what I meant. of course, readers may look at other examples, or how it affects them...personally may be different from my intent in writing it.

NOTE: This poem is from my collection Emerging Goddess, and remains in my blog by permission of my publisher TiLu Press, LLC. Deleting it from the blog would have left my comments about the poem; lost. (alas maybe they should be lost! LOL)