Some Need to Stay at the Shallow End

Why do I say this? Some people are not very deep thinkers and that's being nice. They're about as deep as a cupcake holder and again, that's being nice. I say this in response to some comments I received regarding a book I wrote. The comments weren't even mean or negative, but they were the kind of comments where I was stunned into silence, with one question lingering in my mind, "What?"

I wrote a book of poetry and released that not long ago. At the very start of the book, the introduction, I wrote about my inspirations, my influences, and my intentions. There were three major intentions with the book: 1) To provoke thought, 2) To open minds, and 3) To touch on emotions. I tried to write many of them in a novel format, where there's a main character, thoughts and feelings of that main character are expressed, and the message or moral of the story is known by the end. There were other poems where I took on controversial issues, tackled politics, religion, and even played around with a few odd ideas. As I tried explaining from the start, these were written to provoke thought and open minds. They were not written as a black and white way of saying, "This is how it is. This is right. That is wrong. Deal with it." I tried to go against the mainstream in many of these poems, in attempt to widen horizons and expand boundaries of readers. I believe that many times, from when we're first born, we have decisions made for us, have beliefs shoved down our throats, and have little choice to decide for ourselves what it is we actually think or feel about an issue. By the time we have that option, it may be so ingrained in us, that it's too late to open our minds to anything else. I know that and that was one key motivation for me to write these poems.

I just heard from a friend last night that he shared my book with a friend of his and someone I've known for a while. I guess she pointed to a poem that she felt was about a man using a woman for sex and said it was "so true." Then, she commented that she doesn't agree with my political views. It's not like when I read a novel, I see it as being black and white, true or not. Novels are fictional (not true). They're fictional or sometimes fantasy journeys to travel on, as the reader confides in a main character and travels with them. It's not an opinionated blog, where a person may read and nod at something they agree with or shake their head in disgust at something they don't agree with. Oddly enough, that poem wasn't even about men using women for sex. But, I won't tell her that, because, that is one beautiful thing about art, the multitude of interpretations that go along with it. What kind of bothers me is the fact that she read these things just by reading the words and not getting into the feeling of the words that were expressed. I find that it's very difficult to truly appreciate art unless we attempt to be emotionally involved with it. Most of the political ones were there to provoke thought and open minds. One deals with the idea that what we label as "conservatives" today (especially those at the top of the ladder) would not be considered conservatives by Ronald Reagan and the like. One deals with contradictions and hypocrisies. Regardless of how blind we want to be, every country has those. One attempts to illustrate the ridiculousness of labeling a person as being Anti-American for disagreeing with a presidential decision during a time of war. Another deals with the imperfections of capitalism. Yet another revolves around 9/11 and the latent consequences our country has faced because of that horrific day. These are not poems where one should agree or disagree. They're there to catch a reader's interest and hopefully provoke them to do some reading and research of their own to come to a decision for themselves and not one that was made for them years ago. Even that one where she claimed she agree with me on. Again, that's not a poem where one should either agree or disagree. That's an emotional piece that should trigger feelings, not a yes or a no.

Some people should just remain in their floaties and stay at the shallow end of the pool. They should stick to slapstick and stupid-humored comedies, read columns and op-eds, and beware of the dangers that come with swimming in the deep end. It's much easier for one's head to go underwater, at which point, their eyes must close, because things cannot be seen very clearly anymore.