Hello Sally,
Thanks for your comments on the poem and the poetics, both. Itīs interesting the way you have read phrases like `lived in vainī and ėmperfect contactī. Or at least, the way I feel you must have read them, from what you say. You mentioned that you looked for a more positive reading, some proof that we have not lived in vain. My own thoughts in composing the line was more that living in vain or not is irrelevant. It is even unclear what the standards are by which we would make such a judgement. Money, family, career, creativity, a `goodī life, love? The list could be almost endless. And at the end of the day, or the life, it doesnīt really matter. At the end of the day, the poem suggests, it is our relationships with other people that define us. That contact, the poem suggests, is inevitably imperfect. We continually misunderstand each other, but itīs all weīve got. Does all this sound a bit bleak? I personally donīt find it so, but some might. Thereīs also the question, which you raised, is it actually true? Do I really believe this myself? I donīt know. And I donīt think it matters. Hereīs one view of that whole question:
Three Lines
Itīs just a poem,
it doesnīt have to be true.
Best wishes, Mike
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