Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Sacrifices


                                                                                Picture by James Gathany
Image: A Black Widow Spinning its Web around a Tree Branch
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Decisions defying reasoning
Often circumstances demand
Done with precision
Spontaneous but outwardly
irrational

How to explain the sexual cannibalism
of the Black Widow eating its mate
after mating. The reverse is true
in suttee. Self immolation of a widow
at her husband's funeral pyre

The ultimate sacrifice!

Diving kamikaze pilots and harakiri
disembowelment performed by the samurai
Heroic acts accepted and revered by
their society. If only good sense
prevailed in place of dogged patriotism

Some things are best left unsaid for their
reasons are beyond reasoning!

Written for Poetry Jam with prompt - sacrifice and shared
with d'Verse OpenLinkNight week #83

28 comments:

  1. so true... there are things that cannot be defined...

    Pareng JJ

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  2. EEK - I have aracnophobia Hank. Thanks alot :)

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  3. So many things actually move beyond the rational--into something else--you made me think of all the small moments of irrationality which we all engage in--

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  4. sometimes the sacrifices we are called to make are beyond reason and that is where faith steps in...esp vivid for me around hte widow at the pyre....wow man...

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  5. Some things really cannot be explained ... and more often than not they turn out to be irrational !!!

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  6. Glad that is only in their universe, although i suppose there are some human females around that would do the same and have.

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  7. Some things are best left unsaid for their
    reasons are beyond reasoning!..so true. A lovely write, Hank.

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  8. Hank, it is amazing how many unreasonable acts are out there that are completely acceptable (mind-boggling, really) Your ending summed it up perfectly and poetically--wonderful poem :-)

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  9. Some sacrifices are definitely hard to understand and hard to accept as well! But. apparently they must make sense to the one doing the sacrificing

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  10. Yep, your last line about sums it up, Hank... powerful, thought-provoking piece.

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  11. Wow! Profound poem. It has me thinking of all the sacrificing in life for seemingly unreasonable reasons.

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  12. Yes I agree--some sacrifices make no sense at all to outsiders. So sad really. ;Your poem made me think!

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  13. sacrifice is in itself a difficult act.. and when we try n look back for reason often a jumble picture is what we get..sometimes it is beyond comprehension

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  14. Hi Hank.. lethal madams these creatures! Or as they call 'em "femme fatales"..

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  15. Deep words. Personally I think its a throw back to the idea of sacrificing a little of ourselves to appease nature in the deep past, when we thought we needed a pact between man and environment.

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  16. ..err... creepy... too bad for me too look at it that close...sorry Hank... i love writing about spiders but never wanted to have one by my side or even to have one that close to my face...

    ..well, the rule of spiders are still a big mystery to me as well as those old days Harakiri or perhaps that's how firm they are in implementing their policies... though a bit i find it a bit inhuman and brutal... smiles...

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  17. You are right that not everything is controlled by reason and so there is much that reason cannot tell us. This is the limitation of science, I'm afraid. You bring it out very well.

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  18. Each to their own... I'll give those sorts of sacrifice a miss...

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  19. I agree ~~ one million per cent!

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  20. Some sacrifices are totally unnecessary. I hope we only make those that count and that politics or religion don't make us fanatics. Good write here Hank.

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  21. Sacrifice can be heroic, but sometimes equally as senseless...
    This is a lovely poem with a deep concept :)

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  22. Hi Hank.... I don't know if you noticed, but I DID link your poem into Poetry Jam~ Hope you have a great day.

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    Replies
    1. I did, Mary, I did! Thank you so much Ma'am! You got it in for first for me! I was wondering. I thought you had it done but wasn't sure! Now it's confirmed! Thank you once again and have a wonderful week-end!

      Hank

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  23. i like the internal rhyme in the fourth stanza

    Initiated Kiss

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  24. i hope to honour the people i love by living properly and loving properly.

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  25. The picture is really scary, but I love the words! :)

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  26. nicely done and thanks for sharing your words

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