“Randall In Extremis”
Painting by Alice Neel
From npr.org
I forget if I’m real
can’t recall how to prove it
belief is not enough
how else integrity
duty owed truth is supreme
fiction must disappear
In Extremis
Poesy plus Polemics
Words of Wonder, Worry and Whimsy
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© Paul F. Lenzi and “Poesy plus Polemics” 2006-2018. All written content of this blog and website is protected under U.S. copyright. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this written material in whole or in any part without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Paul F. Lenzi as author and “Poesy plus Polemics” as source with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Poesy plus Polemics 
Is this a haiku? If so, I thought a haiku was 5, 7, 5? Am I wrong? Very interesting though. 🙂
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it is haiku – I normally follow the 575 tradition, but it is not a rigid rule
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Kateberry, I don’t think haikus and short poems are synonymous.
Paul, good piece and very aptly stating that something real happens in just mentally accepting a belief. It also is a lifestyle. Something more real than abstract.
However, still calls for the eternal debate of what truth and integrity really mean to some of us.
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Ok. I just misunderstood.
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😉 I really liked it too
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thank you, Meka
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that debate is what keeps philosophers in business
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Hahahha! And satisfied musing older citizens lounging out in the countryside.
How with the eyes?
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Wonderful words
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thank you, Bee
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I love this. I really like the concept of what it means to be real, and the concept of proving it to others. It is interesting to think about why “being real” is so important to people. We all live in our own realities, really. Yet, society is very focused on throwing everyone in the same field of reality. (If that makes any sense.)
I love how this is a haiku, but doesn’t follow the typical haiku pattern. The very fact that you did this fits in with the actual poem somehow.
Thank you for sharing this!
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sincerely appreciate your thoughtful and kind comments
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And I appreciate your thought-provoking poetry! 😀
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Awesome
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thank you kindly
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Reblogged this on Poesy plus Polemics.
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Very Kafaka-esque. Love it!
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Kafka disturbed me at an early age
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He disturbs me now, and I think he wrote to evoke just that.
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A serve and a resounding return of serve with just the one player on court – brilliantly clever poem.
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and yet, I never played a tennis game in my life
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But fiction is so much more interesting . . .
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especially if it has the ring of truth
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Reblogged this on OUR POETRY CORNER.
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thank you for sharing my poem with your readers
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The poem is disturbing, frightening–but excellent. So, is it the 3-line form that makes it haiku, rather than syllable count? I want to learn more about this fave poetry form.
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I’m not one for rigid rules and haiku has more to do with conveying ideas in a tight form – this site may help
http://www.ahapoetry.com/keirule.htm
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Thanks a million, Paul–will have a look-see.
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