Meaning

Brian Funke

Mar 13, 2025Edited

Don's essay I referenced...enjoy this as well!

https://donboivin.substack.com/p/on-the-meaning-of-life-3-unconventional

Gorgeous, Brian, especially this line:

and wind writes prose with the forest

that settles into silent space.

Thanks Nathan! Glad you enjoyed.

This is gorgeous. I love the sense of movement, especially at the end.

Thanks for reading!

Wonderfully creative and expressive, impressive to say the least. Enjoyed so much. God bless you and I hope to read more soon.

Thanks for reading!

"The air will catch you." Beautiful, Brian.

Such a rich, rich piece, Brian.

'Speak you must, sound into meaning

for meaning is not found in stone beneath your feet'

Loved this, the 'mustness' of this speaking we've been (so pleasantly) afflicted by. And where the meaning is not, not here, nor here, not this, nor this. The layered onion of life, the shedding of what's not, to reveal what is.

I had some scribbles on meaning one day that I hadn't finished teasing out, I will look for it today. It had struck me too as an interesting topic for a poem. I touched on a cousin (once removed!) of this theme on this left and right brained piece. But you've definitely inspired me to revisit the actual topic of meaning.

https://theseainme.substack.com/p/both-sides-now?r=46rss

Excellent! Carried along and so satisfying.

Thanks for reading!

Brian, good poetry always takes my breath away... I love these lines:

"As long as our eyes can meld with the others

and trees respond to the wind,

whisper we will"

Thanks!

It was a pleasure to read!

I really like the bookend repetitions in the first stanza: "air, thin air" and "carried away, carried away".

I like the paradoxical heaviness of the word that is a brick but then is gone after a moment.

"wind writes prose with the forest" is a lovely evocative phrase-- I like that you don't lean too heavily on this sort of whimsy, it stands out all the more because most of the imagery is so concrete.

"settles into silent space." has a fine music

The parallel structure and the unusual passive voice in these lines is catching to the eye and ear both: "and we will be whispered,

a body will be breathed,"

"pluck a petal

from a beetle’s back," such an interesting concrete image, and nice alliteration as well.

"with wings spread wide." a nicely musical line.

"The air will catch you." and back to air at the end but now the air is not thin, it's thick enough to catch you. Nice.

Thank you so much for the careful read! You articulated much in this that was only a feeling to me…I appreciate that!

Wonderful! I love the way you close out poems. You always know how to leave me with lingering emotion with your closing lines. So good

I'm glad that's what hits you. I want my work to have a level of openness, even at the end. Whatever is resolved in the writing should open up at least three more possibilities, feelings or ideas.

Reply

Share