Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Authenticity

This is for the Poets United Midweek Motif of Authenticity. I guess this poem is more about what is not authentic.

The wood grains
of too many 
homes
are painted over
in thick acrylic.
In the yard
the browning
follicles of grass
are dyed
with fertilizer.
While inside,
the nourishing 
plumbing 
and wires 
are hidden beneath 
smooth drywall.
The true house
is sometimes
only visible
after the years 
have worn away
the facade.

-R. L. Jackson



20 comments:

  1. As the house you described, i guess authenthicity is receding more and more in our modern world
    Happy Wednesday Rob

    Much🌼love

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    1. Unfortunately I have to agree. Thanks for the comment.

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  2. Nicely done! The metaphor truly works for me, and leads me to think: What if this house was battered by storm? What would I need first to build it up again--exactly what now lies hidden.

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    1. I think you are creating another follow up poem. What if weather and stress accelerate the decay of the facade? And yes, can it be repaired, and do we want it to be? Thank you!

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  3. Brilliant use of metaphor here!❤️

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  4. A true thought about, papering over the cracks...Nothing is as it seems..

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  5. So true. It can be the same with humans, too. Smiles.

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    1. I was hoping that point would come through. Thank you!

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  6. Love the wise last part
    The true house is sometimes only visible after the years have worn away the facade.

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  7. Our den is paneled in oak - the thick real kind, not the thin cheap stuff. My mother in law said the room would be much brighter if we painted over it. 20 years later, the oak remains unpainted. My husband and I said, bah.

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    1. Hah! There's another poem in your story. Thank you!

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  8. "The true house
    is sometimes
    only visible
    after the years
    have worn away
    the facade."---Most of the time this happens. Appearance rules the world. Beautifully put.

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  9. Sometimes the facade falls away and sometimes it lasts forever. A very good metaphor you created here.

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  10. An old house shows it's battle scars as well as its flaws that bare to haunt. Let's hope that the battle scars win out.
    ..

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  11. And those old houses, or people, can have so much beauty, finally revealed

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  12. The true house
    is sometimes
    only visible
    after the years
    have worn away
    the facade.

    That is the reality of the present times. They don't make them the way they did before. Accurate observation, Rob!

    Hank

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  13. Oh so true.. very well said...true of people and lives too!

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