In moments of truth
We laugh, we rejoice, we cry
Only God knows why
~*~*~*~
Only God Knows Why
Written for:
Prompt: (Moments)
Only God Knows Why
Yes, we rejoice when we have good things in life. We cry when we are even slightly hurt. But how do you feel when you see those impoverished and hapless people around you? They live in cramped shanties; hardly have two square meals a day and they abuse their own children making them work because of poverty? And these kids grow up with hatred and ill will in their hearts. Those are sad and painful moments of truth. Only God knows why….!
~*~*~*~
Written for:
Prompts: (abuse, cramp, hatred)
Dear Amity,
ReplyDeleteI try to offer constructive feedback within the 3WW community, and I have a semantics issue with "Only God Knows Why".
I play with orthography all the time, so I am not fussed by an exclamation juxtaposed with an ellipses at the end of a sentence...
Even though an ellipsis at the end of the sentence indicates an aposiopesis, or a trailing off into silence, as opposed to a sharp exclamation!
No, my concern over meaning is much deeper.
Do you really think, that only God knows why that families living in slums don't have a clue why they send their children to work?
Economic imperatives or caloric imperatives never cross their minds?
Of course those imperatives cross their minds, unless you are assuming that they have no minds, no wills, which I doubt you are trying to imply.
But, as a reader, that leaves a strong taste of glibness behind that has me questioning the authenticity of the message in the poem.
Again, don't get me wrong, I love glib and facile; my poems are full of trite glibber and glib chatter, but you took on a serious topic and judged your poetic subjects, or at least part of them.
You judged the parents as abusers (yes, I know that that is one of the prompts) but I think that that elevates your duty as a poet to not be glib to your subjects when you make accusations like that.
Anyway, that is what comes to my mind, for what little it might be worth.
In contrast, Amity, I quite liked your use of the same line "Only God knows why" as the ending of your haiku, above.
For the same reason as in the prose it made me stop and consider why. My first reaction was the same as it was in the prose, then as my mind widened I thought "perfect"; who hasn't been in a situation of sudden realisation where their physical reaction is equally perplexing to them and to the people around them.
Bravo.
Tschuess,
Chris
This is rather frustrating; I wrote a long, detailed series of comments and then, I think, google ate them telling me that they were too large.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't even given the chance to pare them down, or to break them into two submissions.
We both lose; sad.
Very NIce Amity. You have a wonderful imagination! Love Di ♥
ReplyDeleteA short and sweet thingy
ReplyDeletemade good sense.
Although I must say many comments on the net don't make any sense at all.
Yvonne.
Well written Amity and you have brought out the essence of the 3 words beautifully. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Haiku too was great!!
Really, only God knows why such things happen on tis earth. These are the things that are slowly killing our otherwise wonderful planet.
This is from the heart. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteone of yur best!!! simply luvd it!god knows sure!but he tests the best out of us!
ReplyDeleteVery Much True Dear :) :) Very Well Said :) :)
ReplyDeleteOnly G*d knows why, indeed. There are occasions when it would be nice to know...others, not so much.
ReplyDeletehttp://radio-nowhere.org/nb/?p=458
Wonderful post! Yes, there are questions to which only God has answers!I just don't understand this concept-why the one who can suffer is made to suffer more?
ReplyDeleteah lovely creation amity...and yes some answers only god knows...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful haiku, Amity, and such a poignant message. Why so much hatred, injustice and poverty in the world? It is indeed a sobering and crucial question, that humanity must one day answer. Sooner, rather than later, one hopes.
ReplyDeleteVery powerful words, and thoughts and good term to take it in. Lovely to hear back from you on my blog. Glad to hear you are well. :)
ReplyDeleteAmity, you have only described what is happening in realty and what we see all round.I see nothing wrong in the usage of 'only God knows why' as He is the only Omniscient and we mortals know not why some enjoy and some suffer.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful haiku with an equally nice annotation below.Thanks
Those are indeed difficult questions, pressing issues which we people must, as best we can, work to figure out. Good job with your wordsmithery, Amity. :)
ReplyDeleteOnly god knows.. yes, with such disparity..this is the only explanation one finds comforting..
ReplyDeletePoverty has to be questioned, when there are so many with so much. Unfortunately we don't have the answer.
ReplyDeletereally very beautiful..! sometimes, i think even we know why, we just can't put the finger on it!
ReplyDeleteAs a social worker, I totally get this.
ReplyDelete......dhole
Wonderful haiku.
ReplyDeletehttp://thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com
Well done..
ReplyDeleteGod won't answer for he wants us to find one..It just IS..nothing more nothing less..
This was beautiful Amity. There's lots of sorrow and hatred around us. God knows a way and he has a big plan ahead. That's a perfect message passed out with a haiku.
ReplyDeleteTerrible conditions people in various areas have to live in. Your writing brings to attention something that many people turn their backs on. Well written Amity!
ReplyDeleteI loved and enjoyed each words.. Beautifully done! thanks For sharing this amazing post.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
love
Sunshine
i so agree with yr strong sweet msg... it is hard to look out and see the overwhelming situation and then look back into our world... there are many thoughts that pass through to stop and consider...
ReplyDelete