Seemingly ordinary things

Sometimes, whilst participating in casual conversation, a friend will unthinkingly utter some beautiful words. Sometimes I miss the words, too caught up in my own thoughts and my future input to appreciate the unrecognized wisdom, but other times, I am able to recognize them and be amazed by them. They are probably not as beautiful out of context, but I use the lines I find in casual conversation as inspiration for my poetry often. I place them as titles, hoping that my poem will mimic the moment and the idea that was being discussed.

A friend of mine told me that cliches are  cliches because they’re probably true, and that the wisdom behind cliches is not often acknowledged, rather it is ignored, tossed to the side because of how casually and thoughtlessly cliches are used.  He implied that the only reason a cliche survives is because it pairs relativity and truth seamlessly. He changed my perspective on cliches. In the past, I’d never think to dissect them. I’d think that they were only what they appeared on the surface, the words were direct and didn’t need to be explained.

I’m not sure what this post is about. For some reason, my mind is telling me that these two specific thoughts have some correlation. Maybe, it has to do with the latest poem I submitted to workshop. But I think mostly, it has to do with how we look at life and poetry…Are we taking the time to look past the surface? Are we, can we, appreciate the wisdom and beauty that surrounds us every minute? I mean, if we aren’t, and we’re poets, then who is? But anyway, the more I get to know cliches the more I learn to love them, and I’m finding more and more titles in casual conversation. Tonight’s title was: “Let’s talk about the weather.”

2 Replies to “Seemingly ordinary things”

  1. This post really blew my mind. I, now, realize that I don’t really pay much to what my friends say. I always look at what they say at surface value, not below and not above–mostly because my friends and I say a lot of stupid things. But your post made me wonder if there is more to the stupid things that my friends say. Maybe there is some wisdom in what my friends say. Maybe it’s like a dog whistle in the sense that what they say is so stupid that it actually has a deeper meaning.

    I’m not sure how what I just said helps answer any questions in your post, but because of this post I am going to pay very close attention to what my friends say.

  2. Ah! You found the correlation 🙂 thank you and I’m glad that it has inspired you. Sometimes your friends really don’t mean anything deeper, but if a sentence is meaningless yet still appears beautiful or stands out to you, I think it’s our duty as poets to take that sentence and dissect it, whether it held meaning in the moment or not.

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