Let there be lines, he said. Let there be vectors, plots and graphs. He skipped pebbles over the pool of his mind as he devised a plan made up completely of endings.
Let there be angles troubled by twists and turns. Let forward and backward be arbitrary, just a dubious arrangement of flotsam and blitz. Let there be clues and traces, but no solution.
Let shapes enter forms that echo shadows cast by ladders to nowhere. Let uncertaintly be vexed by avoidance and puzzled by what arrives after. Let eons come before next.
Let all the signs hint at comprehension while remaining unspelled. Not either/or but henceforth. And inasmuch as.
clueless
this world
without a prayer
Brendan at earthweal has asked us to describe the unsayable nature of the pandemic we are still fighting our way through.
K. 
This is wonderfully directionless, or multi-directional. And the collage is glorious, like a labyrinth (or should that be a maze?).
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I like the idea of a labyrinth better, though it’s probably closer to a maze. Or maybe it’s just a lot of labyrinths superimposed on top of each other.
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I know maze is a good old English word, but somehow labyrinth sounds more mysterious.
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Technically speaking, a labyrinth only has one way into the center and the same way out again, while a maze has paths that go nowhere. But in reality they are used interchangeably.
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True. The original purpose of a labyrinth wasn’t to lose people, just to guide them to the right place.
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Exactly. But sometimes we can get lost even if there’s only one way to go.
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Yes, that’s also true!
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I agree with Jane. But “he” is giving the directions for the directionless in a plan made entirely of endings, and everyone clueless. The ladders to nowhere make me think of Escher. When I look at the center of the collage, it looks 3D. I hope the Minotaur is not at the center.
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Thanks Merril. The Minotaur probably has plenty of company at this point I suspect.
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😀
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The paradox. The reality. You’ve tapped into a source not of this world. This opens a great vista.
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Thanks Jade. It’s what the world feels like to me. Abstracted.
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You’re welcome.
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Clues and traces but no solution. You’ve got that right. So well said.
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Thanks Sherry.
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clueless, fragile with fear but never prayerless … great work Kerfe!
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Thanks Kate. I too have been known to send out a prayer or two. (K)
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I think we all do in our own way
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I agree with Jane about the directionless/multi-directional quality of your haibun, Kerfe, and with Lisa about the paradox. And the collage is gorgeous. He should have tried a more circular form, watched the rings in the pool of his mind. Your haiku is spot-on!
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Thanks Kim. I suspect he got what he wanted.
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There was a level of confusion and misdirection imbedded in you poem which many people felt this last year.
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Oh, it certainly seems like that at times! ‘Let there be chaos!’ And there was… I love the collage in all its chaotic glory.
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Thanks Ingrid. It does.
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I like how you depict this world, so full of paradox. Contradictions abound and we must weave our way through them to find the truth.
Your complements the poem perfectly. Love it.
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Thanks Myrna. The path is not either straight or clear.
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I like the way the interlocking structure of the poem reflects the interlocking of the painting, a powerful piece of art..JIM
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Thanjs Jim.
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The jagged edges of the poem fit with the jagged edges of the collage. Clues and traces but no solution sums up the situation well.
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Thanks Suzanne. Despite the vaccine, the future remains unclear.
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That’s for sure. Our government is totally bungling the vaccine roll out.
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Same here.
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Some Creator, this mad Daedalus. What did Norman O. Brown call it in 1960 — mind at the end of its tether, a leash into a hurricane. ‘Twas the nature of COVID planning under our last president, and its the laocoon of creation for its own sake or the mind of a mad creator. Maybe? – Brendan
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Even the source is hard to pin down. But we are caught inside its maze.
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