The Name Card
A poem by Chengde Chen
Attending a conference,
you receive some name cards.
Sorting through them, you care about
not the name, but the title,
which is the weight of the card.
From it, you assess the function,
estimating the time and place
for any possible uses.
If there is no direct application,
indirect values are explored.
For instance, to refer it to a friend –
there may be a potential return
of some kind in future…
To imagine a relationship from a card
is unlike fantasizing sex from pornography,
which is, more or less, poetic.
The most non-poetic essence
of imagination
is to have interests deduced
from symbols!
Chengde Chen is the author of Five Themes of Today: philosophical poems. Readers can find out more about Chengde and his poems here
Well spotted, Keith! No, it’s not an intended sleight, but the card (found by Dr Martin Cohen) is so striking that it makes one forget the poem all together!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I certainly hope not! For me, anyway, I found the image brought your always-perspicacious idea out
DeleteBy no means, Chengde, does the card take even a jot of attention away from your poem! There's no question that your poem remains at the center. The poem achieves what all your writing does, which is to succinctly yet descriptively weave an important thought.
DeleteI wonder whether anyone still remembers another way. While it may seem superstitious to some, I rather like the religious tradition which considers that every meeting is for nothing, just see what God does.
ReplyDeleteThe metaphor in verse 3 seems rather overused today. One that comes to mind in the moment is the man who tried to hack out our Church's stained glass to obtain the lead. Metaphors of such a kind are legion today.