"Niagara Falls" by Frederic Edwin Church‘Cascading Nation’ by Jon Parsons The Society January 10, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 7 Comments . Cascading Nation Now not so much a nation as a place for pushing through a bruit cacophony of cultures in discordant synergy, dismissing calm consensus, wit, and grace as if considered discourse would abase befuddled masses yearning to breed free and manifest a new world destiny while tumbling headlong in this teeming race one cataract of countless souls who flow an arcing aching ecstasy of flight and moiling mists, as falling waters might cascading take a form we think we know so protean Niagara remains unchanged by waters drawn from many rains. . . For over 40 years Jon Parsons has been a trial lawyer in California helping small businesses and individuals navigate an increasingly difficult environment. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Trending now: 7 Responses Cheryl Corey January 10, 2022 An interesting analogy, Jon. Those roiling, cascading waters an apt metaphor for the times we live in; and where are the Frederick Church’s of today? Reply Margaret Coats January 10, 2022 Trenchant poem commingling socio-political motion of persons in a nation with the spectacular motion of a natural phenomenon at a national border. And it’s all done with wit and grace. You’ve been very sparing of punctuation in this sonnet, but the very capable English syntax supplies it, which is the mark of a master with language. Reply Joseph S. Salemi January 10, 2022 In line 6 of this poem you write “yearning to breed free.” Is this a misquotation of the well-known phrase from the Lazarus poem that reads “yearning to BREATHE free.” or are you consciously changing it for some satiric or ironic purpose? Reply Jack DesBois January 12, 2022 I noticed the paraphrase, too, and regarded it as a comment on the Sexual Revolution in America, to go along with the references to belligerent cancel culture and worship of the socialist New World Order. I wonder, though, if the masses are really yearning to breed free (thereby defying miscegenation codes), or if they just want to have indiscriminate sex without the breeding part… At any rate, it’s a clever turn of phrase that made me smile. Thank you, Mr. Parsons! Reply Jack DesBois January 12, 2022 … and on my second reading I caught the substitution of “befuddled” for “huddled.” Such fun! C.B. Anderson January 10, 2022 In line 2, did you mean “brute” rather than “bruit?” My dictionary offers no adjectival usage for “bruit.” Reply David Watt January 12, 2022 I wonder if “bruit” is used as a medical term meaning an abnormal sound produced by an artery. This meaning would tie in with the sound of rushing liquid. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Cheryl Corey January 10, 2022 An interesting analogy, Jon. Those roiling, cascading waters an apt metaphor for the times we live in; and where are the Frederick Church’s of today? Reply
Margaret Coats January 10, 2022 Trenchant poem commingling socio-political motion of persons in a nation with the spectacular motion of a natural phenomenon at a national border. And it’s all done with wit and grace. You’ve been very sparing of punctuation in this sonnet, but the very capable English syntax supplies it, which is the mark of a master with language. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi January 10, 2022 In line 6 of this poem you write “yearning to breed free.” Is this a misquotation of the well-known phrase from the Lazarus poem that reads “yearning to BREATHE free.” or are you consciously changing it for some satiric or ironic purpose? Reply
Jack DesBois January 12, 2022 I noticed the paraphrase, too, and regarded it as a comment on the Sexual Revolution in America, to go along with the references to belligerent cancel culture and worship of the socialist New World Order. I wonder, though, if the masses are really yearning to breed free (thereby defying miscegenation codes), or if they just want to have indiscriminate sex without the breeding part… At any rate, it’s a clever turn of phrase that made me smile. Thank you, Mr. Parsons! Reply
Jack DesBois January 12, 2022 … and on my second reading I caught the substitution of “befuddled” for “huddled.” Such fun!
C.B. Anderson January 10, 2022 In line 2, did you mean “brute” rather than “bruit?” My dictionary offers no adjectival usage for “bruit.” Reply
David Watt January 12, 2022 I wonder if “bruit” is used as a medical term meaning an abnormal sound produced by an artery. This meaning would tie in with the sound of rushing liquid. Reply
