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Three Ways of Avoiding Reason

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Ambivalence

The man who doesn’t want a thing
(And then he does) will tend to cling.
Don’t importune him in his scene—
Leave him alone, and in between
Let moments that were better spent
Swing to and fro. Ambivalent
Is he who longs for conversation,
Then squelches it with indignation.

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Confusion

Tornadoes tumble from the skies;
We’re losing bees and butterflies.
They inundate her as she walks
Especially when real life stalks
Her like a panther and she can’t
Escape from her ecstatic rant.
Around and round dark storm clouds whirl—
Becloud the mind of nature’s girl.

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Dissatisfaction

Not half so bright as was the star
That must have fallen on his head
The day he went and dropped the bar,
And took that vacuous girl to bed.
Now, though he sings her praises high,
His hollow tune’s an empty sigh
Within his heart, because she’s not
Pure ether and a polyglot.

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Sally Cook is both a poet and a painter of magical realism. Her poems have also appeared in Blue Unicorn, First Things, Chronicles, The Formalist Portal, Light Quarterly, National Review, Pennsylvania Review, TRINACRIA, and other electronic and print journals. A six-time nominee for a Pushcart award, in 2007 Cook was featured poet in The Raintown Review. She has received several awards from the World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets, and her Best American Poetry Challenge-winning poem “As the Underworld Turns” was published in Pool. 

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21 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Those certainly are among the ways to avoid reason for those that otherwise can reason and employ logic. The examples chosen provide vivid images and apt descriptions. Your poems are always beautifully written and a treasure to read.

    Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    Men often glibly say that women are illogical. One thing I notice in Sally Cook’s poetry is that she presents many counter-examples of male irrationality. The men in “Ambivalence” and “Dissatisfaction” seem to be prime instances of inexplicable masculine reactions.

    As usual, the poems are perfectly sculpted.

    Reply
    • Sally Cook

      Dear Joe –

      Well, at least I have learned a few things from you over the years ! One thing I picked up on my own is that men can be just as irrational as women.

      The thing is, we all seem to be slogging about and kicking up the irrational mud.. Where’s it all going? Not, l fear, to any good conclusion.

      Reply
  4. Yael

    Very nice, I love all 3 of these exquisitely rhymed observational poems.
    What a great way to avoid reason while making good sense.

    Reply
    • Sally Cook

      Thank you Paul for taking tune to respond! It means a lot when friends let friends know.

      Reply
  9. Sally Cook

    Reena, Enjoyment and aesthetic appreciation! Thanks on two fronts — now if I can write something that also makes you break up laughing, I will have a
    trifecta !

    Many thanks.

    Reply
  10. C.B. Anderson

    I don’t know, Sally, how to reconcile this sequence of poems with the stated theme unless I suppose that you are contrasting reason with rationalization, a very important distinction regularly ignored by politicians, inamoratas and inamoratos. We are both fortunate to know a good polyglot.

    Reply
    • Sally Cook

      -No confusion here, Kip.
      Polyglots? I’ve always thought of you as one, and I lean that way myself;

      Reply
      • C.B. Anderson

        Polyglot, me?! I can’t even imitate bird calls. I have a smattering of Latin, little or no Greek, and a few choice words & phrases from European languages. That’s it, though I’ve been known to imitate the voices of cats & dogs.

  11. Margaret Coats

    Sally, the “Ambivalence” situation had a variant in my family when I was much younger. We departed from reason by giving up the main point in arguments no one could win. More reasonable to give up the argument!

    Nature’s girl in “Confusion” is so confused I can’t tell whether she is an environmentalist, or merely impractical, or both.

    As for the dissatisfied fornicator, rarely does man or woman get into that predicament by following reason. You made clever choices of content, and embellished them artfully.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      I think “nature’s girl” represents someone who foolishly thinks that nature can be a trustworthy guide in all matters, and who is baffled when she finds out that much in life cannot be understood in purely natural terms.

      Reply
      • Sally Cook

        To Joe and Margaret —

        Bingo, Joe – right on the mark!

        Margaret, haven’t you known those who use the same .set of criteria for every situation? I’m just sorry my somewhat satirical stanza wasn’t there for you.

  12. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    When poetry meets philosophy and the sixth sense of an artist of wisdom, there’s plenty to celebrate… and these poems have me smiling. Thank you, Sally!

    Reply
  13. Julian D. Woodruff

    Sorry to be so late getting to these poised and slyly observant poems, Sally (but I’m still not caught up!). I like the 3rd best: it takes “satisfaction” beyond where the RS left it in their song–though I doubt the girl would have to be vacuous for the result to be the same.

    Reply

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