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A Vacillating Villanelle On Perception 

“Understanding the world for a man is reducing it to
the human, stamping it with his seal. The cat’s
universe is not the universe of the anthill.” —Albert Camus

Whatever life perceives, life will receive.
The butterfly sees ultraviolet light.
For us, what we believe we shall perceive.

We can envision what we might achieve.
The eagle spots the fish from lofty heights.
Our point of view frames all that we believe.

The “universe”—is it all make believe?
Pit vipers sense warm-blooded prey at night.
And us? What we believe we shall perceive,

As if the world waits in the webs we weave.
Bats ultrasound their flying meals in flight.
When we squint in the dark, do we believe?

Do great apes think? Do primates’ minds conceive?
Do chimps ponder the show as moon ignites?
Whatever they perceive, they too receive.

Captive to our beliefs, we tightly cleave—
As if we see shadows march left to right
On torch-lit walls. We view with smoky sight.
Who is the guiding light whom we believe?

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Peter Venable has been writing poetry for 50 years. He has been published in Windhover, Third Wednesday, Time of Singing, The Merton Seasonal, American Vendantist, The Anglican Theological Review, and others. He is a member of the Winston Salem Writers. On the whimsical side, he has been published in Bluepepper, Parody, Laughing Dog, The Asses of Parnassus, and Lighten Up Online (e. g. # 48)

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4 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Wonderful words of wisdom in a beautiful rhyme with the most important question asked of humans.

    Reply
  2. jd

    An artfully written Villanelle, Peter, especially for this reader who has only written one or two and those long, long ago.

    Reply
  3. Paul A. Freeman

    Your poem brings into sharp focus the wonders of the biodiversity all around us, making it all the more infuriating at how Man arrogantly believes he’s above all Nature’s splendour.

    Reply

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