Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

The Beautiful Lie -- Sheenagh Pugh

Guest poem submitted by Amulya Gopalakrishnan:
(Poem #792) The Beautiful Lie
 He was about four, I think... it was so long ago.
 In a garden; he'd done some damage
 behind a bright screen of sweet-peas
 - snapped a stalk, a stake, I don't recall,
 but the grandmother came and saw, and asked him:
 "Did you do that?"

 Now, if she'd said why did you do that,
 he'd never have denied it. She showed him
 he had a choice. I could see, in his face,
 the new sense, the possible. That word and deed
 need not match, that you could say the world
 different, to suit you.

 When he said "No", I swear it was as moving
 as the first time a baby's fist clenches
 on a finger, as momentous as the first
 taste of fruit. I could feel his eyes looking
 through a new window, at a world whose form
 and colour weren't fixed

 but fluid, that poured like a snake, trembled
 around the edges like northern lights, shape-shifted
 at the spell of a voice. I could sense him filling
 like a glass, hear the unreal sea in his ears.
 This is how to make songs, create men, paint pictures,
 tell a story.

 I think I made up the screen of sweet peas.
 Maybe they were beans; maybe there was no screen,
 it just felt as if there should be, somehow.
 And he was my - no, I don't need to tell that.
 I know I made up the screen.  And I recall very well
 what he had done.
-- Sheenagh Pugh
I stumbled across this poem by Sheenagh Pugh by sheer accident, in the TLS.
It describes the possibilities opened by the making of fiction, of creating
counter universes with imagination. I love that heady, delirious moment of
discovering -  "this is how..." - it's resonant, memorable. It's such a
powerful affirmation of the magic of 'making it up', escaping a too-literal
world. "Reality is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live
there", as John Barth puts it. Despite the teasing suggestion of Sin (the
snake, the garden, the "taste of fruit"), it places creativity firmly on the
side of experience. It looks at imagination not as some kind of pure
innocent vision, but as something that is born out of some kind of friction,
contact with the outside world.

I don't know much about Sheenagh Pugh, except she's Welsh and writes
wonderfully. She has a website: [broken link] http://www.geocities.com/sheenaghpugh.

Amulya.

8 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

price per head online said...

I enjoyed reading your articles. This is truly a great read for me. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles an i keep a nice post

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. I used to be checking continuously this weblog and I am impressed!
Extremely useful information specially the closing section :) I deal with such info much.
I was seeking this certain info for a long time.
Thanks and good luck.

Here is my web page :: description

Anonymous said...

Hi to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more from this web site, and your views are fastidious in favor of new people.


Here is my website: the full details

abieuser said...

the content of the story is very interesting an experience and new insights that I get after reading this article, thanks for very interesting information, we are waiting for other interesting information

cara alami menyembuhkan stroke ringan
obat penyakit wasir tradisional
cara menyembuhkan sirosis hati

Sandrina said...

Orang tentu tidak asing dengan namanya Catering Jakarta. Sekarang ini usaha Catering Jakarta semakin melonjak, dan peminatnya semakin banyak. Siapa saja orang Jakarta bisa dengan sangat mudah mencari layanan Catering Jakarta yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan masing-masing.
Jasa Catering Jakarta bertujuan menyediakan makanan untuk para tamu di suatu acara khusus atau pertemuan. Dengan banyaknya Catering Jakarta, ada banyak pilihan Catering Jakarta yang menawarkan layanan khusus untuk setiap kesempatan. Banyak perusahaan Catering Jakarta menyediakan layanan khusus, misalnya saja nasi kotak, coffee break, catering prasmanan, menu pondokan atau nasi tumpeng. Dan di Bulan Ramadhan, ada pula layanan catering buka puasa dari beberapa perusahaan Catering Jakarta.
Kebutuhan masyarakat modern yang menginginkan segalanya praktis dan efesien, mendorong Munculnya Catering Jakarta yang semakin banyak saat ini. Layanan Catering Jakarta mungkin mahal, tetapi orang berani membayar mahal asalkan kualitasnya tidak mengecewakan. Memesan Catering Jakarta membantu menghemat waktu dan uang bila memesannya pada Catering Jakarta yang tepat.

Post a Comment