The odd poem

As what I have read in the English Communication Arts and Skills book, poetry is the oldest among all forms of arts. Even before, when our ancestors did not knew yet how to write, they already sang or recited lines of verses. It is the most flexible of all the literary types.

A poem is basically a thought or a feeling expresses in rhythmic and in a beautiful language. It can be about anything. It comes in different forms and styles. Here’s an odd one:

l ( a

l e

a f

f a

l l

s )

o n e

l

i n e s s

You may think those letters and symbols above are pointless. Who would have thought that the figure above is a poem? Yes, a very unique kind of poem. Even I did not believe that it was indeed a poem. It is very new to me, the form, and all other aspects. It is not the usual kind of poem I knew, the rhyming words, the measured lines, everything was changed and far from the traditional poems I used to meet in books.

But let us look closely at it. If you put the letters together, you would form l(a leaf falls)oneliness. It has the word loneliness in it, with the phrase a leaf falls inserted in it.

Maybe we’ll have different interpretations on it. But let me present mine.

The poet might have a very deep meaning of this but as far as my knowledge can reach, all I can say is that if a leaf falls, it causes loneliness. Of course, it causes loneliness because the leaf, considering that it already has fallen becomes separated from the tree, who held it from the start. It is where it grew. It causes loneliness to the leaf, being alone and causes loneliness to the tree, having one of its leaves lost. But another sad thing is there to figure out- what caused the leaf to fall? Is it the wind that blew it very hard? Is it the tree that let it go? Or is it the leaf itself that grew tired holding on to the tree? This poem indeed makes sense. It somehow tells a story.

Long time before, people use typewriters to input things. And typewriters before has no key for number one. Being on the imaginative side of myself, this makes me think that the first character in the poem is the number one. That one thing that can cause loneliness is the number one,or being on the top. Being on the top causes loneliness because you get pressured that the one next in line will surpass you. That you cannot enjoy where you are right now because you were busy preserving your position. This causes loneliness because you cannot experience the funny and enjoyable experiences of the people below you.

Another realization I have made by looking at this poem is that loneliness has the word one in it. That another thing that can cause loneliness is by being alone. People cannot live alone. They need one another to survive. Being alone indeed causes loneliness.

Well these are only some of the things I figured out simply upon looking closely at this odd poem. I believe there are many interpretations more so let us not limit ourselves by simply looking at the form and structure of anything. If given enough time, look closely at every thing on earth. Who knows, something more may be in store for us.