Merging/diverging

· by · in dVerse, poetry. ·

From time to time we merge
from me and you to us,
we dance a while, rejoice
and find a cause, unite
into common voice
before we pause, diverge
and suddenly you’re out
into the third dimension: they
who caused the fuss,
and we is something other
cause most likely we are
what once was them.

However there are attributes
that always force us into groups
we cannot change our DNA,
and though it’s painful to admit
that sometimes we belong
to flocks we would rather
see as strangers, they.

And thus we live,
and try to cope, of being parts
of many and sometimes
one, alone, doing our best
to reconnect with crowds
we wasted in our quest
for being different or rare
and only when we die, we fuse
with soil and other unknown
souls, finally together: we

The Green Dancer
Edgar Degas

Today I host dVerse and I want you to try to take a collective perspective in your poetry. I know this was written from a perspective of how much the collective perspective shifts over the span of a lifetime. Ponder what collective is, and if you can be a spokesperson for many.

43 responses to “Merging/diverging”

  2. This is absolutely stellar writing here, Bjorn! I especially resonate with; ” they who caused the fuss, and we is something other cause most likely we are what once was them.” Yes, I believe that too! 💙💙

  3. this poem is so alive -there is so much friction here between the solitary and the communal a kind of back and forth decision making
    “to reconnect with crowds
    we wasted in our quest
    for being different or rare”

  4. Love the theme of unity and its byproduct – understanding and empathy. Its sad to ‘them’ as strangers, rather than part of the flock. The ending lines bring this home:

    and only when we die, we fuse
    with soil and other unknown
    souls, finally together: we

  5. Wonderful writing, Björn, and an excellent example. I love the movement of this poem, for example in the opening stanza, and the phrase ‘suddenly you’re out / into the third dimension’. And so much truth:
    ‘we cannot change our DNA,
    and though it’s painful to admit
    that sometimes we belong
    to flocks we would rather
    see as strangers, they’
    and
    ‘…try to cope, of being parts
    of many and sometimes
    one, alone, doing our best
    to reconnect with crowds’.
    I know what that’s like.

  7. These lines
    “and though it’s painful to admit
    that sometimes we belong
    to flocks we would rather
    see as strangers, they.”
    I relate to these today. Simply put, to be a human being and be horrified by the inhumane behavior of other human beings. Watching what is unfolding in Israel, Gaza, the Middle East….and then within the US the differences of opinion that are so obtuse they will not allow for negotiation or listening. It can all be depressing at time. I read….I still have hope.

  8. ooh good read. it is difficult to fit in when I am so different to those around me at work. but here in the the poetry community i find a group I would struggle to leave.

  9. Often, the ‘group’ isn’t of our choosing. We are put in it by other people. When that happens, we begin to think like a member of ‘the group’ even though we have nothing in common with them except the superficial quality that ‘the others’ have singled out to define us.

  10. Here in South Africa I often hear the general population being referred to as ‘the masses’ and I’ve riled against it, insisting the individual in the crowd has a face and a name and a presumably a choice.

  15. Groups in society will always exist. We join together to enrich our lives with similar interests. The problem it seems is co-existing. I liked your closing lines…

    and only when we die, we fuse
    with soil and other unknown
    souls, finally together: we

  16. A thoughtful poem about belonging that makes the reader pause and ponder ‘where do I belong’ much like our family our DNA matches but, often family is not collective in beliefs. Sometimes, I need to walk solo to better understand the meaning of unity.

  17. I really enjoyed and admire how you phonetically connected the imagery to be very real and to make one question things; “and we is something other” – although stanzas like this one may sound disjointed, it feels like reading it like this gave the poem the perfect dose of fragmentation and thin lines between feeling like a single unity in a collective.

  18. A tour de force of pronouns and the way we identify and group, not always willingly – excellent Björn

  19. Our world is fractionated. You people, we people, my people, those people, our people, joining, abandoning, all of it / too fast, too slow. Keeps heads spinning, off balance. Love your poem and your challenge!

  22. Great poem, Bjorn… “And thus we live,
    and try to cope, of being parts
    of many and sometimes
    one, alone, doing our best
    to reconnect with crowds
    we wasted in our quest”

    Trying to cope with being parts of many is something I am trying to cope with right now. I found connecting with like minded people in a cause was so fulfilling and felt I was with my people, now that has ended and you’re alone with the many it is an adjustment. But in the end we connect in dust whether we like it or not.

  23. We have an interesting way here in T🇹🇹&T of speaking the collectives apart from overselves so ‘them’ is a most frequently applied collective. Sometimes i sit and ponder who really is ‘them’

    Enjoyed your poem Björn

    Much💛love

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