Dope
dedicated to my best friend Johnny Bondage
You will have
survived again
alive and kicking
to the end
when a couplet by
say Alexander
Pope
makes a snake a
rope
you dope
Allan Tinker
07/12/2022
Inquirer: I don’t get it James. What is this about?
James: I think he is saying that you are a dope if you take a rope (your body/mind/sense complex) to be snake because of similarity. If you are a rope and you think you are a snake you will hide in a hole of habits ready to inject a tidy little packet of venom into anyone who pokes a stick into your hole. There are no actual threats so your heavy suit of armor, which you think is so smart and of which you are very proud, is really stupid i.e. the joke’s on you. And when somebody laughs at you, not with you, you are so offended! Meaning very sensitive, which makes you a victim and garners a lot of sympathy from do-gooders out to polish their compassion bonafides. But you aren’t worthy of sympathy because you are afraid to crawl naked and vulnerable out of your dark prison. You should be laughing at yourself. It’s an in joke kind of poem dealing with the most important issue for freedom seeking Vedanta guys and gals. But even my clever analysis may not be exactly how the poet sees it. With words there is always a usage problem.
Why did I say “I think” at the beginning of my analysis? The problem with poetry is lack of precision. You can create various moods, but you can’t pinpoint the issues that are causing your suffering like satya/mithya, the relationship between the eternally conscious real subject and the apparently real body/mind/sense complex. People who think they are people worry about money or health or pleasure or recognition…you name it…for instance This is why we are sticklers for a scientific approach to words. Inspire yourself and others with flowery vague imagery that gives pleasant impressions if you want, but know that inspiration only goes so far. When you get close to the sun the wax keeping your wings on melts and you tumble to earth.
There is more to this discussion but I’m…as usual…running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to ensure that my next performance does Vedanta (and of course my gargantuan ego) proud.
Love you.
