its all perspective, man

A Dream Within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep - while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

-E A Poe

i was reading random things in my Poe anthology last night when i happened upon that poem. its a great one. and it highlights something that has haunted (not necessarily in a bad way) my thoughts for years. it seems that its all about perspective for me. the books, movies, songs and poems that i like best either highlight a foreign perspective to me or in some way highlight the way perspective plays into our beleifs.

i wrote a poem years ago for some silly school writing contest and won top honors in the city for what i thought was a rather poor piece of writing. ill see if i can find it. the theme of the contest was 'wouldnt it be strange' or something of that nature. and my poem basically described a series of strange things then ended in pointing out that none of it would be strange if that is what we were accustomed to. a computer to George Washington would be very odd. but to me and you its perfectly normal.

its all perspective, man.