This
Island
Under night
Skies a-blazing
Rows and rows of homes
Turning to ash and dust
Maui, Hawaii – on fire
No rescue until it’s too late
There’s money to be made rebuilding
This island under night skies a-blazing

Destruction and death
Build back better, U.S.A.
Casino waiting

A Dectina Refrain submitted to Living Poetry Monday Poetry Prompt

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AllPoetry homework:

The Country of the Blind. – Stanzas 1 and 4 by C.S. Lewis

Hard light bathed them and a
whole nation of eyeless men
dark bi-pedals, not aware
of how they were maimed
A long process, clearly a slow curse
drained through centuries
Left them thus

If a man, one that had eyes
a poor misfit, spoke of
the grey dawn, or the stars
or green sloped sea waves
Or admired how warm tints
changed in a lady’s cheek
None complained he had used
words from an alien tongue
None questioned.
It was worse. All would agree
“Of course.” Came their answer
“We’ve all felt like that.”
They were wrong.

………………
1. What is Lewis saying?
2. Here he compares the poet to the masses who believe they have experienced the same feelings. Why does Lewis say they are wrong? Look at the first stanza.
3. What are your feelings in comparing the poem to society, today?

This has taken me a while to get to as I prefer to spend my time writing over analysing. Slowly I am starting to appreciate analysis though so as to better understand what a poet might be saying.

So, today I finally came back to this and interestingly I read this quote this morning which seems along similar lines:

That showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them.

– Socrates, The Apology

To attempt to answer the questions….
2. Lewis says that they are wrong because society as a whole blindly accepts what it may be told. (Does this connect with the phrase ‘the one-eyed man is the king of the blind?).
3. In comparing the poem to society, I can see the parallels but as a poet, I prefer to consider myself with the man with eyes. But then, maybe individually, we all do that. And thus we end up with society. Individually thinking and believing different things and collectively believing the same things.

And I think that answers question 1.