Poets United Midweek Motif ~ "a bundle of contradictions" (from Anne Frank's last letter)

I am very conscious of the fact that our feelings and strivings are often contradictory and obscure and that they cannot be expressed in easy and simple formulas.

~ Albert Einstein

In love all the contradictions of existence merge themselves and are lost. Only in love are unity and duality not at variance. Love must be one and two at the same time.                                                                                                                              ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Anne Frank dated her last diary entry 1 August 1944. Here it is, edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler, and translated by Susan Massotty.  

This is an excerpt:

"Dearest Kitty, 

". . . Can you please tell me exactly what "a bundle of contradictions" is? What does "contradiction" mean? Like so many words, it can be interpreted in two ways: a contradiction imposed from without and one imposed from within. The former means not accepting other people's opinions, always knowing best, having the last word; in short, all those unpleasant traits for which I'm known. The latter, for which I'm not known, is my own secret. As I've told you many times, I'm split in two. One side contains my exuberant cheerfulness, my flippancy, my joy in life and, above all, my ability to appreciate the lighter side of things. By that I mean not finding anything wrong with flirtations, a kiss, an embrace, an off-color joke. This side of me is usually lying in wait to ambush the other one, which is much purer, deeper and finer. . . ." 

💕

Midweek Motif ~ 

"a bundle of contradictions" 

(see here a very loud silence)

Your Challenge:  Make one new poem with the motif "a bundle of contradictions."  Alternatively, make a new poem with a motif inspired by Anne Frank.

Anne Frank Huis

BY ANDREW MOTION

Even now, after twice her lifetime of grief

and anger in the very place, whoever comes

to climb these narrow stairs, discovers how

the bookcase slides aside, then walks through

shadow into sunlit room, can never help

but break her secrecy again. Just listening

is a kind of guilt: the Westerkirk repeats

itself outside, as if all time worked round

towards her fear, and made each stroke

die down on guarded streets. Imagine it—

four years of whispering, and loneliness

. . . . 

(Read the rest HERE.)

From Song of Myself 

            BY WALT WHITMAN

51

The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them,

And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?

Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,

(Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.)

Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.

Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?

Who wishes to walk with me?

Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

Drawing Hands by M.C. Escher (1948)

💕

Please share your new poem using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community—

(Next week Sumana’s Midweek Motif will be ~ of poems.)

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Diary Stories

http://www.quotesncaptions.com/anne-frank-quotes-2/

The Diary of a Young Girl 
(better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) 
was published on the 25th of June 1947.

Midweek Motif ~ Diary Stories

Your Challenge is to create a poem from an entry in a journal, yours or someone else's.  You might also want to reflect on the writer or on the journal.   Or write a poem as if it is a journal entry.

Poetic Inspiration:

DEAR DIARY

You are greater than the Bible

And the Conference of the Birds

And the Upanishads

All put together

You are more severe

Than the Scriptures

And Ham­mura­bi’s Code

More dangerous than Luther’s paper

Nailed to the Cathedral door

You are sweeter

Than the Song of Songs

Mightier by far

Than the Epic of Gilgamesh

And braver

Than the Sagas of Iceland

I bow my head in gratitude

To the ones who give their lives

To keep the secret

The daily secret

Under lock and key

Dear Diary

I mean no disrespect

But you are more sublime

Than any Sacred Text

Sometimes just a list

Of my events

Is holier than the Bill of Rights

And more intense” 

― Leonard Cohen, Book of Longing

       (copied from goodreads Quotes)

i'll have the usual

an old knuckle baller, he still wears the cap he wore in high school,
yellow&brown, embroidered LH, faded&nipped in time's toll---it
contrasts his grey temples, face full of whiskers, red rimmed eyes,
still wide, cheeks sagged, creased, work the salt off a peanut, teeth,
tongue shuck the shell & spit it in an ever increasing pile, like
bones at a chicken feast

one hand works the cover of a browned baseball, fingers flipping
around the leather&laces, through the repertoire of pitches he once
threw, the other works a pencil along a score card. he keeps
every hit, strike, ball, foul---every statistic of importance, a scratch,
scratch, scratch of lead, impression on paper, the game reflecting
in his cornea---spits another shell, works the ball, scratch, scratch
sisyphus

man on first, one out, pop, scratch, scratch, double play & it's
over, he folds the card in half, then quarters so it fits neat in
his back pocket, shuffles up the concrete steps between bleachers
to wherever he goes & whatever he does until tomorrow when
he'll be there, in his usual spot, spitting shells, hand running through
the memory of pitches & marking his card,
with one thing that makes sense

leaving me
to sit,
notebook in hand,
scratching away,
                       just the same 

~ Brian Miller, waystationone

           (Used with permission)

 Please:  

1.      Post your diary story poem on your site, and then link it here.

2.      Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 

3.      Leave a comment here.

4.      Honor our community by visiting and commenting on others' poems.

(Next Week's Midweek Motif will be Half Year and World UFO DAY)

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Auto-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.