by Cheryl, Gulf Coast Poet

Identity Crisis

Photo by shot-by-ireland from Unsplash

An unexamined life is not worth Living–Socrates

This quote, as described in Plato’s Apology, is from the trial of Socrates, where he was convicted of “corrupting the youth” of Athens. Socrates believed so strongly in his philosophy that he chose the punishment of death rather than exile, and died by drinking poison hemlock. The “Socratic Method” teaches by asking questions and is still used today.

This poem contrasts the “unexamined life” in the first half of the palindrome with the “examined life” in the second half of the palindrome. I believe that we should not drift through life, accepting conventional wisdom without question. We should take responsibility for our own lives by asking the difficult questions to discover our true purpose. A purposeful life is meaningful and is in service to others.

Identity Crisis

Purpose of life?

Lassitude banishes purpose.

Here am I. Why am I?

Obscurity supersedes clarity.

Anxiety outpaces curiosity.

Crisis of identity.

Randomness overpowers intention.

Why wonder?

Complexity of world…

Perplexing!

World of complexity.

Wonder why…

Intention overpowers randomness.

Identity of crisis.

Curiosity outpaces anxiety.

Clarity supersedes obscurity.

I am why. I am here.

Purpose banishes lassitude.

Life of purpose.

Photo by Taylor from Unsplash

Copyright© 2021 by Cheryl Batavia

A Palindrome Poem.

There is a central word.

The first half and the second half of the poem

are mirror images of each other.

62 Comments

  2. The poem is exquisite in its form, but in its message, it should not wonder, we are here to be of service to others, to leave a mark that would say, I am leaving this place improved. Now is your turn to do even better..

    Thank you, Cheryl.

    Joanna

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Joanna, for reading and commenting. ❤ From your comment, I can see that I failed to communicate the message I intended. I have added an introduction to the poem that I hope will help to clarify my meaning. Thank you for pointing the problem out to me. I do not expect every poem to be relatable to everyone, but I would appreciate your reading the introduction and giving me your opinion.

      All the best! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  3. Really well done palindrome Cheyrl!!!
    I really loved the age old questions that we continue to ask when we move to our next soul purpose in life. So great to see you exploring and having fun. Picture says 1,000 words.
    👏👏👏❤️

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Cindy, Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments. ❤ Yes, that is the heart of what I was trying to say…the importance of finding our purpose in life. I have added an introduction with some background information that is probably familiar to you but may be useful to some readers. Let me know what you think if you have time to check it out.

      This is my second palindrome poem I still found writing it quite challenging, but a little easier than my first attempt. So glad you like it. 🙂

      Hope your weekend is spectacular! ❤ ❤ ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. you’re soooo welcome Cheryl. Oh I’d love to and it is such a gift that so many look for their lifefitme to find. I’ll check for sure. I think it’s great you tried it.
        You really did it justice.
        Yes, you as well! ❤️

        Liked by 1 person

      2. In total agreement with you Cheryl and a really nice introduction.

        “This poem contrasts the “unexamined life” in the first half of the palindrome with the “examined life” in the second half of the palindrome. I believe that we should not drift through life, accepting conventional wisdom without question. We should take responsibility for our own lives by asking the difficult questions to discover our true purpose. A purposeful life is meaningful and is in service to others”.

        My training is all based on this sound approach! You truly inspired here with this post and your wisdom you so deeply impart! 💖

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Cindy, I can’t overstate how much it means to me that you took the time to read and comment on the introduction when I asked you to. I had gotten up in the middle of the night to add the introduction in an effort to clarify the meaning of the poem where it had been misunderstood. My skin is not as thick as it needs to be. 🙂 All is well…I just lost a little sleep over it! Your comment means so much! ❤ ❤ ❤

      Like

      Reply

      1. Oh I’m so glad and sorry I couldn’t get to it that second but was really honored you asked me to check! I think in general Palidrome’s are misunderstood so you would have had no way of knowing that even though you penned it perfectly.
        I do know the feeling of wanting to make sure you clarifed things as indended. You did a great job explaining it. I do hope you are not loosing any sleep now and getting the rest you need.💖💖💖💖

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for your very kind response, P. I appreciate it so much! ❤ This is my second palindrome poem…still challenging to write, but a little easier than my first one. Have you tried writing one? I am sure you would be a quick study. 🙂 I always find your poems impressive! ❤ ❤ ❤ All the best!

      Like

      Reply

    1. Ivor, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I did not mean to disappoint you. In my defense, I had to look up quite a bit of Australian slang to navigate a few of your poems! 🙂

      What is a “Wendy?” I know she is a character in “Peter Pan,” but I am not sure of your meaning.

      In an effort to clarify this poem, I have added an introduction. If you have time, I would like to know what you think.

      Lots of love to you, Ivor. Have a great day! ❤ ❤ ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I have read just your introduction Cheryl, and it’s very thoughtful and and ideally our world would be a lot better off if we took responsibility for own actions, so I agree with you wholeheartedly… … Cheers Cheryl…

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Funny, Michel, I just added an introduction to this poem with a quote from Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” I like the Descartes quote as well! Thank you for your delightful comment. Enjoy your weekend and Valentine’s Day! ❤ ❤ ❤

      Like

      Reply

  11. Goodness, Cheryl, I missed your wonderful introduction! Apologies!! Classics are my specialty and you are right on all counts. I am up from 4 am writing the vast post for tomorrow, and being tired made me miss half of your post and your clear message. Apologies!!!

    Joanna

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Joanna! I so appreciate your taking the time and effort to read and comment on my poem, especially when you are exhausted from working so long on your own post. ❤ Thank you so much for revisiting this post to read the introduction. Like you, I believe that a positive message is at the heart of any worthwhile writing.

      No apologies needed. Your comment was helpful to me in that it pointed out a need for clarification and prompted me to add the introduction. 🙂

      Enjoy your weekend! ❤

      Like

      Reply

    1. Ingrid, thank you so much for your kind response. I am so happy that you enjoyed reading the poem and found it thought-provoking. I heartily agree with you that the moment we stop questioning conventional wisdom, we cease to learn! Well-said. ❤ Have a pleasant weekend!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Anisha, I am glad you like the poem. This is my second attempt at writing a palindrome. I still found it challenging to write, but a little easier than the first time. 🙂

      Thank you so much for your kind comment. ❤ Happy Valentine's Day weekend!

      Like

      Reply

    1. Laura, Thank you for the creative, fun comment. ❤ WordPress exposes you to many new ideas and new poetry forms. I have tried quite a few new things and found it fun. I like a little variety!

      Oh no! you mean that Valentine's Week is coming to an end! Say it isn't so! We still have the weekend. ❤ ❤ ❤ Enjoy!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  22. Woah, Cheryl, thank you for giving me a glimpse into Socrates. I am embarrassed to tell you that I am not familiar with the Greek philosophers works at least, but would point them out to you in paintings, lol. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I am no expert on philosophers, Greek or otherwise! I took logic in college instead. 🙂 I did check my facts on Wikipedia before writing the introduction. Not sure I could identify philosophers from paintings! Thank you for reading and commenting. It means a lot to me.

      I hope you are doing well, Angela! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Hamish, for your kind comment. Palindrome poems are challenging to write, but this one went a little easier than the first one I wrote. The most important thing is the message, that we should lead a purposeful life. From reading your posts, I would say you are definitely living purposefully! ❤ Take care!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s