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Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears, compact discontents


06.17.11 Posted in Contributor Series 9, today's words by

“There’s music in all things, if men had ears:/Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.”
–Lord Byron, from Don Juan

So here we are embarking on another contributor series. Aren’t these fun? As you may have guessed from the opening quote the theme of this one is music. Tonight we launch Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears. And we launch with a broken rule. I do not include reprints in these series. Except for tonight. Omar Azam’s compact discontents appeared here in October 2010. Read it again tonight in the context of the series. It is the perfect start to the symphony.

Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears
compact discontents
By Omar Azam

I can wrap my head around it
And I don’t feel it
So I wrap it away

I want to feel it
I haven’t wrapped my head around it
So I peel it and place it in

And then I want to feel what I have known
But I have forgotten
And I dig back to find what I have discarded

The world recycles its mysteries.




Omar Azam’s poem red impression appeared here in August 2011.




2 Responses to “Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears, compact discontents”

  1. Maureen says:

    Simply amazing poem. Wow. Just wow.

  2. This was the perfect poem for me this morning. I had surgery yesterday and this explains how I felt all day.

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