The Council of Infinite Opinions
A council met where certainty was banned,
And every truth was shaped by shifting hand.
“No fact may stand,” they spoke with measured breath,
“Unless it bends to every shade of depth.”
The wise withdrew; the louder filled the floor,
Each syllable a carefully staged war.
They voted on the nature of the sun,
And fractured light till no conclusion won.
At last they solved the problem they began:
By ruling judgment must elude all plan.
And so they governed—with procedural grace,
A system built to leave no lasting trace.
Yet somewhere still, beyond their polished room,
Reality persists against the gloom.
David Anson Lee is a physician, philosopher, and poet. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, he currently lives in Texas. His poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals including Eunoia Review, Ink Sweat & Tears, The Orchards, and others.
David, so much of our “ado” is about “nothing”—at least nothing that matters all that much. And how true that the wise withdraw from such nonsense. Reality outside rarely resembles the inside of a Seinfeld episode, which is, of course, about nothing. I wonder why they call it “shooting the bull?” Nice verse, by the way.
A very polished and well-constructed sonnet which has beautiful flow and excellent use of diction, very satisfying to the ear as well as the mind. I understand your sentiments all too well. Nicely done!!!
David, I cannot resist commenting on your bio. I was born in Winner, South Dakota, lived on a farm near Bonesteel, and also moved to Texas at a young age. The Council resembles so many political assemblies in terms of the arguments, disagreements and resolutions. Well written and great exposition in verse.
The last line hit the nail right on the head. Great poem David.
This is just delightful! Thank you, David. Clearly you are indeed a philosopher, yet you’ve made your message clear to all of us.
This poem reminds me of something that happened many years ago, when I was teaching in a New York City high school. An “urgent meeting” was called by the principal at the end of a day, for the purpose of discussing some “pressing issue” in city politics. I can’t even remember what the hell it was.
So the faculty all gathered in the school auditorium, and for two hours argued and debated and orated, with great intensity and urgency, about what we should think on this “pressing issue,” and what sort of “resolution” we should compose and pass concerning it. I was only 25, and I was baffled at the deep, soulful, wrenchingly emotional atmosphere that filled this gathering of middle-aged and elderly liberal schoolteachers. Why would they think that anybody in the world outside that auditorium would give a swiving damn what they thought about this issue, or about what “resolution” they would pass? And where would they send the resolution? Who would give a rat’s ass what a gaggle of self-important teachers in some dipshit high school had to say?
Nevertheless, they argued heatedly and in great detail, and finally cobbled together some kind of statement, which eventually with all due solemnity was typed up, and of course went nowhere but the wastepaper basket. I think that day I finally understood what the revolutionist Lenin said: “Bourgeois liberals love to talk and vent endlessly, to no purpose. But they are sometimes useful idiots.”
David Lee’s poem is a satiric epitome of the tendency of liberals to exhale meaningless gas on a subject solely for the purpose of making themselves feel good.
“A system built to leave no lasting trace” sounds like structuralist literary criticism. Contrary to the entertaining Council you describe, David, there is a conclusion, but the means of arriving is deemed negligible. Both Council and structure, however, seem to be time wasters, which your brief and witty sonnet is not.
Maybe if the louder had withdrawn and the wise had filled the floor, we might have reasoned, patient-focused medicine instead of the current shit-show. In any case, I love your poem; it communicates with clarity and honesty.
“In fractured light till no conclusion won” reminds me of how the elitists attack truth, wherever it debunks their lies, and those who dares to put it forth.
“Reality persists against the gloom” stood out to me about how the truth is true, even if no one believes it; a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it.
Thank you for the great read, David.
One of my favourite quotes is: “However much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing.”
Your poem explores this phenomenon very succinctly. I was reminded of all the climate change deniers waffling away while Europe bakes and the Greenland Ice Sheet melts, and their answer – more air-conditioning annexation.
And I am reminded of all the left-liberal dweebs who are refusing to admit that Europe is being invaded and degraded by alien scum.
First, I love the poem, it has given rise to some important questions. Second, Doctor Salemi, I find it strange that no one ever mentions that the British are the indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom.
Am I the only one who has had enough of this unholy, forced colonization of the hard-done-by natives???
Forbid it, Almighty God! Free these indigenous peoples from the chains of their oppressors!!!
You won’t get any argument from me, Mike. Tell it to whatever jackass becomes the next British PM.
David, so very nicely done! Love the relentless pace, the coda-like ending, and the smile it brought to my face.