METROSPHERE
WINTER’S BREATH Samuel Karl Awarded Literary Submission: Second Place
This is a poem I wrote one night while sitting outside during a snowstorm. A central theme of my poetry is often the worry that technology and modern life has alienated us from authentic poetic expression, thus the telling lines: “I realize that physics offers me no power! / That biology and politics make me so dour!” I also wanted to make it clear that the modern age is not only separated from authentic poetry, but that we’ve drifted on away from religious experience as well. 40
Thus, we’re thrown into a challenging situation: technology gives us no fulfillment and so too religion offers no answers as well; however, I don’t see this as a bleak situation. Rather, the opposite is true. The modern life gives us more possibility to express different kinds of authentic experiences. This poem is a reflection on the historic movement of poetry across time and the accompanying philosophic reflections on it.
