Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tl00051)

>Hi Thoa,
>
>So, does your mathematical fact hold for the energy of bad poetry as well as
>Rumi poetry?
>
>Julien

Hi Julien,

No, because bad poetry is not actually "empty."  It's full of crap.  I
can't think of any poem in mind, so I will use visual art as an example.
Let's take a painting of a woman having a headache.  Her hand is on her
head, her face is grimacing in pain, and she looks like she has a headache.
That is not empty.  She has a headache, finished.  Lousy painting.  Second
painting, I'm going to use a Sergeant painting (I forgot the name) of a
woman walking down the dingy street with men looking at her.  Is she a
prostitute?  What is her life condition like?  Are the men looking at her
with desire?  Or are they bums casually looking at her?  What is the
economics that caused her to be in such a state?  Perhaps she's just an
entertainer walking down the street.  Etc., etc.  This painting is empty,
because I could find many things in the emptiness.

Thoa :o)