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patterns of ink

How fruitless to be ever thinking yet never embrace a thought... to have the power to believe and believe it's all for naught. I, too, have reckoned time and truth (content to wonder if not think) in metaphors and meaning and endless patterns of ink. Perhaps a few may find their way to the world where others live, sharing not just thoughts I've gathered but those I wish to give. Tom Kapanka

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Location: Lake Michigan Shoreline, Midwest, United States

By Grace, I'm a follower of Christ. By day, I'm a recently retired school administrator; by night (and always), I'm a husband and father (and now a grandfather); and by week's end, I sometimes find myself writing or reading in this space. Feel free to join in the dialogue.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Denouement

There is a connectedness
of all things in life’s mix
as invisible and inexplicable
as the hidden helix
that dictates
pug or Roman nose
and tells flesh
where a freckle goes.
But some oracles decree
the mix is wholly man’s,
the product of unholy chance
with no design or plans,
that the meaning of it all
(if it's there to be) depends
on their unraveling for us
the knotted odds and ends
of life as if we're cosmic play things--
a tangled mess of Slinky springs
wrapped in time and yo-yo strings
'round marionettes and rubber slings
and long-forgotten building blocks,
connected, yes, but hopelessly alone
in some celestial toy-box.
© Copyright -2008, TK, Patterns of Ink

The French word Denouement is pronounced "dā-nü-mäⁿ." It literally means the "unraveling" or untying, but as a literary term it means "the final outcome of a story," what everyone finds out is true in the end.

When I was a kid, the four of us kept most of our toys in a toy-box that my father made. He'd designed it to look like a treasure box, complete with skull and crossbones. [Seen here.] As my older brothers moved on to other things, the box was opened less and less. But when I was twelve, my little brother Jim was born, and since I was closest to him in age, my interest in toys quickly returned, and the toy-box became important again. In those years of neglect, however, part of it became a tangled mess not unlike the toys depicted in these lines. I pulled out a Slinky and with it came my sling shot, yo-yo, paddle ball, a jump rope and string puppet all wadded up in a snag of toys. Last week, I brought the old toy-box home from Mom's house, and this morning as I was putting it and other things away, I remembered that wad of toys and I wanted to write some lines about how things in life are "connected" and work together in time according to God's plan. Many people believe instead that the world and all the life upon it is the result of random chance. What better way to illustrate these conflicting worldviews than by contrasting the design of DNA with a tangled mess of neglected toys. It's a stretch, I know, but if the poem doesn't make sense, just come back for Chapter 7: "The Virtue of Reality," which I'll try to post by Monday.

5 Comments:

Blogger Dr.John said...

I think that's a great poem.

27/9/08 5:38 PM  
Blogger Nancy said...

Dr. John always gets right to the point... I like that about him! It reminds me of your dad and mine- men with few words but when they spoke you listened! So, I say ditto to Dr. John's comment!

I wondered about that toy chest, the very first time I saw it in the photo. I knew there had to be a story and just like the tangled toys... you untangled the mystery in my mind with this post. How did you get lucky enough to keep it for your very own? What a treasure that will be for your grandkids!

27/9/08 7:30 PM  
Blogger .Tom Kapanka said...

Dr. John,
I love getting the stamp of approval from Pastor John. Thanks.

Nancy,
There was a system among the siblings that was very fair and in this case, it's a rather large item that simply wasn't everyone's "first pick." It holds many memories--even when it's empty, but the one I wanted to capture was the tangle mass of things we sometimes had to sort out inside it.

I'm so glad that God has not abandoned us and that there is order in his creation.

27/9/08 9:31 PM  
Blogger the walking man said...

The randomness is too ordered for it not to be a well thought out design, in my inconsequential opinion.

28/9/08 4:59 AM  
Blogger .Tom Kapanka said...

TWM,
Inexplicable and AWE-inspiring but it takes as much Faith to believe either side of the argument so I choose the faith that brings order, purpose, accountability, redemption, and hope.

28/9/08 9:34 PM  

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