Poem: "Jouska"
Jan. 7th, 2024 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the January 2, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It fills the "Point Counter Point" square in my 1-1-24 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.
"Jouska"
a hypothetical conversation that you
compulsively play out in your head -- a crisp analysis,
a devastating comeback, a cathartic heart-to-heart --
which serves as a kind of psychological batting cage
that feels far more satisyfing than
the small-ball strategies of everyday life
The habit of mental repartee
is widely scorned, considered
a form of self-indulgence at best,
a symptom of mental illness at worst.
Most people do it, though, rehearsing
important conversations in advance,
then mulling over them afterwards
to analyze their performance.
They riffle through options,
phrases, point-counterpoint
thrust-and-parry of arguments.
It's a way of refining skills,
no matter how many people
look down on it. Much like
certain other things, they
do it even if they never
admit they're doing it.
Just remember that
it's not rumination --
it is practice.
* * *
Notes:
A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows is a series based on freshly minted words presented in the book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Poesy is an old term for a body of poems.
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 9. Simon & Schuster, 2021.
Rumination is an unhealthy focus or repetition of ideas. However, rehearsing conversations -- especially difficult ones -- has advantages.
janetmiles. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows."Jouska"
a hypothetical conversation that you
compulsively play out in your head -- a crisp analysis,
a devastating comeback, a cathartic heart-to-heart --
which serves as a kind of psychological batting cage
that feels far more satisyfing than
the small-ball strategies of everyday life
The habit of mental repartee
is widely scorned, considered
a form of self-indulgence at best,
a symptom of mental illness at worst.
Most people do it, though, rehearsing
important conversations in advance,
then mulling over them afterwards
to analyze their performance.
They riffle through options,
phrases, point-counterpoint
thrust-and-parry of arguments.
It's a way of refining skills,
no matter how many people
look down on it. Much like
certain other things, they
do it even if they never
admit they're doing it.
Just remember that
it's not rumination --
it is practice.
* * *
Notes:
A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows is a series based on freshly minted words presented in the book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Poesy is an old term for a body of poems.
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 9. Simon & Schuster, 2021.
Rumination is an unhealthy focus or repetition of ideas. However, rehearsing conversations -- especially difficult ones -- has advantages.
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Date: 2024-01-08 05:49 pm (UTC)THIS.