==================================================================
ME
--- BOOKINGS --- DONATE --- LINKS --- BOOKS --- POEMS USER GUIDE --- * COPYRIGHT NOTICE *
==================================================================

6 November 2008

The Giant and the Dwarf

- spirit and intellect

Written early November 2008 - (192 lines)

*

Familiarity breeds contempt
That is not just my impression
May you enjoy my first attempt
To expand on that old expression

And I hope we will soon be agreed
That on closer inspection
The lines you are about to read
Are stranger than fiction!

*

A very big Giant and a very small Dwarf
Have almost since time began
Had neighbourly squabbles over the turf
Belonging to their host, called Man

The Giant is gentle by nature and choice
And aware of each passing moment
To listen to the Dwarf's shrill little voice
Is a regular daily torment

Adamant that he was once crowned
Man's true and lasting king
The Giant is at risk of being drowned
In the flood of everything -

That the Dwarf produces, makes and does
It is clear that anything goes
To think of the simple way that it was
Only adds to the Giant's woes

Not taken seriously nor listened to
He is always ridiculed
And when on occasion he does get through
He is simply overruled -

By the Dwarf who thinks it his natural right
Though most of his ideas
Are as black and cold as a winter's night
Well proven over the years

For the Dwarf is incredibly nosy
And at every twist and turn
To make his future more rosy
He is determined to learn -

All that can possibly be known
Plus of course a fraction more
By now the little fool has grown
Into a walking store -

Of science and philosophy
His rows of heavy tomes
On shelves in every library
All fit for garden gnomes!

The Dwarf is convinced that in order to solve
All problems known to Man
Rational knowledge must forever evolve
And so with time we can -

Achieve even the impossible
The sky no longer the limit!
Are too many solutions found, he will
Soon think of a problem to fit!

He theorises about everything
From atoms to galaxies
Hoping soon to be able to bring
News of discoveries

He has a lot to answer for
Here I mention just two
Diabolical things, there are many more
But I leave those to you:

Weapons containing plutonium
The substance, not the planet
And he reasoned depleted uranium
Should be used rather than ban it -

And used it is, liberally
There is always more on the shelf
And this stuff is quite literally
A threat to life itself...

But to seek new frontiers and to break
All records is his mission
His quest for knowledge for its own sake
Has long been an obsession

It must now be painfully obvious
To all thoughtful people
If a little knowledge is dangerous
Then a lot of it is lethal!

*

The Giant, in contrast, like a friendly ghost
Seems so aloof and unreal
Out of touch, detached almost
From the world that we can feel -

As he claims: "There is little to understand
But Dwarf, if you really must know
Like a pilgrim travelling the land
You should waste no time but go -

Where many searching feet have gone
Some of them were bare
The path is there so it can be done
And it leads to everywhere!

For WISDOM is the golden key
That opens every door
Entry costs only humility
And lasts for ever more

And all you need to reach that star
Is the right attitude
Promise me, if you get that far
To show some gratitude!"

The Giant is so patient and kind
And full of sincerity
Yet the Dwarf answers: "But I cannot find
The word humility -

And if it is not in my dictionary
You must have made it up!
So save your stupid reactionary
Rubbish for children! Now stop -

Wasting my time with that romantic
Old legend or ancient myth
That you attempt in your semantic
Ways to convince me with!

I do not have the slightest regard
For anything that I suspect
Might emanate from the spirit's backyard
For I am the intellect!

Can you show me anything I have learned
From you? Here with the list!
I tell you, as far as I am concerned
You do not even exist!

And I will rule forever and a day!
Long after every drop
Of the drivel you utter is washed away
By the flow of time! Now shut up!"

And the Giant shakes his wise old head
And muses what can be done
If anything, then whispers with dread:
"Can the battle still be won?"

*

And so the Dwarf and the gentle Giant
Stumble on as best they can
The Dwarf as ever non-compliant
Determined to lead his Man -

Astray with his powerful evil magic
The Giant trailing behind
The spectacle surely is more than tragic:
The seeing led by the blind!

They are trundling on today my friends
Watch them as they go
Down the road which most agree ends
In the place that we all know -

As hell, thanks to the malign
Efforts of a Dwarf at play
Just look: almost every road sign
Is bent or points the wrong way!

Well-meaning the little Dwarf may be
And of course he would insist
On calling it progress but if you ask me
He is a little terrorist!

Risking all that good people hold dear
Along the road to destruction
We go together - is it not clear
We need a change of instruction?

There are indications only some can see
That the Giant is ready to morph
Back into the force he used to be
And so overtake the Dwarf!

Could we see the road yet to be gone
Who knows, maybe we would find
In front of Dwarf-steps by a little one
A Giant leap for mankind!

*

Now, if I ruled the world, never again
Would the Dwarf be allowed to run loose:
Held by the Giant in a heavy chain
And reminded by a noose -

Placed around his arrogant neck
Of a not impossible fate
Would show his status and keep him in check
But free to operate -

Within the safe and healthy limits
Which were no doubt always intended
And should the Dwarf exceed his remit
The contract would be rescinded!

But for now we all hope and pray
That the agonising wait
Will be over soon on a joyful day
Before it is too late -

To resurrect spirituality
For it should be in control
Of everything we try to be
Only it can make us whole -

And complete human beings once more
In a way designed to last
A return to the way it was before
In a harmonious past...

*

The Giant is treated like a slave
His crown and regal scarf
Looted, he is told to behave
By an ignorant little Dwarf!

A wandering bard stops to sing
On everybody's behalf:
"A truly good and mighty king
Imprisoned by a wicked Dwarf!"

As the scientific monster wave
Crashes against our wharf
We all must do what we can to save
The Giant from the Dwarf!

*

Copyright © 2008 - IBRAHEEM (O.E.H.Johansen) - All Rights Reserved

No comments:

*Should you wish to copy or print anything on this weblog please first read the ==>> COPYRIGHT NOTICE*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
==>>
ME ==>> BOOKINGS ==>> DONATE ==>> FACEBOOK ==>> LINKS ==>> BOOKS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- a Last Viking weblog - Copyright © 2006-2021 - www.thelastviking.net - All Rights Reserved ---