“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.”
― Leonardo da Vinci
Natalie Doud is a poet.
-
Bridging Worlds
Bridging Worlds,
Old and New.A Foot in the Future,
With an Ear to the Past.From a Bygone Era
of Bloodlust and RaptureWith Me Against You
and Us Against ThemEmerge Ideals and Ideas
Once Suppressed and OppressedWith the Waning of the Era
of Rapid ExpansionWe Greet the Waxing of the Age
Of Interconnection.Weaving our Webs
in Multi DimensionsNeural Paths of
Empathic Connection.Born to a World
Of Mother and FatherWith Family Values
and Regional PrideWhere One and One
Paired Two by TwoAnd Charted Their Course
In a Four by FourNow Faced with questions
We Never Thought to AskAbout Wrongness and Rightness
and Sizes of Souls.Armed with Old Answers
From the Distant PastAbout how to Survive
In Our Ancestral Homes.Like Living in Genes
That No Longer Fit.Preparing for Futures
That Change Without WarningAbstracting Ideas,
Collected in DataWe Expand the Bounds
of Whats PossibleCompetitive Cooperation
Between Silicon and Carbon Minds.A Glimpse at a Future
Ironically Peaceful.An Outpour of Love
On a Backdrop of DestructionWe Hold on Tighter
As the Pixels Glitch Around Us. -
My Captain
Many of Me Died that day
In alternate realities.In this I walked away.
Mind phased yet body unscathed.Many a they survived that night.
Had something else occurred.I have lived a thousand lives
I may yet live a thousand moreEvery face another facet
Every heart a brand new startSpeak to me your truth
And I will speak you mineLearning our lessons
Approaching the divineNo one really knows,
Just how the wind will blow.The wisest men admit,
That they do not know.Sailing through spacetime
Ships made of matter.I am a multitude
You are a multitudeDetermined by flow,
Where our ships will go.And yet we chart our course.
In spite of the unknown.For ships require captains.
And you are at the wheel.Not in spite but because of the wind,
Comes the power of the keelYou are not alone
We are all alone, together.Oh Captain,
My Captain
Is me. -
Ode to Fear
Dreams call my name
From distant lands
Fantastic Visions
Imagined Nations
Dreams reveal what could be
Untethered from what is
Showing where I want to be
But never how I’ll get there
Dreams shine in the distance
Hidden from closer view
Building a Fantasy
Far from Reality
Taunt me, tease me,
Make me queasy
But Fear, Oh Fear!
The devil by my side
Despite how hard I’ve tried
To rid you, ban you, make you leave
Turns out I miss you, when you’re gone.
The way you pull
The way you pry
Heart palpitates,
Glands salivate.
Fear is a presence.
Tell me what I can’t do
Warn me of what might be if I-
Do this.
Say that
Wrong.
Once Misunderstood.
Maligned in my mind.
I now accept you.
Dark shadowy cloud.
Fear is my friend.
You offer no comfort or consolation.
With all the things you say
The world behind you is hidden from view
And yet you lead the way.
You offer your hand, as if for a dance
And then the music plays. -
Oh to Be a Determinist
Oh to be a determinist!
To see not the illusion of free will,
To follow effortlessly down the river of destiny,
Knowingly aware of one's inability to change course.
The optimists and pessimists
Bask in the glow of self affirmation
Regardless of reality. Good or bad or in between.
Everything as it should be, unfolding like they said it would.
Oh to be free! Oh not to know!
What little things can change the course of life.
For every act, a calculation to weigh the pros and cons.
Who reaps the spoils of this anxiety? What future improves?
Perhaps we may never know.
In fact- I am certain that we will not.
I am certain of nothing. Except change and uncertainty.
I seek no satisfaction. I revel in uncertainty. -
At First Glance
At first glance,
You wouldn't know.
At first glance,
It might not show.
But I know.
And you know.
There is something inside.
Beneath the externalities
We can find the eternalities.
Infinite Resonance.
Such similar sounds.
Such different expressions.
Dynamic Harmonies. -
A Poem at 3am
It's A Beautiful Thing.
To Know Someone.
To Hold A Copy In Your Mind.
To Simulate Hypotheticals.
It's A Beautiful Thing.
To Be Known.
To Live In Another's Head.
To Share A Part Of Yourself.
Every Time You Imagine My Reaction.
Every Time I Predict Your Action.
That's Me In You.
That's You In Me.
At Least In Part.
We Live On. -
Paradox
Keep your simple truths,
I want paradox
Keep your simple truths,
Like the sky is blue
And the grass is green
Neither. Is true.
I do not want the truth
That fears opposition
That hides from its shadow
Truer truth is bolstered,
Rather than diminished
By contradiction
Follow the chaordic path
Connect through isolation
Create art through destruction
Be passionate with reason
Discover Pleasure in pain
Be soft with your hardness
True forms of bravery
Do not roar in the night
The real kind of courage
Does not mask but grows from
Vulnerability
Sensitivity
Light is not simple,
Its a paradox
Light is neither a
Wave or particle
Light is everything
Everywhere at once -
I cannot find the darkness
I cannot find the darkness
That I am told exists
I have not found the evil
That lurks around corners
We once believed that darkness
Exists to cause a fright
The truth is that the shadows
Are only lack of light -
There is no Time
There is no time
There is only distance
There is no time
Only order of events
Time does not exist
In the eyes a photon
Everything that was
Or is or ever will be
Happends all at once.
Time marches on
We cannot escape it
Time marches on
At a steady pacing
Time does not care
That I do not feel it
Like the clocks do
How I’m supposed to
Time marches on
Regardless of Existence