Farm Fields Of Paradise © Surazeus 2025 04 15 Warned by stones in the walls of paradise about fish flipping the sky upside down, we untangle memories of this wild land which we name after first mother of faith who walked these lush hills centuries ago to hide our bodies in egg of her heart. Vulnerable to hungry machines of hope, which plow fields of grass into furrowed verse where wordless men with taut wind-weathered faces scatter seeds of stories in graves of fear, old paradigm of Earth we cherished deeply hides redolent spirits of our dry bones. Words ferret mysteries with the sense of touch we connive to prove Earth remembers us so cities of stone we build on her breast creak with anguish of forgotten desires that bloom from rain-wet fields into gold wheat we bake into bread to weep for Adonis. Consorting at twilight with honest lovers, we weave strange loneliness of midnight flowers in wreaths we wear to May Day festivals with unrelenting passion to transcend cadence of broken hearts in sprightly dance though we relapse to status of lost fools. Our bodies vanish into fields of wheat where we first rose from corrugated tombs to map eccentric meadows teeming angels who chase each other twenty thousand years as we gather berries from tangled vines which represent weird history of our race. Buoyant spawn of our hearts escaping caves grasp roots of trees with elegant disgrace to organize wild herbs from shadowed woods into neatly aligned rows of fruit trees which flourish thick in hush of river winds for sweet unsingable hymns of old faith. Amazed at startling beauty of gold mist, that frames the rising moon with arrogance, we calculate our peaceful absences with daring urgency to comprehend crystalized wisdom of our drifting house that shelters our children from angry storms. Conjured by gale-warning voice of the sea that sings with sibilance of honest hope, our spirits beam with marvelous intent to count each raindrop shining with its star that animates seeds with ambitious pride we feel tending farm fields of paradise.
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Farm Fields Of Paradise
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Orpheus plows the field and sows seeds, then joins villagers at the sowing festival to celebrate the bursting vital energy of spring.
ReplyDeleteSurazeus’s “Farm Fields Of Paradise” is a richly layered, symbol-laden poem that aligns elegantly with metamodernist poetics, embracing both sincerity and irony, nostalgia and novelty, myth and modernity. A critical reading through the lens of metamodernism—that is, the oscillation between modernist seriousness and postmodern playfulness—reveals a deeply earnest meditation on memory, nature, myth, and survival, tempered with a reflexive awareness of the grand narratives it evokes.
ReplyDelete1. Oscillation Between Sincerity and Irony
ReplyDeleteMetamodernism thrives on the tension between belief and doubt, and this poem walks that line with grace. Surazeus’s speaker invokes myth (“Adonis,” “first mother of faith,” “angels,” etc.) with neither full credulity nor postmodern parody. These myths are not deconstructed or mocked, but rather repurposed sincerely as emotional and cultural containers:
“we bake into bread to weep for Adonis”
“to map eccentric meadows teeming angels”
The poem accepts the poetic value of these myths even as it recognizes their metaphorical status. There's a neo-romantic yearning here, but it’s grounded in the language of labor, agriculture, and mortality.
2. Return to Nature, But Not Naively
ReplyDeleteThe pastoral imagery—fields of wheat, tangled vines, herbs, wind, and rain—is lush and sensuous, but never idealized. Nature is a site of burial, of transformation, of loss and memory:
“Our bodies vanish into fields of wheat”
“scatter seeds of stories in graves of fear”
Nature is not a static Eden but a dynamic, evolving space tied to history, technology, and memory. The poem critiques “hungry machines of hope” even as it embraces the “farm fields of paradise,” suggesting a tension between progress and preservation—a key concern in metamodern environmental thinking.
3. Myth, Memory, and Meta-Narratives
ReplyDeleteThe poem references historical and mythic time spans: “twenty thousand years,” “first mother of faith,” “Adonis.” Yet these references are woven into personal and collective memory, not as authoritative meta-narratives but as intuitive mythologies. This is a metamodern approach—to use myth seriously but self-awarely, as a means of rooting identity and meaning without claiming universal truth.
“we untangle memories of this wild land”
“represent weird history of our race”
The phrase “weird history of our race” in particular captures the metamodern flavor—recognizing the strangeness and multiplicity of human experience, yet choosing to mythologize it rather than simply deconstruct.
4. Technological and Ecological Tension
ReplyDeleteThere’s an undercurrent of critique against industrial modernity, seen in the “machines of hope” and “cities of stone,” yet also a recognition of civilization’s creative potential:
“we build on her breast / creak with anguish of forgotten desires”
This is classic metamodern dialectic: affirming and questioning simultaneously. The “crystalized wisdom of our drifting house” that shelters children suggests a fragile futurism—the hope that meaning and safety can still be constructed in a turbulent world.
5. Emotional Earnestness & Spiritual Poise
ReplyDeleteSurazeus uses rich emotional language—“weep,” “longing,” “honest hope,” “angry storms,” “marvelous intent”—not with irony, but with unguarded emotional risk. Metamodernism doesn’t reject feeling; it revives it, not naively but bravely.
“with daring urgency to comprehend / crystalized wisdom”
That urgency, that longing for wisdom, connection, and belonging, is the beating heart of the metamodern spirit.
Conclusion: A Metamodern Epic of Belonging
ReplyDelete“Farm Fields Of Paradise” is a poem deeply attuned to the metamodern ethos: it doesn’t merely look backward or forward, but reaches across time, myth, and landscape to gather a coherent, if bittersweet, sense of meaning. It invites the reader to participate in rebuilding wonder and reverence in an age of collapse—using the tools of myth, the rawness of nature, and the sincerity of emotion.
It is both a lament and a celebration, grounded in human frailty but uplifted by mythic imagination. In short, a compelling metamodern prayer.