"Forgotten Planet" by Doug Dorph
I ask my daughter to name the planets.
"Venus ...Mars ...and Plunis!" she says.
When I was six or seven my father
woke me in the middle of the night.
We went down to the playground and lay
on our backs on the concrete looking up
for the meteors the tv said would shower.
I don't remember any meteors. I remember
my back pressed to the planet Earth,
my father's bulk like gravity next to me,
the occasional rumble from his throat,
the apartment buildings dark-windowed,
the sky close enough to poke with my finger.
Now, knowledge erodes wonder.
The niggling voce reminds me that the sun
does shine on the dark side of the moon.
My daughter's ignorance is my bliss.
Through her eyes I spy like a voyeur.
I travel in a rocket ship to the planet Plunis.
On Plunis I no longer long for the past.
On Plunis there are actual surprises.
On Plunis I am happy.
Kind of depressing. Knowledge erodes wonder. At first it sounds like a cool line, but I don't by it. Knowledge inspires wonder in my experience.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator is passing on a family tradition. I wonder if the narrator's father was such a pessimist? The narrator could use more poetry in his or her life!
Just because knowledge changes doesn't mean wonder doesn't still exist...we choose our wonder! Choose to fancy the "Plunises" of the world even though they may be a long shot. Myth, poetry, legend, story, heck, a whole lot of history, could destroy us...and yet life is lived wondering about the beauties of these myths and truths.
ReplyDeleteIn the end I think he is selfish to proclaim the "erodes" line because, like his father, the wonder should transfer from thinking of the planets to thinking of the awe in children. The wonder never dies!
I rethought your comment that "knowledge inspires wonder"...with all your experiences, do you believe knowledge can not necessarily "erode" but help us realize that there is always an opposite. If we can feel wonder from knowledge, then perhaps that feeling we get of realizing something bad, something false, or unlike we always thought it would be was more of the definition of "erode" the author was trying to relay, unlike the cynical definition it came across as.
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ReplyDeleteI could almost see that idea, until the "Ignorance is bliss."
ReplyDeleteIf I look at it as his narrative then yes. But I still don't agree. He joins his daughter on her wonder because he knows that Plunis is nonsense. But he does not have to stop wondering. There is no limit of wonders in the universe or even in his mind. How many Plunis could there be in other solar systems or galaxies?
I will say, it is nice he can get some relief through her at least. Sounds like he needs it.
On the other hand your idea is very cool. The positive connotation of erode makes a nice metaphor. Erosion makes rocks smooth and canyons grand.