Start And End Poem by Cigeng Zhang

Start And End

Rating: 4.6


Start and end
Which is easier?
Day and night
Which is longer?

Say a word
As a start
Keep silent
As an end

The moon
leaves a shadow
in front of
the morning sun

Start and end
Which is easier?
Day and night
Which is longer?

Which is easier?
Which is longer?
End and start
Day and night

Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: life
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Daniel Brick 28 February 2015

This poem uses the simplest of language but those simple words reveal a complex perception about life. Ultimately there is no adequate answer to the question - What is longer day or night? - because our human emotions affect the literal duration. What at first seems so obvious a few lines later becomes very complicated. You're other pair - Start/End Which is easier? - is much more puzzling and I had no ready answer. I was tied in knots! I was silent inside, aware that any response I made would just tighten the knot! Your image of the moon's shadow on the sun expresses your theme brilliantly. It suggests there will always be something shadowy, something that causes us to doubt or hesitate. Nothing is as simple as we might first think.

2 0 Reply
Musafir .. 02 January 2015

Life doesn't end just people is. It's a well narrated poem and goes in depth of what a real world is. Nice and wonderful lines. Thanks for sharing it with us.

1 0 Reply
Kwai Chee Low 03 January 2015

Lovely poem, Cigeng. Short and powerful; I feel the zen in your words. Thank you for sharing.

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Saadat Tahir 03 January 2015

nice short and meaningful lines a..that raise more questions then it answers.. a philosophical list of existential questions.... simply put yet deep in meaning and far reaching in implications nice liked

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Ramesh Rai 23 September 2016

Starting point and ending point is ever unknown to the mankind. It is like infinite pillar of the creation. Softly we can adjudge the cyclical progression of nature. Yet this stands as a great question for the human mind to discover. You have very brilliantly put your question to think and rethink. Thanks for sharing. +10

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Pamela Sinicrope 30 July 2016

Insert thought provoking silence here. Your poem reminds me of the glass half full or half empty question. Which is better? What is the better way to start and end. They are both important and it's just important that they exist at all. When I read this piece, it made me think about music and how we start and stop notes and then the importance of the degree and type of space between the notes (the start and the end) ...both add so much to the flow. Well done. I especially enjoyed this one. It is also well written. Great use of every word! Take care Cigeng. Saving it as a favorite....

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Edward Kofi Louis 22 June 2016

Day and night! Able to wake up from your sleep. Nice work.

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Abdulrazak Aralimatti 18 September 2015

Truly, the poem puts the reader to confusion and makes him to think over it. Loved reading the poem

1 0 Reply
Khairul Ahsan 03 March 2015

A beautiful poem of paradoxes- loved it.

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