Some of them are kind of haunting but super intriguing still!
13 Uses for a Bandana
#1. The
neighborhood sleeps this Saturday afternoon;
A splash of color reaches my eye.
I notice the bandana on the kitchen table,
Beckoning me.
#2. It is the most exotic color I have ever seen.
I reach for the bandana
While the nerves in my hand play popcorn.
#3. I store treasures in the bandana,
Treasures past and treasures future.
The bandana watches over them.
#4. Dinner on a cool summer evening,
And the bandana is there,
Put to good use as a tablecloth.
Four young couples eat over it.
#5. I pick up the bandana.
I tie it around my neck and yank.
#6. I am dissatisfied with one bandana,
Overwhelmed by two.
And yet I search for a third.
#7. A party.
Guests arrive, in dinner dresses and suits.
They play games.
Blind Man’s Bluff is the bandana’s favorite.
#8. I tighten the bandana over my nose and lips.
I am an outlaw.
No one knows me,
Nor do I know anyone.
#9. The siren blares through a suffocating blizzard.
White flakes frolic outside, watching.
The bandana is my companion,
Covering the noble face of a dead man.
#10. A child is sent off to school,
Backpack indenting shoulders, bandana in hand.
He returns with the bandana tied around a bleeding
arm.
Red accents the bandana’s design.
#11. Another child shrieks in the depths of a
basement.
His back stings.
The bandana strikes again.
#12. I notice the bandana on the kitchen table,
Beckoning me.
I walk away.
#13. A busy street—people are bustling around in a swarm.
I see thousands of people.
I see thousands of bandanas.
Description:
This poem is kind of an analogy of knowledge and how it affects a person. (It
is also true of power). Each stanza has a different meaning:
1.
First seeing the beauty of knowledge.
2.
Desiring knowledge.
3.
Knowledge is valuable.
4.
Knowledge can be useful for practical reasons. Many people are unaware of its
power.
5.
Knowledge can kill a person.
6.
We are overwhelmed by the things that we know, yet can never seem to know
enough. We desire more and more although we already complain that we are
overwhelmed by what we know.
7.
Knowledge can be used to lead others, for better or worse. People mess around
with it sometimes. (This is also an analogy of the professional world, and
manipulating others.)
8.
Knowledge can be used for evil and can hinder a person from enjoying life.
9.
People can leave behind a legacy of knowledge.
10.
Knowledge can be helpful, and lessen pain. When we know why something is
happening, often it is easier to cope or adjust.
11.
Knowledge can also be harmful, and can be used against people.
12.
What would happen if we did not pursue knowledge? If we did not hunger for its
power?
13.
Everyone holds knowledge within. It engulfs society. Everyone is marked with a different
story, different minds, different thoughts.
