zodiac23 Jun 2005

That's exactly what I'm saying. The point of the poem isn't that he can look at the bitterness, complaininess, and critical side of himself and change it (ie, avoid, in your words, "falling into a trap".) The point of your poem, whether you mean it or not, is that the bitterness, etc, IS his core and therefore unavoidable.

That's why I ask, how does one avoid one's "core"? Maybe it would be better to ask, Can one change one's "core"? And if he can, it's not much of a core, is it?

All this is kind of moot for me; I don't believe in cores. And I don't think you mean it the way I'm reading it. But I think that's why everyone's pissed about this one. I think they read it the same way.