The best dancers and yogis and one-legged people all know this. Balance without a strong core is fleeting.
Remember the teeter-totter. I was always heavier than my friends. I’d move toward the middle and my best friend Tina would move back until we found the right place where she could lift me up and I wouldn’t send her flying to the moon. (Yes, Nina and Tina, we we’re quite a pair.) But people change, and one day Tina was bigger than me and she had to move toward the middle. Sometimes we liked this— adapting to each other and figuring out how to make it work so we could keep playing. Other times, we’d abuse each other from being drunk with power. Sometimes, my older brother Paul, King of the Playground and Chief Humbler, would stand in the middle, at the vertex, and control who went up and who went down by shifting his mighty weight to one side or the other. Sometimes, to our great frustration, his weight in the middle would prevent either side from going up or down. Proving that the true power over both sides comes from the middle.
I have a poem for you today. I hate this one and yet I’m going to read it to you because it’s exactly and frustratingly the message I want to convey. I went in search of a poem about balance and came across Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope” which was close to what I wanted, but not quite. Then I arrived at this one. It has a bird (I LOVE BIRDS), nature, meter, rhyme scheme…I’ll tell you how I got there after I read the poem.
Balance is a Bird at Dawn
Balance is a bird at dawn,
Perched on a fragile bough—
It flutters just a heartbeat,
Before the winds allow.As morning breaks, the world awakes,
And change sweeps through the air,
The bird takes flight into the light,
Adapting without care.Through cities' rise and fall of tides,
Through quiet peace and wars,
Balance shifts where time drifts,
And opens new-found doors.Yet in the dance of circumstance,
Where past and future blend,
The bird of balance gracefully
Finds where the contrasts mend.In every change, though strange it seems,
There lies a steady core—
Balance lives within the flux,
Keeps pace with evermore.
I’m currently writing a lecture called Accessing the Surreal in Creative Writing. There are three methods; examining Surrealist art, meditation with binaural stimulation, and using an Artificial Intelligence technique that I learned from a class called “Prosthetic Dreaming” which uses the AI, ChatGPT.
I had ChatGPT open on my desktop, and being the naturally curious person that I am…
Nina
write me a poem similar to Emily Dickinson's poem called Hope.
ChatGPT
Certainly! Inspired by Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the thing with feathers," here's a poem that captures a similar theme and style:
Light is the Dance in Shadows
Light is the dance in shadows,
That sways without a sound—
It warms the darkest corners,
Without a touch, it's found.It asks of nothing, offering
A glow to guide the way—
And in the deepest midnight,
It turns the night to day.When storms arrive, relentless,
And heavy skies loom near,
This quiet light, unwavering,
Whispers courage where there's fear.In every heart it kindles,
It asks for nothing back—
A beacon in the tempest,
On life's most shadowed track.So when the night feels endless,
Remember in your strife—
Light dances in the shadows,
Illuminating life.Nina
where did you find inspiration for this poem?
ChatGPT
I drew inspiration from the theme and structure of Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope is the thing with feathers," focusing on the portrayal of an abstract concept as something gentle and persistent that offers comfort and resilience in difficult times. Just as Dickinson personifies hope as a bird that "sings the tune without the words," I chose to personify light as a silent yet guiding presence that dances in the shadows, offering warmth and guidance.
The rhythmic flow and the quatrain stanza format also mirror Dickinson’s typical style, using simple language but evocative imagery to convey deep emotional truths. I aimed to capture a similar spirit and tone, making the abstract tangible and imbuing it with a sense of enduring presence and support.
Nina
did you draw from any other authors?
ChatGPT
For the poem I crafted, I focused primarily on emulating Emily Dickinson's style and themes, particularly her way of personifying abstract concepts with simplicity and depth. While I didn't explicitly draw from other authors for that specific piece, the overall approach of personifying natural elements and using them as metaphors for emotional and philosophical insights is a common technique found across many poets' works.
Authors like Robert Frost and Mary Oliver, for example, often explore themes of nature, light, and darkness, imbuing their poetry with a reflective, almost meditative quality that contemplates life's broader meanings. These elements can subtly influence the style and tone of poems I generate, given their pervasiveness in poetic traditions. However, the direct inspiration for your poem was rooted in Dickinson's distinctive lyrical style and thematic exploration.
Nina
write a similar poem about how fleeting balance really is
ChatGPT
Certainly! Here's a poem about the fleeting nature of balance, inspired by the style of Emily Dickinson:
Balance is a Bird at Dawn
Balance is a bird at dawn,
Perched on a fragile bough—
It flutters just a heartbeat,
Before the winds allow.It sings a brief, sweet melody,
A tune of fleeting peace—
In moments found, then lost again,
As gentle breezes cease.No coin too light, no breath too soft,
To sway its tender perch—
A dance upon the thinnest twig,
A quest for those who search.Yet in this transient, tender hold,
A beauty rare is found—
For only in the passing,
Does the truest grace abound.In whispers low, the balance speaks,
A lesson learned anew—
In life's unsteady morning light,
Each fleeting day we pursue.Nina
can you rewrite this poem, keeping the first stanza and then relate it to the everchanging world?
ChatGPT
Certainly! Here's a revised version of the poem that starts with the original first stanza and then relates to the ever-changing world:
Balance is a Bird at Dawn
Balance is a bird at dawn,
Perched on a fragile bough—
It flutters just a heartbeat,
Before the winds allow.As morning breaks, the world awakes,
And change sweeps through the air,
The bird takes flight into the light,
Adapting without care.Through cities' rise and fall of tides,
Through quiet peace and wars,
Balance shifts where time drifts,
And opens new-found doors.Yet in the dance of circumstance,
Where past and future blend,
The bird of balance gracefully
Finds where the contrasts mend.In every change, though strange it seems,
There lies a steady core—
Balance lives within the flux,
Keeps pace with evermore.
What my discomfort is that these words feel meaningful and yet, these sentences were not built by any one person. They are an amalgamation of human words and sentiments.
AI puts me in a state of what feels like imbalance. The world as we know it is changing quickly—wars, borders, environment, moods, postures, faith… We’ve barely caught our breath from Covid and now another radical frontier has arrived; some say it will cause the demise of humanity and others say it will bring us to our best.
In my little town we have a similar hyperbolic struggle with tourism and the number of visitors that come to visit Acadia National Park each summer. Some say it’s the best because it provides our community with vital industry and opportunity that much of the state lacks, others say it’s the worst because it causes congestion and diminishes our natural beauty. I wonder, if both statements are true, what the Kings and Queens of Bar Harbor’s steady core might do, to honor both sides of the teeter-totter?
This is a hip hip hooray for steady core— the team players, the middle children, the deal makers, the peacemakers, the unifiers, the organizers, the idea bringers, the problem solvers. I want to be like you.
Ciao,
Nina
Balance