Value

Value is a concept I find intriguing. Does anything have intrinsic value, or is it only through exchange that value comes into existence?

Value has so many definitions, many of which have to do with worth: “relative worth, merit, or importance: monetary or material worth: the worth of something in terms of the amount of other things for which it can be exchanged or in terms of some medium of exchange.” What is worth? Having a value of, or equal in value to. I’m starting to enjoy discovering circular definitions.

Value also has definitions specific to fine arts:

1. degree of lightness or darkness in a color.
2. the relation of light and shade in a painting, drawing, or the like.

So no matter what, I’ll be creating something with value. 😊

One person’s trash is another’s treasure, so the saying goes. I find it interesting how something can have no value one moment and be precious the next, so I re-visited a filter and some lights and reflectors that I thought had no value when I first tried them, and gave them a second look.

The Prompts

NaPoWriMo

Today’s prompt is to write a poem that contains an epic simile.

Poem A Day

Today’s prompt is the final two for Tuesday of the challenge:

1. Write a love poem, and/or…
2. Write an anti-love poem.

dVerse Poets Pub

Today’s Poetics prompt fits perfectly with the idea I had for my poem this morning. In honor of Shakespeare’s baptism day, Ingrid challenges us to choose one of his plays from a list and:

Write a poem based on the theme of your chosen play (be sure to mention which play you have chosen at the end of your poem, or use the play’s title as your poem’s title) or

Use your chosen title somewhere within your poem (you can also use it as the title of the poem, if you wish).

The Poem

Wherefore Art Thou?

Assigning a value to love
is like asking the dryer
where the missing socks go

It won’t tell you that
one is trapped between
its back and the wall
or another has slid
underneath. It won’t
explain that one
unraveled and became
the thread stuck
by static cling
to a sheet, and
it definitely won’t
reveal that when
it’s loaded just right
and spins at a certain
velocity to vibrate at
a frequency just so
a portal opens to the
sock dimension, only
long enough for one
sock to get through

The dryer won’t spill
its secrets because
it enjoys an air
of mystery
and it can’t talk
but if it did
and all the missing
socks were found
it would only
cause heartache

because without their pairs
the lone socks removed
from the dryer lost
all value and
were tossed away
like Romeo and Juliet
the perceived loss
of the other
made existence
impossible