10 of 12: Should we listen to Rodney Jones or Jacques Derrida?

Read the poem and then check the brief analysis at the bottom of the page:


Hubris at Zunzal

by Rodney Jones June 22, 2009

Nearly sunset, and time on the water

of 1984. Language its tracer.

No image like the image of language.

I had waded out about thigh deep.

Then a shout from the beach.

I held in my hand half a coconut shell

of coconut milk and 150-proof rum

and dumped it white into the waves

when it came on me how sweet it had been,

then the idea I was not finished,

then the act of reaching down

with the idea I would get it back.

Analysis:

In the poem above, by Rodney Jones, the poet is arguing that once you dump your drink into an ocean, you cannot get it back. This can be related to writing in real life; once we have posted online or on our blogs our words are gone forever. Anyone can read what we have written, and although we sometimes may want to take back what we have said, we cannot. The internet is like an ocean. 

Could you imagine spilling a drink into the ocean? It would be impossible to get that drink back. Therefore, when we spill our drinks into the ocean (when we write online), we should also be wise with what we say because we cannot get our words back.

Isn't it intriguing to compare Rodney Jones and Jacques Derrida? Jones tells us to be careful while Derida tells us not to be afraid. Who should we listen to when we are writing?