Paranoia or Pareidolia
Poem, right? About the psychological phenomenon
the faces they stare
(always searching)
from places they shouldn't
(always hoping)
as they rip and they tear
(always searching for answers)
through the fabric of reality
(always hoping to make sense)
they don't care they don't exist
(Always searching for answers from unexpected places)
they know they shouldn't exist
(always hoping to make sense in the nonsensical)
and I find them hard to resist
(always searching for answers from unexpected places and unexpected faces)
as their smiles they share
(always hoping to make sense in the nonsensical abstract gazes we see)
their frowns with no cares
(always searching for answers from unexpected places and unexpected faces, whether real or not)
from inanimate objects
(always hoping to make sense in the nonsensical abstract gazes we see, whether real or not)
the old man smiles from the comfort of his carpeted domain,
(whether real or not)
while the young man grimaces with violent disdain from his curtained plain,
(whether real or not)
and the gorillas, apes and monkeys are all smirking from the side of the train
(always searching and hoping)
why is that housefront laughing?
(searching for answers)
is it laughing with me or at me?
(hoping to make sense)
why is the old tree woman weeping?
(from unexpected places and unexpected faces)
what happened while it was sleeping?
(in the nonsensical abstract we see)
captured, imprisoned gazes of the past
(whether real or not)
frozen, nightmarish glimpses of unrest
(whether real or not)
it's not paranoia
it's pareidolia
*
Thanks for reading!
Author's Notes: This is a poem I've had sitting for months and months in my WIP folder. It needed some tweaking, and voila! It's about that strange phenomenon where many people, including myself, have a tendency to see faces in inanimate objects, buildings, etc.
From Dictionary.com:
"pareidolia [ pair-ahy-doh-lee-uh, pair-uh- ]
noun
the illusory perception of meaningful patterns or images of familiar things in random or amorphous data, as a face seen on the moon."
Here are a couple of other pieces:
About the Creator
Paul Stewart
Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.
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Comments (14)
Well-wrought! Faces in places...
Fascinating! I've never heard of pareidolia before! This certainly had an unsettling eeriness to it. There's a twisted stump near my house that I think looks like a baby otter, but I can't imagine always seeing faces in inanimate objects or scenery. And the poem itself is very well done, lots of lines that will linger with me.
I lingered over "why is the old tree woman weeping?... what happened while it was sleeping?" Love that line!
That cover image was soooo creepy! I loved the way your poem rhymed and the repetition gave it a song-like feeling. Well done! 🍩🥐
Nice job Paul. I loved the to-and-fro between the two thought processes. It made me mentally giddy - in a good way :)
So glad to share a love of pareidolia.. talk about the rorschach inkblot test of the subconscious! nice work.
Good work and you taught me a new word. I like these works of two poems in one.
Hold your horses, sir, you're way ahead of the crowd with Penny's A-Z challenge! Having said that, I did amuse myself today by seeing a toothless old man's face in the way one part of my bathrobe arranged itself on the hook, lol
Fabulous… & a new word, but an old feeling!
A tricky poem instead. Well done.
This is an affliction (Yes, I'll call it that.) I've suffered my whoe life. The face in the door staring at me in the bathroom is there, whether it's welcome or not. It would help if it wasn't lauging, though. Well done, sir.
Love this! It taps into the feeling that someone is watching you then you turn around only to realize that it was just a "face" on a tree the whole time.
Wow! What a clever and trippy poem! It captures the eerie charm of pareidolia perfectly, with its surreal faces peeking out from unexpected places. Such a fun, thoughtful read!✨👏
All paredolia indeed, Paul.