A Poem: We the Living

As I sit and ponder here, of thoughts that fill my sould with fear,
Of visions formed the visage of the reaper's scythe held high.
I still can't help but wonder, that what immortal's blunder,
Could end the life of one so young and very much like I.

Already it brings me pain to hear, of that which killed all life held dear,
Yet still her mind and spirit kept within the power to fly.
And her sweet soul burned with fire, wrought from bright, immortal desire,
To raise her glass and steel far into the sky.

But her vision wasy abandoned, when that sacred soul had landed,
In a place ruled by a code that we cannot live by.
And the reaper came with hurry, to the bottom of a snow flurry,
And took the life of one not bound to earth or sky.

Thus eneded the life of one, whose beauty pierced like a blazing sun.
But was thus denied her life under the morals of a lie.
Her eyes held so much magic, making her short life's end so tragic,
That praised and fallen angels alike could not repress a sigh.

That star which beamed with defiant light, and struggled to breathe with all its might,
Has fallen now from its place far above our mortal sky.
And my brother soul is burning, still hotter now from learning,
That the righteous of this world can be denied the rights of I.

And so, eternally, I shall give, my respect and love to those who live.
To those who aren't content to fall where mortals lie.
She'll exist, unforgiving, in the memories of We the Living.
Who live and love on the deathless wings of spirits born to fly.

-M

Life and Harry Potter: A touch of philosophizing

Woa, it's been a while since I put anything on here. Of course, this is all pretty worthless since nobody is reading (nihilistic much :-) In any case, I've recently discovered Harry Potter Fan Fiction, and must admit it can be pretty damn entertaining. Some of the stories are significantly better than the actual books by J.K. Rowling. Of course, considering the debacle that was Half-Blood Prince, that's not saying much.

Something that is interesting is that I realized that the reason I like fantasy stories like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc. is that they reflect the fact that humans are, by their very nature, heroic. Think about it this way: every time you see a hero fighting tirelessly with no hope to win, you feel it. Frodo destroying the ring, Aragorn leading a hopeless charge (twice actually; Helm's deep and then at Mordor), the Spartans at Thermopylae. Think of your favorite sports heroes and it's the same thing; always the underdogs. Rudy, Seabiscut, Joe Gibson, Harry Truman, Jimmy V and NC State, and all the other cinderella stories. In every case, people love to see guys fighting againt insumountable odds, whether they triumph or not, because it is heroic.

Now think about this: every single one of us is going to die. I don't say this to be depressing (although it is), but because it's a fact. A funny quote I heard once is "you shouldn't take life too seriously, nobody makes it out alive." What is life, then, if not the same type of heroic stand against an un-defeatable enemy? Every day we struggle to exist, to find meaning, and if we're lucky, find happiness. Yet when it's all said and done, no matter how much meaning you've found, or how happy you are, you are still going to die. From this perspective, life itself is exactly the same type of heroic struggle we all love to watch and read about. And here's the kicker: the worse your life is, the more heroic you are to struggle against it.

This is why I have come to really enjoy Harry Potter fan fiction. You get authors that cover every part of the spectrum and every part of a person's mind, no matter how dark (although the really dark ones are too much for me, thank you very much). The point is that many of these authors are actually baring their soul a little at a time when they write these stories, no matter how unrealistic or fantastic they may be. Every person that really starts to get into their writing is writing, in some way, about who they are and what they feel. Some Harry Potters fight for justice, some fight for love, some fight for innocence, some fight because something in them says it's the right thing to do. Some fight for god, some fight for revenge, and some don't fight at all. Think about all the things these Harry Potter's fight for, and then think about the reason's people live for. Some people live for love, some for justice, some for innocence, etc. Some people give up and decide life just isn't worth it. But most often people live for a little of all these reasons, and many more. We find reasons to fight the good fight while we can, knowing that we can't win and we'll never get out alive.

And that, my friends, is definitely heroic.

-M