Change For The Dead

After this stressful week, I figured I should do something to commemorate that we all got through it. And since I’m still very upset with the Senate for its failure to pass sweeping gun control measures that would’ve benefited many people, I decided to write a poem, something I don’t do often but that I think for this situation can be very helpful to get the point across. So before I do, I’d like to remind people that you are free to agree or disagree with me, but please be civil and respectful in your comments.

So without further ado, I’d like to bring you Change For The Dead:

We say that I’m against our right to bear arms.
What about our right to feel safe on the streets?
We say after every massacre that more guns is the remedy.
Are we going to tell Boston that every citizen needs a bomb?

We say gun restrictions don’t work,
That there are people who won’t submit to them.
Tell me, if I decide not to follow our laws on stealing, drugs, or traffic,
Should the nation do away with those laws?

We say we fear a dictatorship if we change our ways.
How about the fear of children and the fear of their families?
We say this is the way of America,
But I thought that was life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our constituents wanted action.
Why did we deny them that?
We won’t do anything for the living.
How about we bring change for the dead?

How about I do a séance on the Senate floor,
Summon the many who’ve died?
They are legions, they are many,
They want only that no more join them.

Can you hear their cries?
Can you listen to their complaints?
Many lost all potential before they could achieve it.
Are we going to let them down?

Listen to them, open your hearts.
Don’t let your fear keep us from helping them.
Something’s wrong with this world,
But now I hope we can make it right.

To The Love I Have Yet To Meet

I’m not big on Valentine’s Day. Not only is it Christian in origin and over-commercialized by the candy and card industries, but the whole thing started because an early Christian priest performing illegal marriages in pagan Rome got caught and was fed to the lions for his faith. How romantic.

But even if I don’t care very much for the holiday, and even though I’m not really into looking for a relationship, I thought I’d at least write a poem for the girl who might make me change my mind, settle down, and have a kid or two (though I’m still kind of gung-ho about adopting when I’m ready for kids). So here’s a little Valentine’s Day poem for that girl, wherever she may be. I hope you enjoy it, and Happy Valentine’s Day:

To the love I have yet to meet,
Where you are, I am unsure,
But you will be dear to me.
So dear in fact, that the thought of living without you,
Will take the breath out of my lungs.

Where are you, darling?
Since I am without you, I act like a monk,
Living in chastity without much interest in the opposite sex beyond friendship.
I wait for you to open my eyes, to make me aware of a world I only write about and see,
But never experience.

Oh, when will destiny bring us together?
When will I gaze upon your face,
Converse with you and laugh with you,
And realize that I’m crazy about you?
When will you show me that you love horror movies
(Or at least tolerate them for my sake)
And critique my work with a kind and loving smile?

I wait. I wait, and wait, and wait.
Someday we may meet.
Someday we will know that we are meant for each other and fall madly in love.
Until then, I sit at my computer,
My only lovers the written word and the darkest corners of the human mind.
Until then, my dear.
Au revoir.

Doing A Little Work With John Milton

This picture look familiar?

I’m a huge fan of Paradise Lost, ever since we read some of it for class last spring. I enjoyed it so much, I asked my mom to buy me my own personal copy for my birthday, and she did, one with essays and critiques on Paradise Lost and its author John Milton. And this semseter, my documentary teacher gave us two assignments: the first assignment being we had to do a Powerpoint slideshow based on research we did concerning a particular work of literary fiction, and then afterwards create our own book based on pages taken from the book we used for our Powerpoint project (yeah, wierd for a doucmentary course, I know). Since the book we used had to be something that’s a great piece of literature, something that has been looked over by many scholars over the years, I ended up doing PL just because I wanted to break it out again (though thankfully the second assignment hasn’t involved me ripping out pages from my personal copy of PL).

And now I have some free time on my hands, so I’m going to do some editing, and then if there’s time after that before my next class, I’ll work a little bit on Snake just to relax. And guess what? I got Paradise Lost on audiobook, so I’ll be able to test whether audiobooks make great background noise for writing like political debates, hypnosis tracks, and spirituality lectures do. Here’s hoping it works, and that I don’t absorb some of the poetry subconsciously when I thought I hadn’t been paying attention and start to act too proud and pompous.

Poetica Magazine

Around January or February, we had an assignment in class where we were to take a series of prompts (I will, Then I, etc.), add some words to them, and weave them into a poem. Being me, I added some dark tones to the prompts I was given, and ended up writing “The Tragedy Too Often Forgotten”, a poem about the Holocaust.

I thought the poem had potential, so I searched online for a Jewish magazine specializing in poetry, which was how I found Poetica, a poetry and prose magazine devoted to works by, about, and for Jews and Judaism. Well, it’s been a long wait, but about a month or so ago, I learned that “The Tragedy Too Often Forgotten” was being considered for a special Holocaust edition to come out sometime next year. Today, I found out they had accepted it for publication.

I’d sincerely like to thank the staff at Poetica for accepting my poem, and I cannot wait to see it published. And to all those reading this blog interested in reading the poem, I suggest you go to poeticamagazine.com and order a copy when it comes out.

Oh and before I forget, if you’re interested in music or literature reminding people of the tragedy of the Holocaust, I’d suggest the song “Never Again” by the supremely-awesome heavy metal band Disturbed, a beautiful song written in tribute to those who died in the Holocaust.

Yes, I’m a heavy metal fan, but given my interests does that surprise any of you?