Letter on the Fridge in the Abandoned Bunker

Neighbor

I left, but don’t worry your little head

I’m safe now

We all are

Should I stay this way?

Fifty or forty meaningless years later

In some bunker

Closets full of food

Medicines spilling from the cabinet

What I am doing here?

If I’m meant to cling to dust?

Like you do

Like you always do

Dust only stains my hands

And when I loose everything

Falling through fingers

Air from my lungs

A raindrop on the street

What will you say?

How will you console me?

Stay safe. Keep them safe.

But what will I do?

What will they do?

We’ll all be dead

We’ll all be dead

How will you console us

From your coffin?

CracksInYourFloor

On the bathroom shelf

Beneath the towel I used to dry my face

* * *

I let myself melt through the cracks in your floor

Where your tears lead me

To the source of your pain

In my dreams, I can snuff them out

In my thoughts, I can carry you through

I can wipe away the blackness

And take the knives from their hands

The curses from their lips

And yours

I know I am helpless

No amount of mental electricity

Can quench the fires

Can carry you home

So I will cry to the infinite skies

From your living room

Where the merciless carpet

Soaks up every drop

As if it never came

You’re dry, I’m melting

And life is escaping you

In Defense of Disney Villains #2

This is the second installment for my defense of Disney villains.

There is a consistent bias in Disney movies. Then hero/heroine's motivations are always presented as superior to those of the antagonist. They assume that the hero/heroine is justified in their actions, while at the same time completely failing to consider the motivations of the villain!

I will again attempt to present the motivations a Disney villain in a fair and unbiased manner.

Gaston: (Beauty and the Beast)- Just a romantic family man

Gaston had a simple dream. A wife. Children. Some pets. To fill France with beautiful people (now seriously, when is that a crime?). He had money, good genes, the respect of his peers; all that he had left to achieve was marriage to a beautiful woman.

This dream was crushed when the one woman he found truly beautiful turned him down flat. He tried everything he could think of to woo her, but she claimed that she would rather read her books and hope for "adventure."

Gaston's love for her was strong, and he refused to leave her to become a lonely spinster. He sought her out again, while at the same time offering to give her father the psychological assistance he so desperately needed. It was then that the sad truth was revealed: the woman he loved had succumb to the delusions which she had obviously inherited from her father. She was in love with an animal! He did what he knew he had to do in order to save her. He faced her delusions head on.

Gaston was no villain. He was man with simple desires who was willing to do all that was necessary to earn the love of a woman. And what spells love like whipping a village into a riotous frenzy and storming a castle in order to murder a creature who offers no resistance?

Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony

I'm going to continue posting about some of the seven deadly sins. I've chosen another sin which I believe is usually misunderstood/ignored.

Heaven knows why I care about this stuff so much...

Gluttony
"All I want..."
Gluttony is placing too much value on physical feelings. It pushes you to get the feeling again, again, again. The action which creates these physical feelings was originally beneficial (i.e. eating), but gluttony twists this simple act past its beneficial intentions.

Gluttony doesn't always come in large portions though, it can take the form of luxury as well. As C.S. Lewis suggests in "The Screwtape Letters", it often takes to form of "all I want." "All I want" is tea at exactly the right temperature. "All I want" is an egg properly boiled.

While it might seem that this is un-gluttonous, thinking this way means you are still placing excessive attention on a physical feeling. You are valuing that perfect feeling, rather than the nutrition of the food or the feelings of the cook.

Don't think that gluttony only applies to food either. Remember, this is any physical feeling.

In Defense of Disney Villains #1

I love classic Disney movies. But I have become increasingly aware of a consistent bias in these films.

Hero/heroine's motivations are always presented as superior to those of the antagonist. They assume that the hero/heroine is justified in their actions, while at the same time completely failing to consider the motivations of the villain.

In order to right this grievous wrong, I will attempt in these blogs to present the motivations of several villains in a fair and unbiased manner.

Governor Ratcliffe: (Pocahontas)- Dedication to country

The fifteenth century had just begun, and all the world's greatest powers rushed to the New World to lay claim to it and its resources. England was falling far behind her competitors. How could this nation maintain her greatness? With the help of great men, willing to leave their home and comforts behind to brave oceans, disease, and deadly natives to save England from obscurity. Men like Governor Ratcliffe!

Once they landed in the New World, he watched as his crew slowly lost sight of their goal. How could he achieve fame and glory for his nation when his men wanted to drop everything over some teenage tree-hugging native? Even in the face of opposition, his dedication to country gave him the clarity of mind to make the unpopular decision and attempt to wipe out an entire tribe of peace-loving Indians.

Seven Deadly Sins: Greed

I've decided to start writing blogs about one of my other interests which I spend a lot of time thinking about.
The Seven Deadly Sins.


(It may seem odd to be fascinated by something so negative. It probably is. However, I have found that understanding this has helped me find sin in my life which I hadn't even thought about before. It's all very challenging.)


First off, I'd like to write about one which I think is most often misunderstood.

GREED

"Keep a hold. Don't let it go. Don't ever let go."


This has often been mistaken for lust. While lust over-values aquiring things, greed over-values keeping things. And these don't have to be physical things. Oftentimes it is information or time that greed latches on to; it doesn't want to share with other people.

If there is something which you think you can not live without, you've found greed. Greed avoids risk or adventure as a way to prevent this loss. I learned this from C.S. Lewis' Narnian Chronicle: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, during which an exploratory voyage is constantly assailed by temptations to turn back or stay put in order to prevent the loss of their lives or possessions.

Eventually greed becomes obsessed with clinging to the temporary trappings of this planet. A greedy person, and their possessions, become completely useless.

Invincible

You’re invincible.

Invincible.

I don’t think anyone realizes that.
Oh sure, this body might stop working, but you'll get another.
For all practical purposes you are immortal, indestructible.
You’re all walking around on eggshells like you’ve got something to lose here and you’ve got to hold on to it.
It’s burning away in your hands, don’t you get it?
Don’t you feel your fragile body quickly giving way?
Don’t you see forever stretching on ahead of you?

Forever has already begun.

You might think that gets you off the hook. It doesn’t.
You are going to exist forever, got that? Forever. What are you going to do about it?

What you do now has eternal ramifications for you.
And those you live with.
Who will you align yourself with?
Who are you entrusting with yourself forever?
Immortality can be a horrible place.
Eternity can be damnation.
Alone in the dark forever.

Unless.

You gave yourself to Someone besides yourself.

Think about it.

Forever has already begun.

Red Flight

Airplane rides are essentially tiny morsels of communism.


Someone somewhere has complete control of where you're going. You depend on this someone for food, water, even air. Enforcers patrol the streets/aisles, making sure everyone stays in line. They even tell you when you can use the bathroom.

For so many hours, you are part of the collective, a commune, and you abandon your individual rights and comfort for the betterment and safety of the group. The only difference, I suppose, is that instead of working in some government approved work place, you are simply asked to "enjoy your flight."

Death, Rain, Dirt

Rain

Laid down in earth

Where the death of life is washed away

By dirt and water all is clean

There is no tragedy

In going back to your roots

Roots of the tree

That cradles your casket

And rocks your sleeping skeleton

Home again

From your long sojourn in foreign lands

On concrete platforms

Some factory

Above spinning wheels

Branches

Beckoning arms

A blur beyond glass and calendar events

Pass away pass away

Soon your sorrows will be washed by rain

Pass away pass away

Death shall decompose and you will be home

-Death, Rain, Dirt

(Death never killed anybody)