Lonely little question mark on a bench in the park:
See the people passing by? See the airplanes in the sky? See the birds flying home before dark?
Home's just around the corner there-- but not really anywhere.
--Langston Hughes,
Kid in the Park
This poem hit me so hard. It's funny how some poets know exactly what you're feeling, even though you've never met them, and some people seem to know you so well, even though you'll never even touch. I just love words, that's all there is to it.
“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”
Alice and Wonderland is one of those books that creeps me out entirely, but this week my sister has been reading it for school and I decided to flip through it again. And...it's really fascinating. I used to hate it. I wouldn't watch the movies, I read it but never really GOT IT, and I just thought it was a bit strange.
But now, somehow, I love the strange. It's full of impossibilities, and even though it's a terrifying world, it's also a world of hope. I love the idea that a bored little girl, not unlike me when I was eight or nine, can fall down a hole and instantly be placed in the middle of this adventure.
I love the characters. I love the way they deal with the insanity around them. The nonchalant way they react to everything makes me see the world differently, as if they're the right ones and I've been seeing everything upside down the whole time.
Alice's use of logic reminds me of a dream, when you know nothing is right, yet you can't stop yourself from trying to make it make sense, until ultimately you give up and let go. Alice tries rationalizing with herself, until she finally realizes that her practicality is of no use in this land, with the words, 'So many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun
to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.'
Even the last scene, where the red queen and her knights start attacking Alice, she's begun to let go herself so entirely that she can'tfully come back to reality, until her life depends on it. It's so brilliant and clever that you don't realize the transition all across the story, until those few words appear. 'Who cares for you?' said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) 'You're nothing but a pack of cards!'
I mean, how great is that? Alice is a little girl in a strange land trying to make sense of everything, and she learns when to use logic and when to just let go and believe.
I used to think she was such a little, selfish prig, and I hated the way she acted. But now, taking a closer look, she's really quite clever and someone who I would have liked to have known...even if she drinks out of strange bottles.
Oh, and why is a raven like a writing desk? Because Poe wrote on both.
I'll spend my days and nights just dreaming about what we could be
so throw it all away, come down the rabbit hole with me
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
This song, Drops of Jupiter by Train, is ridiculously important to me.
You know how you can hear a song and instantly it can remind you of twenty different things? You remember where you were when you first heard it, the people you associate it with, and the stage of your life you were in when it first hit you.
I hate to admit it, but I first heard Taylor Swift's version, from her live cd. The lyrics captivated me, so I looked up the original and fell in love. There's something about songs referencing space that fascinates me. It's like the take you to a whole other dimension in three and a half minutes. Drops of Jupiter, from the title to the chord progression, instantly became my favorite song.
Listening to it, I'm taken back to last summer, when I would listen to it at least once a day. It will forever remind me of ice cream dripping onto suntanned skin, picking strawberries with my friends, and dancing. As the bridge says,
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken?
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me?
I made my best friends last summer, discovered some more about myself, and this song will always remind me of those beautiful times.
Okay, I should probably stop, I'm beginning to sound OLD.
But one more thing.
Last year, I had no clue who I was. I went through all these different phases and stages and was ultimately unhappy with all of them. I'm still trying to work everything out, but as I've grown closer to God, he's helped me to truly "discover myself." Last year, everything was good, but it wasn't perfect. There was something missing.
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Sometimes what we think we want is nothing more than afantasy. Last year, I didn't know what I want. But this year, I think I do. And it's really great.
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?
