Monday Musings: Dwell in Possibility

It was a pleasant eve between my old friend, Emily, and me. The breeze fluttered through the open window at my back as the life of Emily revealed itself before me. Emily and I were quite the pair; she and I.

A sky filled with a billion twinkling lights against the backdrop of the vast darkness of the unknown. A question for each racing through our minds, "What are you? Where are you? How did you get there and where are you going?" Questions requiring answers not forthcoming.

"Dwell in possibility." ~
Emily Dickinson

Awkward and strange to those from the outside; meeting only a few and understanding none. A childlike lack of confidence when in the social air. A preference for the solitude of our own skins. Afraid if we should bleed, the light that courses through our veins would be lost into the world; scattered to the four winds. Yet, ever longing for the eternal escape as we suffocate within the confines our bindings.

Faced with the harshness of the reality of the world around us; factual and scientific in nature. A never-ending descent into the smallest tangible portion of reality until there is no more; and everything. A journey of searching for the undeniable fact.

Ever on the edge of hope and desire; a desire to find that one true love that seems elusive in the world that binds us within the wall-less prisons of our minds. Chained to the firmanent with fleeting glimpses of all that is - and is not. All that will be; manifesting only in the prose of our unspoken words; living between the synapsis of the life confirming organ that determines - destination.

Feverishly spilling the stress of the days within the confines onto parchment from pen. Desperately seeking blessed release from the pains of humanity which haunt us: Death and destruction viewable from the seat at the window; merciless deeds of injustice done in the name of progress; deceit disguised as benevolence strategically maneuvered for the sake of greed; and the bloodlust of humanity marches forward in a quest to conquer the temporary.

Every moment spent attached to the flesh of life inflicting torturous pains upon the soul until it cries out in desperate pleas for mercy from the silence that deafens the ears. Pains that manifest in the flowing streams of saltwater that trickle onto the marble floor of gluttony.

The sun rises over the horizon as though a savior from the darkness that leads the soul through valleys of death. Rays of light striking into the haze between dark and light. The sky is paintbrushed into a new day; a new hope; a new life.

In keeping with the Monday theme of classic authors, this post has been recycled from May of 2011. I have been busy working on The Chrysalis Series. Have a wonderful week everyone!
(c) Donna R. Wood 2011 - All right reserved.

Happy Saturday: The Better Angels of Our Nature

"Let triumph 'the better angels of our nature'." ~ Abraham Lincoln

In the early morning hours of the day, I sit to write. The sun has yet to creep over the horizon and I am already clicking away at the keys.

As the words begin to flow onto the page, I wonder; what good will come of this? How will it make the world a better place than I found it?

Coming off Halloween and racing headlong into the holiday season, thoughts of humanity come to my mind. I wonder if the great classic authors and poets had the same thoughts when they wrote their stories and poetry. Did they think about humanity? Humanness? Or, more importantly, the impact their prose would have on society? Did they wonder about their legacy?Every genre, in the writing world, has the opportunity to triumph the better angels of their nature.

The authors who write romance triumph the better angels of their nature through the propogation of what is it to be a human being in love. It doesn't matter in what sub-genre of romance they are writing, it's all in the perspective of the reader. Hundreds of years from now, when 'old' romance novels are downloaded from the e-libraries, the world will know exactly what it was to be in love, in the 21st century.

Fantasy, Science-Fiction, and SteamPunk writers triumph the better angles of their nature through the wonders of imagination. Carefully building worlds where strength, courage, endurance, and sometimes love prevail over the darkness of evil, the world will know these authors had hope for the future; hope for the continuation of the human existence.

And let us not forget those authors who craft stories of the horrific and terrifying. Yes, even they too triumph the better angels of their nature through exposing the true fears of the human being. When the world has morphed into something we cannot fathom, in our 21st century mind, they will know what it was that frightened us the most.

The list of genres is long and comprehensive. It is the wholeness of the human existence. Each printed word, sentence and paragraph, tell the story of the human being; the story of Earth in the times of each author. Today, we look back on those we consider the greatest authors of all time and find comfort in the words they left for us; their stories and recordings of the days in which they lived, loved and laughed.

The people of tomorrow will look back on those they consider the greatest authors of all time and read the legacy we have left for them - the better angels of our nature.