"Under the Wing"

The daily poem explications in class have reminded me of my own poems.

"Under the Wing"

Floating without an anchor,
she dreams without fantasy.
Waking up is only agony.

Wishing for the sun to warm her soul,
only delays the anticipation.
All isn't broken.

Departing from the wonderland,
the sweetness of youth disintegrates.
She wants to hold the water in her hand.

One more step, one more restraint,
until she is all chains.
Desperately pulsating against the veins.

When will she learn to fly?
Fly far, far away just to get lost.
Never mind the darkness, never mind the cost.

She has forgotten to breathe,
the wings melt.

Her eyes flutter open, not knowing what she felt.

I specifically hint at the story of Icarus in this poem. I did so because Icarus tried to escape from inhumane imprisionment and lost his son in the process. I thought that this story is an underlying motif for most of humanity because we all have to sacrifice something in order to "escape" or to achieve our dreams. Furthermore, if we push against our natural barriers to the point of breakage, we will discover nothing but failure in our lives, exemplified by Icarus's son.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Mirrors, in retrospect, are essentially vain materialistic objects. Mirrors were created for people to stare at themselves in pain or in relishment. Those who suffer the pain in the mirror believe they are looking into their souls, however, they are only looking at the aspects of themselves picked upon and judged by society. To quote Plath, a mirror "[is] not cruel, only truthful", exposing the unsatisfactory traits of mirrors. Humans want to be lied to. We crave to be complimented, even if it is a complete fib. Although some may plead for the truth, they become sulky when told the truth and it displeases the person. The only way to overcome this vain tendency to stare at the mirror on the wall is to look inside of us and trust the beliefs that drive our exsistence. In essence, we cannot judge our own souls through a mirror because it only shows our exterior, not our inner personality and thoughts.

Modern Savages?

I like to think of myself as civilized, and well cultured. But what if I was isolated from society? How would I obtain nutrients? The answer is, I would do whatever was necessary in order to survive, which is generally true amongst most humans. If we think about it, if you had the chance to gather riches and fame, would you do it at all costs? Would you exploit and entire people, raping the land and murdering the men? If your hedonistic behavior bore no consequences, and only boosted your ability to succeed, I doubt anyone would hesitate to gather that power. We're all animals, we're all here to survive, and we do that by competing against each other. Essentially, the weaker beings have no chance against the educated kings of commerce. There is no calming the beast that lies within us because we are all born with the inherent barbaric tendency to survive against all odds.