Monday, April 29, 2013

This I Believe - A Poem

Boop.
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This I Believe

I believe in logic and reason and fairytales.
I believe that princesses are capable of rescuing themselves,
thank you very much,
and the best princes are the ones who look
like they were raised in a library, not a castle.
I believe that knowledge is the air I breathe but that I would still
be a Gryffindor if my Hogwarts letter ever arrives.

I believe that Thomas Edison was an idiot and a conman, and that
the utter lack of Nikola Tesla in the books we use
to teach our kids about the past is obscene.
I believe in strength comes in different flavors -
Queen Elizabeth I of England was just as fantastic
and daring dangerous as Ching Shih.
Julie d’Aubigny would have been one of Shakespeare’s muses.

I believe in taking lessons from the past but not pretending
that the past is over,
because I believe the past has already happened,
is still happening,
and will happen all our lives -
that time is happening all at once and if we just had a force strong enough,
we could break through and see what really happened
and what’s in store.

But mostly, I believe that history is an unforgiving mistress.

I believe that the quantum theory is correct
and nothing tangible exists until it is observed,
and so the same must be true of the intangible -
of love and trust and human resilience.
I believe that music is the one language that everyone speaks
and that it will never die out.
I believe in a god who doesn’t exist anymore
and a god who only exists when I want her to
and that there will be no pearly gates at the end.
The afterlife is what we decide it to be
and some people don’t want to live again -
they just want to go to sleep
for a long, long time.

I believe that H.P. Lovecraft told it like it is,
that W.B. Yeats was a master wordsmith,
that J.K. Rowling is the cornerstone of my childhood,
and so it must be true that people who go by two initials
have a better sense of the world than most everyone else.
And of course, J.R.R. Tolkien had the good sense to go by three
instead of two, and that’s why he spent time talking to the trees -
because he knew they knew what we did not.
And I believe that this world is a senseless and random
repeating pattern of elaborate nonsense that only makes sense
when looks at in pieces and not as a whole.
And those pieces will never fit together.

I believe in rainy days and rubber boots
and lazy summer afternoons spent sleeping under the bookshelf.

I believe in folk songs mixed with alternative rock, punctuated
every now and again by Bach or jazz or the Beatles,
in ancient mythologies moving alongside detective thrillers.
I believe that if I don’t drink coffee I’ll never grow up,
and in drinking hot tea all year long.

I believe in the possible and impossible,
the probable and the improbable.
I never believed in Santa but always in Peter Pan.

I believe in good TV and bad TV and that
Steven Moffat really needs to leave Doctor Who already.
I believe that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
would hate every single one of us and I hope whoever built his coffin
had enough sense to add in space for the all turning
he’d be doing.

I believe the sunsets really were brighter and the trees taller when I was little.
I believe the sunsets are fiercer and the trees wiser now that I’ve grown some.

I believe that the only thing that smells better than old books
is the interior of a car that’s been sitting out in the sun for hours.

At the end, though, I believe I only believe a lot of things when I have to think about it
and that in general
I just believe in semicolons
and ampersands.

7 comments:

  1. *grins*

    This poem. This poem just blows everything out of the water.

    This is incredible.

    Thalia I applaud and adore you.

    Such an amazing reveal of the things and people that matter in your life.

    Also woo fellow Tesla fan and Edison hater (well not hater, but he was a bit of a douchebag).

    This is what poetry is.

    This is what I aspire to.

    New favourite poem right here.

    I'd try to pick a favourite line but would end up quoting the poem back to you.

    However I do love this one

    and the best princes are the ones who look
    like they were raised in a library, not a castle.

    *hugs*

    I love your brain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh.

      Octa thank you so much.

      This means so much to me. I don't know what to say???

      Thank you.

      *hugs*

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    2. This poem inspired me to write one of my own in which I share my own beliefs so thank you for that.

      *hugs*

      http://octaboonaambrosius.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/on-semicolons-and-ampersands-forty-four.html

      Delete
  2. Thank you Kallie! *hugs back* YOU are amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is simply exceptional, Thalia. Absolutely beautiful. You are such a talented writer and poet. ~hugs~

    For some reason my comment didn't post yesterday, so I'll say what I said again.

    I find this poem quite wonderful, simply for the fact that it opens up your very being and person to the us, and we can understand you so deeply, its amazing.

    Thank you for sharing your innermost thoughts with us, Thalia ~hugs~

    ReplyDelete