Poetry is the representation of some aspect of beauty or
intense emotion in a form of art. It’s created by people. Poems are written,
pictures are taken, movies are filmed. But life also has its own poetry. Not
only the biological concept of life (though the colors, the symmetry, and great
physical attributes of nature is amazing at times), but our everyday lives. The
day to day interactions we have with our environment. Well, my life is oddly
poetic at times, I should say.
Example. I love Taylor Swift. Like, a lot. I love her music,
I love her looks, I just love Taylor Swift. I have an affinity towards female
vocals. Selena Gomez, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Adele. Yet even when I play
stations built around that style of music, a style of music I find most
pleasurable, I skip tracks every now and then. It’s to be expected, true.
Internet radio isn’t perfect and I’m bound to dislike a song.
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| Screenshot from the music video "Story of Us" |
But here’s the twist. I’ve found myself these past couple of weeks
listening to dubstep. I typed in Skrillex, a popular dubstep artist, and I have
yet to skip a song as Pandora plays for me. Here is this very aggressive,
jagged, loud, low-on-lyrics music that I shouldn’t like at all. It’s in direct
contrast to the stories of unrequited love found in my arsenal of ballads. But
I like it. I haven’t heard something that repels me as the station spins its
tunes.
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| This logo conveys the attitude of dubstep. |
I tried to explain dubstep to my father recently. I commented
that dubstep sounds like it is a mad scientist’s twisted answer to popular
music. What he lacks in guitar skill he makes up with Tesla coils and the
synthesized machinations of the cries of his tortured robots.
That duality, those opposites, that is the poetry of life. Fiction must be credible, real life
doesn’t have to fit that bill. It can be as wonderful as wants to be, as dull
as it feels like. No rhyme or reason required.
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| Page from 1917 Mark Twain Calendar published by Sully and Kleinteich of NY by arrangement with Harper & Brothers from the Dave Thomson collection |
That
elusive quality makes life interesting. An unanswered question followed by an
unknowable future. It’s frustrating at times, but aren't all things worth
experiencing frustrating to a degree? The long trip to see the Grand Canyon,
the scuba equipment to swim along the Great Barrier Reef, the massive amounts
of fuel needed to propel a select group of men to walk upon Earth’s only
natural satellite. The risk and work create rewards that are well worth the
effort.
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| Image Credit: NASA |
You
may argue that life can be predictable for some. Day in and day out daily
grind. Work, eat, sleep. But life can
still throw a slight curve ball if you let it. And I say why not let life throw
curve balls? I’d rather live in a world in which something exciting can happen
than know it all at once. Some of life’s pitches won’t be pleasant. That’s the
risk of living. A car could smash into me as I work the front desk or my bed
could burst into flames as I sleep. But life can also show me pictures of nebulae light-years away and introduce me to music that oddly captivates my
pensive self.
That’s
what I’ve gathered in my short time on this planet. You have the option to live
life to the fullest, taking in the glory of surprises, both wonderful and
tragic. Or you can stay stationary. Stagnant. Hold onto a supernova as it
stretches the lengths and breadths of time and space or sit in a swamp. Life
won’t come at you unless you make the first move. So I dare you to shake up
life and I will do the same.
Until
next time!
-Daniel
Golden
