Life

Though I do not consider my poetry skills to be awe-inspiring, this is a little piece I wrote a while ago when I was going through something very tough. I feel I should share these feelings with you, because expression is emotional release:

O, Life,

We watch it pass us by,

On steel tipped wings above.

Our hope is in one another, and nothing else,

We hold tight to our memories,

Because they are all we have left.

It is our hope in the darkest hour,

That binds us together,

For we are nothing without one another.

O, blissful life,

What are we without the ones we trust,

Stranded somewhere out at sea,

With wounds that will not heal.

O, desolate darkness,

Where has your sting gone?

The light you fight has you far outweighed,

Even when all seems faint,

The pillar of life shall be replaced.

O, Daunting Death,

When this land threatens to fade to gray,

We shall swim for the chapel,

Against the current of our dismay.






I thank you with everything I am for sharing in this moment with me, it means very much to me.
-Cory

Photo above was shot by me.

Zombies, Zombies, Everywhere! (The Concise Version)

I have been on and off in reading a particualr piece of fiction lately. World War Z. It is not a simple bloody/gory mess, it is a commentary on the reaction of the populous when faced with possible extinction. There are many points where I ask myself, "Is this how we would really deal with this kind of problem?" The answer: I truly don't know. If a Zombie were to come knocking down my door, however, you better believe I would have my baseball bat handy (But Cory, you can only kill a "Zed Head" by destroying the brain!). This piece isn't simple minded stuff, either. We as readers of the piece are faced with themes of family destruction and the death of a society (Zombies fulfilling that metaphor). Would our government know how to deal with such an event? This is the scariest part about reading this political thriller. Our own system becomes more horrifying than the Zombie War. In essence, we are the problem in the story. We are the walking dead, waiting for some way to be rescued from the living hell on earth. The walking afterlife are everywhere, and World War Z takes you right into the heat of the battle. Pick this one up, if you enjoy political insight and a great horror story. I know you'll love it. That's it for the Zombies, time to go to bed (Mommy, please tuck me in, I'm so scared of the monsters roaming the streets!).

Lions and Tigers and....Gawain?

Here's a little music:

The hunter treks stealthily through the brush, in pursuit of his prey. All around him are the noises of the forest: birds chirping the soundtrack of life, the wind slowly flowing between mixed greens and more importantly, the footsteps of his prey. And all of the sudden, the forest is alive in the glory of the chase.

Of course, Gawain is human prey. His hunter? A lady fair. Which is quite ironic, considering we last left Gawain in a kingdom where women were depicted as frail, static characters. We are now faced with an ongoing pursuit. Gawain: the deer, the boar and the fox, faced with the task of evading his female predator.

The First Encounter:
Like a frail deer, Gawain is put into a submissive position. The lady fair (or lady persistent, whichever way you choose to perceive her character), plants the final kiss upon our helpless knight (how ironic, but pleasantly chivalrous). The prey's method of evasion here is blissful submission ("I don't care, I'll look as feminine as can be as long as I'm maintaining my chivalry!"). The predator's response to such behavior: She takes the bait (If we are Gawain, this is the moment we say, "Phew!"). He's escaped the clutches of the crafty seductress...for now.
Meanwhile, kingy has his own prey to catch (and bludgeon and decapitate and chop up). His prey, like Gawain, is submissive, goes down without a fight. Easy squeazy. Bye bye Bambi. Gawain, congratulations, you've done what many other men would fail at: resist the temptation of a beautiful maiden fair.
The Second Encounter:
Tusks, muscle, brawn and snout: the boar. A mighty adversary, worthy of careful strategic planning. This time, m'lady's aggressive Gawain. She's not going to go down easily this time, and neither is Gawain. Our hero is now being tempted further, and must use his mind's muscle to resist his, ahem, male urges. The lady is persistent, and the conversation goes back and forth ("You know what I want!", "Yes, but as I am of a gentlemanly stature, I cannot oblige your needs, ma'am."). Gawain must be like the boar: strong, poised and physically prepared to take damage (the second kiss being the damage).
Here comes the cavalry! The king and his men are hard at work (just like the lady fair) attempting to bring down their prey. We get this image of the men scrambling through bushes after their prey (It is safe to say that the seductress would chase Gawain through a thicket of thorns). The pig is leading the men on a wild GOOSE chase, a back and forth battle. There is finally an end to the chase (but poor piggy must suffer death, not a kiss on his snout). Good battle, Mr. boar, you've done well and stayed true to your cause (you too Gawain, but you got a kiss out of it).
The Third Encounter:
The fox: the cunning bandit. Gawain: the cunning liar. Ultimately, Gawain must now step out of his chivalric manner and lie his way out of dishonor (ironically to maintain his chivalry). Will he stand up to the challenge of keeping away from temptation? Short answer: yes. He ultimately will take the girdle and leave (to face his ultimate task). Gawain here uses his sense of cunning speech to evade the crafty seductress. His gift in return for the lady's kisses? The king receives a few knightly smooches (come on, it's only the decent thing to do after hanging out with your wife....talking).
The king is obviously on the hunt again. The fox is ever-evasive, but in the end, it is the fox's sly intent that works to his demise. Good job Gawain, you've out-done the clever fox!

On a more serious note, we have a much deeper inner struggle here for our hero. He is faced with the task of resisting nature by way of.....well nature. He uses tools akin to those of a wild animal. It is what he must do to maintain his knightly chivalry! He had to submit in order to escape. He had to fight in order to survive. He had to lie to uphold truth. In the end, it was all an illusion, a clever test (and ultimately, a testament to just how much of a gentleman Gawain truly is). He girded himself with the armor of faith, and ultimately he prevailed over temptation (though he had to stoop to some levels to make it happen).
I don't know about you, but I find this inspiring. Even the most meek of us can evade those things that harm our spirit. We may have to jump through some hoops in order to do so, but we all have a natural inner power to be reckoned with.

*The photo here is my own work of photography.

Heroes: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Check this!:

We all have heroes. Caped crusaders clad in colored spandex. But the story of Sir Gawain is a story of a hero clad in chivalry. His entire journey is, in essence, a battle to maintain his courteous nature. Yes Batman, a knight can be a gentleman and a badass at the same time. Gawain is a man who isn't simply interested in killing monsters and accepting the glory that accompanies it (I'm nodding at you, Beowulf), he is a man who is constantly fighting an inner battle. His gentleman-like quality makes him a hero to any male who understands the power of the temptress. A lady fair at his side (one that is married to a king), and he resists her advances, save a couple kisses. This, to me, is heroic. To face the very natural urges we have as human beings and maintain composure is a task to be reckoned with. His battle with natural urges is, in my opinion, represented clearly in the Green Knight. The very idea that this figure is green suggests his relation to nature. And what does Gawain do? He lops his head off. He stares nature right in the eye and says, "You will not be in control." Of course, this is a stretch, but I still find a great amount of respect for someone who can be in control of natural urges. We are reminded that he is human, however. He has limits (ie. the cold weather, the long journey ahead of him to track down the Green Knight.). Gawain is very clearly fighting the battle between the human identity and the alter ego. In essence, Gawain is a true hero.