What has the power of language done for me? I have an idea of what it has implanted in my mind but I have never really been able to talk about until now. Also, because I have never been asked that question before so I don’t know how to respond to it correctly. Here goes my thoughts… When I think of language, I think of magic. It is mystifying how a few sounds can be meddled into something musical and understandable. Think of the word green. It symbolizes a color. How do you define color? A shade of the rainbow? A pigment? If you were blind how would you know what it was? Language is what paints the blank canvas of our world. Imagine not being able to tell someone you love them. Sure, you could express it in your eyes, your touches, your smile but doesn’t hearing “I Love You,” make you go all warm and fuzzy? Language is magical. It can make us feel things deeper than we could with just body language. It takes on the transcendent quality that music has. (I talk a lot about music because I am so moved by it; it’s a reoccurring notion when I talk about something universal.)
But there has been a defining moment where I did feel the power of language. But in order to describe that experience, I have to describe another one first. I was a child in elementary school, fourth grade to be exact. A friend of mine had inspired me to read more and create my own stories. So, in the fourth grade, I tried my hand at poetry. I was in love with this boy named Timothy and I was so inspired I wrote my first ever love poem. At the time, it was a great achievement because I was young and a friend of mine memorized it because she loved. It goes like this:
“Love, what is love? Is it a kiss or a hug?
Yes but It comes from the heart and soul.”
It is humiliating to think that this was deemed good and I am a bit embarrassed for posting this. Here is my first ever poem. This is significant because of what it did. It opened a new world for me; like a window into my soul had been opened though I didn’t know it.
When I was in high school, I took a creative writing class. I was procrastinating. It was a period before my Creative Writing class and I hadn’t done my homework so I asked my friend to give me a theme to write about. She told me to be dark. So I turned my IPOD on and wrote to a dark song. This is what came out:
The sweet song named immortality calls
It calls to all beckoning blind greed.
"Listen to echoes,” eternal life says
“Resounding through the empty hall of souls,
Till your own grave to keep you level
Just try to remain sane in raucous rage.
Gnash your teeth, claw your way out, so alone
So desperate, lament to creeping death
Freeze your own heart but leave only despair.”
That is what I wrote and in that moment I felt the power of language. I felt the power of curiosity through language. I was amazed That I was capable of coming up with this and I wanted to know “What else am I capable of?” I know that is not the best poem written but I am proud of it. Curiosity is a powerful thing and I still want to know, “What’s next?”
I think that's awesome that you are a songwriter. I personally can't rhyme anything, and even less come up with a beat to accompany that rhyme. I'll be completely honest. There are times when I have heard the words "I love you" and I have completely melted. It's funny how I had never thought about that. I knew that my ex loved me, (well not anymore I guess) and I could see it in her eyes, but when she said that to me it changed my perspective of her. I was shocked, but at the same time I felt an immense amount of joy.
ReplyDeleteNow I must mention that when we broke up and she sent me an email that only had three words in it, I felt almost the same melting feeling, but not accompanied by joy. More like sadness, anger, shock, and an overall blue feeling that to this day still haunts me. So I do see what you mean when you say that language is magical and it is, but sometimes it's magical in a bad way. Her words really, really effected me, and like I said I find it hard to forget those words. In other words her language, cast a spell over me. So language can either fill you with joy or completely leave you in a state of depression. Hopefully though most people will only use it for good.
-Levi
P.S. The email she sent me said, "I hate you."
Damn, that's rough dude. I can't imagine what that did to you. Sorry that it happened that way... I don't know how to console you. There are more sheep to be sheared so don't despair! Don't lose yourself and you will find someone even better!
ReplyDeleteHello Jasmine!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the blog comment, Its cool that someone appreciates my experience. And to answer your question, I do think everything happens for a reason and rather than trying to limit myself with sympathy I used it as a learning experience, life lesson of sorts. I love the quote you have at the top of your page, works well with the themes of some of the essays in our EL book. Anyway, your poetry is great! And don’t be embarrassed, as silly as it may seem it marks powerful points in your writing knowledge. Anything that inspires us to further our creativity is an awesome. Seems to me that poetry has sort pf opened up the realm of writing for you. Its obvious to me from your first paragraph that you’re a critical thinker too. I relate that to being a deep thinker and seeing things beyond face value. You use symbolism in your poem bringing more meaning to it. it’s a talent to have! Props! I find it hard to convey my thoughts and feelings through poetry, so I think its awesome you do so well at it and I can understand the meaning. Its dark, but beautifully written, good job. I look forward to reading more of your blogs!
Vanessa