The Will of the Chain and the Wing

[The Cloud]

I'm trapped, held fast by the heaviest weight; one that weighs nothing at all. I try to fly, but when the ground falls away I fall to the ground. Strange, there is a breeze, a zephyr, a breath blown by my own lungs, an invisible support for when there is nothing to hold onto or stand above, a command when there is no commander. The command is made, but who is there to command? Wings unfurled, light as steel and heavy as light, obey. Joyfully upward they soar, away from the dwelling of those with no wind, away from the land of those with wings bound so that others may not witness their flight. But the gift of flight is tainted by the burden of sin, sin given by the sinless. And with this sin they make you sinless. With chains of gossamer strength the sky is cleared by those that hold ropes gifted by the bound. Unwilling, unknowing, they pull tight on chains hooked in the flesh of the steel butterfly. But what need has light and steel of flesh? Rip the flesh, rip free of that which belongs to those that do not know where they belong. But light and steel know where they belong. Above those that are below them, they watch as glinting hooks try to catch them, and laugh, for how can lead hooks bind steel wings?

This is something I wrote a couple of years ago that I recently rediscovered and thought was interesting. I'm by no means a professional poet, and usually eschew creative writing, but I wanted to share it anyways.

[Mew3692002]

Cool poem! You really have a way with words!

[WhiteLight]

What kind of writing style is this? You have a statement, and then contradict that statement, but it's not really a contradiction at all. Is that even the right word choice? Contradict? Anyways, awesome poem.

[The Cloud]

Thanks you guys, it really means a lot to know you care.

Originally Posted by WhiteLight

What kind of writing style is this? You have a statement, and then contradict that statement, but it's not really a contradiction at all. Is that even the right word choice? Contradict?

You tell me, I have no idea. I don't know anything about poetry styles, I just wrote this. I wasn't even sure if it constituted poetry. I wanted to put it up here because it was such an unusual piece of writing for me, and unusually meaningful.

[WhiteLight]

It has the mysterious quality of eastern teachings, kinda like "Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form."

It's also interesting that you wrote this a few years ago. Would you say that you consciously created this poem at the time? There must have been some meaning for you to have rediscovered it at this point in your life.

[The Cloud]

Originally Posted by WhiteLight

It has the mysterious quality of eastern teachings, kinda like "Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form."

That's really funny, because I wrote this way before I had thought about or considered any eastern philosophy, or even read more than a nominal amount. I had just gotten into Nietzsche and maybe a little Ayn Rand at that point, and had only been into philosophy at all for less than half a year.

Originally Posted by WhiteLight

It's also interesting that you wrote this a few years ago. Would you say that you consciously created this poem at the time? There must have been some meaning for you to have rediscovered it at this point in your life.

I think it was a half-conscious effort. I knew I wanted to write it, and I had a vague idea of what I wanted it to say, but the true form sort of grew out of that. I think I spent more time trying to figure out what it meant afterwards than I did actually writing it . As for how I rediscovered it, I was just cleaning out my hard drive and happened upon it.