Fire Embers & Falling

I think fire embers are an amazing thing. I would like someone to write a poem about them. I can not be that person because I have never been good at poetry, it's too much work. Anyways, the poem would have to express how the embers are alive only long enough to see all the beauties of the world, while dying out before the harsh realities of the world beat them down. They are truly innocent, fire embers. They are almost a paradox because they are part of what creates the beauties of the world, while also being able to experience them. Just a little thought I had at a fire last night.

This blog post is for my March Blog Entry.

I have something interesting that happened to me that connects well to The Stranger. 

Everyone knows that Meursault is a little different than the average person. We also discussed the strange feeling of guilt that Meursault felt when he told his boss that he needed to have off for a few days.... in order to go to his own mothers funeral. This is where I sorta connect to Meursault in my personal life. A few days ago, my mom and I drove down to some shopping center in order to buy stuff for my dorm room. (COLLEGE IS SO CLOSE NOW. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN FOR 2 YEARS NOW. FINALLY!!!) On the way to the store, we drove by a dead cat on the side of the road. My mom felt really bad for it and its family, but I just couldn't get myself to feel bad about the whole ordeal. So many animals are killed, including pets. I am guessing it partially has to connect to the fact that I never had a cat, so I wouldn't understand. My mom claimed that it was strange of me to now get a little emotional about it, but life goes on. It was a nice trip other than that and I got some chill bed sheets. Flash forward to our drive home. We approach a turn on a backroad and an older man falls while push-mowing his front lawn. He simply does a little awkward tumble and sorta lands on the road. We then moved forward to see if he was okay and he did this little shimmy to get off the road. When we asked him if he was okay he said "gosh, now there's lotsa cars around me" and you could feel his embarrassment. He eventually got up and was fine, but that hasn't stopped me from constantly thinking about it. My mom and I tried to figure out why I felt so so so so so SO bad for that man, but we couldn't exactly figure it out. I just have this immense feeling of empathy for him even though he has already probably forgot all about it. 

I still can't figure out why something like this would effect me so greatly. It could be related to how "human" that incident was. It was just a pure thing that could have occurred to anyone. It was just so realistic. I am sorry if that doesn't make sense to anyone else, but the word realistic comes to my mind automatically when I think of the incident. It was a "raw" moment. Very harsh and true.

EDIT: Maddy Stillman was kind enough to actually write a poem about those fire embers. Here it is:

birthed in light and smoke

ardent and young to take

a first glance at the world

with eyes flickering across horizons;

bouncing from cloud to crown"

what roaring beauty to behold.

not yet tainted by fuel and fire

they cling to hope

darting in orange flickers

to make their escape

from innocent gaps in vision

unveiling feared divergence.

etched into sunsets:

burning cities

if their gaze would long to hold

but lights burn out

before the chance to crawl

on battered grounds.