Velut Luna, Statu Variabilis, or, The Wheel Turns

"O Fortuna / Velut luna / Statu variabilis / Semper crescis / Aut decrescis...." - Carl Orff, "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana (translates from Latin to say "O Fortune / Like the moon / With its many changing phases / Always waxing / And waning / Hateful life....")

"Nobody wins a war." - A friend from elementary school. I first read this quote by him in fifth grade. Incidentally, between seventh and eighth grade, he introduced me to the writer Stephen King, who is mentioned in this post. I haven't seen this chap in a good while, but I sometimes talk to him on Facebook. Anyhow, on with blogging!

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More emphasis on the fact that life goes on and on, like the wheel of ka (Dark Tower reference, sorry) - although I believe I mentioned in the long-ago post "Into the Jaws of [Almost] Certain Failure" that I had a tarot reading. I only briefly mentioned it then, and this will probably not be intensely detailed (I'm not John Tolkien, after all, and besides, my memory is far worse than it once was [bloody pills!]), I will relate one thing the lady said. I cannot actually remember what she called them - turns? phases? - but she said I was coming to the end of what was basically a chapter of my life. Of course, my life would likely be a long series of volumes, each with several "parts" and "chapters" and maybe even numeral dividers such as the ones sometimes used by Stephen King.

In fact I actually was coming to the end of a phase (I don't doubt the existence of energies) - one that did not altogether end well, but I was nonetheless relieved. One cannot win every battle, what, what?

I'm through with my finals, but a new semester begins tomorrow. Not quite a turn/phase - school terms are separate from those of life itself - but it signifies my drawing ever closer to an escape from this volume of life and toward that of college and hopefully freedom. At the moment I'm thinking to become a teacher or a professor - or perhaps a freelancer - and I'll be free to travel the world at my own leisure. Most European countries sound so lovely - I feel like Lennie from Of Mice and Men talking about "them rabbits" - and as soon as I am able to flee, I shall be free like a bird, or a horse...or a mix of both: a hippogriff.

The Writer vs. The Writing

"The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired through being misunderstood." - Jean Cocteau

   You have clipped my wings

   And now I cannot fly.

   I am a lonely bird

   Imprisoned in this cage.

- "Clipped Wings" by me. I didn't think the poem was long enough for its own post, so I thought I'd include it here. Of course, it's also on Figment.

My Creative Writing teacher from this past school year made a post a while back (which I just discovered) about how a girl's parents were worried about her mental well-being due to her dark poetry and bloody stories. Mr. Nantz's reaction is equal to mine: while there is such a thing as artistic expression, what comes up on paper - or screen - by no means necessarily reflects the writer. I mean, has Thomas Harris been arrested for cannibalism? People often wonder if Stephen King is disturbed and/or insane. I even had a therapeutic instructor once who told me not to write dark things. I didn't listen, of course. She also said that she appreciates King from a distance; she would not go to his signing for fear of his slashing her throat. With all due respect to Miss Anonymous, that's codswallop. This is someone whom also believes that gays choose their sexuality and that it is wrong. I guess if she chooses to appreciate me, it will be from a distance.

Anyhow, I think it's good to be able to seamlessly blend expression with fictive feelings. After all, fiction is called fiction for a reason, and poetry can reflect fictional viewpoints. Mr. King is one of my all-time favorite writers, right up there with Jo Rowling and Mary Shelley, and I have no issue with him as a human being. I know that he once had a drinking problem, but that's not my business. That's one cost of fame: the whole world monitors your affairs.

Be yourself!

Signed,

Daniel Cole Phelan

Lewis Mason Winter

Charles Evan Blackwood