To Write is to Fly

 

To write I have always needed an opening.  A door of some kind.  A window. Something to let in a breeze of an idea that transforms me into a bird that springs into  a flight of words.  

These past several months my brain seems to have become hermetically sealed.  It is not a pleasant feeling when I am shut into myself with no outside inspiration to rescue me from myself.

Maybe a cage is a better metaphor.  Like a pet bird kept in a basement with artificial lights where no one hears your song because it seems there is nothing to sing about.  A lonely feeling.

But then a flight delay at the airport suddenly gives me time to stew a bit and these words start to find an escape from my brain.  It is the literal denial of flight that is giving me some impetus.

These words are not really going anywhere but maybe now the window is cracked.  Maybe the cage door is ajar.  And if I’m gracious with myself these wings may start flapping again.

***

Sad “Happy”

 

It’s a sad “happy” song which seems exceedingly peculiar.  

The song is “Happy” by Pharrell which was a big hit several years ago and had an infectious beat that made you want to clap and dance or at least tap your toe.  In the video that is exactly what people are doing.  It is a dizzying diversity of human beings in the streets, on sidewalks, and in alley ways dancing and clapping with abandon.

When this song first came out my knee jerk reaction was to dismiss it as trite.  I viewed it as a one-hit-wonder that would quickly leave my awareness never to return unless it made its way into a movie soundtrack or perhaps sung by a contestant on The Voice.  My view softened a bit watching Pharrell as a judge on that show.  Great guy.

But then something miraculous happened.  An artist known as Woodkid made a “Sad Remix” that shook me to my core.  He took out the beat and instead added strings and a piano.  The key sounds minor, but that may just be the impression given by the profound change in mood.  I was completely bowled over by this odd juxtaposition.

The video is identical to the original one, but everything is transformed by the melancholy vibe.  Like a metaphysical magic trick it reveals the underlying pain and sadness that we all struggle with in a perplexing world while showing we are not confounded; raging against the dying of the light as Dylan (Thomas) would have it.

PS:  It’s like Woodkid grabbed Pharrell’s ankles and pulled him back to the ground but in doing so also gave him wings.  A paradox, I know.

An Internal Flame

 

An internal flame 

flickers and faints,

it’s all the same

panting and paints

a subtle blame

for not being saints.

***