It feels so simple, but words mean the world to me.
That might be a cliche thing to say, but it really is true. I have been intrigued by the ways and workings of writing since I was young. My parents were not your average parents when it came to Saturday morning cartoons. They handed me a variety of history picture books and classic fairytales and I read.
Read the words of authors that painted pictures in my mind. Princesses on large, white horses. Knights running through forests to save the maidens in peril. And most importantly, my favorite, historical reading of all the United States Presidents, courtesy of my dad.
In all these years, I have found something interesting.
It is the small phrases that stay with me the most. That includes the quotes, the short stories, the poems. Even song lyrics, that I will hear in a fleeting moment, have a tendency to stick with me for years to come.
I have compiled these pieces into one to demonstrate their strength. They each with their own prolific meaning.
"ladies bathed before non, after their three-clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting of sweat and sweet talcum."
This quote comes directly from one of my most treasured reads of all time.
To Kill A Mockingbird by the sensational Harper Lee holds a special place in my heart and soul. I read this book for the first time in the eighth grade and was forever changed. At the start of the novel, Scout Finch, the main character of the story, is describing her hometown of Maycomb.
She tells of the people and the way they interact and move. The men and women sweating in the Alabama heat. The red clay coming up along the edges of the horse's feet and hoves.
Yet, all of the descriptions have a bit of a negative interpretation. This was something I connected to because of where I grew up. I grew up in a small town at the base of the north Georgia mountains, were time moved so slow that it fell like molasses dripping from the comb.
It never felt like a place I wanted to call home. Neither does Scout. Both of us contained aspirations too big for words.
"for the yellow smoke that slides along the street, rubbing its back upon the window-panes."
A short story for your knowledge.
These words come from the innovative T.S. Eliot. A man who paved the way for modern storytelling. I read his short story, 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' only a few years back. It goes into depth about the workings of love and nightfall.
In the story, Eliot keeps bringing up these metaphors of yellow smog or smoke that drifts down the dark London streets. At first, you believe it to be light coming to break the darkness. To shine in on the main character, J. Alfred Prufrock. Yet, it isn't the light, it's a cat, prancing in the street lights of the night.
I found this peculiar, yet it made perfect sense.
The cat accompanies Eliot on his journey to find a lost of love. It is the lens that the audience can see through. The writing is magnificent. A loss for words.
"some lose all mind and become soul, insane. Some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual, some lose both and become excepted."
This quote always stumped me. It wasn't until I was older did I understand.
Charles Bukowski.
The man that wrote and wrote about his experience in life, transforming them to perfect poems that just make sense. That is what is meant by them. To just make sense. He wrties from the perspective of anyone who writes to release emotion.
"promise that you'll stay here, you and I can lay here, until the end of time."
Rex Orange County has a way with words.
'Coudroy Dreams' has a way into my heart. Every time I hear it, it makes me feel the love I hope to find. He sings about a long distance love that he falls harder for every time he sees here. If that isn't easy love, I don't know what is.
"the ground beneath their feet is a nautical mapped sheet, as thin as paper while slips away from view."
These lyrics are unmatched.
I say that with all seriousness. 'Mansard Roof' by Vampire Weekend is probably one of my favorite songs of all time. Of my life. Of my generation. It depicts the lives of the wealthy in Ivy League, New England with an outsiders view looking in. Ezra Koenig is the singer and lyrical writer.
He is a visionary. That is all I will say.
I hear this song and it makes me want to run free, find love and live life.
All of these words, speak to me. It is that simple.
