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hprarepairnet · 7 years

Text

sometimes the whole universe runs on irony

get to know our members challenge: favorite rare-pairs - justin finch-fletchley & pansy parkinson (4/5) - vera

setting: canon AU, 4th year. word count: 2092

His life turned drastically at the age of eleven.

He’d grown up in a political family, his father was part of the Cabinet, and throughout his childhood many important players in British politics would come to visit. His parents gave him the best of everything, his friends were the sons and daughters from other influential families, and he always knew he’d be going to Eton, he knew his name was down for it. He never really knew a life outside of luxury and being at the very upper class of the society.

And then came the Hogwarts letter.

Magic was exciting, fascinating, and fun. But what came with it was the cultural shock, the need to adapt for probably what was the very first time in his life, and the new, unknown people who didn’t acknowledge his family’s importance. Well, his housemates were nice enough, but there were other students who openly expressed their thoughts on his muggle heritage.

It kind of struck him, in a moment of realization, how similar the muggle Britain and the magical one were in some aspects. The social hierarchy was still there, but now he was on a different level of it.

Magic was eye-opening, not only in the aspect of the spells and all the creatures he’d never seen before, but also, the pureblood elitist culture that reminded him of a social structure he’d actually seen before, but had never really given it too much thought. You didn’t really need to give something much thought when you had the upper hand, always benefiting from that structure.

Oh yes, this whole new magical world was definitely eye-opening for Justin Finch-Fletchley.

Hufflepuffs and Slytherins shared Charms together. In the fourth year, when the dark-haired Slytherin girl got paired with him for a project – Pansy Parkinson, if Justin remembered her name correctly – she sneered in contempt and muttered something about “the bad luck of getting paired with a mudblood.”

He couldn’t really suppress his slight amusement at this – seriously, the magical world wasn’t that different with the muggle one, was it? Underneath the fancy magical stuff, it was inherently the same. At least in Britain. It was, to be honest, really intriguing.

Justin would’ve chuckled if the long-timed instilled elegance from his childhood permitted himself to do it, but instead, he just raised an amused eyebrow at that. He also had no idea at that he momentarily startled the girl with it and strongly reminded her of one of her friends who had mastered the art of expressing all kinds of subtle opinions through simple expressions such as this.

It would probably amuse him more if he’d known she’d just compared him to one of her Slytherin friends.

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly not expecting his reaction. He couldn’t really blame her, he knew he’d probably be surprised too in her position. He could actually imagine himself being in the position, were he to ever encounter something like this back in the muggle world.

Sometimes, it was hard not to sympathize with someone when they reminded you of yourself in some way. Even if they didn’t treat you nicely. Or perhaps it was precisely because their “not treating you nicely” the part that felt so relatable.

The universe did like its irony, didn’t it? Well, luckily, as a Brit, so did he.

The Hufflepuff Mudblood annoyed her, but also kind of surprised her. Pansy expected anger, or annoyance, or hurt, or a verbal attack back or at least clueless if he’d never heard of the word ‘mudblood’ or whatever, but definitely not an amused raised eyebrow above slightly analytical eyes as if he was studying her and just realized something interesting. Salazar’s sake, she thought that kind of expression was something she could only see on Blaise Zabini. Blaise had it down to an art. (Draco, on the other hand, preferred directing expressing contempt with words like she did.)

She was unwilling to admit it, but the truth was he did intrigue her. And then she noticed the expensive-looking watch he wore on his wrist – she didn’t recognize the brand or anything, probably muggle, but she couldn’t help but admire the elegant and intricate design. And then that pair of leather shoes of his – stop it, she told herself firmly, trying to push the mudblood out of her mind. This wasn’t normal of her, doing this. But how was it possible that a mudblood could dress like this??

Whatever she might want, he continued to stay on her mind.

Annoying filthy mudblood who reacted so differently to her insults that she couldn’t not think about him.

Pansy wasn’t sure how she managed to work with the mudblood for several weeks getting simultaneously irritated at him and more and more intrigued. The mudblood even spoke with some trace of upper class tone sometimes, who would’ve expected that? And for some unknown reason, he didn’t seem to loathe her or other Slytherins like some of his friends did. She sometimes suspected that she was just as interesting to him as he was to her, but she didn’t know what exactly about herself that got him intrigued.

Then came the night of the Yule Ball.

Her date, aka very gay best friend Draco Malfoy, already somehow got himself involved in an argument with Potter, an argument which mysteriously landed them two directly under the mistletoe.

Pansy rolled her eyes at the pair of them now snogging fiercely, and when she turned in another direction she found herself facing her Charms partner. Justin Finch-Fletchley was dressed in one of stunningly handsome-looking dress robes that she’d seen in the latest fashion magazine when she and Draco were trying to pick what they planned to wear to the ball. She remembered the price-tag. A few weeks ago she’d be surprised at how he, a mudblood, could’ve afforded that, but now she was gradually getting used to his unusualness.

“You look nice, Miss Parkinson,” Justin saw the Parkinson girl studying his dress robes and greeted her with a charming grin easily, the way he’d greet the guests at the family balls his father always hosted. It was generally practiced and something a force of habit, but he did genuinely think of her as pretty. Besides (unwittingly) enlightening him on how alike the muggle world and the wizarding world could be, he did like her sleek dark hair that curled up slightly just above the shoulders and her sharp black eyes.

She glared at him, as if unsure what to do with a compliment from someone like him, and he smirked a little at that. Then she said, a little grudgingly, (probably didn’t want to be seen having worse manners than a muggleborn), “Nice robes. Fits you.”

Well, look at how far they’d come – from calling him names and grumbling about the bad luck of getting paired with him to compliments. “Thank you,” he said, graciously. “I ordered it from Twilfitt and Tatting’s after seeing it in the fashion magazine.”

“I didn’t know hufflepuffs read those,” she sneered slightly, but not with the hostility she’d used when they first partnered in class. “Judging by the way you lot dress.”

“I didn’t know the sorting hat used this as a deciding factor,” he countered smoothly, “but I guess you know the wizarding world better than I do.”

She stared at him, and then laughed. “You’re always a surprise, Finch-Fletchley.”

He laughed too, then shrugged easily. “My parents always raised me to dress nicely and keep up with the latest fashion and all that. And I didn’t really change my way of doing things after coming to the wizarding world.” Then he looked her straight into the eyes, “While the blood didn’t matter, the upbringing does affect a person in some way sometimes. Don’t you agree?”

Pansy narrowed her eyes at him, feeling the question was more calculated then it looked on the surface. She wanted to tell him that blood mattered, that even a blood-traitor like Weasley was cleaner than his blood, but she wasn’t so sure anymore.

He didn’t wait for her response as he continued, “And while upbringing does have its effects, it doesn’t necessarily make you superior or inferior either.”

She decided to just dodge the question, this was too much for her to contemplate on a Yule Ball. She was supposed to be enjoying herself, not solving complicated conscience issues or whatever. (Still, in some way, she was enjoying all this. He was intriguing and interesting company to chat with, she had to admit.)

“How alike, are the muggle world and wizarding world exactly?” She finally asked.

He seemed amused by the question, and grinned at her, “Interesting you should ask … did you know you and your house were the ones to get me pondering the exact same question after I arrived at Hogwarts?”

She snorted, “Ah, the irony.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. Then he glanced at her dress again, and surprised her with his offer, “I could take you shopping in the muggle London during the Christmas holidays if you’d like to experience it. I have a feeling you’ll like Harrods.”

She frowned at him, while she was tempted by the offer because she already sort of got the idea that he came from a quite rich muggle family, she couldn’t really imagine herself shopping at muggle London. Muggle London. Just – the disgrace. She could imagine her parents’ reaction if they ever found out …

“What makes you think I’ll be interested?” Pansy asked haughtily, crossing hands across her chest.

He wasn’t intimidated by her attitude, nor annoyed. She had to give him credit for that. Hufflepuff mudblood he might be, Justin Finch-Fletchley didn’t lack social grace. He smiled at her, and at that moment she found his smile more charming than any of her housemates’ had ever been. “I don’t know, and I’m honestly also surprised you’re interested in spending your Yule Ball with a muggleborn chatting about the difference of the muggle world and wizarding world, instead of dancing with a fellow pureblood.”

“I should be doing that,” she muttered.

“Well, I’m certainly not stopping you from leaving,” he shrugged again, with that elegant grace that made her wondered yet again how a hufflepuff mudblood could manage it.

Pansy glared at him, knowing that he was right. Then she made the decision she really hoped she wouldn’t regret. She tried her best intimidating glare on him and said, “The shopping trip better not disappoint.”

He smiled, with the confidence that she’d beginning to find annoying on Draco or Blaise presumably because she was tired by the excessive amount of it, but she realized that she liked this air of confidence on Justin Finch-Fletchley for some reason. “It won’t,” he said, then extended an arm at her, “Since I already occupy so many of your time discussing serious topics such as culture differences … might I offer you a dance as compensation?”

A part of her of wanted to say no, but she’d already agreed on going shopping with him in muggle London that this probably couldn’t hurt. Plus, he did look nice in that robes of his, nice and elegant as if he’d been raised as a Malfoy or a Black. Also, her original date was probably already shagging The Boy Who Lived in some dark broom closet by now. Ah well … “I guess so,” she finally said and took his arm.

She admitted she deliberately danced way too quickly, just to see if he could keep up with her. She wasn’t really surprised – she was now well passed the stage where she’d be easily surprised by Justin Finch-Fletchley – but she was still impressed when he did. Merlin, he was a good dancer. Probably another of the upbringing thing he mentioned.

When she somehow accidentally steered him too quickly and landing them under the mistletoe, she found herself more … excited than panicking. Who would’ve thought that? If someone had told her earlier this semester that she’d come to enjoy a non-pureblood’s presence so much and even anticipating kissing him under the mistletoe, she’d likely laughed in their face.

But now, here she was. Fate did love making people contradicting their past selves, didn’t she? Without much hesitation, she kissed him. It tasted as nice as he looked in his handsome robes.

As they slowly broke apart, he whispered, “Don’t forget, muggle London shopping during the holidays.”

“Of course,” she whispered back, “don’t disappoint me.”

It was a date.

(Also on FFN) (And AO3)

A/N: Hiiiii guys it’s Vera (ff-sunset-oasis) here! I’d like to quickly talked about why this super rare pair is one of my favorites. I mean, you probably know I ship Pansy with quite a lot of people but wondering like, why Justin, of all people? Okay so I think he’s actually an interesting character with his background and could’ve been more utilized in canon. It was implied that he came from probably a long line of upper class Brits and there’s the possibility that his family was quite influential politically in Muggle Britain. Almost like the muggle version of Draco in some way.

This contrasts greatly with his position - a Hufflepuff muggleborn - after he come to Hogwarts. He probably realized about the unfairness and the prejudice that he never noticed before and hence a character development arc. Let him converse with Pansy and he could probably make her realize HER own prejudice like she made him realized HIS own from the past. It’s a redemption arc for both of them in some way. I’ve also talked about all this and some more in this post if you’re interested.

Anyway that’s about the gist of it thank you so much for reading <3

Vera

#gtk #justin finch fletchley #pansy parkinson #justin x pansy #pansy x justin #vera #fanfiction #hprarepairnetchallenge

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yeswesaythings · 7 years

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(Poe + Chemis)try

I: The best place to start is the beginning, so tell me, when did you start writing poetry?

D: I started writing junior year. I had a couple assignments to do for my Brit Lit class and my teacher was like, “Wow, this is really good! You should keep writing,” and so I kind of did.

I: Who are your influences?

D: Well, I don’t really know writing-wise. Definitely my teacher, Mr. Lancaster, Randy. Randy Lancaster. Everything that I write goes into a folder in my Google Docs called Lancaster, and then there are subfolders in that. But he’s the one that makes me keep writing and everything. In terms of people that I read, poetry-wise, Shakespeare and e e cummings are my two favorite, so they have some influence. I kind of write whatever comes to my head.

I: I know e e cummings, his big thing is taking the typography of the words and using it as part of the artistic work of the poem. Is that something that you do at all?

D: Sometimes. It just depends on what I’m writing. Most of the time, when I write, it’s just- I can’t think straight and so to think straight, I have to organize it into a poem, and so it’s just a flood of emotion and so sometimes, when I’m freethinking, like I’m looking out at the sky and a thought popped into my head, I’ll actually try to type up something and I’ll use the typography there.

I: So, this Shakespeare fellow…what is it about him that just grips you and says, “This guy, this guy’s on to something.”

D: His puns. He has so many puns in his writing, and unless you know the context of when he wrote and what he wrote, you don’t really get it. Like in Hamlet, he uses a sun/son pun constantly, the uncle says to Hamlet, “Oh, you need to spend more time in the sun,” or whatever, because he looks ill, and Hamlet says, “No, I’m too much in the son.” And so son is also a form for king, and he’s like, “No, I don’t like it, you’re stupid.”

I: So, of all his works, which would you say is your favorite one?

D: Merchant of Venice. Or at least of the ones that I’ve read.

I: Why? Take your time.

D: That’s a hard question. I like the deeper meaning to it and I just love the character Portia, the character development of Portia.

I: What is the deeper meaning, in your words?

D: Okay, so basically, in the book, Portia has a bunch of suitors who come and they have to- There are three different chests: Gold, silver and lead. And they have to pick one and whichever one holds her picture, if they pick that one, then they get to marry her. And her father set it up. I like the way that her father set it up because, spoiler alert-

I: I’ve read it, don’t worry.

D: The picture winds up being in the lead casket. And so not many people would pick that one. They’re like, “Oh, it’s probably in the gold or the silver,” because there’s inscriptions on each. I don’t remember what they are.

I: Isn’t one of them the line, “All that glitters is not gold”?

D: No, that’s in the note inside the gold casket.

I: Okay, I’m mixing things up then.

D: But I like it because it shows that not everything is on the outside and the more humble you are… I’m trying to remember, I haven’t read it in so long. There was a way Randy described it that I just really like and I don’t remember what he said. But, basically, the people with deeper meaning, deeper thought processes- The one who thinks, he’s more humble, he’s like, “I’m not worth that much.” But he’s also one that has higher thought process and thinks more and spends more time looking at the world from his perspective and figuring out what that is. So basically, just being yourself and using your mind rewards you in the end.

I: I’ve talked with someone that didn’t agree that Shakespeare in classes, high school, even at the college level. Do you agree or is there any value still to be gained today?

D: There’s a lot of value to be gained from Shakespeare. However, you’re not going to get any value if you don’t want to read it. And that’s the big problem, is that it’s written in Old English, so not many teenagers are able to fully appreciate what he wrote.

I: So, the No Fear Shakespeare and the Shakespeare translated into emoji?

D: That’s a great idea, I love that. It really helps, because you get the story along. And you miss some of the puns along the way because there is some stuff inherent in the writing, but if you get the storyline, his themes and his plot and everything still comes across very strongly if it’s done correct.

I: Is that something worth doing with all literature? Because Shakespeare’s only one author that wrote in that style, and you have authors that wrote even as recently as the 1800s that some people find completely impenetrable. Nathaniel Hawthorne, for example.

D: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s spends one chapter talking about a door, but once you get into the book, it’s pretty good. So, yeah, I think that would be a good idea for any sort of classic literature that everybody needs to read. Because a majority of the time, we determine a classic based on the story and the theme. And you do lose a lot with the writing, but once you read the story and you get the story down, if you like it, then you’re more likely to go back and read the original text.

I: So, it’s simplification with the hopes that people will go and read the real thing later on?

D: Yes.

I: Do you think writing has become too simplified nowadays?

D: What do you mean by that?

I: Well, so for example, you have works like Shakespeare and other authors that you really have to sit down and try to work out what they’re saying. But then you look at the great authors of today, and maybe it’s too soon to say who the great authors are of the 21st century or the 20th century, but would you say that the writing has, not been dumbed down, but it does not take as much effort to read?

D: That’s also because in today’s world, our vocabulary is a lot smaller. Back in Shakespeare’s time, everybody used, I think it was 16,000 to 20,000 different words a day. Nowadays, we use 5,000 to 8,000, depending on who we are. And the 16,000 was the common people. They were very well educated, they had a much wider vocabulary. They didn’t have all this science and technology, but they were aware of what they were saying and the differences between words and what those differences mean. And today, a lot of people don’t even know the difference between homophones, where it sounds the same but it’s a different word. So, I think the writing reflects the society.

I: How do you go about fixing something like that? Let’s say, tomorrow, we have elected ----- as education grandmaster. How do you go about fixing it?

D: Well, the easiest way, if we’re talking strictly about vocabulary and English, the easiest way to gain a wider vocabulary is to read. So just get people to start reading what they like, and once you get them reading what they like, then they’ll read more and more. And they’ll have a wider vocabulary, they’ll be able to use big words like lackadaisical or zealous, and even though those aren’t actually big words, they’ll know what they mean. They’ll use them in casual conversation more. And if you can get them reading, then the writers who read more and who read at a higher level will eventually have higher levels of writing.

I: Okay, so now tell me about chemistry.

D: Do you really want to know about chemistry?

I: I want to know everything about chemistry.

D: Well, where do you want me to start?

I: Your favorite aspect of chemistry.

D: My favorite aspect of chemistry? That’s a hard one. Well, okay, you’ve got the basic trinity, the trinity of chemistry. There’s thermodynamics, equilibrium and kinetics. And within those, equilibrium is the hardest, with buffers, even though buffers aren’t a hard concept. But for some reason, the math always makes it a lot harder than it needs to be. Thermodynamics is nice and easy, the first thing you teach people in Gen Chem 2, just something to ease them into it. Kinetics isn’t that bad, either.

I: It’s all easy!

D: There are hard aspects to most of it, but thermodynamics is definitely the easiest. That’s why they teach it first. And that’s just all about the heat and the entropy, which is the disorder, and why reactions happen and what makes them spontaneous, what makes them happen at certain temperatures just automatically. And then you get into equilibrium and it’s how far the reaction will go, will you have ingredients left over that you started with, and all that. And kinetics is how fast a reaction happens, which is actually really interesting because some happen instantaneously and so you have to go in and set in intermediary reactions so that you can see the reaction happen.

I: So, you’re a chemical engineering major. So, what do you want to do with it? What is your dream job?

D: Okay, well, I’ve got a biomolecular concentration, so there’s actually two ways that I want to go. I either, probably first, and then later- But first, I want to go into research and development of pharmaceuticals. And I want to go into finding a cure for viral infections.

I: So you’re at your bachelor’s degree now. So, is it master’s, doctorate as your path?

D: I don’t know. It depends on jobs. So I’m going to co-op while I’m in undergrad, and if I find a company that wants to hire me right out of undergrad and then pay me to get my master’s later, I’ll do that. Otherwise, I’ll go straight into master’s, because I just like school, which is weird, but I like it. And I don’t want to take a year off because I don’t know that I’ll go back.

I: Would you ever consider being a chemistry teacher of sorts?

D: That was my second thing. I don’t have the patience to do elementary or middle school. And then once I get to high school, it’s just too basic of chemistry. I don’t know, I like the harder stuff. I could do an AP chemistry course, but I’d want to be a college professor.

I: So, if you could design, let’s say, the curricula for a standard, elementary beginner’s chemistry, what would it look like?

D: A beginner’s chemistry?

I: Not even for people that want to go into chemistry, but an, “Introduction to Chemistry for People That Aren’t STEM Majors, But Who Want to Understand the Concepts of Chemistry.” What would you put in there? What would be the most important facets for them to learn?

D: Well, first thing they need to learn is they need to learn that units are important. So, the different types of units, the SI system-

I: Why are units important?

D: Units are- They- See, I don’t even know why units wouldn’t be important. But units are important because different systems- Like, you have a gram and you have a kilogram. Those are both the same weight, but it could be one kilogram is a thousand grams. So it’s going to mess up your math if you don’t have the right units. But you need units. And then, based off of units, you need stoichiometry.

I: What is that?

D: That’s just conversions, basic conversions. So, usually it’s based off of the chemical equation. And you’ll have, like, I believe it’s two hydrogen plus oxygen makes two water. Alright? So you have that, and so you take everything- Let’s say you have two grams of hydrogen, two grams of oxygen. That sounds nice, right? Alright, you’re going to have a little bit of oxygen left over, but that’s fine. Oxygen is good.

I: I breathe that stuff in.

D: So you have the grams, you have the mass. But then you have to get it into moles, because mass is relative based on- Mass is a relative, it doesn’t compute all the way through for each element because each element has a different molar mass and everything. So you have to get it to moles, and that’s the basic amount of how many you have. So moles can be broken down into molecules, into atoms. And that’s by a constant. 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd.

I: That number!

D: That’s Avogadro’s number, also known as “avocado”, “guacamole”- No, I’m sorry, “guaca-mole”, “free shavacadu”.

I: We should stop now, these are only getting worse.

D: I know…

I: What’s next?

D: So, you get everything to moles and then you can just convert based on the ratio of the equation. So you’ve got two hydrogen for one oxygen. So it’s a two to one ratio. And then you figure out which one goes on the bottom, which one goes on top, based on what you have already and make the units cancel. And then you just do that, you do the math out and you’re like, “Hey, I’m going to have, like, two moles of water,” or if you want grams, that’d be, like, 32 grams of water. Yes, I know that! 18.02 is the molar mass of water. I know a lot of molar masses.

I: Wow, that’s so impressive. So, anything else or are those the main points?

D: Well, I don’t know, because you have to get stoichiometry in there, but there’s a lot of basic concepts that I’ve learned, and I remember learning and I remember that it was difficult at the time, but now it’s so basic to me, based on everything else that I’ve built on it, that I just don’t even know what it is that was basic. It’s like, I’m in Calc 3, and I know that I had to learn addition and subtraction, I know that was hard and I know that it was important, but I forget that people still need to learn that.

I: Why is chemistry important? Why is it even something worth learning?

D: Why is chemistry important? It makes up everything, and you hear that a lot. Like, chemistry makes up everything. But when you break it down, you get to see- I like chemistry because physics tells you how the world works, right? That’s cool, that’s interesting. I like physics. But chemistry breaks it down on a molecular level, on a level that we can’t even see. And so, for me, it’s interesting to know what goes on that I can’t see, I can’t experience. But it’s important because we use it in everything. We use chemistry in medicine. We use it in makeup. Makeup is one of the biggest fields of chemical engineers and I refuse to go into it. It’s just used in everything, it’s in the air we breathe, it’s in photosynthesis, it’s in respiration. It’s just a part of everything. So if you want to know anything about the world, we have to know chemistry.

I: So, what made you decide chemical engineering instead of just chemistry by itself?

D: Oh, I love math.

I: There’s not much actual math in chemistry by itself?

D: There’s some calculations, but it’s not math. It’s not thinking.

I: What is it exactly that chemical engineers do?

D: Chemical engineering is such a broad field, so it just depends what you go into. So, like me, with a biomolecular concentration, I’m doing chemistry, physics and biology. And math. So I take all of that and I apply it to real life. So, the major field for that is pharmaceuticals, like going in and figuring out different ways to make medicine, different ways to manipulate human biology with their chemistry and use chemicals to go in- Manipulate it so that we can get rid of diseases, we can get rid of viruses. I was on a roll there, and then it just stopped.

I: There might be someone who is interested in chemistry but then at the same time, they might say, “What is biology but just applying the things I’ve done in chemistry?”

D: So, a lot of scientists like to make fun of biologists because they think that it’s not a real science. They’re like, “It’s half a science,” is pretty much what you hear. And it’s all in good fun and we know that we need biology and everything. It’s like the way all engineers make fun of civ-E’s, civil engineers.

I: You’re so mean.

D: You have to make fun of someone. Who do math majors make fun of?

I: Applied mathematicians.

D: See?

I: Alright, fair enough.

D: But biology is the application of chemistry, but there’s also so much more that doesn’t deal directly with the chemicals. It focuses more on the cellular aspect, whereas we focus on the atoms that make up the cells. So if you’re looking at it microscopically, we look at the smallest possible unit of life. No, not of life. Smallest possible unit of matter. They look at the smallest possible unit of life. And so they focus more on the life aspect, we focus more on matter and what makes up everything, animate and inanimate.

I: So, if you weren’t anything related to chemistry, or math- I already know where that answer would go- what would you be?

D: Nothing chemistry and nothing math?

I: Right.

D: I would be an English major.

I: Oh, okay, it’s not the answer I was expecting. I guess that wraps back around to poetry again, let’s see if-

Poetry

I Run

Smack

Power flows through my veins

As my muscles carry me further and further

Breaths are short- but quick

I fly.

I fly without even leaving the ground.

Faster and faster

I’ve passed the point where I couldn’t keep going.

Now I fly forever.

As I fly, I feel

The power of my muscles,

The strength of my legs,

The obedience of my feet

I laugh.

I laugh out of sheer exhilaration

I’m power

I’m strength

I’m obedience

I’m pure determination.

I run.

My Rainy Day

Shall I compare thee to a rainy day?

Thou do makest me more melancholy.

Thou art the clouds that scud across the sky,

Except your gloom brings me far more dismay.

When memories of thee tickle my brain,

Thorns prick my heart, and I fall to my knees.

Thou art cruel and mean to leave me be.

Thou came; Thou loved, and thou went away.

Yet, I love thee still to this very hour.

Your death was debilitating, a plague.

The loss of thee is a scourge upon my heart.

I long for your love; ‘twas a heady power.

But now, alone, I waste away in this vague

Life. Indistinct and bitter, Life is hard.

The Pickle

There once was a pickle

Who was very, very fickle.

You see he wanted to do

Things the wrong way ‘round.

He wanted to take

The train back into

Good ol’ Cucumber Town.

Now we all know

That a pickle is evil

And cucumbers are good.

So why would we want a pickle to be

Changed back into

A cucumber?

Well, this pickle was set.

He was going to change.

He was on the way to good everlasting.

But then one day, the children came

And ate the pickle.

He never got the chance

To redeem himself

Because he waited too long.

So, the moral of the story

Is to be ready when the children come.

Well, there once was a man

Named Mr. Pickle.

He was very, very fickle.

You see he wanted to do

Things the wrong way ‘round.

He was on the crazy train

And headed down.

Now we all know

That to be mean is bad

And to be good is great.

So why would we want

Mr. Pickle to walk away

From Heaven’s gates?

So, I told the tale

Of the fickle pickle to

Cranky ol’ Mr. Pickle.

Well, he didn’t listen,

So he wasn’t ready

The day the Good Lord came.

What is a Word?

What is a word?

A word is nothing more

Than a series of letters

That we have denoted a certain meaning to.

What is a letter?

A letter is nothing more

Than a combination of markings

That we have associated a specific sound with.

So what is a word?

A word is nothing more

Than a series of [combinations of markings

That we have associated a specific sound with]

That we have denoted a certain meaning to.

But why?

We give meaning to specific sounds

So that we can communicate ideas

To share in and ameliorate the lives of those around us.

What is a word?

A word is nothing more

Than a series of combinations of markings

That we have associated a specific sound with

That we have denoted a certain meaning to

[So that we can communicate ideas

To share in and ameliorate the lives of those around us].

If a word is meant to express an idea, a concept, an opinion

If a word is meant to help us share in the lives of those around us

If a word is meant to ameliorate lives

What are we doing?

We spout gibberish about garbage and call it communication.

We say words we don’t mean.

We say more words to those across the world than in our own homes.

We use words to destroy and build up.

We stop people from using the words they want

Because we are scared of their power.

Words are not power.

Power is a word.

Words are not passion and anger and love.

Passion and anger and love are words.

Words are not wisdom and knowledge and advice.

Wisdom and knowledge and advice are words.

Words are tools.

They are neither construction nor destruction.

It is not the words that we should be scared of.

It is not the sounds that we need to parole.

Because what is a word?

A word is nothing more

Than a series of combinations of markings

That we have associated a specific sound with

That we have denoted a certain meaning to

So that we can communicate ideas

To share in and ameliorate the lives of those around us.

Words are useless without their meanings

Use words

Choose them well

But be wary of the meaning that they denote

For that is where the power lies.

#poetry #chemistry #english

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