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Happy New Year Students!

 

Many of you know that one of my weird childhood pastimes was digging for worms in my backyard. Today let’s take a look at some other worms.

 

Langston Hughes said in his poem Tired that he was tired of waiting for the world to improve. Read on.

 

 

You might see the first 4 lines of this poem on posters or literary memes. Why don't we ever see the last 4 lines as well? Many things we read are taken completely out of context; this is a clear example. We also see a very obvious (Thank you!) example of Hughes' tone shift, and we must learn to spot such shifts in order to make rhetorical and literary analyses. But I digress. There's plenty of time for that kind of instruction.

 

I think the reason we don't see the last 4 lines quoted very much is because they imply actions that Hughes thinks should be taken. Hard ones. Action takes determination and energy and - oh yes - a goal. I am tired, too. Of so many things. I know you are as well. But mostly, I am tired of not being all that I could be, of often doing tasks that I see as unworthy, rather than high-minded and "moral" and helpful to the world or to others or even to myself. Sometimes, these tasks are required of me by my job and are not my idea; sometimes they are just stupid things that are my idea, like taking a Facebook quiz to discover my Hippie Name. But when I am too tired to rise to my potential, I sink to something else. 

 

I sink to the wrong side of Tired, the kind that is lazy and distracted and hungry for all the wrong food - actual, intellectual, and spiritual. There's another side of Tired (maybe even parallel universes) where I think Hughes lived. It's Sick and Tired. And we get the feeling he would like to take that knife in hand and expose those hidden worms. I remember the first time I came face to face with my first fat green hornworm on a tomato vine. I screamed. It was horrifying. When I imagine such worms eating at my own potential, I want to scream and move to  the right side of Tired.

     Reflecting on our potential is scary, but reflecting on our flaws is easy. I don't know if I can cut myself open and see what is eating at my rind; however, I expect that if I could do such psycho-surgery, I would find feasting little worms sharing my own DNA. Wow. Sounds a lot like cannibalism. 

     What if I could replace those critters with something strong and powerful, nurturing and nourishing, encouraging and hopeful, and a lot of kick-butt? Can my own DNA produce something like that? Absolutely. Charles Dickens said, "The important thing is this: to be ready at any time to sacrifice what you are for what you could become." I think, for obvious reasons, "sacrifice" is the key word. Ironically, Janis Joplin said, "Don't compromise yourself. You're all you've got." So I say this: my resolution for the future, not just 2017, is to focus on good goals everywhere and keep hunting out those dang worms.

     I don't know who takes the knife in hand to cut open the world, but Hughes invites "us" and I think we should accept.

     

Here's a neat musical interpretation of Tired

 

1 January 2017