Hello, Violence

Posted on by

<blows off dust>

I haven’t written anything in a long, long time.

I will.  One day.  Promise.

I don’t know if this counts as writing, really.  I suppose it is in the same way Weird Al writes songs.  But this isn’t a parody.  Maybe more of a tribute, but “tribute” feels like I’m giving honor to something, and that isn’t quite right.

I was just compelled to write.  For the first time in months.  Hopefully, I’ll be driven to do something else – something that will truly make a difference in quashing the violent landscape in which we raise our children.

But for now – I write.  And today, it’s a revision of some classic lyrics.  While Simon and Garfunkel penned the original in 1964 (yeah, before most of your PARENTS were born, shaddup) I was inspired by the 2015 cover performed by Disturbed.

So, for this installation, please follow along to the music with the lyrics below:

(click here for audio)

Hello darkness, my old friend
I see it’s time we meet again
Witnessed yet one more ruthless shooting
Left its victims brutally bleeding
And the vision that unfolded on our screens
Haunted me
Tragic refrains of violence

It hit us in a storm of shame
That things could not remain the same
But ‘neath the halo of our grieving
We formed new enemies with shrill screaming
As our hearts were re-broken with the shots from the left and right
That fueled the fight
And smeared the stains of violence

And in the arguments I saw
No one did anything at all
Debating over all the same old things
Vested in being right, but not changing
Sanctimoniously strong, refusing any compromise
As children died
And once more came the violence

Fools! I cried. How don’t you know
Violence like a cancer grows
When you refuse to bend, we all will break
Remaining obstinate is our mistake
But my pleas fell silent through the roar

of the hurricane of violence

And the people cowed and brayed
Of the metal gods they’d made
And the world flashed out its warning
Of the monster it was forming
And the creature scribed the tears of its prophets on tombstones and on graves
Yet we remain
Prisoners of the chains of violence

I will never give up on prayers.  Prayers work, and they’re hella powerful.  But in addition to praying for peace, let’s pray for change.  And then let’s use the abilities our Maker blessed us with and BE that change.

 

951fc036e589f9c9ac5146a5ffd99d4a

Can I get an Amen?

12 thoughts on “Hello, Violence”

  6. I’m stuck in Covid Land and scrolling through past posts. I saw a comment you had made and I thought, “Hey, I haven’t heard from Carrots in a long time. Wonder what she’s been up to?”

    And I am hoping she is somewhere safe and self-fulfilled. Even though her last post was in 2018. My own 2019 was rough. 2020 is turning out boringly brutal with homeschooling and few breaks from the constant-in-your-faced-ness of my child. But right now I’m at a library which recently extended its hours to 8:00 pm! Woo hoo! There’s something really right about being able to focus on a page without constant interruptions from a child. I should tell that to the woman who brought an over-eager, strident child to the library….

    I will wait in hope that you are someday in a place to come back to visit the WordPress ghosts you left behind.

    Like

    Reply ↓

  7. Going through an older post of mine, I saw a comment you made. And that made me think, “Hey, I haven’t heard from Carrots in a long time…I’m guessing things got more complicated than expected and life has you trapped under mountains of responsibility. If and when you come back to the blog-o-sphere, I will hope you look me up. I miss your writing. (Even if it takes me a while to notice it’s gone!)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

I love comments almost as much as shoes and coffee...hint, hint.