I don't remember when I first encountered Holden Caulfield, but I suspect that he squeezed into my youthful reading somewhere between Alice and Jane Eyre. Holden may have used earthier terms than the girls but his task was similar: seeking a meaningful path through awkward or even incomprehensible circumstances.
They all had to deal with phonies and nonsense, and they all had trouble keeping their heads when all about were losing theirs. Holden could have gleaned some travel tips from Jane, and Alice could have shared some strategies for dealing with life's Tweedledees and Tweedledums. Imagine Alice, Holden, and Jane meeting in that Big Library in the Sky and continuing their journeys together--that would be a trip worth reading about.
Jane walked,
Alice ran,
and Holden took a bus.
Across a heath,
a wood, a park--
through nonsense, pain, and fuss.
With great aplomb
they wandered on
through trials I'll never face:
through reason's rhymes
and seasons' times--
they journeyed in my place.
Today's challenge: write a tribute to an author or character who carried you through difficult journeys.
Boo
ReplyDeleteYou moved me through
the time when I knew not
who I was
or what I would do
with the fluid words
that flew through my days
taunting me
You moved me to use
what I knew to
find my own truth
be my own muse
refuse the seducing
of others
who choose to see untruth
and never break through
Boo