I Hear America Singing

I loved this poem. It was so beautiful. I loved the imagery and the feeling it gave me. Personally, I really really really enjoy singing. So to read a poem that depicts the American people singing, proud of what they do, makes me happy. Even though I know that the poem's not literal, and that he doesn't really mean people are actually singing, I like to picture lots of huge, muscley, dirt-covered blacksmiths and beautiful young mothers singing as they do their daily work. It's lovely.

This is what America should be. People, proud of their work and thier lives, doing good work. Families that love eachother and what they do, and support each other. America singing. When I think of someone singing, I think of someone singing out of joy, so happy the song just bursts out. They can't help it. Or I think of someone singing so, so sadly, out of a grief that's so great they can't stop themselves from wailing in a beautiful ballad. Either of these images makes my heart swell. Singing is such a beautiful way to express your emotions. People singing while they do their work, so filed with emotion that they can't contain themselves. Full of happiness at being alive, being safe and free in America, being loved by someone. People grieving for a loved one, for something in their life that they can't control.

Whether you're singing out of joy or sadness, it's a wonderful thing to sing. Maybe you're proud of your family, maybe you're proud of the life you've created; maybe you're grieving the family you left behind, or the mother you lost. No matter what, you should sing. Sing because you can. Sing because you have a voice.

King Still King?

     Martin Luther King. What an incredible man. One of America's most well-known civil rights leaders. He was, and in my opinion still is, a symbol for those of us who feel they have no place in the world. For those of us who feel segragated against for immoral reasons, for those of us who have been poorly treated because of race or class. Had Martin Luther King not said all he said, and done all he did, perhaps America would not be wehere it is today.
     Yeah, sure, there were others. Yes, eventually someone else would have shone, and yes, evetually racism and segregation probably would have been beaten (for the most part anyway; it's not like it's completely gone everywhere). But would it have happened like it did with King? Would someone else have made such and enormous impact on African American culture? He was so important to America's history.
     And what if he had not been shot? Would people think of him differently, if he had not died for the cause? A martyr for his people, for his American people. Of course, he still made an impact with his words and with his actions, but sometimes (and this might be terrible to even say) a tragedy like a death is just what the world needs to put things into action. Whenever people think of Martin Luther King, they think of a noble man who fought for his cause and went as far as he possibly could.
     Today we have Martin Luther King Day. In my experience, at least with myself and the people I know, this day is not a reflection on him and on the world and what we can do to make it better, just like he did. This is how it should be. Of course, I don't know about other households. Maybe some families have big parties celebrating their hero, their reason for freedom and justice. Maybe some parties mourn for King. I honestly don't know. But I don't think we need a day to remember him by. I think he is still alive in the hearts of every person who cares for others and everyone's independence.

This Sacred Soil

     "This Sacred Soil" is a speech that chief Seattle of the Duwamish and Suquamish fishing tribes made to the Governor of Washington Territory in 1854. Reading this kind of shook me, actually. It just makes me sad. It makes me sad that he was so kind, so cordial, in addressing the Governor. That he seems to be losing hope in his faith and in his people/ But what makes me the most sad of all is the fact that I will never know or fully understand Seattle and his people's ways of life, their view on everything around them. 

     It is so beautiful to read about how "Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished" (p230), how "The very dust upon which you know stand responds more lovingly to [his people's] footsteps than to [the settlers'], because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch" (p230). I love to think of the earth and everything in it as a living thing, with feelings and a conscious mind, connected to every other living thing. 

     Seattle's view of the dead also mystifies me, in a wondrous way. He says there is no death, only a change of worlds. That everyone has their time. Upon first reading this speech, it seems that Seattle is grieving the decay of his people, but he goes on to say he does not mourn the fate of his people. He sees things in a much different way than people today do. He has a different way of looking at life.

     This speech just makes me wish I could be a fly on the wall. Not just in this situation, more than a hundred years ago, but everywhere in the world. I wish I could understand every culture, read every book there was to read about different people, discover new ways of looking at this wonderful life. But at the same time, I find something mysterious and exciting about the fact that each culture is its own, and that's what's special about it. The fact that other cultures don't fully understand it, don't know everything about it, makes it that much more unique. This speech from Chief Seattle really puts life in perspective.