the Story and the Book

And I will die alone
and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
because death is just so full
and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind
and what's before.

And there will come a time,
you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart,
but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see
what you find there,
With grace in your heart
and flowers in your hair.

-After the Storm, Mumford & Sons

I love when a writer can put something down on paper that has an old tune to it. Human and raw.

I appreciate it when a writer doesn't have to know everything about what he writes about. Music, like life, like church, should make us uncomfortable. Whenever we settle in, and are decided, we rest on our haunches, and are not really living any more. There is a time for soothing music, and this song most definitely has a soothing element, it ends well. But most of their songs don't. And I feel that is because most of life doesn't.

I got so sick of writing poetry that has to be redeemed at the end. Because it is not true to life. There is so much pain on this earth that we, in our current body, do not see an end to. To ignore the hurt and pain, the tears in red eyes, would be naive and would push people away from the truth that it is an intense part of life. But also a purposeful one.

Not every story has to end well. Not every poem should end on a high note.

Because the book does. The book does, and that is enough.