Poem: "Ringlorn"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is the second freebie for the September 3, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl, thanks to new prompter scrubjayspeaks. It fills the "Seeing from a Different Perspective" square in my 9-1-24 card for the People with Disabilities Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows series.


"Ringlorn"
the wish that the modern world felt as epic as
the one depicted in old stories and folktales --
a place of tragedy and transcendence,
of oaths and omens and fates, where
everyday life felt like a quest for glory,
a mythic bond with an ancient past, or
a battle for survival against a clear enemy,
rather than an open-ended parlor game
where all the rules are made up
and the points don't matter


No matter how lost or restless you feel,
how out of place in the world, there is
still magic just around the corner.

There is still meaning, but you
might need to garden your own
instead of having it dropped in
your lap by a wandering wizard.

The tragedy is there, too, needing
someone to provide comfort for it.

The past sleeps under the soil,
waiting for an archaeologist
to come and kiss it awake.

The quests can be taken up
by any activist willing to mount
and start tilting at the windmills.

The mountains are still out there, just
waiting to be climbed because they exist.

All it takes to find the myth is listening,
and all it takes to spot the plot is
seeing from a different perspective.

The enemy, too, is out there waiting.

There will always be enemies, and
danger, for that is the way of life.

It's just that the evil is subtler now,
better hidden, harder for heroes to dig out.

It's still there, wedged in nooks and crannies,
sucking the life and joy out of everything,

and the world absolutely does need saving.

So what are you going to do about it?

* * *

Notes:

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 31. Simon & Schuster, 2021.

This comes after "Maru Mori."

* * *

4 Ways to Become an Activist -- Wikihow

How to be an effective activist -- Yerp

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Supporting a Cause: How to Get Started + 12 Methods

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In my experience, the method with the most throughput of people saying "I did the thing" is plain old storytelling. YMMV.

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Comments

[siliconshaman]

I did not even know there was a word for that, (and one with an obvious origin!) but you just put a name to a feeling I've had since I read "Glory Road" as a kid.