The Flutist

The Flutist

Dawn arrives, and brings with her its incandescent bloom
Amidst the brush, a light-footed, playful chirp
Speaks louder than its spruce companions.
I see a flute, but hear a robin
warbling a continuous, flowing whistle.
The gale which it glides upon
Is spontaneous, alive
Refined by the years.

With elegance and grace
It flies, flutters, soars.
It maneuvers through the technical passages.
My fingers are its wings
We crescendo, achieve enlightenment together
While presenting ourselves on stage.
The robin flies with such beauty
Just as the flutist plays with such experience

But existence cannot be possible without either
I disassemble my flute, put it in its case
And the robin flies back into its cage.
Obedient, cared for by the hands of experience.

English Individual Found Poem

What do I click guys?

Ghosts and Beasts wouldn't make sense 
There are no beasts, no animals 
Yet the darkness was full of claws
Full of the awful unknown and menace.
It followed, touched 
The beast comes out from the sea
Out of the dark.
Jammed in the earth
A gift for the beast was silently accepted.
Yet they were running
As fast as they could towards the open beach. 
Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream
But now out of the terror rose another desire
Thick, urgent, blind
As it came darkly, uncertainly
The crowd surged, poured, leapt on the beast. 
Struck, bit, tore
There were no words, no movements
But the tearing of teeth and claws.
Somewhere over the darkened curve of the world
The sun and moon were pulling a film of water
Moving Simon's dead body toward the open sea.

Lord of the Flies Found Poem

Clicky clicky

Final Thoughts

I think that this book has allowed me to understand the conditions on the battlefield. Too often in media is war portrayed as a gruesome fight between two countries. We are constantly told of the casualties, but never really cared about the people who lost their lives. After reading "Three Day Road," I understand the plights of the soldiers. However, I found it interesting that we would be introduced to their lives outside of battle. They dine at restaurants and chat among each other. It dawned on me that we were no different than the ones fighting for our lives. The soldiers are people, they have names. In a few years, one of our friends could be one of the countless many fighting overseas. Having had a glimpse into their lives, I cannot look away now. I feel nothing but compassion for those touched by the war.

Destination

An amazing journey has come to an end. As I flipped to the last page, I couldn't help but recall the emotional moments in "Three Day Road." Boyden, in under 400 pages, has managed to create a piece of work that I believe will last for a long time. By alternating between the point of view of the characters and the timeline, the author has effectively laid out his story so that the readers' experience is far from disappointing. The questions wrapped up nicely, such as the reason why Niska was expecting Elijah when she saw Xavier. The sentimental moments, such as a characters' death or glory, will forever play in my mind like a movie, as Boyden's language was both descriptive and fluent. I highly recommend it to anyone, and thank my friend and teacher for introducing such a coherent piece of literature to me.

The Number Three

At one point in the story, Xavier makes an interesting note about the white man and the number three. He wonders of our fascination of this number, as he notes that we have a group of three for nearly everything. We have three lines of defense in our armies, and three ranks of war (infantry, cavalry, and artillery). Perhaps the most significant use of the number may also be its origin. Our religion is based off of three beings: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. When I was reading this part, it made me wonder about the significance of the title. The three day road is a journey that one takes when he/she is near death. To some degree, we could say that Xavier is on the three day road. His morphine addiction has become so grave that one could say that he is near death. I wonder if Niska will be able to somehow bring Xavier back from his descent.

Drugs

We all know that drugs can bring about devastating effects, but not many have been influenced by their effects. Witnessing the effects firsthand may have more of an impact than simply reading about them. However, Boyden writes with such fluency that his words seem to paint an accurate image of the effects of war. We are introduced to a morphine addiction through Grey Eyes, who is beginning to influence Elijah. Grey Eyes' addiction has reached the point where he steals morphine from the medics. He almost seems dead until he abruptly coughs back to life. Although Elijah's morphine addiction seems mild at first, he is beginning to show some signs that Grey Eyes had shown. He began asking the medic for some morphine, and left angry when he did not get what he wanted. Elijah's actions make me worry about his downfall. We have connected with him through most of the story; the thought of him meeting a pathetic end evokes sadness from me.