Essay

Oz Essay #2

A Leap of Faith

By: Stephanie Li

The dainty little city is filled with royalty, common folk, and peasants – all made from China. They live peacefully in a world they call their own, exclusive to the land of Munchkins and Winged Monkeys. Suddenly, the city is in shambles; teapot-shaped houses have become shattered pieces on the ground, the little dainty people are broken and quickly forgotten. Adaptations often take on new meanings after altering the events of the story; this is the case in L. Frank Baum’s world of Oz. when Dorothy encounters the China country. Whether it is the yellow brick road representing gold or the Winged Monkeys paralleling the circumstances of Native Americans, most characters and events are recreations of interpreted truths as morals of the real world. The China princess, introduced in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, along with the film adaptations Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) and Dorothy of Oz (2014), conveys the notion that by not taking advantage of opportunities, someone can miss their chances of gaining something that will benefit them in the future.

Kings and queens, princesses and princes, stroll through the streets of the country made entirely out of China. They are ignorant to the commotion beyond the wall.

The China princess’s rejection to Dorothy’s invitation of joining her in Kansas reflects her timid personality and discouraged thoughts on protecting her country. With this in mind, if one were to relate the China princess’s character to history, she resembles Tzu Hsi, the Dowager Empress during the 1900s (Taylor). She opposes foreigners trespassing into the China Country and having the power to destroy all sectors of society because it threatens their power. The China princess’s reaction to Dorothy running after her reflects how fragile and defenseless she is: “‘Don’t chase me! Don’t chase me!’ She had such a frightened little voice…” (Baum 93). This scene parallels the situation of the scramble of China when intruders trespassed into the country during a time where they were disadvantaged. Similar to how the China princess is too small and weak to force Dorothy out of her home, Tzu Hsi and her country were vulnerable to the partition of their territory to stronger powers, also known as “spheres of influence” (Taylor). Initially a strong country with a strong leader, China did not take action. This relates to how the China princess could have done something about her vulnerability and exposure to outsiders.

Broken faces and bodies are shattered on the white floors, smoke from the wreckage drifts slowly into the sky with no sign of life anywhere.

The China doll in the Oz the Great and Powerful is depicted much differently from the China Princess in the original book because she willingly leaves her country to join Oscar Riggs, who eventually becomes Oz, on his journey. The China doll is a lone survivor of the China country that has been destroyed by the Wicked Witch. The China doll quickly befriends Oz and his monkey companion unlike the China Princess from the original story who feels intimidated and shy upon Dorothy’s arrival and does not want to leave the comfort of her home. Although one’s first impression of the China doll is feeble and timid, her personality reveals a feisty persistent character. The China doll projects a new perspective that diverges from the original China Princess, because the she is willing to fight for respectability and virtue after getting hurt by the Witch; whereas the China Princess remains narrow minded and only wishes to stay in the China country where “nothing can hurt her”. However, in reality, she is vulnerable to everything yet she does not act upon it.

A hectic city is filled with men waiting in lines to court the Princess. The jester sends waves of earthquakes every so often.

An even more contrasting character is the superior and dramatic China princess from Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, who sacrifices her safety to save her delicate China country. Upon arrival, the film shows an array of teacups lined together to form a wall resembling the Great Wall of China; this variation refers to China’s objectives in protecting itself from outsiders. The China princess grants Dorothy permission to enter the China country, which diverges, from the classic China princess who seems to want nothing to do with foreigners. After an earthquake wrecks the China country, the China princess accuses Dorothy of bringing in outsiders and she regrets letting them in. She believes her kingdom is safe behind the great wall because the teacups provide a barrier between the China people and harmful outsiders. Nevertheless, the China princess decides to join Dorothy on her journey because she wants to get back at the jester for putting the China country through wreckage and disaster. Despite being a lot bolder and resourceful, the China princess shares the same struggles as the original character from Baum’s story; they both do not have enough control or power to protect their people, and they believe the wall protects them from harm. The difference that draws the line between them is that one is willing to go to extreme measures to defend her people while the other believes there is no solution but to run.

The China Princess is depicted quite differently in the two film adaptations; transforming from a powerless and frail girl who can be easily ruined, to an adventurous independent person willing to take risks and try new things by the end of the narrative arc. More experienced and insightful after traveling the entirety of the Land of Oz, whether it’s with Dorothy or Oz himself, the China girl gains new qualities as a result of leaving home and learning how to survive when danger can be found anywhere along the Yellow Brick Road. The central truth leads back to the idea that taking a step out of one’s comfort zone and being open to new opportunities can lead to character development. The China doll shows this in the two adaptations, which help her to discover another part of who she is.

 

Works Cited

Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace, 2013. Print.

Oz the Great and Powerful. Dir. Sam Raimi. Perf. James Franco and Mila Kunis. Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films, 2013. DVD.

Taylor, Quentin P. “The Wizard of Oz as a Satirical Allegory of Money and Politics in 1900.” USAGOLD. USAGOLD, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.

Legends of Oz: Return of Dorothy. Dir. Will Finn and Daniel St. Pierre. Perf. Lea Michele and Kelsey Grammar. Prana Studios, 2014. DVD.

Essay, Uncategorized

Oz Essay

Don’t Break His Heart: The Tin Woodman’s Love Life in Adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

By: Michelle Heilig

“As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don’t know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable” (Wizard). Before gifting him with a beating heart, The Wizard of Oz cautions the Tin Man of his newfound emotional capacity. In the 1939 film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wizard foreshadows the emotional troubles the Tin Man suffers in modern adaptations of L. Frank Baum’s novel. Whether he inflicts the damage upon himself by forcing excessive emotion or by restraining his own feelings until he implodes, the Tin Man is portrayed as a character that cannot tune his mind to match his heart, allowing artists to use him as a reference for their own heartache.

In Baum’s original novel, the Tin Woodman, the man with no heart to fill his empty body, believes that without physical heart he cannot live a life with empathy: “‘I have no heart, you know, so I am careful to help all those who may need a friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse’” (Baum 53). Clearly, he can empathize, as he stops to save every mouse or bug along the way. But the Tin Man requires the physical heart to prove his loving capacity to himself. He doubts himself through the entire journey to Oz, scrambling to prove he doesn’t have the heart to feel emotion. However, only his internal struggle to not feel is getting in the way of his emotional well being. After having his heart stolen by the Wicked Witch of the West, the Tin Man hides his sadness by claiming an inability to empathize and love. Only when the Wizard gives him a physical heart—a fake heart—does the Tin Man identify his emotions for their value.  

The Tin Man’s hopelessness is captured in the Avett Brothers song “Tin Man.” The singers lament their inability to feel, comparing themselves to the Tin Man, using this Tin Man status to mask their feelings. Rather than sharing their thoughts they mask themselves in a fog of indifference, because American culture values the strong, emotionless man: “So it goes a man grows cold, some would say a man grows strong” (Avett). The singers’ voices crack despite the cheerful melody of the song. Only once in the song, during the bridge, do the Avett Brothers sound sincere in their music. An acoustic guitar is the only instrument used to accompany their singing, reflecting the genuine emotion they feel, as they say “I miss that feeling of feeling…the wind upon my face, and caring what it brings this way” (Avett). But soon after, they return to the false cheer of the melody. Just as the Tin Man regrets wallowing in his sadness to the point of desolation, the Avett Brothers want to return to “caring what if brings this way” (Avett).

Rather than taking the shell-of-a-man route that the Avett Brothers used, Marj Hahne depicts the Tin Man as melodramatic in her poem Dorothy Gale, in which Dorothy criticizes him because he “cried too damn much” (Hahne). The Tin Man got his wish and more, to the extent that his emotions hinder his quest for love rather than cement it. By convincing himself that he should have strong emotions, the Tin Man overdoes himself and over-dramatizes the emotion he assumes he should have. Hahne hints that these emotions were perhaps acted or forced by emphasizing that “his gestures were too mechanical,” iterating the Tin Man’s plagued love life (Hahne). He could gain this description because of his tin exterior, but “too mechanical” also implies that his movements were not genuine. Whether he uses stoicism as a safety net or gushes out his heart, the Tin Man cannot find love in any adaptation.

According to most critics, in Baum’s original story the Tin Man character represents the industrial worker during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The Tin Man shows that although their happiness and emotions have been buried under a layer of hardened soul due to working in harsh conditions, whether they believe it or not, all people have the capacity to love.

Throughout time, readers, viewers, and lovesick people use the Tin Man to lament their own love lives. Some view the Tin Man, with his so-called unfeeling heart, as having a free pass on heartache, even though he spends his life longing for his lost loved one. Baum reveals that the Tin Man has had the capacity to feel emotions just as well as anyone else, but the simple fact that he doesn’t believe he can bars him from love. All of these adaptations follow the same story—protecting one’s heart by pretending it has a malfunction, a deformity, never leads to the comfortable outcome the architect hopes for. Creators use the Tin Man as a lovelorn character who can’t quite get his way because he has thought himself into being unable to love. Unfortunately, the Tin Man may travel through time, but he does not age, so his flaw follows him throughout his life.

Readers take the Tin Man and turn him into themselves, whether to represent love or passion or anguish. The Tin Man finally recognizes and claims ownership of his pain once the Wizard of Oz shows him that he is capable of loving, if only because he is loved so dearly by his companions. Fascination surrounding the Tin Man throughout time stems from a shared battle over balancing pain and hiding from it. Hearts may seem to be hardened by difficult working lives, but the search for love lives on even in the most jaded of people. Ultimately, Baum teaches his readers that accepting misery and heartache validates the heart and its hardships, more so than masking pain and pushing it out of sight. “Now I know I’ve got a heart, because it is breaking” (Wizard).

Works Cited

Avett Brothers. “Tin Man.” I and Love and You. American Recordings, 2009. MP3.

Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Lexington, KY: Amazon, 2015. Print

Hahne, Marj. “8 Works Inspired By The Wizard of Oz.” Laurie Boris. WordPress, 30 Nov. 2010.

Web. 25 Sept. 2015.

The Wizard of Oz. Dir. Victor Fleming. Perf. Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert

Lahr. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939. Film.

Short Story

New Friends New Beginings

 

New Friends New Beginings

by: Makala Sabas

She was growing up in a small town of Asbury, Missouri Where there wasn’t to do. Her best friend had just moved away and she was now alone. Her best friend and her had her were friends for 11 ½ years. It was a week before summer and she had everything planned out from going to the creek and going swimming to going the to each others house and sleeping over.

On the last day before her best friend left forever, they gave each other a gift to each other that had belong to them, it would remind each other of their best Freind every time they looked at it! It made them both break down and cry. The next morning when her Best Friend was leaving they hugged and cried with each other for the very last time. Her life changed forever and she felt like she would never find another friend like Addie

She thought she wouldn’t find a new friend in time for summer. One day right down the road where her friend used to live a new kid was moving in.  She was watching out her window,wondering if it would be anything like her  best friend Addie; or would it be a BOY! As she watched she saw a kid about her age walk out of the house wearing a green hoodie covering their head, she couldn’t tell.  They walked over to the garage and she thought whoever it was would never replace Addie either way.  As she was sitting remembering all the amazing memories with her best friend, out came the kid with a blue bike and his hood down.  It was a boy! Oh no, not a boy. Now I have no one. He won’t be able to play with me like addie did.  His name was Thomas. His family had just moved to Asbury from Red Lodge, Montana.

Thomas and his family were having a neighborhood party over at their new house and my family and I went over there. We met his parents and my parents introduced me to Thomas  “Hello Thomas” they said “this is our daughter Abigail.” Thomas’s parents looked at her and asked if they both wanted to go outside. Both of the kids walked off in the same direction Abby followed Thomas.

It was about 10:30 and time to go home so Abby and her parents headed up the block to their house. Abby was really tired and was ready to go to bed. She said goodnight to her parents and headed down the hall to her bedroom. As she laid in bed, tears came to her eyes, while thinking that he could never come close to the friend she had in Addie.

The next day Abby went out to the mailbox and Thomas walked out and said “hi” so Abby said “hi”. He asked if she could show him around town and show him what there is there to. She Shrugged and said “I guess”. So Abby went in and asked her parents if she could show Thomas around town and they said yes.

So off they went on their bikes towards town, it only took them about 5 minutes to bike to town. When they got there they locked their bikes up in front of the library and went inside. She showed Thomas around the library and introduced her to her school friends. It was a hot summer day so they all decided to go to the ice cream parlor to cool off before checking out the rest of the town.  Thomas asked what else there was to do in town and Abby said ‘theres one place that nobody else in town knows about, I guess we could go there?”  Tears came to her eyes thinking about the memories that she and Addie had made at this special place.  Little did she know that her and Addie had never had an adventure like her and Thomas were about to embark upon.

Thomas looked at her and with a smile on his face said “yeah, lets go”, so they set off to the secret place.They walked on a path that led them into the woods and ended at the lake. Abby had built up a fort with her friend who had moved away. Thomas asked if he could go in and she said yes. As they were going in they noticed that people must have been living in there because there were wrappers and clothing scatter around. They figured whoever it was hadn’t been there for a while so they decided to go in and check out the inside.  They went in and started to pick up the chairs and clean up the wrapped and bring out the clothing that the people left there.  They started talking about Thomas’s old school in Red Lodge and how he had just started playing baseball last year.  They talked about Abby and how she was the star in last years school play.  Then Abby told Thomas about the time that her and Addie went and jumped off the rope into the creek.  While she was in the middle of the story Thomas looked puzzled and Abby felt frustrated “Why doesn’t he care about Addie” she thought. He walked past her and said “what’s that?”  She turned around and saw Thomas open a duffle bag that was laying on the floor under an old blanket.  All the sudden Thomas’s eyes got really wide, she walked over to him and was shocked, “Where did all this money come from” she said very frightenedly.

They got scared so they ran to their bikes and biked to the top of a hill. Thomas said “what should we do?” “We should tell my dad” Abby said, her heart racing.   They wondered if they should go right to the police. Abby decided that they should just go home and sleep on it and meet at the hill and 9am.

The next day they met at the hill and decided to tell their parents.  They went home and told their parents about their findings.  They all met up and decided to go to the police station and report everything. They walked in and saw a wanted poster.  It read “WANTED” and had photos of two men that had robbed a grocery store from the next town over. The kids told the police about the fort and the bag with the money in it.  The police told them to go home and they would check it out. They warned them to stay away until it was safe.  They all went home.  Abby thought about what would have happened if Thomas wasn’t there with her and she went by herself, what would have happened if the men had been there. She couldn’t sleep at all.  The next morning Thomas came over after breakfast and they were sitting at the couch watching T.V.  There was a knock on the door. Abby’s dad opened the door and there were the police.  They said that the men in the wanted poster at the station were the ones that were at the fort. The police arrested them last night and there will be a press conference held this afternoon and the mayor wanted them there.  They got ready and arrived at the park where it was being held.  As they were sitting there on stage next to the mayor he said that there was a reward and as he said that he turned towards the kids and handed them each a check for $1,000.  The town started to clap and yell with excitement.  There was a party after with food and dancing for the whole town. As Abby sat at the table with Thomas she looked up and thought, this was the start of a great friendship.

Poetry

September

September

by: Makala Sabas

It was September

The first time i met him

I was walking with

my sister who’s only 9

but acts like she’s 12.

We were meeting my friends

all 6 of them.

They were waiting

by their trucks.

They were talking about sway bars

and not know anything about trucks

except the fact that you should

always buckle up.

The new guy was standing by

his odd colored truck.

The cab was green with unmatching

doors, One red and one black.

My sister and I walked closer

and he smiled so

I smiled, He said “Hello.”

So I said “Hello.”

“I’m Thomas” he said

I said “I’m Alice.”

We all walked and sat

on the tailgates.

I sat by Thomas.

It all started there.

On that warm September day.

 

Poetry

A Volatile Girl

A Volatile Girl

Michael W. Flaifel

 

A Volatile Girl sits

Sorting

Sorting through the still red embers of her scorched past

Thinking

Thinking of how her life has gone until now

Pleading to her god

Pleading

for an end to her despair

Trying to see a light to live for but is instead blinded

Pregnant with the facade of a better tomorrow

Only to birth the creature destined to slowly lodge its dull, jagged knife

Through the ribs of today

And sever the last trembling thread

Holding it over the chasm of yesterdays

Gone

She looks to

The shrieking bottle, tensioning its cork

Teeming with the cloudy brew that

Yesterday’s life stirred up

She covers her ears

fighting to drown out

The bellowing of her name

Erupting from the bottles smug mouth

Beseeching her to take just one more drink

And like clockwork

Yesterday died

And today never missed it

 

Poetry

Warning

Warning

 

You’ve heard about

her.

How no man has dared go near.

People always told you,

girls with daddy issues are easily

massacred.

They are an open door to stomp through.

But she is different.

She is

dangerous.

Her voice is a

siren.

Everything about her is a

warning.

 

You will be drawn in by her strength.

Because she had to be strong without him.

Not a single dew drop will roll down her cheek.

She will argue until you recognize she’s right,

The crisp, loud confidence in her voice will intimidate you in a way

that you’ll want to tame her.

But this is your warning, because

she will prove that she can handle herself without

you.

 

You will be drawn in by her beauty.

Because she had to cover up the tears he brought.

Her lips will curve like the crescent of the moon when she speaks,

She will easily expose her perfectly laid out teeth,

so orderly it’s as if a house builder had placed them carefully for her.

Her two imperfections, one softly placed on each cheek.

These gentle tucks of skin only uncovered when you make her laugh.

But this is your warning, because

she will prove that she can smile without

you.

 

You will be drawn in by her drive.

Because she had to prove that she could thrive without him.

Her name ringing in the ears of the audience at award ceremonies.

You begging to see her, but

her full calendar filled with pen and highlighter says otherwise.

She will make you come second.

But this is your warning, because

she will prove that she can thrive without

you.

 

Your problem will be to not fall in love with

her.

 

Uncategorized

One Shot, One Kill

ACT I

Scene 1

SNAKE EYES: we have 3 insurgent vehicles approaching from the SW. about 400 yards away with a wind speed of id say 3 Mph NE. (Nightmare loading his rifle and aiming shoots 3 quick shots into all 3 drivers

End Scene

NIGHTMARE: How has your family been man? how old is Octavia now? like 13?

SNAKE EYES:I mean since this deployment i haven’t got to talk to them too much. She is 16 now… She just got her license.

NIGHTMARE: Dang man. 16? Time flies! I remember when she was just a little baby. Are you going to buy her a junkie car or what?

SNAKE EYES: I gave her my chevelle for her birthday.

NIGHTMARE: WOW. Wasn’t expecting that i bet she was super happy.

SNAKE EYES:Of course she was she is a little grease monkey like me man. The mrs. doesn’t like it though. she got mad at me and almost murdered me.

NIGHTMARE: sounds like something Jennifer would have done if i did that.

SNAKE EYES: how is the family man? How is jennifer’s treatment going?

NIGHTMARE: Oh um… Jennifer passed about a month ago.

SNAKE EYES: I’m seriously sorry man. Im here for you. how is luke taking that?

NIGHTMARE: pretty rough he is with bill right now they are supposed to be at a go kart tournament currently. that has always been his way to process things.

SNAKE EYES: well once we get back man we are definitely getting a drink.

 

END OF SCENE 2

NIGHTMARE: Im going to reload now. We must take out the target. SPIDER said “wolf” would be traveling with that caravan.

SNAKE EYES: Dude, he is corrupt. why would he be on the move. Something is fishy man.

SPIDER: Plans changed, “wolf” is not in the car.

NIGHTMARE: I see him how is he not.

SPIDER: It’s a decoy trust me. They know the plan.

NIGHTMARE: That’s not even possible, WE DIDN’T TELL ANYONE!!!! I’m going to take the shot. what is the wind speed and distance?

SNAKE EYES: 7 Mph NW. 431 yards. dude I told you it was fishy.

SPIDER: Nightmare don’t take the shot.

NIGHTMARE: I’m going to. I have a clear shot.

SPIDER: IF YOU TAKE THAT SHOT I WILL DISCHARGE YOU. DON’T MAKE ME GIVE YOU GOVERNMENT CHARGES!!!

NIGHTMARE: (Takes the shot but misses, But the car parks anyways.)

SPIDER:If you shoot again snake dies.

NIGHTMARE: (looks down scope, scanning the area. stops to concentrate because he sees a flash of light) (whispering) snake about 670 yards roughly. SE. I saw a flash of something in the vegetation look over there.

SNAKE EYES: (searches) (whispering) That is a sniper I assume he hasn’t found us yet otherwise we would be dead. Wind speed 9 Mph N 673 yards.

NIGHTMARE: (Takes shot and kills sniper) SPIDER PREPARE THY HEAD FOR MY BULLET.

SPIDER: NO prepare yours. FOR THE CHOPPER MUTHA PUCKA!!!!

NIGHTMARE: (fires a shot at spider and kills him) snake i guess spider was the corrupt general that they were talking about. (hears chopper somewhere in the distance)

SNAKE EYES:We need to move man! it doesn’t sound good for us. We have no help.

NIGHTMARE:(looks through the scope at the helicopter)  It’s an apache we really need to run. They are fully stacked on weaponry. (apache machine gun starts firing)

SNAKE EYES:(starts running gets shot multiple times)

NIGHTMARE:NICK!!!!!!!! NOOOOO! (aims at helicopter and fires his last magazine and kills the co pilot) Nick stay with me.

SNAKE EYES:Tell Cres and octavia i love them PLEASE!

NIGHTMARE:I will, I promise. ( knowing he won’t live much longer, machine gun starts firing more and NIGHTMARE dies almost instantly)

(HERO’S DON’T ALWAYS WIN)

Poetry

Welcome to the Circus

Welcome to the Circus

By: Roscoe Rosario

 

Welcome to circus!

Where the freaks out number the geeks!

Where the funniest clown wears the crown and the saddest caters the seats.

Where the ugly are praised and the pretty are hazed and all the people enjoy

the disgust of those who honk their nose and rule the tent with joy.

But outside the sovereign safety of the silly and sick

they enter society labeled evil, sly, and slick.

in the real world with no knives to be hurled or plates to be twirled

they receive no shred of humanity.

excuses are their ugly scars and silly white and red vanity.

Welcome to society!

Where reforming is required!

Where the weird are smeared and the regulars laugh

at every sad clowns red dripping gash.

The clowns hide in their so called homes

only wanting to return to the place that they’re stars…

back at the circus!

where people love the scars!

Where the wild wish wearily of the simple respect that we all expect.

but few are willing to bet,

that of all the people whether they be plumber or vet would ever allow

them to survive with no vow

of normality.

Poetry

Sacrifice

Sacrifice

by: Alex Tupa

One Two

One Two

the kids too young to drink

watch the Fires of War lick

at the Throats of their brothers

the smoke of regret

Blackens their humanity

Seeds sprouting

in a dark, smoky closet

yearning for the light

spilling through the cracks

Eyes darker

than the thin stubble on their chins

to stop the Tyranny, the Injustice, for “Freedom”

or some other excuse

they don’t want this War

pride of old men

shattering the families they tax

the faithless pray for peace

but that doesn’t stop

the rogue Artillery Shell

the IED hidden in the road ditch

the bomb in the fanatics jacket

the Tears from the mothers

One Two Thousand

One Two Million

Poetry

Poem V.3

The legacy of FDR

I struggle to walk to the red, blue, and white striped podium.

I stumble from behind and nearly reveal my bulking braces.

I’m not sure if anyone has spotted them.

The pupils of my country

cheer for my presence.

The band blowing proudly into their rhythmic trumpets.

The crackling sound of millions clapping in unison.

These are sounds worthy of powerful figures.

I don’t deserve it.

The people,

They seek a peaceful moment

away from the poverty-stricken environment around them.

Their eyes look desperate for help.

I lend them aid in bold words.

I announce: “The only thing we need to fear is fear itself!”

I speak through the dwarf sized microphone,

which enriches the fluency in my voice.

The air

carries the soundwaves of a new yorker accent

distributing

hope.

It is bliss, and my point is made.

The applause from the crowd

screams wildly.

My ears welcome this noise.

My shoes are shined black,

my suit and pants lint free,

and a white smile that strengthens the bond of America.

I feel like an imposter.

Their president is hiding a secret

beneath his costly pants.

Something so disabling,

The public might shatter into empathy.

I want to get out.

My legs groan of discomfort,

and my knees whimper in pain.

I’m afraid the sturdy metal will begin to falter.

Embarrassment and shock are imminent.

My mind tells me to escape

and I push for the exit.

Every step back to the distant car,

is like a struggle for breathing.

My legs will soon burst of exhaustion.

The cracked pavement extends the difficult journey.

Concrete is harsh and dense,

I wish it wasn’t.

My feet are scorching hot, and are numbingly weak.

I enter the expensive black limousine.

and switch to my wheelchair.

I swing my head towards the back of my seat

and think.

My legacy is a total lie.

I fear death, yet they don’t.

My speech has ripped their worries away,

While I fail to relate due to my disease.

My legs wobble uncontrollably,

My sweat is drained from every pore,

and my conscious aches

Nervous of when the clock will strike collapse.

It can’t end like this!