Poem: "They Wear Badges" by estella_c

[wendelah1]

Posting this for the author, estella_c.

The graphic is not her fault. That's my poor excuse for a b-day gift. The poem and its author deserve much better.


They Wear Badges


We live in fear.

There are caverns underfoot. Mechanisms in orbit. Aeons behind and before us, filled with confusion. We trip on confusion every day.

We are next to, close to, fear. Neighbors. We don't want to talk about it.

We have watched monsters make themselves at home in our drainpipes and crawlspaces. We have seen sinister cabals make common cause with enemies from elsewhere. We have observed miracles but don't find them comforting. Miracles are not with the program. Miracles mean there is no program.

And that's just on television!

Our friends are a tall man and a small woman. They wear badges. They don't know us. But we like the way he grins and she glares. We like the way they lust for each other. Love is a comfort. It may be the only comfort.

Mulder and Scully are our friends. Though they squabble they are quick to close ranks. They will protect us. Even though they don't know us. Even though they are on television.

Fenced off by the screen, they are good neighbors.

Comments

[write-out.livejournal.com]

We trip on confusion every day.

I love this! What a perfect encapsulation of the show and our love of it.

[sallycandance.livejournal.com]

They are my neighbors and they make me feel safe. Even though, paradoxically, they also were the ones who first introduced me to the supernatural.

[badforthefish.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is very poetic and unusual, a lovely coda for the show really.

Miracles are not with the program. Miracles mean there is no program.

I love many lines in this but this is my favourite. Go you. :)

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

I hope this functions as a thank you to you all. Wendelah thinks I haven't noticed your approval. I have.

This is the first poetry I've done since high school, and it came easily. Good stuff shouldn't be that easy. But I'm grateful for the approval you offer.

I've been a fan for more than twenty years, and the flame does die a bit. But I genuinely love the two of them, the passion for knowledge and justice they represent, and the profound loyalty they exemplify. Not even counting the sex.

Thanks for being my neighbors.

[chinapatterns.livejournal.com]

The phrasing in this reminds me of a quote from Bell

"Time makes fools of us all. Our only comfort is that greater shall come after us".

I don't know why,

Your poem is autiful and thought provoking. Thank you for sharing.

[szgrey.livejournal.com]

The way you use short, fragmented sentences does so much for the tone of the poem- it's so much how people (some people at least) talk about things that frighten us- uncomfortably, reluctantly- We don't want to talk about it. It rings true.
The line I keep coming back to is Miracles are not with the program. Miracles mean there is no program, which is such a wonderful line- it's perfectly stated and it's true and there's something haunting about it, to me, because in a way it's a denial of comfort- even wonderful happenings can be reminders of our helpless uncertainty in the face of an unknowable, disordered universe.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

You kind people make me feel invincible! It won't last. Fortunately so, or the world would be in danger.