The Poetry of Life

I have always been incredibly moved by the combination of poetry and music. This mostly takes in a song written by various artists- The Beatles, Eagles, Weezer, and many more. Sometimes it is the combining a poem with music in the background, which is often done in film. Music is powerful on its own, and the combining of lyric or poetry to a song makes something that can at times leave me speechless.

The Lighthouse Tale

The first song I remember moving me deeply was a song written by a little folk group called Nickel Creek. My brother had shown me their song as he was interested in learning the mandolin, one of the main instruments in their songs. The song is called, “The Lighthouse Tale.”

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.
I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.

I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.
And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other, and with me watched the sunsets into night.

I think this was the first time I fell in love with a story the moment I heard it. I thought it was so interesting that a lighthouse could exist, and alongside that existence, it had feelings, emotions, things that brought it joy and things that made it optimistic. I remember feeling happy at the beginning, yet concerned when the lighthouse warned that “joy in this life seldom lasts.”  

She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came, the weather to a raging storm had turned.
He watched her ship fight, but in vain against the wild and terrible wave.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end. 

I remember this line breaking my ten-year-old heart. I was so confused and sad. Why did she have to leave? What was it that caused her to leave her fiancée, and why did the timing have to be so disastrous? Could she not have waited another day at the sight of the coming storm, or was something so urgent that required her attention that she had to hope the storm wouldn’t affect her?

Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the shore.
He kissed her cold face, that they'd be together soon he'd swore.
I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran. 

This also brought my little mind into a lot of confusion. I didn’t understand why the keeper had to commit suicide. I understood that he loved her, and that her loss was a lot for him to take him, but did he not have any other things in his life to fight for? His faith, or his family, or the lighthouse itself? Was the lighthouse’s love returned to him through the keeper, or did the keeper only care for the girl? I felt that it was foolish for me to judge the keeper. I didn’t know what he had in his life. I have never myself, then or now, experienced anything close to the heartbreak that revolves around death, and especially the death of a spouse (or future spouse). To this day I try to keep that mindset of not judging others, especially when it comes to things I haven’t been close to experiencing.

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.

I was happy with the way it ended. Although the lighthouse had little to hold on to in life, it stayed true to its promise of watching over the sea. I was hopeful in thinking that the lighthouse would learn to love again, as another keeper would most likely find their way to the lighthouse. I hoped that the lighthouse would be okay with the new story and experiences that another keeper would bring.

Good Timber

Poetry set to music is amazing. Sometimes, however, a poem can have just as much power when it is read by a single speaker, with nothing but silence filling the gaps of his reading. I felt this power when I heard a poem read by President Thomas S. Monson, prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was speaking about not giving up, and despite the inevitable trials that will come in life, we can become something greater when we take everything in stride. He related this topic to the poem “Good Timer” written by Douglas Malloch.

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees.

The further sky, the greater length.

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow

This poem has meant a lot to me as I’ve grown over the years. I have had to learn a lot of lessons in life the hard way. I have made mistakes that put me in situations I would rather not be in. I feel like life has two ways of putting you in storms; either life throws a storm at you, out of nowhere, and there was nothing you could have done to avoid it, or there are storms that you put yourself in because of negligence. I cannot speak too much about the former. I have been lucky in my life when it comes to random storms. While I do believe that people can overcome any trial that life throws at them (the untimely death of a family member, being fired, becoming sick), I simply cannot speak about those kind of storms through experience. However, I can very much relate to the latter.

I have heard through the Bible, Book of Mormon, and leaders of the church, that you cannot sin intentionally and say that you will repent later. For a long time, I didn’t understand that. I could think of numerous people and stories where they intentionally did something wrong due to their want or greed or lust. Later they sincerely repent and life goes on. I have been that person, many times… and I am lucky. I have seen others who do sin and find themselves on a very slippery slope. They put themselves in a storm, and sometimes, that storm is simply too strong that it does not reinforce the bark or strengthen the roots, but it destroys the tree.

When you put yourself in these kind of storms, you face a different kind of storm. Can you be strong enough to fight it? Or will the storm take you?

This poem has helped me to understand that, in the first kind of storm, I can face it and I will come out on the other side. My friends will be there. My family will be there. God will be there. With the other kind of storms, I don’t have as strong of a promise. So I want to live my life so that I will not find myself in the second kind of storms- and when the first kind of storms come, I will be ready, and good, stronger tress will grow.