a true story,
on my way to and from class, there is a long flight of stairs where, if you were walking up it, seemed as though it would lead you into the sky itself, as i often like to imagine.
there were a couple days of rain some weeks ago, when all the worms would venture out into the sidewalks, stretching their long soft bodies around the small stones embedded in the ground. they range in length, in thickness, in stride, but THIS worm, who i found on the stairs after the rainwater had run away, was huge. monstrous, actually. big papa.
i found it dead, and dried, in the middle of the stairs where the railing is. the midpoint of no return. but, you see, it died with it's head up, lifted from the ground. frozen. amazing, don't you think? i don't imagine it's death to be instant, but prolonged and gradual.. but this worm had it's head (or tail, i guess i wouldn't really know for sure) up, persistent even up till its last moment. it fought for life... an arguably pathetic life of blindness and suffering. but it fought.
and there it died, dried, perpetuated in a pose of grit and tenacity.
and as the weeks passed and the rain returned, it was always there. the new rain had softened the body, though, and it would still be there melted against the ground when i came back from campus. it dried up again, and, as of this afternoon, the body had detached from it's original place and was brushed to the side by footsteps or a breeze.. i don't really know for sure. but i can't help but be moved by its great spirit, its will to fight for a life.. of a worm.
bravo, mr. worm. i think you are amazing. your final pose has earned a place right next to the great Greek and Roman sculptures of gods and warriors, at least in my book. good luck on all your future endeavors.
-felicia
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/images/12/03laocoon.jpg
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