diamond

APRIL 2019

LET THEM EAT CHAOS

KATE TEMPEST

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We were introduced to this poem in class, and upon reading the lyrics did I feel the spark of inspiration. I started writing down any quotes I liked, at the speed of lightning, and managed to grab a handful.

 

4:18 AM

7 different people counting their sheepish mistakes

Is anyone awake? Will it ever be day again?

Fall in love, drift apart again

Where the kids play and laugh until they fall apart

 

++

I used to read stories online that had timestamps as titles. It randomly became a trend in my era of online reading. I thought it was weird, but I also could understand why it became so popular. Timestamps have some sort of mystery to them; a story that could easily be molded around it.

Two lovers can only text each other at that specific time due to clashing timezones, until the one night that the other person never replies. A friend comes to your doorstep at that time, on the dot, to ask you to come with them on an adventure, and you can’t help but agree. The world is in chaos, on the brink of death, and you only notice that the end is near when your alarm clock repeatedly flashes the time in a morbid red.

I found the switch from counting sheep to counting their sheepish mistakes to be extremely clever. This prompt of mine would require way too much work, but I initially pictured an apartment including 7 different people. They’re all different, barely know each other, live separate lives, yet they can’t sleep every night. They’re haunted by the mistakes they have made, whether it be from the past, present, or future.

Now that I think about it, I think one person is more manageable. They’re constantly beating themselves over their mistakes, once big, but now foolish and insignificant, and they can’t grow out of the insecure mindset they have. They can’t go anywhere, their terrible apartment, barely paying job, simply because they can’t grow as an individual. They can’t accept the past, but can only think of possible pathways they could of made 8 years ago. Due to this, it eats them alive: the doubt and refusal.

++

The third prompt has a certain horror to it, and it flashed an imagery in my mind. The image is more on a mental scale, as an individual is clouded with enough sadness, insecurity, and hatred that the light has dimmed significantly. They ask if they will wake again, as if waking from the nightmare that is the darkness surrounding their life. They only want to be happy.

The fourth prompt reminded me of heartbreak. When someone falls in love, they feel as if they’re over the moon, as if a love so strong and full will last a lifetime. Love isn’t bound to last forever in some, and it’s seen when people drift apart. Two bodies in a room, yet they’re empty and cold of a love they once held so closely. A broken heart hurts, but the fact that you don’t know the one you used to love most hurts more.

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Reading this quote again, I’m starting to think it has a less deeper and sadder meaning than I originally thought. By laughing until they fall apart, it could be of a child-like innocence and nature where you laugh way too hard with your friends. I’ve experienced it, and the joy of having fun and not feeling alone is what makes up a childhood.

My messed-up mind thought of this quote as the growth of a child. When reality sets upon them, that they have to face adulthood with only a simple shove to hurry along, and the playground turns from a maze of childhood fun and innocence to another chore to be frowned upon. A child only laughs, and the adult only cries, as reality hurts. They wish to be on the playground, laughing once again.


┌─── · 。゚☆: *. .* :☆゚───┐

let them eat chaos


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