this world we live in

A Brief for the Defense
Jack Gilbert

Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies
are not starving someplace, they are starving
somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils.
But we enjoy our lives because that's what God wants.
Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not
be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not
be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women
at the fountain are laughing together between
the suffering they have known and the awfulness
in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody
in the village is very sick. There is laughter
every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta,
and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
We must admit there will be music despite everything.
We stand at the prow again of a small ship
anchored late at night in the tiny port
looking over to the sleeping island: the waterfront
is three shuttered cafés and one naked light burning.
To hear the faint sound of oars in the silence as a rowboat
comes slowly out and then goes back is truly worth
all the years of sorrow that are to come.

you're already home where you feel love

we lost. we lost, badly. i cried. it was pathetic. i cried some more. i came home and hugged my mom. i watched the end of the game from the corner of my eye as i posted on facebook about my love for my school and how proud i am to be from that place.

and then it hit me, that i am the luckiest to have this.

on saturday night, at a pep rally, i was part of a roaring mass of people who flew and drove cross-country and took off work to come here, ticket or no ticket, to cheer on their team, because this school means so much them. on sunday night, i danced on the beach with my friends as i ran into so many kids i only see once a year if we're lucky. the streets of south beach closed down as the gold, blue and green swarmed it, and we laughed and we cheered each other on and we marveled how we were here, we made it, we were here.

on monday i donned my number ten jersey and my beads and my lei and we meandered through the stadium parking lot that seemingly was overrun with irish fans. we yelled "don't stop believing" in the middle of a mass of dancers in the backer re-created and hey, it's all true - we are crazy, and we never stop believing,

we were: giddy, nervous, entranced, joyous. we were: shocked, hurting, hurting, hurting. we always are: loyal, strong, true.

so yeah, i'm still hurting. we're all still hurting. but there's always next year, and next year, and next year. and more importantly - we'll always have each other, and we'll always have that place up in northern indiana, where even on the grayest of days you can look up at that glint of gold and know you're okay.

'cause there are stars up above, we can start moving forward.