The Beautiful Wedding

Tears fall down

The cheeks of friends and family

Happy tears of congratulations

Sad tears of letting go

To the girl that used to play dolls

And dress up like a princess

But no longer is she young

She's grown older

She's fallen in love

A group of people sit around

To witness a celebration of love

They feel the slight breeze

The vineyard scent fills their bodies

She walks down the isle

Hand in hand with her father

She used to call him hero

But a new hero has entered her life

She's found a soul mate

She's found a companion

Slowly she walks towards him

Nerves cause his hands to shake

He takes in her beauty

I do, I do

They both say with confidence

The rest of their lives

Laid out in front of them

With those few, but special words

The bells ring

The lovers lips meet

A kiss they will never forget

Together they will be

For the rest of their lives

A beautiful event

For a beautiful couple

Who will live a beautiful life

People cheer and clap

This is it

A young girl

All grown up

She has dreamed of this day

Her whole life

The couple retreats

Hands united

Her veil blows in the wind

The sparkles in her dress

Twinkle in the sun

She looks like a princess

Like the ones she used to dress up as

Riding off with Prince Charming

Into the sunset

A beautiful thing

This thing called a wedding

Just a few hours

Representing an entire life time

Forever and always

Leaving the Zoo and Entering Reality

During a person's childhood, they can either learn how to sustain a life outside of their home, or they can spend their entire life living in luxury. At the time, being wealthy may appear like the better option but in the end, it is more satisfying to know you have the ability to set a goal and work towards it.

This type of situation is exactly what Pi Patel describes in the novel, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. Many of Pi's animals have spent their entire life living in the zoo, daily receiving food and water, and he explains that if they were to be set free into the wild they were sure to die within days. He states this with confidence because he knows they would be unable to provide for themselves -- unable to survive on their own.

On the other hand, he describes how some animals would last a lifetime if they were returned to their natural habitat. Why? Pi says it is because his family has taken many animals away from their home and placed them into captivity. If a person grows up never once having to do chores, then they will enter the real world and suffer. For example they may not be able to independently do laundry or effectively clean the kitchen.

Like a turtle leaving its shell, the first time you leave your home will be difficult, but for those who spend their life training for reality, the experience will be more rewarding. We, as people, are the animals of the zoo. For many, leaving home means gaining freedom but for others it means losing their freedom and entering a mysterious world they won't survive in for more than a day.

Breaking Free from the Opinions of the World

First impressions – they can make or break us. But why? Why should we care what others think? Why should we change the way we live, just because our favorite movie star did? Unfortunately that is what opinions have become in our corrupt world; they change the way we look at ourselves. Celebrities, television and magazines have changed our thoughts on what “fitting in” really means. This world has taken advantage of delicate minds and filled them with this idea that in order to be happy you have to be a certain weight, have a certain style of hair, or wear a certain style of clothes. Our bodies need to be freed from these worldly standards. The burden of always wanting to fit in needs to be lifted of our shoulders. No one, except for ourselves, should care how we live our lives – it’s our lives – and we need to have the freedom to design our own lifestyle.

What Doesn't Kill You, Makes You Stronger

Going through life worrying about every little thing that may cause anger or controversy, is unhealthy. Living a healthy life involves paradox; you need both happiness and sadness, love and hate. Too much of one concept, or living with no emotions can lead to a life of emptiness. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, the idea of avoiding pain, in order to live a flawless life, comes into play. When Beatty visits Montag’s home, he lectures him with a history lesson about how the world came to be. He tells Montag that staying away from topics that may cause discussion or talking about one’s feeling will result in your life being perfect – this is very untrue. “So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people only want moon wax faces, poreless, hairless, and expressionless.”(p. 83) Throughout this scene, Bradbury is warning us to fear people who will try and convince us that having no emotions is best. Beatty encourages Montag not to read books in order to stay clear of dealing with life’s problems. The truth is, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger -- it builds character. In the end, feeling nothing is worse than living a normal life and dealing with the difficulties that may come your way.

Chamber of Infinity and Beyond

A thousand bright lights
Creating an image
That transforms your mind
Confuses your eyes
It appears
That you can go on forever
Impossible
There are walls
To stop you
From believing in something
Unreachable
From the outside
You can go on
But surely
There is no beyond
Everything in life
Comes to an end
This one ends in a dream
A dream to keep going
Even when there is a wall

Cool as Ice

From the outside
They are popular
Friendly
And amusing
They want you
Say they need you
They make you feel right
But when you come
To an obstacle
A bump in the road
They leave you
Abandon you
They make you feel small
This is the time
When your true friends
Your loyal friends
Play their role in the scene
They support you
Sustain you
And they carry you through
But those who left
Left you alone
When you were down on your luck
Seemed sociable
Enjoyable
Laughable at first
But on the inside
They are cold
Cool as ice

A Classist Society Drives Two Brothers Apart

In Victorian England, society was ranked by their money and their inheritance. In the novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens expresses his hatred towards the way society was run; he believes money is the root of all evil. When Joe comes to visit Pip in London, they -- this once simple and common pair -- have a conversation that creates a barricade between the two of them. “Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man’s a blacksmith, and one’s a whitesmith, and one’s a goldsmith, and one’s a coppersmith. Divisions among such must come, and must be met as they come.” (p. 223) With this quote, Joe tells Pip that he does not blame him for the awkwardness of their meeting but instead blames it on the natural divisions of life. He tells him that some men are blacksmiths, such as Joe, and others are goldsmiths, such as Pip. Joe’s wise and resigned attitude toward the changes in Pip’s social class -- though they have driven them apart -- shows his loyalty by faulting their separation on the unalterable nature of the human condition. Through Pip’s journey from a common boy to a gentleman, Dickens illustrates the concept that people who lived in a classist society believed that climbing up the social class ladder brought them success and happiness, but that they were wrong and the true answer to contentment is love and a loyal family.

Size Makes No Difference

Standing at the mountain
I stare at its beauty
Looking at the ground
I find a small pebble
A small stone
A small rock
Picking it up
I again stare at the mountain
How does one small rock
Compare to this immense creation?
Then again
How do I compare
With the world?
I am small
Young
Where is my place
In the world?
So many things
I can do
So many things
I can achieve
But how does one
Do these great things?
I again stare at the mountain
Then at the pebble
They are very similar
Very little difference
I can do anything
No one is stopping me
My size makes no difference

A Two-Faced Man

When a hard-working man, like Wemmick, is given a job that requires a lot of seriousness, they may appear to others as a demanding individual. To Pip, his first impression of Wemmick is that he is cynical and has a dry personality, but when invited to his house for dinner, he observes that this orderly man has two different sides to his life. Work and business can cause a person to become someone they are not -- knowing that at any moment they could lose their job. When Wemmick returns to his home with Pip, he is allowed to reveal the true, merry and jovial man he is. He claims his house is a castle and although it is just a small gothic home he is proud and content with his living quarters and would not change it for the world. He tells Pip that he is own engineer, his own carpenter, his own plumber, and his own jack of all trades. This proves that Wemmick is satisfied with the way he lives and is fine with having to work hard to provide not only for himself, but his “aged parent.” In this chapter, Dickens is showing us that going to work every day can cause a person to have to hide their true identity until their work day is finished. “ Wemmick got dryer and harder as we went along, and his mouth tightened into a post office again.” (p. 209) In this quote, Pip is observing Wemmick’s personality changing as he leaves home and approaches work. This is the main concept Dickens is trying to get across; not that work is unhealthy, but that it can result in a person having to act like someone they are not.

Pip's Home Life

Pip is an innocent boy who has suffered so much at a young age; his mother and father have all passed away and not only has he lost his parents, but his five brothers, his companions, and his friends. Now, the only family he has left is his older sister who is merely twenty years older than him, raising him with her dark haired husband, Joe. Pip’s home life is very unique when compared to any of ours. His brother in law, acts like a younger brother, always wanting to be in the fun with Pip, and his older sister, like a wise old mother with a bit of a temper. Mrs. Joe Gargery is constantly stating that Pip should be grateful that she would bring him up as a child and that if she didn’t he would have joined the rest of their family in the churchyard a long time ago. She is fierce and forceful, but only wants Pip to behave under her circumstances. When Pip has to steal bread in order to return to the marshes and feed the convict, he feels guilty and because of this you know he has been brought up learning and following good morals.