A Challenge | Teen Ink

A Challenge

May 8, 2012
By mystyksuniverse GOLD, Tuolumne, California
mystyksuniverse GOLD, Tuolumne, California
10 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
When I, the People, learn to remember, when I, the People, use the lessons of yesterday and no longer forget who robbed me last year, who played me for a fool--then there will be no speaker in all the world say the name: "The People," with any fleck of a sneer in his voice or any far-off smile of derision. The mob--the crowd--the mass--will arrive then. – Carl Sandburg


Problem after lengthy problem,
Hours crawling by as I suffocate
I the white sea of graph paper
Littered with integrals, derivatives, natural logs.

What do you know of natural logs,
Simpson and Archimedes,
You two who sit on your high pedestals
And ponder ways to torture future generations?

I have seen the great Pines of the north
Reaching their arms to the sun
In praise of another hundred years
Full of life, peace, tranquility.

I have seen the Birch and Dogwood
Frolicking in the Alaskan snow,
Hand-in-hand, singing in praise,
Enjoying life to the fullest.

I have seen the mighty Redwood
Battle through the enraged tempest,
Sweat on his brow, blood mixed with sap,
Falling, embracing the end with a smile.

So tell me again what you have seen
Simpson and Archimedes.
Tell me again of those logs you call natural.
I challenge you.



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This article has 3 comments.


on Sep. 30 2013 at 9:34 am
48Dragonwriter GOLD, Wildorado, Texas
12 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

I love the structure and anlogies. This article speaks to me and I hope to many others as well. You are a great writer

on Oct. 30 2012 at 7:49 am
Stella_Val_Illicia GOLD, Salt Lake City, Utah
13 articles 0 photos 247 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people angry and been widely regarded as a bad idea.&quot;<br /> --Douglas Adams

I am at a loss for words, this is so good. 

on Sep. 21 2012 at 1:24 pm
apple-pie-in-the-sky SILVER, New York, New York
5 articles 0 photos 6 comments
I loved the way you structured this poem, and I loved the analogies you gave about having seen the world. The language was very sophisticated, but very broad. I did think this poem was confusing however, and had to read each stanza a couple times before I understood it well. If you made the context of the poem clearer it would make it so much better.