Rage Against The Dying Light

My entire life I have been an out-cast. Always been told I would never make it, that I wasn’t good enough or that I would fail. I have always been the one who would never surrender, never back down and never become content with where I stood in this world. In the last year each time I feel the urge to push back harder against the oppression I face, a word becomes clear within my mind. Now this word is short, it is simple and to many it would seem negative, given its dictionary explanation. Often times we forget about the power of words, the feeling some receive at the very mention of them. We forget that to us a word may seem petty, but to others they invoke a feeling of power and ecstasy. Now to me this word invokes what it means to drive forward no matter what it takes, to never be found wanting and always strive to be the best. My word of the year is Rage.

Rage by its most common definition is “A strong feeling of anger that is difficult to control”(Merriam-Webster). This is why when I tell someone that I will always Rage forward, they tend to look at me a little sideways. To me however, Rage is best defined as passion; the passion to be better, and never accept that I am content.

I remember when I fell in love with Rage. It was January 2015, and I found myself struggling just to find it within myself to get dressed in the morning. Productive days had been replaced with late nights, and my creativity had reached a mundane level of nonexistence. I was poking around in some poems one night and came across a poem written by Dylan Thomas, that forever changed my life, entitled “Do not go Gentle into that Good Night”.

The poem is quite short, but oh so powerful and simply reads:

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
(Dylan Thomas)

The words within this poem seemed to stoke a fire deep inside of me with each line I read, and by the end of it I found myself fueled with what could best be described as the urge to make a difference. Each day since then I have seen the ‘Dying Light’ as contentment, and ‘Rage’ as my passion to push onward up the hill of adversity. Within my realm of articles that I write  for websites and organizations, I find people facing adversity and cruel situations. I always offer this advice: “In each corner of this world you can find something to hang on to, be it a good friend, or just something that makes you smile. Often times we find ourselves “stumbling around in the dark” and it seems as though we may never find the light. If you can find it within yourself always remember, you carry the brightest light in your own pocket. As for me, no matter how young I am, I will never stop raging against the dying light. I will not be found wanting at the end of my days and neither should you my friend.”

In closing, I would like to remind everyone who reads this, to never forget the power of a word, always remember that not every word has a negative meaning and always, always “Rage against the dying light”(Dylan Thomas).

 

Works Cited

Thomas,Dylan: “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night , Web.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary: Print