A Tale of Two Kirbies
In Absentia, The Poet Remains
Jack Kirby
The individual soldier
may be traumatized
by the pointless
tragedies of life,
but what he makes thereof
may be a great wonder,
even a gift
that he gives
to the world
that otherwise
would never
have materialized.
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Eternity
When one is eternal one must sometimes hide things from one's temporal self in order that one may act in accordance with the will one is to work on the temporal plane. Otherwise, one would not be able to follow through with the necessary course of action, being too aware of the pain which one has invited.
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Kirby
Lines of force were drawn, eating us as we eat ourselves as we live in this, die in this, love for this and lie for this, we never find a way out of this, and everything we consume consumes us in turn, for this, for this unbridled ecstasy to bloom.
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Forthwith!
We think the act so sudden, but it was long anticipated by the one who worked the will, while the hand seemed to move unconsciously and the mind invented stories to deny its complicity. Here we are now! Entertain us! Forthwith!
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DIOGENES
In your pursuit of perfection, don’t fall down, no, not down, not out, NOT ALLOWED in your pursuit of perfection! I choose to lay here, wallowing in my pathos, but you? You are on your way! The sunlight feels good on my skin, but of course, everybody knows I’m a waste and a mongrel, but you? No, not you, you’ve no time for “a wretch like me”! Your shadow will cast itself long and loud across centuries, so why steal my one and only precious resource by lingering too long on your road to progress? Nay, good sir, stand away, good sir, get out of my light! I pray, good sir, that one day, good sir, you learn to make no difference, to simply stop needing to be right.
About the Creator
C. Rommial Butler
C. Rommial Butler is a writer, musician and philosopher from Indianapolis, IN. His works can be found online through multiple streaming services and booksellers.
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Soteriology
“Do you ever get tired of being the good person to which bad things happen?” “Tired, yes. Sick too. And I’m sick of being tired, and I’m tired of being sick. But I’m not ashamed. I decided long ago, I’d rather be sick and tired than ashamed, because as sick and tired as I am, when my head hits the pillow, I sleep like a baby, but when I did have cause for shame, I didn’t get a wink, and I felt like I was already dead, inside. I may come to grief on account of giving my life away to people who take advantage of me, but what kind of life would I live if I took advantage of others in turn? A life of shame and meaningless pleasure. We all die in the end, but we don’t all go on to a better place. Most of us keep coming back; and what I’m most sick and tired of is coming back.”
By C. Rommial Butlerabout a year ago in Poets
Comments (7)
Kirby's testament reminded me of this: We ate our breakfast lying on our backs, Because the shells were screeching overhead. I bet a rasher to a loaf of bread That Hull United would beat Halifax When Jimmy Strainthorpe played full-back instead Of Billy Bradford. Ginger raised his head And cursed, and took the bet; and dropped back dead. We ate our breakfast lying on our backs, Because the shells were screeching overhead. A WWI poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson Thanks for sharing, Rommi. Kirby's discussion is amazing for its candour and humanity. What a man.
"Your shadow will cast itself long and loud across centuries, so why steal my one and only precious resource by lingering too long on your road to progress?" That line was soooo deep! And the Kirby Burger was so cute hehehehhee
Brilliantly penned!!!❤️❤️💕
Excellent
Wow this is so well done. I will need to reread this again.
The terror and mindlessness of combat in the words of the soldier, not the general, definitely not the statesman, has a singular effect when shared with others. This is an amazing interview. The starkness and absurdity of his combat experience is divorced from any tactics other than kill or be killed. That is how the private experiences combat. I read each of the pieces you offered prior to listening to the interview and again after listening to it. Your meaning seemed allusive, mystical the first time through but became transparent when better informed for the read the second time. Really wonderful and thought-provoking writing! I was especially intrigued by his comment that he could not be killed for two reasons. The first is that he was a replacement. They were far more likely to be killed or wounded in a seasoned unit than the old soldiers who had long before figured out how to stay alive. Usually, replacements struggled to make friends when they joined a unit, since the experienced soldiers would not grieve their loss if they made no effort to befriend them in the first place. The second reason is that the idea that one cannot be killed is unusual since it leads to extremely recklessness. In WWI MacArthur was reckless to the point of unnecessarily risking the lives of his men. He often led them in frontal assaults carrying only a riding crop and never felt any fear that he would suffer a wound let alone die. More common are accounts of men who before a battle would pass letters, keepsakes or valuables to a buddy knowing that they were going to die.
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