Friday, July 9, 2010

"O Magistrates, Hear Me Talk"

[The following is an imaginary speech where "Ralph", from the novel "The Lord of the Flies", divulges what happened after the plane crash.]
-1-
My magistrates, to begin this tale of blood and rash,
I need to take you back to the day of the crash;
It happened all of a sudden and out of the blue,
Suddenly, Piggy and I were trying to find a clue;
Through the debris and undergrowth, we led our way,
What to do next? Where to go? Who could ever say?
Then, Piggy found a conch swaying on the facet of a lagoon,
And with a broken palm sapling, the conch became our own;
To draw the attention of other survivors, I blew the conch,
Happily we spot new arrivals just to reinforce our hunch;
Johnny, Sameric, and Jack Merridew with the school choir,
The weirdest gang you may ever look at through a bonfire;
Still we were democratic and thought we needed a strong chief,
And by a show of hands and fair election I sighed with a relief;
I was the chosen leader, while Jack had the choir to lead,
Where at that he excelled, as if coming from a ruler's breed;
As first command, I called for island's exploration,
It was felt so sane, so natural beyond explanation;
We climbed the mountains, the rocks, the dirt, and sand,
And what we left behind was a diminishing piece of land;
Unexpectedly, Simon, our companion, desired to eat,
So, Jack tried to hunt a piglet just because of its meat;
But, luckily, he couldn't and promised next time he would,
We shirked at the idea of getting besmeared by a pig's blood;
There was nothing wrong with a fruit from the nearby tree,
An immaculate result that contrast the coming life-to-be.


-2-
Our meetings began and we were logical and wise,
Within the folds of our brains, good judgment lies;
Jack reported his findings and asked for a group kill,
Just to hide his flaw for he couldn't pay alone the bill;
I set some strict rules like whenever one decides to say,
A word shall grab the conch and he shall be given a way;
We're as governments, who meet and issue norms and laws,
One sovereign protects the other from each one's hits and blows;
Children used to report and confess, or a whim they bear,
Like one kid who was restless since 'beastie' is somewhere;
I tried my best to soothe the surging gathering with words,
In a nutshell, it is something hard, but through patience it works;
Our main target was to scheme a rescue plan to exit such a loop,
Of predicaments and ill fate that descended on our group;
A fire is all what we needed and everyone agreed,
But when it flared and glared with ease and with speed;
Fear took us as the fire was too madly fast,
But we were able to extinguish it at last;
Yet, Piggy roared with a sneer and declared with a stern,
Seriousness that shelters shall be sought not things to burn;
And suddenly announced the disappearance of the lad,
Who feared 'beastie', and assumed he was lost in that land;
After that, we weren't able to utter a single word,
Isolation is something but death is another world.

-3-
I really can't say when our differences began to float up,
But Jack and I were opposite as a gulp is way from a sup;
He needed to prove his skill by an act of elimination,
Showing utmost antagonism to recreating civilization;
My basic care went toward finishing shelters and lighting fire,
But things in life do not go on as one may aspire or desire.
We were alone, and savagery has found a route to climb in,
Suddenly, the once friends-to-be became the foes-within;
In a way or another, each one of us coveted to verify himself,
Forgetting that in a group, solo interests must be placed on the shelf;
We had to stay modern and civilized just as we reached the place,
But true enmity, wild brutality, and selfishness start to surface.

-4-
Things slipped out of my hand although I was eager to rule,
A talk about a 'beast in the island' revived and shook my soul;
I was able to argue logic with my thoughtfulness and character,
But was I really potent enough to be for these kids a protector?
Anarchy spread out and chaos was displayed with great animation,
Soon enough I felt weak and wanted to quit my power and my station;
Yet, I didn't because they insisted on me to stay as I was before,
And I was able to restore 'silence' after it became a 'baffling roar'.

-5-
Days went by and our pursuits were sharply opposite and conflicting,
One looked forward to kill, and one tried to save others from killing;
Yet, I conclude that we were both wrong and right,
People act weirdly when they do not possess might;
In a wilderness, rules seem to be different than other places,
Although I thought modernity should rule in most cases;
But it happens that some reasons force you in some ways,
To act against the person that inside your body sways;
Forging a new character, both peculiar and wild,
Where a child cannot anymore act as a child;
It is a natural law that is worldly spread as I may think,
Life is difficult and can't be tinted all of the time with pink;
Thus, forgive me my magistrates, if I skipped some tales,
I rather leave for the wilderness the most horrible details.