Thoreau And The Art Of Rebellion Poem by Elizabeth Kudebeh

Thoreau And The Art Of Rebellion



Henry David Thoreau stated,
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”
Linda Ronstadt sang,
“You and I travel to the beat of a different drum”

The drum beat pulses throughout our life.
Crescendoing and pattering.
So many people,
Do their drumbeats ever intertwine?
Those people skipping ahead,
A soft, quick pitter-patter of a drum beat.
And those that fall slightly behind,
Their beat off from the rest,
But just by a half-beat,
Not enough to fully notice, and barely too loud.

If I went to the quiet of Walden Pond,
And held my ear cupped in my palm,
Could I hear the beat you left behind?
To sit and listen in the crowds of a city,
Would be deafening.

“Say what you have to say, not what you ought.
Any truth is better than make-believe.”
Is what Henry David Thoreau mused.

When we were only children,
And only make-believe was regarded as the highest power,
We said what we ought of, and did what we should have.
And as we grow into our minds,
We will discover in the corners lies a deep understanding
That only truth should be exposed as true,
And make-believe unveiled as lies.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”
Exclaimed Henry David Thoreau.

Rebellion is in perspective.
In the mind’s eye, you hold all things familiar to you.
Straying from those, to venture into new territory,
Is to rebel in your mind.
And to act out of character,
From pure spontaneity,
Is to step out of who you are
And step out of who you are expected to be.

While you march along to your drums,
I dance.
I not only hear a drum,
I hear a saxophone, a trumpet, a cello.
I can snap my fingers in time,
Tapping my feet along the way to where I am traveling.
And when I arrive,
I will have a head full of more than just simple beats,
I will have a head full of music.

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