Signed, the Silent Raven | Teen Ink

Signed, the Silent Raven

October 16, 2011
By Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;il piu nell&#039; uno,&quot; (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)<br /> <br /> &quot;Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality&quot; ~Emily Dickinson<br /> <br /> &quot;The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain&quot; <br /> ~Kahlil Gibran


I.

He flies to the East, the Sun to the West
Both joyous, though they part
He’s a bird, with feathers black
But reflects the moon upon his back
With a candle in his heart


That’s where I am at this moment, in gentle harmony with a cloudless evening, and I’m blowing a kiss to my departing sweetheart, the Sun, as the hem of her fiery dress whips past the horizon. A part of me has always preferred the dusk to the dawn, though I know not exactly why; I suppose it gives me greater pleasure to see things come to rest than it does to see them wake. The evening is when the day is nearly concluded, and it is a time to say “what has been done has been done. What has not been done has not been done. Let it be.” At a deeper level, I am aware that the Night is only a temporary thing, even when the Night is Death, and everyone says that the slumber of Death is the very end for us. So I find joy in the understanding that morning follows evening and life follows death. At dusk, I realize the way that time allows for things to die and be reborn, because there have been countless mornings and evenings on the Earth and each may be a blessing for us, and an opportunity to live our lives more fully than before.

Dawn for me, of course, was when I met the silent raven. He was a bird who visited me one autumn day, in silence, and together we watched Nature unfold just as she does every moment, and I learned to appreciate the world as he did, and not spoil it with words where they were not needed nor actions where they were not required. So said raven crafted a nest in my heart, where he lives this very day and continues to give me life, and I’m forever thankful for his presence. When I looked through his eyes and felt his heart beating within mine, I began to live with more awareness of the days, the nights, the seasons, and see how they are intertwined with life to create eternity.

II.

The lunatics from windows leap
They leap from windows high
To unseen arms, to loving arms
With the sonnet of a sigh
Only they are bold to ask
‘Who’s that who hears our cry?’
Through the air, the rushing air
There comes a soft reply
The Raven answers silently
He answers ‘It is I’


Paul Coelho, through the character of a mental patient in his novel Veronika Decides to Die, tells a story of a powerful magician who plotted to ruin an entire kingdom by poisoning a well from which all the people drank with a potion which caused insanity. As he had planned, the entire population drank from the well and went mad, save for the king and his family, who drank from a separate well. The bewildered king, in an attempt to tame his kingdom, issued a series of edicts enforcing reason and security across the land. The population heard of his decrees, and (because they had all been poisoned) thought that their monarch had gone mad and was creating nonsensical laws, so they demanded that he abdicate the throne. Resignedly, he readied himself to step down, but the queen suggested that they drink from the well also, to become the same as their subjects. They both drank the water which caused madness and began babbling and behaving just as strangely as the people, who immediately repented, seeing the return of the wisdom of their king. So the country lived in peace, and the king continued to reign.

Normality is merely the consensus of the majority. Insanity and sanity are nonexistent. We are all crazy in our own way; though many of us seem to be conformed to what society has determined is best. Still, however, there are those who the public recognize as outcasts and oddities and lunatics, and these people are often hated or feared, simply because they live outside of the boundaries created by those who are “normal.” By standing behind the outcasts and oddities and lunatics, however, it’s easier to stand beside that within humanity which exists without borders. The world would be much less frightening if people didn’t try to hide the “insanity” inside of themselves.

I’m a madman, of sorts. My kind of madness has led me to believe that it’s only society which has gone mad, and I’m one of the few sane ones left. But no matter how crazy things get, we’ll always end up falling into loving arms. That’s always been a comforting idea to me.

III.

The elderly so gently weep
They weep in wrinkled hands
As precious pools of memory
Are settling in the sand
And through the whirlwind of death
They hear a holy knell
And for their stories dwindling
They feel their spirits swell
The Raven tells them silently
‘I feel that way as well’


The old and the young watch the day go by, together. But what the old have to offer is what they alone have seen; they have witnessed many days go by, and their children were not yet around to see those days. The elderly have experiences to relive, stories to share. So if they wish to tell the stories, listen! If they have wisdom to give, share in it! If they laugh or cry, do so with them! Because if we live alongside those who lived before us, then we live a little closer to our beginnings; we may touch a past which we could never touch without them, a past which should never be forgotten.

Many of the time, they represent our traditions, and our traditions remind us who we once were, which reminds us who we are now. Change is necessary, change is healthy; but I would hate to see us lose sight of what it means to be human while we’re so caught up with “progress.”

I’ve almost always felt like the world has become too fast, too competitive, too demanding, and too chaotic. Maybe things were still that way in the world of our parents and grandparents, but if we’re in touch with them, we’re a little closer to reaching the brilliant simplicity of the past.

IV.

The wanderers in darkness walk
They walk with tired feet
Their silhouettes so solemn
Their quiet dreams so sweet
Like traveling birds, yet bound to land
Like light, but bound to flame
Their footsteps’ task, these ghosts who ask
‘Are there none who know our name?’
And the Raven’s nodding silently
‘I have wandered just the same’

Wandering in spirit, I often become far more absorbed in my travels than I am with myself. The homes of true wanderers are within their hearts, so that they may be at home wherever they go; so I never feel truly lost as long as I understand that peace is available anywhere and that we are never truly alone. So I walk into the night, beneath the stars and with a candle which was given to me at my birth and which I’m proud to carry.

As a wanderer, I can never stay in one place too long or else I stop growing, so I’m often compelled to keep moving even when I’m inclined to stay. It’s difficult to say farewell sometimes, but I’ve always believed that (because of the funny way the world works) there are no permanent goodbyes.

V.

The broken taught him how to love
The silent, how to sing
The naked gave him feathers
The wingless gave him wings
The fire taught him how to glow
The rain, to kiss the earth
The graveyards taught him memory
The children taught him birth
The poets taught him to protect
The precious light within
The phoenix taught him how to die
And how to live again


I realize, at last, that I must surrender myself to the kind of freedom I was blind to when I began, because I’ve been unconsciously searching for freedom all along. I want to live a life which is always silent and always singing, always moving and always still, always laughing and always crying, always dying and always being born. Because that’s how I know that I’m truly able to be alive. My presence in the world is fairly subtle, many don’t notice me at all, but I’m certainly here! And I’m involved in constant perception and constant contemplation, just as the silent raven was.

So I’m going to begin a pilgrimage into the desert, into the wilderness, and into my own heart; in search of the story which I’m a part of. I don’t really know what or who I’m saying goodbye to, but I’m saying goodbye all the same, in case anyone is listening.
“One day you will ask me which is more important: my life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life (Kahlil Gibran).” You all are my life: you people who aren’t listening and you who are. You strangers and friends. You lunatics and wanderers. You angels and demons. You trees and stones and fields of grass and flowers and Sun and Moon and starry night. All you who give me life, I send you my well wishes as I take off into the sky.


The author's comments:
I've always thought that it was a beautiful thing that Teen Ink is a place where people can put their hearts out for all to see. Of course, there's always a chance that no one will regard your heart, or else they will treat it without tenderness. So it's a little risky, because hearts are fragile things. But it's beautiful all the same, and I'm glad people choose to do it.

This is a bit of a confusing article, and a rather lengthy one. I wrote it as a farewell, to the angels, I suppose. You don't have to remember it, or remember me. I'll do that instead. :)

"Love wins." ~Rob Bell

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This article has 31 comments.


leafy said...
on Apr. 20 2013 at 4:58 pm
leafy, City, Other
0 articles 0 photos 682 comments

Favorite Quote:
Gil: I would like you to read my novel and get your opinion.&nbsp;<br /> Ernest Hemingway: I hate it.&nbsp;<br /> Gil: You haven&#039;t even read it yet.&nbsp;<br /> Ernest Hemingway: If it&#039;s bad, I&#039;ll hate it. If it&#039;s good, then I&#039;ll be envious and hate it even more. You don&#039;t want the opinion of another writer.&nbsp;

Hey, leafy here :). It's been a while since I've said anything on Teen Ink. Coincidentally, I've come to a similar...epiphany as you.

If I had read on this last piece of yours even a couple months ago, my comment most likely would have consisted of me asking you to come back, if only to post something every so often, or something like "everything's good in moderation" so you shouldn't completely leave Teen Ink.

But I've been thinking lately, and I decided to cut off my Internet time as well. Not completely (I need it for school, anyway), but I wouldn't be surprised if this post was the last thing, or one of the last things, I said on Teen Ink. I also think I might have mentioned in another comment on one of your pieces that I had a blog, but I deleted those relatively recently. I just felt like...I was slowly letting technology eat me up, and I hated that—and I'm glad I took the initiative to stop wasting so much time online. It gives me a lot more time to think and read and write...

...And then lo and behold, you did the same thing!

It's funny. A year, almost a year and a half ago, I discovered you and started reading your pieces—which happened to be at just the tailend of your own stay here on Teen Ink—, and just about in perfect time to read your last piece, I've already decided it's time for my own farewell.

So that is what I will do—bid you adieu. I sincerely wish you good luck, Raven, in whatever you choose to do. Even if you decide not to go into writing professionally, please don'g give up writing as a hobby. Your poems and prose truly do bring more light into this world.

I hope this isn't the last time we meet.

Namárië, aa' lasser en lle coia orn n' omenta gurtha.

—A leaf

on Sep. 21 2012 at 9:28 pm
Emily_Greene GOLD, Spring Valley, California
10 articles 0 photos 41 comments
I fear I'm late. I'm sad to see you go, your writing is wonderful.

on Jun. 5 2012 at 4:21 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity. <br /> ~Amoniel<br /> <br /> "Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'" <br /> ~Thesilentraven

I think you should, afterall, there is no reason why you should not be emailing him now :)

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on May. 29 2012 at 9:25 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

There was a lot of misunderstanding that was cleared up between me and my mom in the last two weeks or so. My mom read the first email he sent and I showed her his work and I told her about you and Liz and us. She says it sounds like I found a good friend and that she just misunderstood everything. She didn't know how safe teen ink was. Tell him everything's fine now. :)

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on May. 29 2012 at 9:09 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

NO NO NO NO! You got it all wrong! 

My mom doesn't mind me emailing him, she just thinks I'm giving him too much personal info, that's all. 

My mom says she doesn't mind raven and our emailing, just the things that I, me,myself say not him. 

You know what! forget it! Me and my mom cleared it up a week ago. She just didn't understand what was going on. It was a huge misunderstanding. She's totally cool with our emailng now. 

Right now, I have an email that I want to send to him, it's a reply to the last one. 

Tell him to keep emailing me! 


on May. 29 2012 at 7:49 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity. <br /> ~Amoniel<br /> <br /> "Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'" <br /> ~Thesilentraven

Raven asked me to tell you that it would be entirely okay if you wanted to stop emailing him, he would understand completely and wouldn't be offended in the least. If so, he apologizes to you mother for worrying her. He hopes you have a great Summer! 

He says he would send you an email with all of this, but he feels that would be a bad idea if your mom doesn't want him to. 


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on May. 23 2012 at 1:14 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

I actually told my mom, I was like, Stargirl gave him her address! I'm emailing him with a school email!

She was still very skepical.

She reads all of our emails! These days, that's the rule that she must read all of our emails. And she's read all of his writings.

Actually after reading all of his writings, she was like, He doesn't like a teenager.

I said, Yes, that's cause he's so good.

And then she asked,

why does he sound like an old person?

I said, Because he's an individual!

But we talked about yesterday and she said that she is Ok with Raven as long as I only talk to Raven.

I said, that was my plan the whole time. I only talk to teen ink people.

So she feels better...ish.


on May. 22 2012 at 10:36 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity. <br /> ~Amoniel<br /> <br /> "Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'" <br /> ~Thesilentraven

Hmmm, I could vouch for him, but then again, I'm not very real either ;) 

My parents are fine with Raven, my Mom thinks he's awesome :) I haven't actually had much trouble with that sort of thing... Maybe let her read your correspondance with him? I think that would ease her mind a bit, that way at least she know you're not talking about anything she'd consider innapropriate, y'know? 


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on May. 22 2012 at 12:12 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

Yes! Thanks for his email! We've been communicating a lot lately.

It's very fruserating-my mother is strongly against our email friendship because of the premises that I have never met him and stuff. She's like, How do you know that he's who he says he is?...etc

You know what I mean? I find it very upsetting. Raven is such a nice person, I just wish she would see that.  Do you have any advice?


on May. 21 2012 at 11:08 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity. <br /> ~Amoniel<br /> <br /> "Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'" <br /> ~Thesilentraven

Hi Aderes, it's been awhile :) How are you?

Raven would make an incredible old-school pen pal :) 

 

 

 

 


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Mar. 2 2012 at 8:36 am
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

Cool, put in here when you find it. :)

Me and Liz think it would be cool to be old-school pen pals with Raven. Do you agree?


on Mar. 1 2012 at 6:21 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity. <br /> ~Amoniel<br /> <br /> "Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'" <br /> ~Thesilentraven

I think I used to, Go comment on my blog and I'll give it to you there (if I can find it).

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Feb. 28 2012 at 8:38 am
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

How are you, stargirl?

I'm so sad! :( :( :(

I never got to say good-bye!:( :(

I only found our yesterday. Haven't been on teen ink because of school(honors classes)

Hopefully, I can meet him some day. I really want to go and visit him when I'm old enough to travel in a couple of years. Do you think he'll remember me? 

Do you know his school email?

 


on Feb. 27 2012 at 6:47 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity. <br /> ~Amoniel<br /> <br /> "Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'" <br /> ~Thesilentraven

Raven's off the internet kinda permanently, I'm afraid.

I don't really know, but he might come back, and he very occasionally visits teenink.


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Feb. 26 2012 at 3:33 am
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. <br /> Henry Drummond

hey, raven!

I haven't heard from you in a long time?! Where have you been?


on Dec. 9 2011 at 8:14 am
RedFeather GOLD, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
12 articles 0 photos 155 comments

Favorite Quote:
Prose is like walking but poetry is like dancing.<br /> &mdash;Paul Valery, poet (1871 - 1945)

I don't even know where to start. Your poems are wonderfully written and convey such emotion and wisdom through them. You must have lots of time to yourself to think in order to learn all of those things, and for that, I'm envious.

I think we are all looking for freedom and ourselves. I hope you find both and whatever else you're looking for, but judging by the heart you laid out in these words, I'd say that you've already found it.


on Nov. 30 2011 at 6:03 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;il piu nell&#039; uno,&quot; (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)<br /> <br /> &quot;Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality&quot; ~Emily Dickinson<br /> <br /> &quot;The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain&quot; <br /> ~Kahlil Gibran

Please please forgive for not responding sooner; I only read your email today, and now I am off to embark on a journey towards your very special poem.

on Nov. 29 2011 at 10:10 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

The submission finally got posted to Teenink.  You never replied to my earlier posting of the poem in your comment.  I hoped you liked it.  Sorry for writing it so late again. XD

on Nov. 22 2011 at 12:57 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I apologize for taking so long to write it, my only excuse being endless projects and work from school.  Anyway I hope you like it :D

 

Following the wandering path

Through the quiet trees

I come across a silent bird

Staring down at me

 

I did not speak a word

Merely stood and stared

And we peered at the other

As long as we dared

 

And finally we broke the spell

And looked the other way

But we understood each other finally

A bond of friendship there to stay

 

His ebony feathers

Ink letters in the air

And though he speaks not a word

The words are still there

 

In turn I write my own words

To join his in the sky

Gently he blew on them

Coaxing the embers not to die

 

And then he turned and flew away

A white hole was left behind

A bright absence it hurt to look at

But blazes with the brilliance of his mind


on Oct. 30 2011 at 1:56 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Aw, that was so touching, that I'm one of your only dedicated fans and best friends.  You are too.  Until I met you on Teen Ink no one bothered reading what I posted.