What Kind of Idea Am I?

I am the purist, the absolute.
       I’d rather have it whole or nothing at all.
I persevere and am resolute.
       I neither doubt nor fear, I know who to call.

I am the unpopular and outdated,
       accused offensive and close-minded.
Though I’m the idea long lost in Eden,
       I stand my ground, I wait for heaven.

Unwelcome in this world, I strive to be heard.
       Small voice, big message, who will take heed?
Give me a chance I plead, you have been misled!
       Of this good news, won’t all be in need?

Wise men insist I’m nothing but cowardice.
      They hold fast to their ‘to dare is to live’
They say “I’d rather break than sway with the breeze”
       But pray if they do, will they then believe?

I was once that damn fool, too. I’m no better
      ’til one did come to give me his name.
He touched me and threw the old into the fire
       —that bloody-minded, ramrod-backed aim.

I am wisdom wandering to everywhere.
       On history’s pages, there I am found.
I fought against death to tell about power,
       Hope that makes even the empty abound.

Does it not take more courage to leave oneself,
       Kill what you knew, abandoning all?
Is it weakness to leap and jump to a cliff,
       Trust but in one to not let you fall?

When everybody laughs and says I’m a fool,
       I look up, trust he knows more than I.
Am I not the one always labelled uncool?
       You act like you’ve got sole right to cry!

I have it easy you say, you’re the rebel.
       But is not the world applauding you?
The new world grows weary of me, I can tell.
       I’m unbent though, I’ll uphold what’s true.

One day I’m certain the light will shine.
       Those who now are blind will discern at that time.
On that day I dread not to be me.
       I’m no fancy idea, in time you’ll see.

“But God shows his love for us in that
       while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And is that not enough for me to live by?
       What good is this life? A short mission!
So what now, what kind of idea am I?
       The one Christ died for—I am Christian.

 
 
 

I wrote the poem above as a response to The Blacklight Candelabra Event‘s January 12 challenge, “What Kind of Idea Are You?” based on Salman Rushdie’s novel “Satanic Verses.” This quote from the book was turned into the participants’ writing challenge:

“What kind of idea are you? Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accommodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed, bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damn fool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? – The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of hundred, be smashed to bits; but, the hundredth time, will change the world.”

This poem is also in response to Blogging 201’s assignment on participating to blog events. I responded to this challenge through a poem ’cause I wanted to try my skills at poetry. So I’m also joining another event, How Do I Love Thee Poetry Party that challenges participants to write a poem about love. I’m an amateur poet but I absolutely loved writing this. I’m passionate about what I was writing about and the challenge was really mind-boggling. I’d say poetry writing is therapeutic, something everyone should try. So why not grab your pen and try it now?

*I would like to apologize if the poem’s font size is too small for you. I need to accommodate mobile users and using this font size is the only way I retain the poem indentations and style on a mobile view. I will change the font size back to regular once I discover how to adjust the mobile view only.

 
 
 
Featured photo was taken from www.wallpapervortex.com