Month: May 2017

Nothing Will Ever Be The Same (Harry Potter)

~ Katerina ~ 1 Comment

Footsteps approached Harry as he sat in the runs of Hogwarts’s front steps.

“May I join you?” Luna’s dreamy voice floated through the air. She had her quirks, but in the absence of her radish earrings, cork necklace and eccentric spectacles, they were subdued by seriousness; a frown tugged at her pale eyebrows and her bulbous eyes were wider than usual.

“Sure,” Harry said, hollowly. It didn’t really matter to him whether he had company or not. Nothing could fill the void left by Fred, Lupin, Tonks–

“I know you’re not alright, so I shan’t bother asking,” Luna announced, interrupting his grief, “but what are you thinking, Harry Potter?” He didn’t much feel like discussing it, but his mouth formed the words without his consent.

“It’s just, everything’s different now, isn’t it?” Harry’s voice was hoarse, and he stared into the Forbidden Forest as he spoke, “and I’m–we’re all–constantly reminded of it.”

“Well, of course, Harry,” her offhandedness took him aback and Harry turned to look at her. Her silver-grey eyes stared right into his brilliant green ones. “I know it’s very sad,” she added, serenely, “but just like when Mum died, I knew that without her nothing could be the same.” Harry didn’t see how this helped, but kept it to himself.

Luna, like always, seemed to hear his thoughts anyway.

“It means you need to change what you expect,” Luna explained, elaborating, “I know you visit the Weasleys’ often. Instead of expecting to see Fred, just expect to see the others. It’s not ever going to feel the same as it used to, Harry. You have to let it be different.” Luna took a green, onion-like plant from her bag and placed it gently on the step next to Harry. “A Gurdyroot,” she said, and stood up, “to keep the Gulping Plimpies at bay while you think.” Then she turned, blonde hair swishing behind her, and skipped back around the castle.

Harry wasn’t half sure what a Gurdyroot was or what Gulping Plimpies were, and he may have found humour in Luna’s gift were he in another situation. Instead, he thought on what Luna had said. He still wasn’t sure how she expected him to “let it be different”–as far as he could tell, he had no say in whether or not things changed.

Still, it would become clear to him in due time, he predicted. Luna’s lessons always seemed to.

The Untitled

~ Katerina ~ Leave a comment

Stormy skies,

Old roads,

Endless space between black and white; wrong and right.

 

See-through lies,

No fault,

Too bad we ignored the songs in the background.

 

Pantry staples,

Sweet salt,

Slipping away, deep thoughts turn dinner tasteless.

 

Wake at dark,

Critics,

Calming are the panicked eyes of the faceless.

Dark Abstract Art

(Photo Courtesy of Pixabay)

Refection:

Partly inspired by a colour poem I had written previously, The Untitled is a free verse poem that I hope portrays different ways of feeling unsure–times when the question “How are you?” is a little harder to answer than anyone wants to hear. I feel that, though complex structures may challenge an author, they can take away from the content, which is why I usually prefer to write free verse poetry.

Still, poetry has never been my favourite. Commonly, it is very ambiguous, causing it to rely on the creativity, imagination and personal experience of the audience rather than that of the author. Therefore, it doesn’t encourage empathy with the author, only reflection on one’s own memories. I find (and many of my English teachers have voiced this as well) that one of the biggest problems with written communication is that most often the writer is not there to clear up discrepancies in the interpretation of their works. Most poetry that I have read dramatises this issue by not specifying, qualifying, or acknowledging the complexity and variety of life experiences in other ways. This unit has not changed my mind, though I truly did my best to appreciate poetry for what it is.