Beat – A Haiku

There is a rhythm

in you. It beats like nothing

I have heard before.

Labour – A Haiku

Sometimes, labouring

under illusions is the

best place to labour.

Leave Us – A Haiku

Do not leave us, friends,

once again. You will never

leave us, in the end.

Fool – A Haiku

Tell them the truth, friend,

for they already know; the

only fool is you.

Farther – A Haiku

The tips of your fin-

-gers seem so much farther a-

-way now than before.

Thicker – A Haiku

The air is thicker,

way down here. It is, as least,

warmer than before.

Light – A Haiku

There is always a

trio of darkness. But just

one light is enough.

Bring – A Haiku

The joy of you is,

simply, that you do not know

the joy you bring, love.

A Thousand Skies – A Haiku

You have a smile that could

light up a thousand skies. But,

you keep it for me.

Winter – A Haiku

Winter has warmed us,

once more, love. Your body though,

it seems, has gone cold.

Stranger – A Haiku

Someone will always

be a stranger. I never

thought it would be you.

Glow – A Haiku

Hello, love. You are,

it seems to me, glowing now,

as you always do.

Austen and Archimedes

There are more words in the English language than there are seconds in a single day.

There is calculus here, in this; a marriage of Austen and Archimedes. Wisdom and understanding, and yet…

And yet I cannot find the words to express, to equal, to state, to sum-up exactly what is though. Is felt.

The sounds are wrong; the figures do not add together properly.

The black and white is not so black, certainly not so white. One and one does not equal what you would expect.

What I am trying, though hardly succeeding, to say is that words do not explain, numbers cannot equate. I am saying:

One – That joke you tell is funny, every time you tell it.

Two – How are you? Really, I am interested.

Three – That is intriguing; I never knew that.

Four – Thank you for the early morning smile; it keeps me going.

Five – Tell me more; I could listen to you all day.

Six – The charm of you is second-to-none.

Seven – Where did you come from?

I have said seven things; 58 words, and much less than that, uniquely. The calculations and languages reduced to fewer than 50 sets of black marks in an effort to describe infinity.

I can count all the things about you, and none of them; speak all the words around you, and none of them.

There is frustration here, in this. But perhaps this is the way; perhaps this is enough.

Just Righter

You are a reminder of difficult times,

but only because you were much brighter.

You are a symbol of stress and and exhaustion,

because you made me feel like a fighter.

You are a sign of pain and of sadness,

because it was never wronger, just righter.

Reasons ‘Harry Potter’ Isn’t Sexist…

…despite the fact that its ‘three most powerful wizards are male’.

I’ve been away from the blogging keyboard for a while, so bear with me.

I recently read something on, if memory serves me, Tumblr, saying that ‘Scholars’ have said the Harry Potter series is sexist because its three most significant and/or powerful characters – Harry, Dumbledore, and Voldemort – are male.

Firstly, let me say that I haven’t read further into this, for two reasons: number one is that (as an English Literature graduate if nothing else) I would like to think that no ‘Scholar’ would be short-sighted enough to see the series like this; number two is that, as I’ll come to, I can’t imagine this is true.

Let me tell you why, for me at least, it can’t be. Some of the thought process is fairly basic, and some is perhaps not. As I’ve said, I’m out of practice, so this may not be the smoothest thing you read all evening.

Looking a little from the outside in, there’s this:

• JK Rowling was, is, and will continue to be the very definition of a strong, independent woman (granted, I’m being a little presumptuous, but that’s the impression you get from every charming and level-headed interview she has ever given)
• Why would a female author write an inherently sexist (specifically, anti-female or female-dispowering) series, anyway? As a piece of social commentary perhaps, but ‘Harry Potter’ reflects more on politics, power, and religion (or cultism) than anything else

Now, allow me to consider some other characters (mostly women, but also men), and why the idea of this three men-of-power situation isn’t what our ‘Scholars’ make it seem.

The great Molly Weasley is the most significant matriarch of the entire series (granted, Mrs Potter sacrificed her life for our protagonist) – not only is she in charge of the (enormous) family, but she is feared (but in a good way), and clearly must have some power; in fact, when she kills Bellatrix, we see just how powerful she can be when provoked, and there is nothing weak about that.

Speaking of Bellatrix, we have another great example of the powerful woman, and the absence of sexism in the ‘Harry Potter’ series. Granted, she may be a follower with a touch of the fearful and pathetic, but let’s not forget that she is also magically powerful. More significantly, she essentially props up Voldemort as his right-hand; even Lucius Malfoy, with all his arrogance, is weaker than she. She also willfully kills (being, essentially, the Voldemort in Neville Longbottom’s story) as a second’s thought; of course, all this really shows is evil and a disregard for life, but the same is seen in her leader and in him it is viewed as power, so why not her?

Moving on, another two female characters for now: Minerva McGonogall and the pink ice queen that is Dolores Umbridge. For the former, she props up her leader much like Bellatrix – she is a confidante and a peer; what are men, without women? She and Albus Dumbledore are equals, and she is his natural successor at the end of the series. Now, Umbridge is simply terrifying, and that largely covers it; if the series were sexist, she would never be as such, because the writing would never allow it. How can you oppress women if you ‘allow’ them to have voices, power, and presence? Yes, you’ve guessed the answer already: you can’t. And, in case anyone has forgotten, you shouldn’t.

For a moment, we should approach this from another angle; that is, not from ‘what about the women disproves sexism towards them?’ – rather ‘what about the men does the same?’

• Rubeus Hagrid is lovable, but magically weak; if the matter in question is the power held by the three men we are considering, then Hagrid is the perfect example of emasculation; his magic alone is in ironic juxtaposition to his size and strength
• The weak, unlikeable, or cowardly – Aberforth Dumbledore, Snape, even Ron Weasley – have to go through significant character development before their significance can be realised; Neville, too, lest we forget

The list could, I’m sure, go on, but I will take one final person: the brightest witch of her age. The conversation is about power and significance. For the first, then, I have already answered the charge: Hermione Granger is more intelligent than anyone else we encounter (remember, too, the days of the Time Turner), and she has greater magical power than all but a few others (Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle, both of whom – like Hermione – can cast spells without words, or wands). Not only that, but she is the balance for Ron and Harry; the organiser, the calmer, the sense, and, of course, the power. In many ways, she is more significant than Harry, and as intelligent as Albus. If anyone is proof of an absence of sexism in the ‘Harry Potter’ series, it is her.

And the last and perhaps most important thing to discuss is why it makes perfect sense for Harry, Albus and Tom to be the powerful character they are – yes, I’m not even denying that their power is existent, but it is not as two-dimensional as the ‘three boys were given big wands and strong minds – the girls can’t have that’ – and, more importantly, why it is essential that they be male. It’s the things that follow which made me question whether ‘Scholars’ really made the claims of sexism. So, I’m finishing with a flourish and my sights on the primary matters of power and gender (and what they do to connect these men); ‘I open at the close’, if you will.

The world of ‘Harry Potter’ may be be a fantasy, but it does not exist entirely outside of the spectrum of realities past and present – not politically, culturally, socially, or otherwise. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore may well be somewhere around 100 years old, so naturally he was born, educated, and employed in a time when his gender was the priority, with greater opportunities and the like. Naturally, then, he has had more chances to develop such impressive magical skill, more opportunity to reach a position of power; he is male, firstly, because it affords the reader an opportunity for a contextual realism in an otherwise fantastical world. Albus Dumbledore essentially must be male, for one more reason: Harry Potter is his generation’s James Potter – he is much like his father. While Mrs Weasley is his mother figure, Dumbledore is the father figure, and one which his character absolutely needs; indeed, he wants to idolise his father, and Albus (along with Sirius Black) provides a channel through which his love and admiration for a male figure can be directed.

Voldemort, like the only man he ever feared, has had a determination and education empowered by the times in which he grew up (he is around 70 years old at death), so it makes sense that he be male. His anger towards his father also supports the necessity that Dumbledore be male – he would not feel such anger and hatred towards a woman, because those feelings in young Tom were borne of a man. What’s more, the childishness and vitriol of his anger, his approach, and his general countenance (mostly as a child, though even up to the last moments of the series) would have none of their anti-charm if Voldemort were female; the immature and contrary nature does not suit a female character, who would be much more composed, pragmatic, and mature.

Now, to The Chosen One. He is the first-born son, and like our other leading men (who are also first-born sons), this immediately places him on a pedestal; more importantly, and like his nemesis, he is also an only child – the greater the parallels between them, the more significant their relationship, even if one of those parallels is an inherent sense of entitlement and arrogance. If we consider the notion of heroism, we have another reason that the protagonist must be male: being a hero is naturally connected to masculinity. While this might sound like sexism, it is not (strictly speaking) – it is simply archetypal. Much like Tom’s personality traits, too, Harry’s brashness and arrogance would have none of the realism in a much more level-headed female character – one like Hermione Granger. One last fleeting thought is this: the gender of the main character is, by and large, a coin flip, and with a female author in JK Rowling, we should perhaps dial down the cynicism.

So, to take a step back and look over this all, the series may well be named after the boy who lived, but it could just as easily have had some alternative monikers. Humour me:

• ‘LILY POTTER and the SACRIFICE THAT STARTED IT ALL’ – featuring the woman who did not live
• ‘MINERVA MCGONOGALL and the SCHOOL IN DANGER’ – featuring the headmaster with a reckless attitude
• ‘GINNY WEASLEY and the BOY SHE STANDS BY’ – featuring the girl who gets into troubles
• ‘LUNA LOVEGOOD and the KNOWLEDGE UNKNOWN’ – featuring the girl who is underestimated
• ‘MOLLY WEASLEY and the MOTHERLY HEART’ – featuring the family that was never expected
• ‘HERMIONE GRANGER and the BRIGHTEST MIND’ – featuring the boys who need their friend

This all, for me, is how I understand the notion of sexism in ‘Harry Potter’; really, it is how I come to understand why it is not there. ‘Scholars’ or not, we may never know.

Just remember, never wake a sleeping dragon.

 

 

 

 

 

Pure Joy – A Haiku

To escape would be

just such a wonderful thing.

To escape; pure joy.

Serenity

Take a deeper breath.
Relax, be peaceful, my dear.
You are so serene.

Disillusioned – A Haiku

Disillusioned, yes,

With the world and work and life.

Amok and amiss.

You, The Sensual Subject

You taste like every meal I have ever enjoyed;

you feel like cashmere, or wool, or silk.

You smell like flowers on the first day of spring;

you look like diamonds, like art, like the sun.

You sound like a symphony of the most wonderful composition;

are every, every, every sense.

The Beautiful Liars

It is not necessary to speak the truth,

all of the time,

as long as the lies you tell are filled with love,

and the truths you tell are elegant.

Bite – A Haiku

Ev’ry time you bite

your lip, when you smile, I feel,

feel it on my skin.

Night Skies – A Haiku

Just one hand is all

I need, to count the stars which

shine bright above me.

In a Heartbeat

Even if your heart

Does not beat

as everyone else’s does.

It still

beats.

Beautifully.

Beaches

The sand between your toes should tell you more about yourself than you care to realise.

You may be worn away, but you are glistening, you are soft, you are beautiful.

Seventy percent of all we have and the sun which cares to glance upon us,

have all the love in the world for your grains; cannot help but touch.

So too, for everyone around us.

To have your sand between my toes; such a beautiful thing.

Perfection – A Haiku

You are nowhere near,

not even close. Yet closer,

closer still than us.

With Purpose – A Haiku

I’ve absolutely

no idea just what it is

that I’m doing here.

Proud, No Matter – A Haiku

You are, as they say,

the absolute worst. But you,

you do it with pride.

Just a Year – A Haiku

Four seasons, frankly,

are already not enough.

Please, don’t waste them, love.

This Flower – Ode to a Sister

It is, i’m sure, not my job to hand you over to another.

It’s not my place to say, ‘absolutely; onward’.

But for some time I have watched you grow a little taller; watched you smile a little wider.

For some time I have heard you laugh a little louder; sing a little longer.

You, my darling, have always been a flower.

Some time ago, though, you were perhaps a little wilted.

Some time ago, more of your petals than we would care to mention were tinted black.

Some time ago, you were beautiful, and perfect, and absolutely ignorant to it all.

But now, not for now but forever, you are verdant.

For now you are flourishing, are growing, are alive.

You have dug your roots into the ground and, accidentally perhaps, tangled your roots with the other flowers in the garden.

They call that, I believe, a flower arrangement.

Whatever they call it, I believe, is surely not enough.

I have waited, much as you have, for you to catch the sun.

And here you are, my darling, leaning towards its light.

I would pick you every day, would that I could.

But, much like the pennies we pick up for luck, flowers are better given away.

It is, I’m sure, not my job to hand you over to another, beautiful as you are.

Happier though, I could not be, to see you planted alongside someone else.

For, two flowers have never looked so bright, so grand, so impressive, as you and yours do.

And so, we three, and all others who are lucky enough to watch your seasons come and go, today and forever,

will pour water, open windows, and shed light.

You do not need it of course, but we will.

It is, i’m sure, not my job to hand you over to another.

It’s not my place to say, ‘absolutely; onward’.

But no sense of pride, no enjoyment of colours and beauty, will ever quite reach today’s.

Because now you laugh a little louder; sing a little longer.

So, simply, ‘absolutely; onward’.

You, Are

You are not as simple as you might think.

Not so one-dimensional.

You are not as plain as you believe.

Not so nondescript.

You are spirals, curves and scribbles.

You are growing, complicated, interesting.

You, my darling, are infinite.

You are whatever we are waiting for after every dot, dot, dot.

You, my darling, Are…