May the 4th (be with you)

yoda s

Some call it
silly, the do or
do not, the
childmind—some
can’t name the fears that lead them
into the darkness—

Some never
unlearn what they have
learned—but some
bear with their
failures and then pass them on–
transform shadow to stars

long time ago s

Last fall a local non-profit arts organization showed all the “Star Wars” movies, in time sequence, once a week leading up to the release of the “last” episode in December.  My younger daughter, a huge fan, convinced me to go with her–every week.  Corny and unsophisticated, that first movie was–the only one I had seen multiple times, or in one case, at all–but there was something that grew on and pulled at me as the special effects grew more elaborate and the characters aged and became more intensely themselves.

There is a thin line between who we think we are and what life calls on us to be.  And yet again and again many find a way to rise to the occasion.

My quadrille, for the dVerse word silly, hosted by Lillian, is composed of the thoughts of Yoda.

Happy Star Wars Day!!

29 thoughts on “May the 4th (be with you)”

  1. Bang on. At ten, I decided to be a movie star. At 32 I got my SAG, Equity and AFTRA cards. At 38 I went back to college for my MA Ed, and then spent 35 years as a special Ed teacher

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  2. Thoughts of Yoda indeed. We’ve really enjoyed the Star Wars movies….although I still think it odd that the order they were made is not the time order of the characters’ lives. When my son was 4, he was in the Christmas pageant at our church. The little ones were the last to come up to the altar …. after older kids had done their parts…and they stood there too, but in the back. Of course the little ones were all darling and so many proud parents. The little ones carried “candles” which had those bigger Christmas bulbs screwed in with batteries….not real fire. Our kids had seen the first Star Wars and were enthralled with Chewbaca. That’s all my son did in Montessori school that year….draw pictures of Chewie! Anyway, the little ones were singing Away in a Manger….angelic I must say. All of a sudden my son got a twinkle in he eyes, a little mischevious grin….and took his “candle” and pretended it was a light saber and, complete with sound effects instead of singing, swished it in front of him!!!! You guessed it…soon all the little ones with candles were doing the same. Away in the Manger was never the same!!!

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    1. I had seen all but one (because, my daughter), but the cumulative effect is quite different than each by itself. I think they may have begun as entertainment, but as you say, there is always power in a good story.

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  7. I have a plan to watch them in sequence one of these days, as they seem like a big jumble to me now. Your poem is so deep, K. Each of us really are on a heroes journey, but only some recognize it.

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  8. I enjoyed your poem, the philosophy in it, the learning to unlearn and grow. The painting too, reminds me of the Constable painting of rain.

    I know I saw one Star Wars film, the first one I’m sure and came out of the cinema thinking, not much really. I don’t remember anything about it and certainly not the scaly character with the ears.

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    1. I think there’s a cumulative effect when you see them all together. I doubt George Lucas had any idea of what might happen when he made the first one.

      And Yoda’s words clearly have a Zen origin, but still stand up on their own. They too begin to mean more as the characters age.

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  9. I’ve never seen Star Wars. And there is a comedy programme on BBC Radio 4 that has that sentence as its title. It gets well-known people to do things they have never done and explain how they felt about doing them. Which is why I was so interested in your notes after the poem, Kerfe.
    I often let my child mind run free, and get told off by my husband or my daughter and told to act my age. I don’t. Failures I have had plenty, but I also have plenty of stars. I love your poem! And I might get to see Star Wars yet.

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  11. I have all the Star Wars movies and I have thought about doing a marathon. It is amazing though to look at older movies that were less technologically advanced and see almost the silliness in some of the actions, especially when thinking back you remember how “awesome” scenes were.

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