History of "The Night Chant"

The Night Chant. That’s provocative. Now the book gives a short little backstory of this “poem” but instead of going by that, I think I am just going to make up a story about it for this poetrey response (blog post). So here we go (that was really just to take up space and make this a line longer (so was that)).
It was a dark, cold, winter’s night (it has to be either that or a warm summer’s day otherwise the story wouldn’t be nearly cliched enough) and a man came walking out of the forest into the camp of the Indian tribe of Nohwitesaloud. Now the Nohwitesaloud people were a very srict tribe of Native American Indians, and as so did not usually allow visitors into their tribe, especially not after what happened when they let David Blaine in last time. Long story short, pigs’ heads should not be magically transformed to look like Kevin Bacon, luckily it was only six degrees outside though, so it all ended up okay. Anyways, they don’t usually let outsiders in so it was going to take some serious convincing on this man’s part for him to be allowed access to their unlimited supply of marshmallows and garage-door openers. So, to describe the man he was about 6’1” looking vaguely like a combination of Taye Diggs and Ryan Reynolds, he also had a splash of Phillip Michael Thomas in him too. I should also mention that he was in fact 1/16 ostrich. Now that you know roughly what he looks like we can move on with the story. Once he was there he had to think of something to give them fast or else they would have fed him to their wild flock of snapping turtles. So he just started writing and ended up writing this poem down. Which they loved so much that they granted him full-access to their marshmallows and garage-door openers. Later that week though they realized that they had neglected to get the Navojo’s anything for Christmas, so they just gave it to them. They later decided that they wanted it back.

Leaving My Mark

Old photographs . . . goofy . . . fun . . . crazy . . . smiles . . . laughs . . . being with friends . . . the best of times . . . old crumpled up notes . . . sad . . . disappointing . . . hard times . . . tears . . . losing friends.

All of these thoughts can sum up my high school years at MJCA . . . tonight I was looking at tons of old pictures that immediately brought back several memories. Girls I was friends with, fought with, gossiped about and thought we could never be friends again . . . look at us now, we are all friends again. Teachers that taught me more things than I know what to do with; some information relative and some I’ll never use again. Teachers that could care less about curriculum but rather teaching us about life and how to live it. Peers who influenced me and my decisions for the best or worse more than you will ever know. Days I wished away . . . weeks I couldn’t wait to pass . . . I want to relive. Soccer games I wish I could have just given a little more. Younger students I wish I could have invested in their lives. More things I wish I wish I would have gotten involved in. Worrying over pointless things that in the end did not matter at all.

Regrets? I think yes. Lessons learned? I think definitely. Four and a half months is ALL I have left to make it count. This song, “Graduation” by Vitamin C really made me think after hearing it. I mean it gives the perfect picture of graduating from your good high school memories and friends to moving on with the rest of your lives. All these things that seem just like yesterday now will only fade into long lost memories. Some we will remember and be able to tell about when we are older; others, we won’t even be able to recall. The first day of school this year I remember I kept thinking, “Man! I can’t wait for this year to be over! After this I get to head to college!” But now . . . now I wish I could start back over back to day one, and I already wish I had done things differently. But I can’t focus on the past, I can’t change it. All I can do it focus on the future and how I can change things. I want to leave my mark on MJCA. I want to make sure I am remembered at MJCA for positive things. I have four months to determine how I will leave this school. It is so crazy to think we will graduate and all go our separate ways, and we probably won’t even see each other again. It is sad, but it is a chapter in our lives that is ready to end, and we are ready to start another. I am sad to leave this chapter behind but excited for a new one to start. I challenge all of you to make your mark. Determine how you will be remembered at MJCA. Don’t wish away your days you have left, rather treasure them. Because one day, I promise you will look back and wish you could have done something differently. Live without regrets.

-Faith