I ran into this quote from a poem the other day. You are probably familiar with it.
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
I never understood what it meant until now
The sun sets every evening and we are powerless to interfere with it's course. The sunset is a metaphor for death. As with the inevitability of the passing of time, the sunset of our lives is the guaranteed final endpoint for all beings on this terrestrial plane.
This poem says to fight anyways
"Do not go gentle into that good night"= Don't just let the sun set on your life.
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light"= Fight with everything you can as the light fades away.
The "wise men", "good men" and "wild men" are all privy to the same end. They all lived their lives as they saw fit and lived every moment of their waking hours to the fullest. They didn't rest and allow fate to take them into the darkness.
The final line, apparently written by Thomas to his father on his deathbed is asking him to follow suit. He is begging his father to not allow death to take him. To fight, fight, fight.
This poem sums up everything I feel about America today
I feel like I'm losing the nation that I love. I feel like my ideals of what this nation was about, justice, equality, reason and enlightenment has been replaced with corruption, xenophobia, insanity and pettiness.
People have told me to accept it. People have told me that there is nothing anyone can do about it. What's done is done. It is what it is. They are telling me to go gently into that good night.
I will not
Like many of you out there, I am frustrated. I share news articles on social media and start conversations with like minded friends and even try out civil discourse with people with opposing views. This doesn't satisfy me, this doesn't make me feel like I'm doing everything I can. There has to be more that I can do to help people, to create a community of people who still believe in what this country stands for. To share ideas, have conversations. To find solutions together.
Welcome to "The Wiretap Podcast"
My long time friend, Chad and I have been kicking this idea around for about a year. In light of recent political events, it has taken on a sense of civic duty to do this.
We are not radical left, centrist, or right wing. We are more nuanced than red and blue. We believe in upholding Constitutional Amendments 1-27. ESPECIALLY #1 and #14. There are things to fix, compromises to be made and things that can be done to improve our current situation. We want to be a resource to people so that they can do something about what's going on today.
We believe in sharing ideas. We believe in taking a stand against injustice. We believe in informing people and empowering them to do what they think is best for their country.
We do not believe in standing idly by while this country suffers the blight of ignorance and misinformation.
If you agree with us, we want to hear from you.
If you disagree with us, we ESPECIALLY want to hear from you.
While there is still light, we will use it to burn brightly and shine that light on all of this darkness.
Join us