In such freedom of topic, there is great mystery. In the open field there is more adventure than in the box in which we live. History and poetry have always been two of my favorite subjects in school. The two rarely seemed to merge though, despite my own fascination. History never seemed too far from metaphor, and poetry never seemed too far from documentary. I always wondered how my classmates or teachers did not see the same. This bred forth my stepchild-like education. Always stuck in the middle of two irreconcilable parents. At mom's house I pledged allegiance to rhythm and rhyme and at dad's house to men stepping in time. Poetry to me is like an eye into the soul. A place abstract in words but profound in meaning. It always struck me as interesting that other forms of writing, seeking after explication and understanding were never able to contain the depth of understanding and true heart of meaning as did poetry. History has continued to peak my interest not so much in meaning, but in manipulation. The question of ‘who is writing history books?' has been a haunting one to me. Who is determining which current events make it into the cannon of history taught to future generations? Will huge current events like the bombing of Solemani in Baghdad be written into importance in the future or will it simply be a blip on the radar? Will we ever learn from human atrocities, or will we simply choose to write them out of history? History is both formed and formative. That is the both exciting and terrifying thing about the field. Throughout my educational journey I have wrestled with how to marry these two concepts, and I think finally, after twenty-two years that I might have an answer. History can easily be made about hate. Country A hated Country B, therefore they went to war, but I think there is more to the story. I think that hate is merely the symptom of the fearmongering written into our history. I think history and poetry collide at the intersection of writing a better story. If poetry captures the soul, what better way to tell our histories. I think the horizon of tomorrow's sunrise is dependent upon the love stories that we whisper to our children tonight.
