Vulnerability, One Element of Humanity: Parallelism of the Anthology “Lockdown Litanies: Countless Untold Stories” to the different song genres
An Essay by Ma. Gwyneth Adrielle M. Vergado
Hoarding. Quarantine. Social Distancing. Hearing these words never fails to bring my memories back to March 2020. Wherein the Covid ’19 is about to spread here in the Philippines. I can say that this is a kind of bumpy ride. This so-called “lockdown” changes us, physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally. The sad reality of this, many of us have an untold story related to lockdown. Some enjoyed the lockdown, but many suffered. Whatever your side is, as an individual, you still have a rant or maybe you heard or read some stories regarding lockdown wherein you can secretly relate, just like this collection of Poems entitled “Lockdown Litanies: Countless Untold Stories.”
The first poem entitled “Dear Diary,” emphasizes the suffering of teenagers during the lockdown. It’s hard to see the world stopped, but the changes in us happen quickly. The lines “Barely breathing. Deeply drowning. I was told of a place where pain flees to nothingness. I’d like to disappear too in the darkness,” shows that many people have been through a lot of problems, sad to say some weren't able to make it through. I associate this poem with the song entitled “The neighbourhood“ by Softcore. The song has the line “Are we too young for this? Feels like I can't move,” that shows that even younger ones like me have a battle, a battle that I am too young to fight with, and I have to fight it alone since we are in the middle of lockdown. No physical backup from friends and colleagues, but at least I have my kind of diary, social media, and online friends. Though not having physical backup from people outside our household. In addition, I chose to connect that song in the poem “Dear Diary” because for me it explained the experience of the teenager or every person who has a problem in life very well. We all know a lot of us are experiencing being stressed, experiencing panic attacks, some are confused, and having a lot of problems in life during those days or even today. For me as a teenager, it's just sad how our generation is having so many problems in life.
The second poem “The Tale of a Modern Sisyphus” mainly focused on reducing the burden by not carrying the burden alone. Sometimes, as an individual, we fail to appreciate the people that surround us and are willing to help and support us, just like what is being said in the poem, “To the human condition, we are not inherently alone. A burden is less felt when carried together. Yielding a boulder collectively on our shoulders.” A song expressing how having someone in our life is important. A song with the line, “So maybe it's true, that I can't live without you” is entitled “ Two is Better Than One” by Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift. This song can remind us that it’s actually okay to ask for help and that is much better if we can help others.
Have you ever wondered if the people you treasured the most will remember you for the rest of their lives? A prose poem included in Lockdown Litanies entitled “O’ Yayi” shows how possible it is that someone that we love the most, can forget us someday. I can relate this poem to the song “August” by Taylor Swift because this song is for the people who are showing their true love to the person they really love, where the person is willing to do anything and everything, willing to take a risk even without the assurance of the person they loved. I assumed that in this poem Yayi, the wife of the writer, is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, a condition wherein people will lose some of their memory. The sad part of this poem, Yayi doesn't remember her husband but he remembers Dante. The husband is scared that in the next life, Yayi will choose Dante as you can see in this line, ”if ever I run out of time here and reach the other side, whose arms would you run back again, mine or Dante’s?” This line shows that spending our time or even our lives with us doesn’t guarantee that we’re the only ones. Yes, we might be the chosen ones, but we are not always the first ones. Taylor Swift once said in one of her songs, “But I can see us lost in the memory, August slipped away into a moment in time, 'Cause it was never mine,” this means that sometimes there’s a big part of their lives that is being held and kept by someone and that someone, is not always us.
On the other hand, “Two Red Laces on the Wonderwall” the fourth poem in Lockdown Litanies shows how grateful the writer is for having someone willing to share their life with but suddenly died. The poem has the line “But you felt like home, where I belong, Two red laces are woven on a wall” which means being safe and secured with the person. That being in love is not just the romance and the butterflies in the stomach that we can feel, but it is also about the security we can feel from that person. I chose to relate this poem to the song of Ed Sheeran’s “Supermarket Flowers” which says, “I hope that I see the world as you did 'cause I know, A life with love is a life that's been lived.” A song that reminds us that we should be grateful for all the endless love that we received and keep receiving, and this love is the love of God, that not all surrenders are a sign of defeat, because it’s also a sign that we are trusting.
As we speak about love, the fifth poem “Umbilical” discusses the upcoming birth of a child. A poem from the point of view it was very difficult to give birth, the mother of the author died. “The pain she suffered just for me to see Lilom, Lilom, I beg. Spare her for me,” It means that the child seems to be under his/her mother. If the mother dies, the child will also choose to die because the child won't be able to handle it. Personally, I do relate to the point of view of the poem because we all know that living without a mom is very hard. But, not everyone has that kind of mindset, some of the children are going to choose to be strong for their mother. In addition, Enduring the pain during pregnancy is undeniably hard. That’s why I will be relating this poem to the song entitled “Tears in Heaven.”by Eric Clapton. The song has a line, “I must be strong, And carry on, 'Cause I know I don't belong, Here in heaven.” A line that shows eagerness to live and continue living. That we must be strong so others can live and sometimes, sacrifices are not always needed, because what we need the most is to be strong.
Moving on, P!nk in one of her songs entitled “What About Us?” once said, “What about us? What about all the plans that ended in disaster?” a song with a lot of questions and queries... And I could relate this song to the sixth poem of Lockdown Litanies “RE: Paper (I’m Red, IMRaD)*” a poem that talks about the poor education system in the Philippines. From questioning the K-12 Curriculum, “Parents are certain, K to 12 is a burden,” to lack of resources but expecting too much, “To squeeze resources from thinking hats and pockets, To produce something sterling from bare minimum.” Indeed the Department of Education has an excellent goal for the learners but has a hazy vision for implementation. Discussing the poor quality of education, the major victims of this situation are the students and the seventh poem of the Lockdown Litanies expresses the idea of the suffering of the students and is entitled. In addition, I related this song to the “RE: Paper (I’m Red, IMRaD)*” because for me, there are so many students and parent are asking the same question “What about us?” Just because some of them are not financially stable. I believe that the K-12 curriculum is not beneficial for all because some students are capable of studying, but some of them are not because they want to help their parents financially so that instead of studying they find a job just to help their parents.
For the seventh poem, The “3 A.M. Awakening ”, This poem shows how to pull yourself together during the toughest times and darkest days. A reminder that there’s always a way for us even simple breathing can save us and pull us from desolation. A song by Coldplay has the same thought, in a world full of struggles and failures and never-ending disappointments, there are still ways to help ourselves, this is entitled “ Fix you.” In our toughest times and darkest days, there’s still a “Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you.” As I grow older, I can see massive changes in how society is more accepting the fact that women nowadays are empowered. For me as a person, everyone should think that it's okay to fail but don't forget that at the end of the day that failure or mistakes is the biggest lesson in our lives and there are always better days ahead. Personally, I do relate to this poem and also to the song because I always try my very best just not to make a mistake but I suddenly realize that everyone learns from their mistakes. Every mistake or disappointment is helping us to be better, grow stronger and smarter to help ourselves now and in the future.
Being empowered can be considered as beautiful but in the poem included in Lockdown Litanies, “My Frail Lady“ shows the beauty behind vulnerability. That it’s not always the strong ones who are attractive. “Such a frail, frail lady Bookkeeps her internal screams. Soon she will be found—” a line from “My Frail Lady,” that makes me assume that all the unspoken pain and thoughts will someday find their way to be discovered. And having this kind of vulnerability doesn’t mean that you’re not empowered. It means that you’re aware of your limits and awareness is also a form of empowerment. A song entitled “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston expresses the same view. The song goes, “See it's very defined. you're one of a kind. but you mash up my mind, you have to get declined,” and it shows that it’s not always about the physical aspect and being strong, but it’s all about accepting your truth.
These poems are full of symbolism, figures of speech, and many gimmicks which leads to my perception that this compilation is full of mysteries. Just like the last poem in Lockdown Litanies the “Major Arcana.” It’s ironic how a poem can describe a mystery. This poem talks about the struggles that an individual might encounter while achieving their goals and dreams. It emphasizes the mystery of our future, that even though we don’t know what’s going to happen we still choose to take the risk. “And so you went in wonder and surprise, for you have seen what lies ahead, through your palm into my eyes.” These lines might pertain that we are taking risks because we already envisioned our future selves. I can relate this to the song “The Climb”, a song by Miley Cyrus that talks about how achieving dreams is not going to be easy. “The Climb” has the line “Always gonna be an uphill battle, Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.” Showing that people who are trying, striving, and taking risks do not always succeed but at the end of the day, they still learned something during the process.
In conclusion, “Lockdown Litanies: Countless Untold Stories” is not even the surface of the struggles and stories of people during the Lockdown. I am going to associate this whole compilation with the word Vulnerability. Even the strongest people that we know were challenged during the lockdown, which means that all of us have faced hardships during this process. Some of us managed to survive, but some didn’t. Many people are able to express or share their stories, but some are just writing it down just like the writers of “Lockdown Litanies: Countless Untold Stories.”
