Preservation | Teen Ink

Preservation MAG

By Anonymous

     I am an historian. I hold no grudge against my fellow inhabitants of the present - they have not been called by the voices of the past, pleading for salvation. Yet their institutions have reduced the bygone eras to dates and wars, stripping the people of their lives, their identities. I do the work of a true historian - I carry on their legacy into my own day and age.

I write in longhand, send my mail by post, avoid the impersonal clacking of the ever-present computer. I make my own bread, watching the yeast bubble and lovingly pounding the dough to a silky, smooth softness. The baking smell fills the air, the aromas of the past and present mingling in my modern kitchen. I study Latin, the dying father of my mother tongue, if only so it might survive one more generation.

I travel by sea, breathing the briny air as the boat rocks under me. I release full, rich laughter at the passengers of the planes overhead, oblivious to the nirvana just under their airborne feet.

I soil my hands in the garden, removing the thick, dark result of my travail from beneath my fingernails. I attend church, filled with wonder at all the knowledge of the Almighty under one roof. Using needle and thread on thick cotton cloth, I sew together yards of time, in, out, overlapping.

You will not find my sort on PBS specials, or in your high school history book. The people lie flat and dead in the textbooks of our time, but in my actions, they live every day.



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This article has 3 comments.


on Mar. 30 2010 at 12:14 am
Destinee BRONZE, Oakville, Other
3 articles 0 photos 303 comments

Favorite Quote:
Blegh. - Abraham Lincoln

Absolutely brilliant article. Best I've read in a long time.

on Nov. 6 2009 at 9:14 pm
spitfire213 SILVER, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
8 articles 0 photos 55 comments

Favorite Quote:
In the devil's den i may be, so stab my heart and set me free.

very worldly, like there's more to everyday normal life.

on Nov. 3 2009 at 7:08 pm
CaseyLeigh PLATINUM, Moraga, California
31 articles 6 photos 137 comments

Favorite Quote:
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to.

Freaking amazing. The ending made me go, WOW. Amazing piece.