The Spectacle | Teen Ink

The Spectacle

June 21, 2023
By evancarr SILVER, Seattle, Washington
evancarr SILVER, Seattle, Washington
6 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Is pain romantic? 

  

Well 

Is a scraped knee romantic? 

A little spilt blood on the sidewalk 

Maybe that isn't the right kind 

  

Crying from a breakup 

An empty 

Bitter sort of pain 

Actually 

That's kind of the opposite of romantic 

  

Perhaps a little more glorious 

Like a martyr in flames 

They called crucifixion a passion 

Google will tell you that's Latin 

For suffering 

So, passion is pain 

And pain is passion 

  

Like starvation, that's it 

Just look at those bohemians! 

Good thing they were poor 

What would museums have to hang? 

  

Blood shed on the battlefield 

Now 

That's romantic 

Lives lost overseas 

Make such good headlines 

Just make sure they're far removed 

 

The dark night of the soul 

Is so many lovely colors 

Looking from the outside in 

  

And people wonder why 

The masses 

Find spectacle in pain 


The author's comments:

Evan Carr is a rising high school senior from Seattle, Washington. His work has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and he is is editor-in-chief of his school literary magazine, AQUILA. When he isn't writing, he can be found skiing, biking or playing ultimate frisbee like the basic Washingtonian that he is.


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This article has 1 comment.


on Jun. 24 2023 at 11:31 am
elooseygoosey BRONZE, Seattle, Washington
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another.”
― Homer, The Iliad

wow. this is so captivating. i love how honest it is, you don't withhold any aspect of humanity's romanticization of such devastating things, and honestly you shouldn't. i feel like this is a topic that flies past everyone's heads, but you caught it and pinned it down so well! i like how it gradually escalates, it really adds to the horrific thrill of it.

(this really reminds me of the secret history by dona tartt. there's a speech the teacher makes about how "beauty is terror" and even in poetry we are attracted to horrifying things like when Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon in Oresteia. i recommend digging into it if you're curious! great job again)