It is sometimes hard to say
You are tired of feeling this way
Never feeling like you belong
That no one wants you
Never feeling safe in your own shoes
That everyone is better then you
How much can you take?
When you look in the mirror you are not happy
At what you see
When it has just built up over time
And know it is all falling down at once
People say just suck it up
But is that really possible?
When you have falling so hard
it is hard to get back on your feet
Do you feel like nothing will get better some days?
You know you have friends to lean on
That say don’t worry everything will be ok
But the truth is you don’t feel like everything will be ok
After trying so hard to feel confident
Is it time to give up?
Is it time to think
Your beautiful
Your smart
People love you
You are perfect the way you are
Serving with no Heart or Mind
Life is about becoming what you want to be and being able to be your true self. No one saying do this and do that, and never finding the strength to say no. What if you couldn’t think your own thoughts, only do everything a King or leader tells you to do? Imagine seeing a breath taking white dove; instead of being able to admire its charm and grace, you must snap its neck to serve your king. In the story, “The Hundredth Dove” Jane Yolen illustrates a fowler named Hugh that can only reach the bare minimum of his own heart and mind because he must serve his selfish and arrogant king.
Having your life ruled by a king isn’t the best reality. He has basically brain washed the fowler in to thinking that what he says is the only thing that matters. When Hugh first sees the gorgeous bird like queen, he is first taken back. His knees shake as he looks at her, he finds her stunning. The issue is he doesn’t act on it, he just stands there. After the king tells him to fetch 100 birds for his wedding feast, the queen says “Please do not serve them sire”, with a scared look on her face. Again the fowler just stands there, doesn’t he want to back her up at all? As normal he probably just stares into space with a blank look on his face, does his mind work? Most people with a brain would say something; it’s the queen’s wedding too. Maybe she didn’t want birds at the wedding because she actually is a dove. Before going to out to catch the birds, he sleeps a dreamless sleep. He doesn’t dream when he sleeps, this again leads to the collusion of him not having his own mind and heart.
The king doesn’t seem to care what other people think even his future wife. When he says, “See, my lady, how your beauty turns even the head of the even my fowler”. Having the king say this shows how much he doesn’t care about other people, even people that work for him. If the Fowler had a brain, he would realize that this was meant to demean him. But brainless fowler didn’t connect the dots. Sadly even when Lady Columbia, his future bride doesn’t want the birds at the wedding he just says, “I have spoken. Do not fail me, fowler”. Does he see what he is doing? His soon to be wife doesn’t want the birds at the wedding. This is his down fall, he is selfish and what he says goes no matter what.
Unfortunately, for the fowler, king, or lady Columbia their fairytale story doesn’t work out. The fowler has a broken heart, the queen is dead, and the king has no bride to call his own. When it comes together it all could have prevented by two things. For one if the king wasn’t so full of himself, he would not be alone. Lastly if the fowler would have used his heart and mind so he could say no, the queen wouldn’t be died, and maybe he could have found love with her. One big lesson to take out of it is, to follow what your heart is telling you. Do what you think is right.
