[This is the most beautiful thing I've read in ages and I want to share it.]
If being in the band wasn't going to be a possibility for Sulimaila, then he at least wanted to be around the band. There were a couple of other boys who felt the same way. They volunteered to be the band's helpers. They would attend every rehearsal and performance. If a band member needed a glass of water or a towel to wipe the sweat off his brow, one of the helpers would get it. They were the ones in charge of setting up and packing the band's equipment.
Sometimes when the show was over, the stage lights had been turned off, and the band members were out in the crowd receiving adulation, Sumaila and the other boys would stand on the stage and hold the instruments. They wouldn't play them, they'd only stand there and hold them for a few minutes while starting into the empty chairs in the audience. They'd let the energy of their dreams seep through their hands and into the instrument, as if it were a Bible or the Koran. Maybe one day, they prayed, their dream would come true. Eventually, the other boys grew weary of being so close to something they wanted but knew they couldn't have. They stopped coming to rehearsals and shows but Sumaila didn't. He continued to dream and believe.
Pages 155-6
My First Coup D'etat
John Dramani Mahama
Couldn't that be considered a kind of necrophilia?
ReplyDeleteI can never tell anymore whether behavior like in "We Are Seven" or "Cyrano and Roxanne" is tragically beautiful or horrifically tragic. Am I doing right or wrong when I refuse to give up on something everyone else has told me to let go of?
The zombie hordes are coming. Do we kill ourselves to spare ourselves the agony of a brutal death or hold out for a deus ex machina?
Why is the sign out button where the publish button should be? I'll try to recreate my comment, but since it was beautiful and perfect like a snowflake, I'll make ice cubes instead.
ReplyDeleteI know that it worked for Sumaila. He got to play maracas in the band in later years. But that doesn't mean it's right for everyone and not even necessarily right for him, as I haven't finished reading the account, but I do know he was really thrilled and the other guys thought he was a valuable addition.
But life is hard and nobody's dreams come true. You can have your job figured out and never find love and you can have your sexuality all a-ok and be persecuted for your race, and essentially everybody has got 99 problems, even if a b isn't one, even Beneduck Cumberquack.
Aww, I hate when that happens.
ReplyDeleteWell, good for Sumaila.
I had the sign out button eat a comment before as well. Ice cubes indeed. (Not in this particular case, but it's happened before.)
ReplyDelete"Beneduck Cuberquack." HAHAHAHA
But I think sometimes--depending on the person, obviously--holding on and going toward a goal is important. I mean, context is important. We're told to "hold fast" in Scripture, and in that context, it's vitally important. As for earthly goals, I guess it depends on the person and on the goal and what that goal is doing to the person pursuing it.
And yet hqw can it be bad to hold onto a goal that's good for you/humanity? Sumalia wasn't doing any harm. Also, I lost that book.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem pretty harmless. I could be a jerk and start talking about opportunity cost or whatever, but I think abortionists overuse that argument.
ReplyDeleteOr anti-abortionists. Or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to report that Sumalia played the maracas well and was called Joe Mara from then on and became a well-respected member of the band until he graduated. Some stories end well.
ReplyDeleteGood for him. Wait, graduated? So he was in college, or high school, or what? Fair enough. The crushing disappointments in life should wait to hit until after the life-practice is finished. Or was that *The Karate Kid*? I can never remember.
ReplyDelete