Brazen Shore

On a brazen shore
 In southern Alabama
  Thousands of years ago
   Where false idols fell

In a barren waste
 By a rocky cairn
  By a boat's dried ruins
   By a sun-bleached skull

There washed the waves
 Of a long dead storm
  Which spilt the blood
   Of a kinder soul

Than any now walked
 That wilted beach
  With greasy kelp
   And slimy fishheads

When a ray of sun
 Broke the clouds' dark pallor
  And a child walked free
   For a moment.

It was a start.
 Beginning of the end.
  End of the beginning.
   The death of death.

 

Copyright 1989, 1994, 2013 Miles O'Neal, Austin, TX. All rights reserved.

Uncool

From the middle of sixth grade on, I was usually the uncool geek. Sometimes extremely so. If uncool geekiness had been an extreme sport, there are a lot of days I'd almost have won a gold medal. Why only almost? Because winning would have been at least a little bit cool.

I struggled to be cool-- at least when I wasn't lost in geeky things-- science, chess, comic books, reading, writing, and so on. I finally achieved coolness as a hippie during my college years. Then my world came crashing down. In the midst of despair at having totally made a wreck of things, I came face to face (literally) with God. He hadn't given up. He loved me as much as ever. I fell into Love's embrace.

I was promptly pronounced uncool by some of my friends. It felt surprisingly good. Over time, as I got comfy with who I am, and decided to not sweat it, and just love people, I found myself being treated as cool. Only I no longer cared. I didn't even know what to do with it. So I ignored it.

Just being able to not care if I'm cool is very cool.

You're cool? That's cool. Uncool? That's cool, too. Be you, and enjoy it. Love on folk. The ones who aren't all caught up in themselves and worried about being cool will come around.

Be cool. Whether you think you are or not. Be cool with being you. There's nobody more awesome than you.