“Forget Yourself” Felix O’Connor
many of you may know that even in only your own company you cannot find yourself alone many of you may admit that in your truest nature, you find that you are split or that you are incomplete let us for a moment imagine that we are someone complete let us for a moment be someone we think we ought to be our protagonist is alone when he is alone he has chosen to be exactly as he should be, as is known to be correct; he is not handsome because there is nothing our fathers hated more than a beautiful man he is clever, though he is not educated for there was nothing that shamed our fathers more than their education he is the protagonist of some great American Novel, that says something about freedom and manliness and the sanctity of the land you can imagine him protecting the innocent with an instrument lesser men used to cull, you can imagine him praising whatever god you find most worthy Or if your tastes tend more exotic, you can pretend you are Mary Pretend there is something holy inside you Pretend you are an empty vessel, pretend you are selected for the purity of your emptiness, the poverty of your spirit, the cleanliness of your soul Pretend you have been untouched by anyone save God it will slur the Christians in our audience, but it is one hell of a way to forget your troubles take off your burdens, and pretend you are a dragon pretend you shine so blue, like sunlight hitting a rough ocean, that no one can directly look at you pretend all those who threaten you and yours can be consumed with one exhale of your fiery breath pretend you are something else, and forget, for a moment, what it is to be yourself cast aside your own name, your own body and write whatever fictions you see fit you must admit, it is good to forget yourself it is good to be a simple character, sometimes, when you are tired of being tired of being a real human being
Thank you to all who contributed to the Daily’s 2020 Literary and Artistic Supplement:
D. D., Aiden Drake, Fern Lou Fernandez, Michaela Keil, Kyle MacDougall, Felix O’Connor, Phoebe Pannier, Jo Roy, Daisy Sprenger
Design by: Pandora Wotton and Michaela Keil