Poem: "Restoring the Force"
This poem came from the June 1, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles. Her reference to "logic vs. emotion" reminded me about a fundamental imbalance that always bothered me about the Star Wars movies. Lucas drew inspiration for the Jedi from Japanese "jidai" ... but what wound up onscreen is a jumble of eastern and western motifs, entertaining yet often awkward. So this poem grew out of that, and it's essentially a literary analysis in poetic form.
Restoring the Force
Logic without emotion
is hobbled, robbed of its volition,
a ship becalmed by its own insistence.
Emotion without logic
is blinded, bereft of its guiding star,
adrift beyond reach of rudder or wheel.
The light side of the Force
is calm and control,
passivity and denial.
The dark side of the Force
is power and passion,
wrath and chaos.
There is no wholeness
in following half the path;
every tightrope requires two anchors.
There can be no yin without yang,
no yang without yin.
All the balance in the world lies between them.
The Jedi and the Sith
fight because they have forgotten
they are One.
Only when one mind
wields the twin swords of logic and emotion
will the true power of the Force be restored.