Rock 'Em Out

Perfection Wasted

And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market --
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories
packed in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.

-John Updike from Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing





I chose "Clocks" by Coldplay to go with "Perfection Wasted" by John Updike. These to works connect because they both discuss death, and how we do not have a long time on this earth to make an impact. I think the twoe authors realize that idividuals are unique and no two people are alike, and therefore we must live while we are here, because once we die, there is no one like us to make our impact for us.