I Am The Mighty!

I Am The Mighty:

I remember this tale, from a time of brutality; from whence I would have gladly murdered a soul. For the fragile seek to transcend their pain, but ever are they poisoned by it.

This man I remember had called himself ‘Mighty’ and I watched from the stands as he delivered his speech. “You are the fools!” he cried to the audience, “for even as you mock me, I am whole. Through tragedies I've suffered, through pain I persevered. I am a greater man and your words may never hurt me.”

Fool, is what I thought, for he seemed to take pride in this display. The crowd cheered him on, patting him on the back, but to me he lacked conviction. For I saw through the sham in his boast and I knew that his demons would haunt him again. This time a little earlier than needed.

“Yes my friends, I am a damaged man. I have been broken before and my spirit shattered,” he continued to ramble, as I drew close to him. “You too can be better, you too can overcome this pain. Together we can achieve!”

“Lies,” I spat, from the front of the crowd. “You might pretend that you are better; baying your worthless pain to the crowd. Some of them might even spare you a coin, but once you walk away from that, what are you?”

“Well, I am a bet-”

“You are nothing!” I hissed, interrupting him. My anger had gotten the better of me and I sought only to knock him down. “I know you like I know myself and you are the same individual spouting self-deceiving lies.”

He spluttered and tried to speak but I would not yield him the chance. “Remember what you really are, because what you show these people is but a glorified figment. Let’s be realistic, ‘friend’. After you leave here, after the adoring praise of the crowd has vanished. Again you’ll crawl back to your sorry little hole and wallow, you’ll wallow, in the depths of the insecurities that choke you from the shadows.”

“What then I wonder?” I asked with a mocking expression as I leaned toward him. “Will you finally accept that you are a worthless nothing? Or will you come out here again tomorrow and spew some nonsense about how you are ‘high and mighty’.”

“Look upon me my friends,” I said, mimicking his actions and tone. “For I am the worthless dreg of society, kicked around and now partially recovered. Yes, I have enough of my sanity to know that my horrid prattle about overcoming difficulties is enough to win your votes. You are stupid and so am I, for you will all lap this up like a pack of brainless dogs!”

The crowd stood stunned, most angry. They would have liked to have beaten me; they would have liked to have stoned me. Yet their limbs remained immobilized by the weight of truth itself.

Lie to yourself that you might overcome. Lie to yourself as much as you wish. But make that lie public, in a display of self-deluding ‘valor’ and it becomes so easy to send you back into the hole…




- Chen Yuan Wen, 10th August 2013