Saturday, June 14, 2008

Ode to Nothing


“Nothing! Nothing can save us from parting ways!” exclaimed my ex-boyfriend. He accused, “You want nothing but a boyfriend, and when you have one, you want everything.” I protested, “I want nothing. I wanted nothing. Period.” He answered my words with a sarcastic smile that was enough to set the fire in me. I yelled, “You are in love with Impeccability. But remember that the maxim ‘Nothing but perfection’ may be spelled PARALYSIS.”

To my agony, my forte in quoting and deconstructing quotes did not work wonders that time. My ex dumped me.

A shroud of gloom enveloped me from that fateful day. I ate nothing. I did nothing. Nothing lured me. Gradually my days and nights were entwined with Nothing. In my reveries, I could think of nothing but of Nothing. At night, I dreamt of Nothing. I searched for the etymology of the word. I explored the thesaurus. A plethora of synonyms greeted me…Non-existence, Non-life, Non-being, Nihility, Nullity…what was that? My eyes caught hold of the word encore. Nihility. Sounds cool. But what does it mean? The internet played my saviour. “Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.”

“I too believe in Nothing. I too think nothing is superior to Nothing.” My thoughts became profound and elevated. “My existence is attached to Nothing. I am in love with Nothing. I lust after Nothing. Yippee! That makes me a believer in Nothing!”
So you see guys, what Nothing has made out of me! A nihilist, a PoMo in the same league of Derrida!

Nowadays I have nothing to declare but my genius. At social gathering, at addas, people look at me with awe. However, none but I can see at times a lady resembling me cocking a snook at me! Illusion! I bury it instantly. Still her wicked words linger in the air…”Cherie, you are a mere nothing.”

-The Shepherdess