"Why did you resign?"

Strange how little things like that can get stuck in your head. One of my favorite TV shows has always been The Prisoner. It deals with a person who resigns from a position of some importance, and who is privy to sensitive information. The exact nature of what he knows is never explained, and largely becomes irrelevant as the show progresses. The hero is kidnapped and brought to a place identified only as The Village, where he is constantly asked to disclose all the information he has. Being naturally resentful of this, he does not, and continues to keep silent. The questions of his captors then come down to just one thing- why did he resign his position? The result is a battle royale of wills, with every psychological trick in the book tried out on him to get him to break down and talk. But upon closer examination, this question becomes one more of self-justification- why are you that which you are, and why do you do what you do? The hero does not accept this society he has been thrown into, and therefore refuses to provide any answers. So it got me to thinking- why am I what I am? To whom do I owe allegiance, and to whom do I justify myself? Do I need to do that, or do my own actions speak for themselves? I would like to think so, but in the process of self-examination I find that there is always something lacking. If this can be put into definite terms, it is either something to fix or something to live with. But to whom I make these justifications remains a mystery, kind of a nebulous idealized self; what I could be. Or it could be the source of endless psychological nitpicking and endless headaches. What happens happens, and happens for a reason. Ours is not to wonder why, ours is but to do and die.

Rose Red

Taillights fade, rose-

red on the

twilit road-your

departure, and I am

smiling at the rearview mirror-

Snap on the radio-

Buck Owens

Why is every parting

Not as kind?