this is a component piece of my intro to honors course, spring 2026. included at the bottom is my artist’s statement.
it isn’t about lending your tendons to others
sinew and nerve
tied to the post while the chorus drolls out hymns
you have no need to be a saint
for the choir to sing praise
spill wine over
martyr or marry
there are no bones
with which to cage like a bird
dignity nor pride
with lock and key inside you
nor clasped within the mouth of those you love
nor hate or know not of at all
there is no possession over virtues
you are enough
in your own flesh and blood
milkdrunk and begging
hands clasped over rock
salt and cold pearled water
iron held to skin and silver too
gold and starlight in the chasm
worthiness resides in you
as natural and given as every other fiber
you have only
to grasp for it
pull the thread closer
see the sun in between your fingers
ask if it begs the dark for respect
artist statement
I’m not really sure how to describe my piece, honestly. I guess I envisioned honor as something tangible, akin to a person. Gold, perfect, immutable – one of our barbaric virtues, one that isn’t given or taken, only displayed or hid away. That’s how honor is often perceived. It’s the ultimate virtue, it holds under its canopy countless other virtues to compliment it.
As a person, this honor (or rendition of said honor) bleeds in the wake of an event. It could be whatever you like, and the blue has no more meaning than my choice in putting a star over the eye (that is to say, it can have as much or as little meaning as you’d like, but I am not inclined to share why I did it)! But there is importance to the perceived injury – honor, here, isn’t immutable, nor perfect. They are capable of being harmed, perhaps even causing harm, because here, honor is human. Or at least something close to it.
Anyway, I don’t really want to muddy my art down with too much explaining. The poem does some of the lifting too. All of it is to say that I feel honor is inherent, it cannot be stolen from us, others are in no position to grant it as a gift. But honor too, is imperfect. We cannot strive to be honorable without striving to be ourselves, imperfections and craving validation and all other manners of oft ridiculous hurdles in life. Above all else, seek no validation from others in your own honor, it’s your life after all.
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