Or maybe not. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too cocky about it though. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (sorry, it’s on my mind because I am currently teaching it) as Caesar walks to the Capitol he sees the soothsayer who had given him the now famous warning “Beware the Ides of March” exactly a month prior, and as he sees this man he says in an arrogant fashion, “The Ides of March have come.” The soothsayer simply replies, “Ah, but not gone.” Less than an hour or so later, Caesar is a victim of multiple stab wounds. So I’m waiting till the last time zone makes it into 12/22/12 before I begin grading any of the research papers turned in last week.
Ok…seriously, all this end of the world stuff, and thinking about Shakespeare, reminded me of a sonnet I wrote in tenth grade (they’re usually about love but our teacher said we could write one about nature):
The End
By: Terree L. Klaes
The sun is shining upon all the world,
But the clouds roll in like great massive waves.
Caught up in the wind, the treetops whirled.
It is desperate for the victims it craves.
In a powerful climax it gains speed:
Sweeping the landscape into an uproar
Scattering all of the soon to bloom seed,
Ruining human lives forevermore.
Gripping talons of sheer icy coldness
Rip relentlessly at helpless landscapes,
Going forth with devastating boldness.
People run in terror with no escapes.
Breaking through the clouds is the peaceful sun.
When I look for signs of life I find none.
If the world survived my poem (and Gangnam Style), certainly we can survive the end of the Mayan calendar. My theory on a possible conversation between the guys making the calendar:
“We’ve made this calendar pretty far ahead. Do you think it’s good enough to stop for now?”
“Yeah. We can add the rest later, unless we get wiped out by disease and conquistadores.”
And then they both had a good laugh, because they couldn’t see into the future and were soon wiped out by disease and conquistadores. Just sayin.’
And for more humor, here’s a snippet of something I posted on Facebook the other day:
Me: “I think the world is saved. I saw some calendars today that go all the way through to the end of 2013.”
Friend: “Were they printed by Mayans?”
Me: “Actually, I think they said ‘Made in China,’ but I’m hopeful. I was told if I wait until after 12/21/12 to buy one it will go on clearance.”
And if you believe in God and read the Bible, be comforted by this, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself [not even the Mayans]. Only the Father knows.” Matthew 24:36 NLT
I added the part in brackets myself.
If you like disaster movies, you’ll love the clip. If you’re sensitive to them, please don’t watch. Either way, don’t blame me; it’s your choice.
caverns of my mind 