Why Farther Room?

It's not because I'm a poetry buff, that's for sure -- not that I have anything against poetry. Like all forms of creative expression, I both respect and appreciate a good poem, but I've never been drawn to them on an academic level. Because of this my knowledge of the classics has been, and probably always will be, severely limited.

Still, I've managed to absorb the odd bit of verse through my various other interests. I discovered James Thomson's City of Dreadful Night when it was quoted in The Crow: City of Angels novelization. I learned about W.B. Yeats's The Second Coming when it inspired the title of the Angel season 4 episode, "Slouching Towards Bethlehem." And T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was brought to my attention through a comic book called Violent Messiahs: The Book of Job.

VM is a comic I hold very near and dear to my heart for no other reason than it's just really, really damn good. The story is well-told, the characters complex and interesting. The ideas are broad and ambitious, with themes deep, dark and elusive, and a tone that never becomes complacent, hop-scotching from one emotion to the next. It is a story whose reach ever-exceeds its grasp, and every time I read it, it makes me want to be a better writer.

Avoiding spoilers, in the fifth chapter (issue) of the book, the main character finds himself at an existential crossroads, torn between family obligations and the deep, powerful desire to connect with another human being, and set his own path in the world. He turns to the poetry he learned as a child, finding guidance in one particular passage by T.S. Eliot...

"Do I dare disturb the universe?
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already, known them all...
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall...
Beneath the music from a farther room."

It's a powerful moment -- one of my favorites -- and it propels the main character onward to the end of the story.

So, readdressing the original question: "Why Farther Room?"

For starters... Because of Violent Messiahs.

But it doesn't end there. It's a great moment in a great comic, and it's definitely a cool name, but to justify using so esoteric a reference, I figure I've got to have a better reason than that. Especially considering my aforementioned ignorance in the realm of poetry. The title should have meaning... and it does.

In my eyes, what the quoted passage is about, to some degree what the entire poem is about, and certainly what Violent Messiahs is at least partially about, is feeling trapped within the circumstances of one's own life. Wasting away in stagnation while being too afraid to change those circumstances for fear of what the unknown might hold. To me, the Farther Room is something familiar and unattainable. The curious unknown that so many people look toward but never attempt. It's where all the magic happens.

In my own life, I know I've gotten tired of staring at that door and wondering "What if...?" I'm ready to finally go there. No more anticipation; only action. That's what this project represents. We are in the Farther Room.

I know what a lot of you will say...

...and I suppose you'd be right.

It's kinda corny, and I have no doubt that my interpretation of the poem is way off... but it's something that inspires me. And isn't that the beauty and purpose of art? For the audience to find their own interpretations and value within the creation?

I think it's pretty nifty.

Anyway, before I wrap up, I wanted to share a few other "Farther Rooms" that I've found out there in the great unknown:

• A Farther Room is a wordpress blog maintained by a Los Angeles-based writer named Blair. With topics ranging from entertainment to science to politics, Japanese ramen houses and, yes, even bacon bikinis, I've found in my short time reading that it lives up to its self-proclaimed title as "wonder log of the worldwide web." Probably the blog you should be reading instead of mine (but you can read mine too).

• Music From A Farther Room is the 2004 debut album by American violinist Lucia Micarelli. If you enjoy violin and/or instrumental music, you should definitely give it a listen. I'm greatly enjoying it. Plus, she's from Queens. Represent!

• music from a farther room is a LiveJournal blog by an aspiring writer/singer/song-writer named Jo. She's "busking on the internet" as a means to earn enough money to leave her small town and go to school in Boston. It's a pretty nifty idea and she seems to have the sort of spirit we (I) here in the Farther Room respect and encourage. If you hear a song you like, throw a dollar her way.

• Music From A Farther Room was an art exhibition which ran from July 31 to September 27, 2009, at the Gosford Regional Gallery near Sydney, Australia. The unifying theme is the concept of all points in time existing simultaneously, and the relationship between youth and age within that context. Fascinating topic, and there are lots of pretty pictures, so give it a gander!

• Music From A Farther Room is a short film written and directed by Tobias Munthe. I have no idea what it's about, but here's the trailer.

Also, be sure to check out Violent Messiahs: The Book of Job, and its sequel, Lamenting Pain, both of which were recently rereleased through IDW Publishing.