Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff

Well hello again. Today I am going to share with you wonderful people a little something I wrote for a creative writing class. As it says in my mini bio, I am in love with Holden Caulfield, or more accurately, The Catcher in the Rye. You may have also noticed that my url is standingontheedgeofsomecrazycliff. There may be some inaccurate depictions of what that stands for. No I am not someone who wants to jump off a cliff literally, but maybe metaphorically. This line comes from The Catcher in the Rye and is also the title of the poem I wrote. The poem is a pantoum, meaning it repeats lines from different stanzas in a pattern. When I got this assignment, I had no idea what I was going to write it about. My teacher gave us a few prompts. He said take lines from your favorite songs or poems or books and rework them so that it tells the story you want it to tell. Well that's exactly what I did. I wrote Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff by taking some really important lines from Holden and reorganizing them so that they tell a completely different story about The Catcher in the Rye; it ultimately became my own view of how the book really turns out. Many argue that Holden is extremely depressed with mental illnesses, but I view it in a different light. The fact that he wants to stand at the edge of the cliff and catch children before they have to leap into adulthood is so beautiful. I tried to emphasize this in my poem. The poem starts off with depression and sadness, with no sunlight, but slowly the narrator (could be Holden, could be me) comes to a realization, and that is when the sunlight comes back. I know I previously made a post about growing up. I think that this poem really emphasizes my thoughts on that topic again. That jump off that cliff is very, very scary. In this though, I separate myself from Holden. I do eventually want to jump and no longer stand on the edge. However, there is nothing wrong with Holden for wanting to stay there and be the Catcher. Now I will leave you with the poem. I ask that you read it with an open mind; one that does not have biases against the novel or the character. Maybe you will see the beauty in Salinger's words, just as I have. 

Standing on the Edge of Some Crazy Cliff

It’s not too bad when the sun’s out.

But the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out.

It’s terrible.

It made you depressed.

But the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out.

I can’t stand it.

It made you depressed.

I don’t get hardly anything out of anything.

I can’t stand it.

People never think anything is anything.

I don’t get hardly anything out of anything.

It didn’t seem like anything was coming.

People never think anything is anything.

Sometimes you get tired of riding in taxicabs the same way you get tired riding in elevators.

It didn’t seem like anything was coming.

Then a funny thing happened.

Sometimes you get tired of riding in taxicabs the same way you get tired riding in elevators.

I couldn’t understand it.

Then a funny thing happened.

I didn’t give a damn how I looked.

I couldn’t understand it.

It made me feel better.

I didn’t give a damn how I looked.

But the sun still wasn’t out.

It made me feel better.

I didn’t know where the hell to go.

But the sun still wasn’t out.

I didn’t even know where I was going.

I didn’t know where the hell to go.

Then, finally, I found it.

I didn’t even know where I was going.

And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.

Then, finally, I found it.

I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff.

And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.

I mean how do you know what you’re going to do till you do it?

I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff.

I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.

I mean how do you know what you’re going to do till you do it?

That’s all I’d do all day.

I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.

I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.

That’s all I’d do all day.

It wasn’t too bad when the sun was out.

I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.

It’s terrible.

It wasn’t too bad when the sun was out.

It’s not too bad when the sun’s out.

copyright By, Molly O'Connor 

I hope that you enjoyed reading and hopefully re-reading this poem by me. It has a lot of meaning to me, along with the novel, so please do not use this as your own work for a class. Take the time to write something of your own because I promise that eventually you will write something that is truly beautiful, even if it's only beautiful to yourself, it does not matter. 

Be original.

Molly

P.S. Please post any comments about the poem or anything else. Even if it is critical!