Dagny's Pledge

If I had picked your face out from the crowd that day, I would have done everything differently from that point on. Did you feel this same magnetic pull the first time you saw me? How strong you must be, to keep these emotions and desires at bay behind cool eyes. Working with that same coolness to undo all that I struggle to achieve, just to prove that in order to reach our full potential in this world, we must be separated from everyone and everything in it. But I will not give up. I will save my railroad. Not just for the sake of Nat Taggart, but for the sake of every soul out there struggling against the oppression of their mind and abilities. Taggart Transcontinental is a life line. The circulatory system of a once great Country. I will work to bring the railroad and this Country back to its former glory, even if I must do so single-handedly. This railroad will stand as one of man's greatest achievements, even if it kills me. And when I do, you and your secret society can come out of hiding, and assume your rightful positions in society. I will forgive you for working against me, and we will live freely in the world as man and wife.




Tanzen Lilly, March 2014

NOTE:
Inspired by the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. A sort of monologue through the eyes of Dagny Taggart After she meets John Galt for the first time, in my own writing style.
Paired with an altered photograph of Penn Station in New York, 1936
(I started a project that combines imagery from postcards with my original writing / reflection based on the image)