Jaan Kaplinski - Tumblr Posts

Probably that's why I love One Piece so hardly. Freedom is my thing. Main thing. My faith. My religion. My fight. There was Estonian poet Jaan Kaplinski (he's dead now), who wrote a poem I count as my hymn. I try to translate. Not very good at English, but I try. I was born in the low My cradles covered with grass were I was born in the low But I cannot ever stay there I was born in the low In the moss and loam I was born in the low But in low was never my home I was born in the low But my home is far away My home is on the waves of sky Hungry and freezing it be may My home is wanting to be elsewhere My home is southern seas and winds And call to come and call for help And wings and wings and always wings. And I watch OP and hear this in my heart: And wings and wings and always wings.

There's something so poetic about Ace and Luffy choosing to set sail at 17.

Of course it was a way for them to honor Sabo and his dream, but it's not just that. Turning 18 at the sea means you don't belong anywhere but the sea. You are truly free. That's why Luffy, the literal embodiment of freedom, turning 18 as a pirate is very fitting.

But it's not just Luffy. All three of them, as brothers, were free. Free from their families and their legacy, from expectations. Brothers who made every choice along the way for themselves in the name of true freedom.

Every choice... including ones leading to death. Ace chose to protect Luffy, and he died a free man. A child of the sea. A brother, not by blood, but three cups of sake.

Freedom flows through every part of Luffy's story, coursing through every important person in his life, braiding their stories into each other to form a beautiful picture. The entirety of One Piece is a love letter to freedom, an intricately layered poem.

And Luffy is in the center of it all, fighting for it.