“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Andre Gide
There’s a strange bird in the tree
warbling weird birdsong at me.
I’m listening lazily.
~ Thinking that there will be a long time
of contemplating death ~
The sun shines down on me
and I’m smiling uncontrollably.
What a wonderful day to be.
True story.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Rebellion at the fingertips...
Is every Mao-suited Chinese man a wannabe beatnik?
Even the anti-hero unknowingly conforms to a borrowed script
succoured by allure.
Exhaled ethereal silver circles of thought,
while plotting...
Ritual rhythms at the Café de Flore,
stillness and motion in retro contrast.
A cowboy in cool contemplation
draws deep,
leaving footprints in the dust.
Inspired by the aesthetic pleasures of smoking. I am reformed but felt curious about the charm.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Shared with dVerse MTB: Five Leavings From Home and inspired by my own movement of home around the world.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Snow in my shoe
Abandoned
Sparrow’s nest
—circling cats
~~
I am nobody:
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away
—give it back, asshole!
~~
In the falling snow
A laughing boy holds out his palms
Until they are white
—the doctors try to reattach the fingers
~~
The crow took the sky,
brushing the clouds with its wings,
then folded them back,
—mangled in a jet engine.
~~
Empty baseball field
a robin hops along the bench
picking at peanut shells
—the bleachers have seen better days
~~
Office coffee break
we pretend not to notice
the new receptionist
—but welcoming cleavage defies
~~
First date at forty—
she straightens the salt shaker
between us twice
—hiding the damp between her legs
~~
Morning train delay
no one meets each other’s eyes
phone screens fill the car
—modern life really is rubbish
~~
Family reunion
we all share the same bad jokes
and different regrets
—but never speak of Uncle Jim
~~
Wedding reception—
the band plays “Unchained Melody”
for the third time
—give it a rest, guys
I decided to ruin some perfectly good haiku/senryu. All credit to the authors and their italicised original writing – whoever they are.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
A quick write after reading this tiny thought by Shane Parrish, “We spend time chasing money, then spend money chasing time.”
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Inspired by a Daily Stoic email about waiting and the story of James Stockdale. The Killing Joke song The Wait popped into my head, so I looked up the lyrics (below) and as you can see, I appropriated half of each line to make a new write.
The Wait – Killing Joke
Motives changing, day to day
The fire increases, mass decay
I look at the river, white foam floats down
The body’s poisoned, got to sit tight
After awakening, the silence grows
Screams subside, distortion shows
Mutant thoughts of bad-mouthed news
It’s just another birth of distorted views
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Initiated by the recollection that my favourite colour when I was a kid was blue but in my adulthood that changed to red, with the requisite black teenage period in between. This could be seen as a political generalisation as well but not really my intention. While I may have started leaning towards a more conservative life, my politics still lean well to the left. It’s all about finding balance, especially after exploring the extremes, as I have done in the past. A nod to Prince is only because anything connected to the colour purple brings his song to mind. I’m not a fan. The idea of even rainfall though, is that it is easier to deal with than the intense times of storms and clemency. This explanation is longer than the poem. I’m in a weird mood.
Periphrasis is a poem yet to be published here but in the meantime was published at Spillwords here today.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Highlighting difficulties I face in trying to piece together events that I have noted from the past, as seen on this blog.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Written around the George Bernard Shaw quote, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
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