Inspired by the aesthetic pleasures of smoking. I am reformed but felt curious about the charm.
Light Filters – 21st September 2026
Rebellion at the fingertips…
Ruined Haiku – 19th September 2026
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.
Five Returns – 20th September 2026
All ways
are returning
back to the comfy chair
with a coffee, cat and a book
to read
To read
of roads ahead—
following that one star
a glamour hiding frozen wastes
—return!
Return
to opposite—
the pendulum swings down
here is another hell waiting
—return!
Return
Hollywood shines—
the hills hide the horrors
Barbie demons with plastic smiles
—return!
Go then
towards morning
letting the sunshine in
I will remain at this compass
always.
Shared with dVerse MTB: Five Leavings From Home and inspired by my own movement of home around the world.
Rentiers And The Rest – 18th September 2026
After spending an hour chasing a dollar, blowing down the street;
those without need thought that it was wasted time, perhaps.
But while the rich get immediate results while rocking on their feet,
everyone else is busy just fighting over the scraps.
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:
Dealing With Pain
Don’t let your imagination
Add to your pain
Nothing is unending
Though it happens again
The Wait – 17th September 2026
Motives change at the back of the queue
The fire increases at those pushing through
I look at the river, it makes no complaint
The body’s poisoned with poor restraint
After awakening, that’s where time goes
Screams subside, the mind now knows
Mutant thoughts will be misunderstood
It’s another birth, another childhood
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:
Dealing With Haters
When another hates you
What business is it of yours?
If their word deflates you
It’s a losing game to even scores
Purples – 16th September 2026
At first, I was all about the blue
Age slowly turned me to the red
For a while, black was all that would do
And that coloured everything I said
The lines washed away in the sand
With a little bit of this and that
This prince’s rain fell with even hand
Cut greener grasses, rendered matte
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:
Anyone Can Get Lucky, Not Everyone Can Persevere
Anyone can taste sweet successes
The test comes with disaster
A great person never second-guesses
Their mind made them the master
Reasons Fade – 15th September 2026
The detective steps into the room,
I know the questions that are coming;
No bright lights of intimidation,
yet the anticipation is humming.
We stare at the evidence provided,
trying to pick the story apart,
and put it back together, from the end,
right up until the start.
So detailed statements are being made,
some may even contain the truth,
but the further back, the reasons fade:
it’s been a long time since my youth.
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:
A Garden Is Not For Show
Let the seed gradually grow
Reach maturity before you show
Let the roots take a firm hold
Prepare for the winter’s cold
Floored – 14th September 2026
You look uncomfortable in your skin,
always primping and preening;
beauty shines outside, but then within,
your vanity is scheming.
Always seeking the observer’s gaze,
who knows what you’re meant to be?
It must be exhausting to erase
flaws the world will never see.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
A Different Way To Pray
Prayers came well before there were gods
Now we selfishly pray against the odds
Instead, let’s pray to calm our desires
To counter the craving when it conspires
The Entertainment – 13th September 2026
I will not be distracted from being the idiot
Do not make fun of my shiny red nose
You are all the clowns in my theatre
The unreasonable man in my shows
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:
Protecting Our Inner Fortress From Fear
When you’ve made your fortress strong
The outside cannot touch your soul
Worries and doubt will come along
And fear is always looking for a hole
The Vagaries – 12th September 2026
Could I be the river?
Could I be the fire?
Without being consumed
by the vagaries.
Waiting to live a life,
urgently fading away;
Lost in a labyrinth
of the vagaries.
Here lie my words; I had no choice.
Everything was easy, yet I made it worse.
You saw me live through it.
I had no choice; here lie my words.
A most precise parsing
of my amazement at my time.
My meditation
on my vagaries.
Inspired by and slightly paraphrased from this article at The Marginalian.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
1994ever 