Cain will never stop killing his brother There is no path to peace Perpetually fighting one another A house of secrets has no keys Each morning another death repeated Each night let the tribe increase The human condition cannot be cheated Until, in time, the tribe will cease
Inspired by Nick Cave’s explanation of the song Frogs and ‘let the tribe increase’ is taken from The Mob’s album of the same name.
Let’s get serious This is no time to sleep Now we’re in business Gulp the air in deep Let’s get serious This is no drum circle of friends Roar out your heart As if your life depends Laugh until it hurts And all that’s broken mends Let’s get serious
A fold poem variation inspired by the folks I used to see in the park every Saturday morning when I took my son to swimming class. I forget their group’s name but they were essentially a Laughter Club and would stand in a circle and force themselves to laugh loudly. Submitted to dVerse’s Poetics: Just for Laughs prompt.
A little better after coffee but this morning I didn’t want to get up and covered my head with a pillow to block the light and noise from Cap scratching at the door to be fed. I was slow to get up and felt like a zombie trudging around the house.
My eyes still ache and there is a weird feeling at the bottom of my throat. Whenever I tilt my head back, I’m automatically forced to cough. I want to feel normal again!
Health:
Physical: 6 Mental: 6
Today I’m grateful for:
A little five-minute ride around the back of our house on the way back from coffee this morning.
Even though I know the roads well enough, they always look different each time I go there. Stuff grows so quickly and at the same time can be removed quickly too.
The best thing about today was:
A documentary about Rhodesia/Zimbabwe gave me some more information about the history there, after reading about it in the Decline and Fall of the British Empire.
The traveller who made the documentary also followed on into South Africa and it was interesting to note that it seemed to be safer in Zimbabwe, which I was a little surprised by.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I slept for three hours after lunch today. This was better than yesterday at least, when I slept for two hours before lunch.
Something I learned today?
Ipswich have their first point of the season after a one-all draw against Fulham yesterday.
Review your acts, Good and bad.
As I was riding around this morning, Amy called me to pick up some tomatoes. I was nowhere near the market by that time but I went back and spent ten baht!
I took this screenshot from a video sent to me on Friday morning, from three students who were off doing something and couldn’t come to class. All they said in the video was ‘We love you, teacher Shaun!’ Aww. This is Toey and Air.
Is this matrix worthwhile? I miss her, I miss her so Broken hearts will mend in time I know, I know, yes, I know
Inside broken poetry Made a home from a dead heart We are creatures made to love And duty-bound, play our part
She has gone and I’m still here The cosmic universe chose She’s shown me that I’m worth it Back to the matrix she goes
Inspired, borrowed and paraphrased into seven-syllable lines from the question and answer at The Red Hand Files #293
The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997 by Piers Brendon (reviewed at Goodreads.com)
I love the language used in this book though it did make it a little bit of a slog but, as an Englishman myself, this was a fascinating journey. Somehow, in my youth, I was aware of the way things were going in Britain and got myself out just before the end of this book, the handover of Hong Kong.
I was appalled at the lies and deceit of the Empire and thoroughly enjoyed following its decline. I also noted how the USA was (hypocritically) critical of Britain’s colonialism before they stepped into the breach after WW2. And it fills me with warmth to see the USA making the same mistakes since then, and being able to watch their own empire’s decline in real time.
Today I’m feeling:
Sleepy and lazy. Knowing that I have the next six days at home isn’t helping either!
I want to get myself motivated but my body is holding back my brain.
(Later) Well, I did a bit of reading and finally finished my book. Onto some sci-fi next for something a little different.
I was able to motivate myself to get out to my room where I did some blogging, writing, listening and guitar playing, which I was glad of but didn’t feel was particularly inspiring.
Sometimes you just have to go through the motions to work towards that habit.
Health:
Physical: 6 Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
Amy’s friend Fon, who dropped off a couple of small fish for us yesterday and Amy cooked them up for lunch today.
The best thing about today was:
Eating! I had breakfast, lunch and dinner today, as I’m wondering if my lack of energy is down to not eating enough. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.
I’m a couple of kilos up on last week, too, so I need to make sure that if I do get energised, that I work out of again.
Something I learned today?
Art was really excited to tell me this morning that Oasis will play some concerts again and that he would fly to Singapore to see them if he had to!
I took this picture because our visitor came for a chill on the grass this afternoon.
1994ever 