Uncertainty filled
Troublesome future begins
The big questions unanswered
Yet you bring to me
A much-needed light to shine
My compass, my map and guide
Shared with Tanka Tuesday (life change) and Moonwashed Weekly Prompt (where I’ve taken Eugi’s words and added to them).
Mondo poems are often very brief collaborative affairs (usually written by two poets) that present a question. (The question needs to be open-ended and poignant and should be a test of the answerer’s wit). The answer is written in the style of trying to glean meaning from nature. My poem doesn’t quite fit this requirement but let’s use our imagination.
Mondos can be as short as a one-liner or as long as two 5-7-7 syllable stanzas.
The first stanza presents the question; the second stanza gives the answer. We usually write this form in the spirit of Zen, responsive through meditation and observation of natural surroundings.
Today I’m feeling:
Reasonably ok, though I woke up early again and struggled to get more good sleep before my alarm went off.
The morning passed quickly with more reading and writing and, shock horror, even some lesson planning – though it was more thinking and organising than writing any new lessons.
Health:
Physical: 7
Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
The ladies in the financial office who helped me to provide them with the documents that they had requested. Through broken English, broken Thai, phone translation and gesture, we managed to get everything sorted.
The best thing about today was:
Making it out into my room but not long enough to play guitar, which was my initial intention for going there! I ended up sorting out the Hellboy comics reading order in my files, which took a fair amount of work and it was dark by the time I finished and time to eat.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I got a message last night from Anchan saying that she checked into the hospital again last night, as she has a fever and was worried that she would go into shock. I offered to bring her food or whatever she wanted but she said that she wasn’t allowed visitors.
Something I learned today?
The Internet Archive is currently the target of hackers and it would be a travesty if the data held there were lost. Some people have compared it with the Library of Alexandria.


