pale skies stretch across the great beyond, dwarfing an angler
Pale Blue [Haiku]
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Monthly Archives: February 2022
The Over / Under on Clouds [Haiku]
a dark cloud down in the valley shines white from the ridge
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DAILY PHOTO: Rising Above the Canopy, Tikal
BOOK REVIEW: Lucifer: Book One by Mike Carey
Lucifer, Book One by Mike CareyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This sixteen-issue collection consists of three issues of “The Sandman Presents: Lucifer” in addition to the first thirteen issues of “Lucifer.” As the former title suggests, this is based on a character from the vast cast of “The Sandman” comics, and this volume does occasionally touch upon the broader Sandman universe, though it largely sticks to the Abrahamic mythology bits.
Each of the five story arcs in the volume standalone, but the last three (i.e. “Born with the Dead,” [1 issue,] “The House of Windowless Rooms,” [4 issues,] and “Children and Monsters,” [5 issues]) form an epic arc with a young girl Elaine and a portal to an alternate dimension at its heart. This larger arc impressively works to biblical proportions, involving grandiose stakes. I will say the first arc [from “The Sandman Presents…] was harder to follow the motives driving the story, but I can imagine it would be much easier for those who’d followed The Sandman comics from the outset. [Also, it’s only fair to have some challenges in finding a direction when dealing with such a massive cast and sprawling over-universe.]
If you’re wondering how this Lucifer compares to the television version, this one is less neurotic (though flawed in many of the same ways) and is more serious and a tad more wrathful. The TV version is lighthearted and comedic to a larger extent, while the comic book version bumps up against horror a bit more, but that’s not to say the comics have no comedy or the television version lacks all intensity. From a broader perspective, the Lucifer comic also not only more frequently touches on the Sandman universe, but also on mythologies outside that of Abrahamic religion – e.g. Lucifer ventures into the realm of Japan’s Izanami / Izanagi in “The House of Windowless Rooms.” It’s always nice to see a show can diverge from the source material and still be good, and I think that’s very much the case here.
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On Second Thought [Common Meter]
The scholar sits, contemplating the world's perfect order, but finds that "perfect" is a stretch. "It's close to the border between Disorder and Chaos. mere miles from the junction of Great Malady and Mayhem deep within Dysfunction."
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DAILY PHOTO: St. Vitus Stained Glass, Prague
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Tilted Time [Common Meter]
The timeline 's tilted; time runs away, speeding ever faster. As March charges headlong to May, time has lost its master. All that I can say, for today is there's still an arrow. It doesn't jump from future to past, but flies like a sparrow. But don't blame me if tomorrow you wake up yesterday, and the cars on the interstate are rolling the wrong way.
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The Marigold Dance: or, Party Pivot [Sonnet]
The dance they did amid the marigolds was such a captivating sight to see. It made a storied world of the household, and it filled hearts and minds with quiet glee. Their bodies glistening, naked and wild. They stomped in muddy soil with grubby feet, and hearts did sing as childlike souls did smile, and all dancers hinged and moved like athletes. But with an ankle twist, the party lulled - one dancer fallen from the frenzied horde. The momentum was lost, and minds were dulled, and musicians played only some sour chords. The flower petals all began to wilt and dancers wandered home in shame and guilt.
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Prayer Flag Impermanence [Free Verse]
prayer flags languidly roll in the courtyard of the monastery one monk has seen the flags every day since they were erected & before that saw their predecessors -- sun-bleached and tattered that monk looks upon the flags as if he's never seen them before and will never see them again each monk was taught to think this way, but he's the only one who sees this way
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DAILY PHOTO: Tulum Beach
Tiger Riding for Beginners 