bougainvilleas
beside the grand temple steps
have dropped petals,
but it seems the gardners
never let them hit the ground.
Bougainvillea Greetings [Tanka]
Reply
Author Archives: B Gourley
“A Drinking Song” by William Butler Yeats [w/ Audio]
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
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PROMPT: Good Leader
What makes a good leader?
I don’t think I know, not really. But I don’t feel bad because I don’t think a lot of people who consider themselves experts do either. For example, one of the biggest cons in academia is that professors in business schools often get paid much more than their science and humanities counterparts on the presumption that they would go run businesses if they weren’t paid a higher salary than the others. Most of them would not. The idea that a thorough theoretical knowledge of the world of commerce and the operations of a corporation would translate into all the X-factors needed to head a company (e.g. charisma, risk-acceptance profile, creativity, and an internal emotional landscape that borders on [or is outright] psychopathic) seems laughable. If that’s the way the world worked a quartet of music professors would be outselling the Beatles and the ranks of Olympic gold medalists would be swollen with Kinesiology PhDs.
NOTE: I should explain the “psychopathy” crack. Many of us have quite enough angst from making decisions that seem to have the potential to ruin our own lives. Some can take a little more angst and are ok making decisions that might mess up not only their own lives, but also those of their children. It takes a special kind of reptilian-like nature (beneath the appearance of charm and polished interpersonal skills) to regularly make decisions that can screw up the lives of complete strangers by the hundreds or thousands.
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BOOKS: “Rangikura” by Tayi Tibble
Rangikura: Poems by Tayi TibbleMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Release Date: April 9, 2024
This collection by New Zealander, Tayi Tibble, consists of free verse and prose poetry of an autobiographical nature (or presented as such.) It is playful in its use of language, especially in its use of slang and Maori language words, as it deals in a broad emotional landscape.
It has bursts of creative brilliance and evocativeness, but also periods where it’s like reading a teenager’s diary.
All in all, I enjoyed the collection and would recommend it for poetry readers.
View all my reviews
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DAILY PHOTO: Tainan Wude Hall (台南武德殿)
Built as a dōjō, a martial arts training hall, during the period of Japanese rule, this historic building is now part of the Zhongyi Elementary School complex. It’s right beside the Confucian Temple.
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Stalking Tiger [Free Verse]
A giant tiger stalks,
baring teeth, tensing claws,
closing the distance
in deep shadows that exist
entirely within the man's mind.
While others, from safe distances,
can see the fearsome beast clearly.
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“A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
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PROMPT: Un-invent
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
Being acquainted with the Law of Unintended Consequences, there isn’t a thing I’d un-invent. You start arrogantly messing in the natural progression of things, and you never know what kind of monster you’ll birth.
Once upon a time, I might have said nuclear weapons (still a strong contender for ender of our species.) Then again, who knows what kind of horrific World War III we might have had, had we not been forced to sober up a little.
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Future River [Haiku]
the river trickles.
but its broad shoulders tell
of expectations.
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Urban Jungle [Kyōka]
in a city park,
muscular baobabs &
wiry strangler figs
provide residences
for the fierce squirrels.
