About B Gourley

Bernie Gourley is a writer living in Bangalore, India. His poetry collection, Poems of the Introverted Yogi is now available on Amazon. He teaches yoga, with a specialization in pranayama, and holds a RYT500 certification. For most of his adult life, he practiced martial arts, including: Kobudo, Muay Thai, Kalaripayattu, and Taiji. He is a world traveler, having visited more than 40 countries around the globe.

BOOK: “The Dragon King’s Daughter” Trans. by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang

Posted on December 2, 2025 by B Gourley

The Dragon King’s Daughter: Ten Tang Dynasty Stories by Gladys Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Google Book Site

This thin anthology contains ten stories from varied writers of the Tang Dynasty. The stories include a mix of speculative fiction, political fiction, and love stories — some being cross-genre pieces that mix elements of more than one of these categories.

I found a wide variation in how engaging the stories were. The best of them were quite good. The Spendthrift and the Alchemist, The White Monkey, and the titular The Dragon King’s Daughter were among my favorites. Each of those stories included a supernatural element, but also a thought-provoking premise.

If you enjoy Tang Dynasty literature and would like to try some of this golden literary age’s short fiction, this book is a quick and pleasant read.

View all my reviews

PROMPT: Night or Morning

Posted on December 2, 2025 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

Are you more of a night or morning person?

View all responses

Morning. Whether I want to be or not.

Surrounded [Haiku]

Posted on December 1, 2025 by B Gourley

farm surrounded by jungle:
 what will disappear tonight?

FIVE WISE LINES [December 2025]

Posted on December 1, 2025 by B Gourley

William Blake painting of Urizen praying to the world he created, an illustration from "Song of Los." — William Blake:
*Urizen prays to the world he created* (1795)
**Song of Los**

I must create a system
or be enslaved by another man’s…
william blake; Jerusalem: The emanation of the great albion

Saying Yoga exists to make one more flexible
is like saying that it exists to wring farts out of one’s body,
both will happen — neither is the primary objective.
Me

He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her…
JESUS; John 8:7

The best government is that which governs least.
Henry david thoreau, Civil Disobedience

Gods always behave like the people who make them…
zora neale hurston; Tell my horse

DAILY PHOTO: Murals on Urban Walkways

Posted on December 1, 2025 by B Gourley

Question Tree [Haiku]

Posted on December 1, 2025 by B Gourley

one strange tree
 curls like a question mark:
  Autumnal forest.

PROMPT: Eating Meat

Posted on December 1, 2025 by B Gourley

Daily writing prompt

What are your feelings about eating meat?

View all responses

I have no strong feelings. Everything that lives becomes food, so I don’t see a sound moral argument against meat. There is certainly a nutritional argument against eating excessive quantities of meat (which I would grant many meat-eaters do) but this is not an argument for dropping meat altogether. I accept that there is a reasonable environmental argument, but — counterpoint — it’s delicious.

I see no argument at all against choosing to eat vegetarian or vegan, so I certainly wouldn’t try to talk anyone out of their decision to do so. (i.e. The “you can’t get enough protein” argument is bullshit.)