“Sorrow” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]

Sorrow like a ceaseless rain
Beats upon my heart.
People twist and scream in pain, --
Dawn will find them still again;
This has neither wax nor wane,
Neither stop nor start.

People dress and go to town;
I sit in my chair.
All my thoughts are slow and brown:
Standing up or sitting down
Little matters, or what gown
Or what shoes I wear.

Quest [Lyric Poem]

Is it every person's dream
To be what one is,
And not what one seems?

Or would one rather be
The creature of one's dreams --
Who no one ever sees?

Or should one be the best
Of real and imagined:
The host and the guest?

How much of who we are
Is the views of others
And how much is ours?
(And is any of it
Written in the stars?)

Picture Horse [Lyric Poem]

Stacks and stacks
of wooden plaques:
Prayers on front,
Art on the back.

Each a wish
and a dream?
More an expression,
or so it seems.

Whatever prayer
may be writ,
There’s always
something
more to it.

A need to show
one’s unique soul:
To tell the world
that one is whole.

A life reduced
to a shingle:
Multitudes,
to a single.

“A not admitting of the wound” (1188) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

A not admitting of the wound
Until it grew so wide
That all my Life had entered it
And there were troughs beside -

A closing of the simple lid
that opened to the sun
Until the tender Carpenter
Perpetual nail it down -

PROMPT: Ideal Day

Daily writing prompt
Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.

Hiking in the mountains (at most, low- to mid-VHE [Very High Elevation].) Wake at sunrise, walk, pitch camp before sunset.

PROMPT: Perspective

Daily writing prompt
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?

I’m getting more at ease with Death by the day. In a broader sense, it’s progressively easier to not get worked up over the everchanging and unpredictable nature of the world.

“Water Dragon Chant” by Ge Changgeng [w/ Audio]

A screen of cloud veils the mountain,
And cold monkeys squawk from green pines.
Fungi abound, but seeds dormant,
Searching for sprouts -- alas, in vain.
Somewhere near there's a fairy cave
Where flutes and lutes are often played.
Its Way is overgrown with moss,
And the old stone gate yields no clue.
Where have all the fairy folk gone?

Looking back, there's an endless plain
Where flowers fall like streaming tears.
It's easy to grow old; Where is
the messenger to bring some news?
To tell who the Golden Phoenix charms?
Waking from a deep, restless dream
What remains are blooms on the stream.

PROMPT: Family Traditions

Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.

The Festivus Day Airing of Grievances.

Arbor Day Eve’s Trimming of the Shrubbery.

Goat Wrangling on the Third Thursday of September.

PROMPT: Leisure Time

Daily writing prompt
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

That’s trickier than it seems. I quite enjoy reading and many forms of bodily movement activities (e.g. swimming, yoga, taiji, qigong, exercise, etc.,) but I’d count them more as personal development activities than leisure activities. (Even something as seemingly non-purposeful as juggling.) I sometimes watch TV / movies, but I don’t know that I’d say I enjoy that so much as find it an opportunity to zone out.

Evolution [Free Verse]

Anywhere copies are made, 
but copies aren't exact,
selection will take place.

Some erroneous copies will
be more beloved than others.
Some errors will propagate.
Some errors will die out.

Thus is language,
thus is chemistry,
and thus is life.