“Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau;
Mock on, Mock on, 'tis all in vain.
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.

And every sand becomes a Gem
Reflected in the beams divine;
Blown back, they blind the mocking Eye,
But still in Israel's paths they shine.

The Atoms of Democritus
And Newton's Particles of light
Are sands upon the Red Sea shore
Where Israel's tents do shine so bright.

Not the Face! [Senryū]

a young skink's
vibrant cobalt blue tail
says, "Not the Face!"

DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from Park Street Cemetery, Kolkata

Starry Nights [Verse / Free Verse Mutt]

I’m stunned by all the starry nights
Beyond the sprawling city’s lights:
Swirls made of so many colors —
The dark, the light, middling others.

What eternal infinite
Exists out there between
All those stars?

All the dust and nothingness
Of that cold, unbounded expanse
Dances in the hot shell
Of my skull.

“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” [Soliloquy from MACBETH] by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Spanish Moss [Haiku]

Spanish Moss drapes
from the bare branches over
the cool blue river.

DAILY PHOTO: Golden Trumpets

Big City Moon [Haiku]

in the darkness
beyond the big city lights,
a moon looms.

“Reply to Caishu’s ‘Ancient Temple by a River'” by Mei Yaochen [w/ Audio]

Old trees with tangled hanging tassels
by a deserted temple open to the river.
Rain, rain threw down the clay statues
and wind blew down this ancient building.
Wild birds nest in dusty shrines,
fishermen hold a bamboo lottery cup.
About to play the tune "Mountain Ghost," I stop:
the Verses of Chu make me too sad.

Translation: Barnstone, Tony and Ping, Chou. 2005. The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry: From Ancient to Contemporary. New York: Anchor Books.

PROMPT: Secret

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

This is a trick question that can only logically have one answer. It’s more of a logic / linguistic test than a prompt.

First of all, it can’t be a skill that one has, is secret, and that one blabs about on the internet.

So, the only “secret skill” that one could discuss wishing that one had on the worldwide web must be the ability to keep a secret.

Not really a problem area for me as, being a introvert, I’m pretty tight lipped by nature.