Tag Archives: fear

The Other Shore [Free Verse]

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Standing on the bank, 
   Looking at the other shore --

A hundred meters or a mile?
   Does it matter,
 In such a fast flow?

If I were to swim for it,
   Launching myself into 
      Those cold, choppy waves,
   Which would I reach first:
      The other shore, or
      The Falls, downstream?

Jolt [Senryū]

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on a narrow ridge,
 covered with fine dust,
  my foot slips. I’m awake!

The Brave One [Haiku]

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one hundred birds
 startle at my presence;
  one eyeballs me.

“A narrow Fellow in the Grass” (1096) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

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A narrow Fellow in the Grass
 Occasionally rides --
 You may have met him? Did you not
 His notice instant is --

The Grass divides as with a Comb,
 A spotted Shaft is seen,
 And then it closes at your Feet
 And opens further on --

He likes a Boggy Acre --
 A Floor too cool for Corn --
 But when a Boy and Barefoot
 I more than once at Noon

Have passed I thought a Whip Lash
 Unbraiding in the Sun
 When stooping to secure it
 It wrinkled And was gone --

Several of Nature's People
 I know, and they know me
 I feel for them a transport 
 Of Cordiality

But never met this Fellow
 Attended or alone
 Without at tighter Breathing
 And Zero at the Bone.

BOOKS: Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson

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Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American CenturyKingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century by Hunter S Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Kingdom of Fear is part memoir and part commentary on the state of America at the turn of the millennium. As a memoir, it explores Thompson’s bid for Sheriff, his arrest and judicial proceedings for drug and explosives charges that resulted from a “he said / she said” accusation that did not warrant charges in and of itself, a wild and wooly road-trip through Nevada, and Thompson’s position at the center of an investigation of a “threat” on the life of actor, Jack Nicholson.

As a commentary on the decline of America it discusses the battle for Grenada, a trip to Cuba, 9-11 and its aftermath, and the book revisits the ’68 Democratic Convention. It’s all written in Thompson’s drug-fueled Gonzo style, making it incredibly entertaining to read even as the hard walls between fact and fiction seem to dissolve. While the factualness might be at times in question, there is always a kind of truth that can only be received from those who’ve tossed off the shackles of societal convention and are willing to tell it as it is — even the embarrassing bits (especially the embarrassing bits.)

It’s not for those who take life and authority figures too seriously, but otherwise it’s a tremendously compelling and sometimes hilarious in its depiction of pre- and post-Y2K America.

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PROMPT: Motivation

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Daily writing prompt
What motivates you?
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The need to break free of the program -- e.g. to be master of fear & anger, not slave to them.

Green Hills [Free Verse]

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fingers of forest
 interspersed with 
  fingers of pasture --

the hidden & 
 the exposed --
 
two kinds of danger:
 being seeable &
  being unable to see.

is the mind fearful
 of being exposed
  the same as the mind fearful
   of being confined?

Startle Response [Haiku]

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even in death
 the scorpion can evoke
  momentary fear.

Scarecrow [Free Verse]

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Scarecrow, n. - that which exists 
                         solely to evoke fear.

There are so many scarecrows:
   global - the end of the world
                    as we know it.
   societal - the end of the tribe
                    as we know it.
   individual - scarecrows of the soul.

Scarecrows lead us into the worst
        versions of ourselves: 
 The one who's stressed, and mean
        because of it.
 The one who imagines conspiracy
        around every corner.
 The one who sees threat in every
        change & in every difference.
 The one who wants an orderly world
        of people just like themselves -
        familiar, cozy, and lacking surprises.

Scarecrows even march us off to war,
        and war should be the scariest state
              imaginable --
        death doled out on a random basis.
 
War should be the scariest, but terrible certainties
         spur less fear than any old uncertainty.

BOOK REVIEW: Laches by Plato

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LachesLaches by Plato
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Project Gutenberg

This early Socratic dialogue asks, “what is courage?” Two older gentlemen, Lysimachus and Melesias, regret that they never had their mettle tested. The seniors ask two younger men who’ve served in battle, Nicias and Laches, whether the elder men should have their sons learn the art of fighting in armor to build courage in the young men. Nicias and Laches suggest that Socrates, who showed great valor in battle, should be asked the question.

Lysimachus believes this to be a good idea because then they have a tie-breaker if the two disagree. However, Socrates leads Lysimachus to understand the folly of this approach. What if the dissenter is the only one who truly knows what courage is and how it can be pursued? Socrates admits he has no great expertise in the matter, but is willing to help determine whether Nicias or Laches is more qualified to answer the question.

Laches goes first and defines courageousness as standing one’s ground in battle. However, under Socrates’ interrogation, Laches has to admit that a man who stays in place foolishly can’t be thought more courageous than one who fights in strategic retreat.

Nicias presents a definition that is more nuanced. Nicias says that courage is knowledge of what is fearful and what is hopeful. One might expect this to please Socrates because the philosopher famously believed that ethical behavior sprang from knowing – i.e. if a man knew what was right, he would act virtuously. However, as Socrates questions Nicias a couple issues become apparent. First, Nicias admits that the courageous person must know what is fearful and hopeful in the future as well as present (and who knows that?) Second, Nicias can’t really differentiate courage from virtue as a whole.

This brief dialogue is short, focused, and well worth reading.

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