The End of the World as We Know It [Free Verse]

Humans have been hunters,
gatherers,
farmers,
machines,
thinkers,
and creators,

And have no idea what we'll next be.

I think that people will next be
-- simply --
Human Beings,
Full-time Human Beings --
More Human,
More Being...

And many will fail spectacularly.

Dance, Dance, Dance, Surrender [Free Verse]

Moving through the Great Spontaneous,
Blender blades barely missing --
In fact, sometimes nicking.

The accumulation of those nicks
Is aging.
It takes an ever-defter dance to keep
The damage buildup to a constant pace --
Not letting it blitz one,
Or pull one into the turbine:
Like a goose through
The turbofans of a 787.
A goose may kill a plane,
But becomes dust in the process.
When one surrenders to the choppers
One will not have the satisfaction
Of killing the vehicle,
Of bringing it all down.
The Universe will go on,
And one's molecules will become
Something new.

FIVE WISE LINES [July 2025]

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.

Josh billings

Everything in the universe is a jug
filled to the brim with wisdom and beauty.

Rumi, Masnavi

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

Robert frost

“Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one,
live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things.”

Kahlil gibran

Not all those who wander are lost.

J.r.r. Tolkien, The lord of the rings

PROMPT: Passionate

Daily writing prompt
What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about being passionate about anything worth doing (and half-ass everything else.)

On Tourists & Travelers [Free Verse]

A tourist looks back fondly upon 
A favorite destination;
A traveler is always at it.

A tourist loathes travel hiccups;
A traveler calls them stories.

A tourist jumps from one
Postcard vista to the next;
A traveler moves through the world.

A tourist collects knicknacks & geegaws;
A traveler collects experiences.

A tourist, between sights, seeks
A life experience as close to
Their homelife as possible.
A traveler wants a life experience
As close to local as possible.

A tourist has a favorite meal;
A traveler assumes he hasn't
Crossed paths with it yet.

A tourist leaves nothing to chance;
A traveler embraces the spontaneous.

A tourist takes comfort as a main course;
A traveler uses it like a condiment.

PROMPT: Before the Internet

Daily writing prompt
Do you remember life before the internet?

Yes, yes. We read these things called books. They hurt much worse when you dropped one on your toe (but much less than the stone tablets of the preceding generation,) but at least you wouldn’t be out $1,200 (USD) if they took a bad bounce.

PROMPT: Collections

Daily writing prompt
Do you have any collections?

I collect experiences, but they are very slippery and will not stay in a row on a shelf to be displayed.

PROMPT: Legacy

Daily writing prompt
What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

If “legacy” is defined as something left behind that serves to keep one’s memory alive, then I don’t. I think that goal is futile, illusory, and a bit narcissistic. Even those who are “remembered” long after their deaths are not truly remembered. For example, the Alexander the Great who is remembered to this day likely bears little resemblance to the one who was flesh and blood. What we remember are products of imagination. [Which is fine, but then why tie them to people who lived as opposed to purely fictional ones?]

If I could leave behind some configuration of knowledge of the art of human living that would be helpful to anyone (without it being tied to my identity or memory) that would be a fine thing.

“There is a finished feeling” (856) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Recording]

There is a finished feeling
Experienced at Graves—
A leisure of the Future—
A Wilderness of Size.

By Death’s bold Exhibition
Preciser what we are
And the Eternal function
Enabled to infer.

PROMPT: Broken Bone

Have you ever broken a bone?

To the best of my knowledge, I have never broken a bone — neither mine nor anyone else’s.

But it’s not been for a lack of trying.