Tag Archives: mind

Mind-Breaking Poetry [Free Verse]

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I need some mind-breaking poetry -
some Blake, some Dickinson,
some Yeats, some Whitman,
some Langston Hughes.

I need a poem that's a kōan, 
that makes the mind a mackerel fish,
and doesn't mind doing it.

I need a poem that sizzles
inside my bones.

Dreams All the Way Down [Free Verse]

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I awaken from a dream
within a dream,
and I'm still dreaming --

dreaming that I'm walking
with the others,
the others that I'm told
are all me,
walking in some vaguely familiar
exotic destination

Of course, I don't know I'm dreaming.

I did wake up after all,
but it turns out that

it's dreams all the way down.

The Shimmer Space [Common Meter]

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I fell into a deep dreamhole
amid the broad daylight,
and tumbled and tumbled, stumbling
out in the dark of night.

I lost so many hours of life
where reflections shimmer.
I could not breathe, nor could I float -
I, the swimless swimmer.

I dropped, lost in those reflections.
They were my mind's great curse,
luring me to a shimmer space
that I could not traverse.

Rock at the End of the World [Haiku]

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rock swells from sea,
a perfect perch to think on
the world's end

Beyond the Light [Haiku]

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deep in the cavern
just beyond the light's reach
lives what might be

Wu Shih / “Nothing Special” [Free Verse]

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a steady rain patters
into puddles
far below

i close my eyes,
listening for a
pattern

but it's chaotic -
 a random rhythm that
tugs at my eyelids,

lulling me into 
a dull state of mind

BOOK REVIEW: MonsterMind by Alfonso Casas

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MonsterMind: Dealing with Anxiety & Self-DoubtMonsterMind: Dealing with Anxiety & Self-Doubt by Alfonso Casas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Out: October 12, 2021

This comic offers a clever and insightful look at the voices inside one’s head. The use of cute graphic depictions of fears, doubts, and past traumas – along with lighthearted narrative analogies – allows the reader to explore the subject matter in a manner that is neither dry nor anxiety-inducing, in and of itself. This apparently autobiographical book shows how a comic artist, beleaguered by the monstrous occupants of his own mind, goes from being overwhelmed to learning to manage his mind.

At the end of the book there are a few pages of tips, both for dealing with one’s own anxieties but also for interacting with others who have intense embattled minds. It’s a book that may even be more beneficial for individuals without crippling issues themselves, but who know or love such individuals. The use of graphic depictions and adroit portrayals of anxiety may help individuals who haven’t faced severe issues to gain a better understanding of what goes on in the minds of those who do. Having said that, these “monsters” will be familiar to everyone on some level, though for many that that level doesn’t necessarily interfere with living their lives.

I’d highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a gentle and amusing introduction to the topic of the runaway mind. It’s delightfully drawn and amusingly told.


View all my reviews

Two Birds [Haiku]

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two birds feed;
one eats, and one wonders
about the other

That Last Lost Generation [Free Verse]

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Only too eager to have the machine
installed in their brains,
they did what they could, 
and, instead, installed
their brains into the machine.

Data sparkled in the mind void,
bouncing about and careening 
into other bytes and clusters.

But the crash cascades always came,
a cannibalistic consumption 
of fact,
transmogrifying it into
a shabby soup of 
quasi-reality.

Brain-pans paining,
densely packed with
alternate realities
that could never 
be rectified.

By the time they realized
the virtue of going out 
to play,
they were no longer sure what
"outside" 
meant --
Outside of what?
Where's the exit?
Where is there something else?
-something simple?
How's one get off this speeding bus? 

It became the pain
that ruled that
last lost generation.

Calming Chaos [Haiku]

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water swirls
around smooth, wet rocks,
entrancing me