PROMPT: Meme

Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite meme?

I have meme-blindness. It’s like ad-blindness (which I also have) and is probably caused by the same state of mind. If you want my attention, pony up some dough or produce something worthwhile — vaguely clever regurgitation of pop culture references and cliched slang ain’t gonna cut it.

Rusty Prayer Wheels [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of prayer wheels at a Vajrayana Buddhist Temple in Bhaktapur, Nepal.
Rusty prayer wheels
on a dusty street.
They squeak & they squeal,
& no circuit completes,
but still hands reach out for each one
'cause who has faith in the clean wheel spun?

Frame of Reference [Free Verse]

Photograph taken at a butterfly sanctuary on Bohol Island, Philippines.
a butterfly hangs
upside down,

but it seems upside down
is as meaningless an
an abstraction for it
as the two million km/h
that a human sweeps,
spins, expands, etc.
through space
is for the person who
feels only the couch
against his backside.

what must it be to not know
upside down -- to feel free
to fall, knowing the air
will catch one?

Fungi Time [Haiku]

mushroom stands tall;
wasn’t there the day before,
may be gone the next.

PROMPT: Local Custom

Daily writing prompt
What’s the most interesting local custom you’ve encountered?

My wife and I once had tea in Nagaland with men who’d been cannibals in their youth, but they weren’t anymore (and — in point of fact — probably didn’t have the teeth for solid food anymore,) so I don’t think that counts.

For the most part, I don’t think of customs as being more or less interesting, just — sometimes — unexpected. I’ve noticed that most people see cultural customs as the strange behaviors other peoples do, while their own culture’s customs are largely invisible to them (i.e. “That’s just how things are done; it really couldn’t be done any other way.”) So, I guess it’s been most interesting, having returned from living abroad for more than a dozen years, noticing just how many strange and baffling things Americans do.

This Is Not My World [Free Verse]

Photograph taken on Siquijor Island of the Philippines at sunset as low clouds reflected on the Bohol Sea.
Every once in a while,
you see a sight
that makes you say,

"This cannot be
the world I know!"

PROMPT: Super Power

Daily writing prompt
What super power do you wish you had and why?

Invisibility. I like to see, but not to be seen.

Perspective [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of a monkey looking sideways through the bars at a temple in Lopburi, Thailand.
Perhaps, you cannot change your jail,
And you can't choose the lumps and scars --
No matter how you scream or wail --
But you pick your view through the bars.

PROMPT: Judge of Character

Daily writing prompt
Are you a good judge of character?

While I might flatter myself that I can recognize an asshole when I see one, the truth is that stealth assholes are real.

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.)