PROMPT: Positive Events

Daily writing prompt
What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

Positive? Negative? Who’s to say? Like the Taoist farmer, I’ll withhold judgement.

PROMPT: Animals

Daily writing prompt
Do you ever see wild animals?

Sure, I just saw a bird fly past my window, and I’m fairly certain that it wasn’t domesticated.

PROMPT: Routine

Daily writing prompt
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?

The part that feels routine.

FIVE WISE LINES [November 2025]

Taken at Fo Guang Shan, near Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan.

A thing is mighty big when time
and distance cannot shrink it.

Zora Neale hurston; Tell my horse

…if you want to be elected, it is better
to be Mean than to be Funny.

hunter s. thompson; Better than sex

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile,
go with him twain.

jesus; Matthew 5:38-40

The only gamblers who will talk openly
are the ones who don’t make money.
The successful ones keep their mouths shut.

Kit chellel; lucky devils

To live a creative life,
we must lose our fear of being wrong.

joseph chilton pearce

PROMPT: Time

Do you need time?

I suppose I do. Without it, instead of life being one thing after the other, it would be everything all at once. The latter seems chaotic. But maybe one could get used to being timeless. I have no basis for comparison. I’ve always been just in time. Come to think of it, it would be nice not to have to conjugate verbs.

Chinatown [Senryū]

through the paifang*,
you leave your city,
but you're not in China.

*A paifang (牌坊) is the gate over a street or road that denotes the bounds of a Chinatown.

“Who says my poems are poems” by Ryōkan [w/ Audio]

Who says my poems are poems?
They aren't poems at all.

Only when you understand my poems aren't poems
Can we talk poetry.

This translation by Sam Hamill in The Poetry of Zen (2004) Boston: Shambhala, p. 159

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.)

PROMPT: Good Life

Daily writing prompt
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?

Right mind, healthy body, and good company.

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.