knowing is arbitrary
the faces speak
the rain pours
i climbed in back and imagine i know where i am going
but acknowledge knowing is arbitrary
i am not driving
Quotes
To Father
He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could.
He was the only one in the house who wasn’t afraid to go into the basement by himself.
He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it.
It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door.
When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled.
He took lots of pictures…but he was never in them.
—Erma Bombeck
Falling Short
Avoid the bad habit of domesticating the prophet of your choice, turning him into a cheerleader for your way of thinking and way of life. Remember that all the great prophets were courageous and outrageous folks who railed against the powers-that-be, challenged self-satisfied piosity, threatened the prevailing social order, and would find you falling short in some significant ways.
–Parker J. Palmer
A Great Distraction
I distracted myself from the fear and terrorism by thinking about things like how the universe began and whether time travel is possible.
–Malala Yousafzai
I am
“I am the thinker that creates the thoughts that create the things.”
–Dr. Johnnie Coleman
Life Is:
A mystery, Unfold it.
A journey, Walk it.
Painful, Endure it.
Beautiful, See it.
A joke, Laugh at it.
A song, Sing it.
A flower, Smell it.
Wonderful, Enjoy it.
A candle, Light it.
Precious, Don’t waste it.
A gift, Open it.
Love, Give it.
Unlimited, Go for it.
Light, Shine in it.
–Iyanla Vanzant
Business
When I had a minute or two,
I’d throw a poem into the typewriter
and try to work out a line or get a transition from one stanza to the next.
But the business world gives you almost no time
to do anything but business.
You are selling you soul to the devil all day
and trying to buy it back at night.
–James Dickey
Open To
An English poet, Philip Larkin, said that poetry doesn’t start with an idea; it starts with a poem…
You have to be open to mystery. If you are open to it, mystery will come.
If you’re not, why should it, actually?
–Lucille Clifton
Its Own Name
Art doesn’t go to sleep in the beds that we make for it. It runs away as soon as you pronounce its name; what it likes is anonymity. Its best moments are when it forgets its own name.
–Jean Dubuffet, 1990
Dance
Those who hear not the music
think the dancers mad
–Shakespeare
The Poetry Corner 