Headlong toward My emphatic point Pressed earnestly in- To and through type. Pedal to the mettle. Stop. Go. No typo. Race over. Stand up. Straight. Still. Again. (Source: "Italic", 40x41: Midlife Crisis Postponed) Movement, motion, emphasis. Willful progress. Eagerness. The lines above come from a compact riff called "Italic". Explaining more would be saying too much about a poem that ...
Clementine
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Mind Over Matter
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter." ~ Mark Twain I first shared this lighthearted (if somewhat cavalier) quip from Mark Twain just over a year ago titled, Mind Over Matter. It seemed the obvious pull-title at the time, but I've wondered since if I was too glib, as if I were trying to one-up Samuel Clemens. [pullquote]Insurance reductions. Movie ticket ...
Twitch
ADHD today, but a twitch in 1975. And a twitch again today, but just a small twitch like a miniature heart beating in plain view to remind me I’m alive. I’m alive. I’m alive. (Source: "Twitch", 40x41: Midlife Crisis Postponed) Before ADHD was so tidily packaged up, some of us were just jittery, distracted kids. Hyper. But totally alive! This excerpt pops up midstream a poem about a subtle, ...
Chiaroscuro
We paint ourselves into corners, shady, feverish, asphyxiating corners, where we pace and gasp for breath. A single bulb dangles between us. A crumpled map and a pair of glasses drown in a puddle of light on the table. A chair askew between light and shadows, another tipped over backward where it fell, clatter still lingering, temper's testament. (Source: "Chiaroscuro", 40x41: Midlife Crisis ...
Memento Mori by Billy Collins
It's time I return to the topic of memento mori, no? Billy Collins has [at least] twice taken up the "Memento Mori" title/topic. "There is no need for me to keep a skull on my desk, to stand with one foot up on the ruins of Rome, or wear a locket with the sliver of a saint’s bone. It is enough to realize that every common object in this sunny little room will outlive me– the carpet, ...