Silly Side of Dark or the Dark Side of Silly

So, take a look at the bright side

Is what she recently said

Just means it might be sooner, not later, 

     that you’re gonna be dead

Shake out those forever thoughts

     you’ve built up in your head

There are songs to be sung

     there are books to be read

Leave it for awhile; all the hope and the dread

Now could be the day for the silly instead

The dark side of humor

Can be found to be kind

It helps to see finally

     that it’s all in your mind

For me, there’s some comfort 

     in accepting the sad

And often the good stuff 

     will outweigh the bad

Not Dull

In spite of the challenges and troubles life can bring

(and sometimes because of those)

My life is good

And I know it…

but….

Sometimes I know it

and some days I actually feel it

Today I know it AND I feel it

Not as something intangible,

but as something distinct and formed

and settled…

for now,

That joy has gotten through

whatever it is it needed to get through

to get to me

                                   It’s nice.

 

Change is already over

We must fight climate change

(goes the ubiquitous cry

–but can’t fight metaphysics

feel free to try)

the climate has been changing

since climate began

remember when al gore was thin?

–even before then–

Now, should we clean up the environment

in which we all live?

we should and we can and

as it happens …..we are

and hysterical panic

will not help at all

Doing things that don’t work

can lead to a fall

Genuine science keeps searching

and is never quite settled

Can we stop being belligerent

and relax for awhile?

Some of the solutions

turn out to be ridiculous

so continue the search

let this work be meticulous

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead

Foreword

I’m just not in love with forewords to books.

I want to read the book itself not what someone I don’t even know thinks about it.

This might mean I’m not intellectual enough. But sometimes having someone dissect a work of art just seems condescending as if I won’t get it just by the author’s words. Might be insulting to the writer in a way.

If it needs a foreword, is it because the writer didn’t make things clear in the book?

I might like an “afterword” especially if I don’t feel like finishing a book that I’m not wild about and I want a summary of it. Or if it’s so great I want to have a conversation about it–even a remote one.

Sometimes I’ll read the foreword after i read the book–if it draws me in. I usually try reading the foreword up to the point I become exasperated. That tends to happen if it’s a long ordeal: write your own damn book why doncha’ ?

That’s my two cents!

Anyway…. I wonder what other people think about forewords? Helpful? What do you say, other people?

Maybe

I need, for my own peace of mind,

to stop noticing with such determination

at least some of the unfairness out there

It’s unfair

It’s there

Get used to it

 

Ipse Dixit

According to Merriam-Webster:

Ipse dixit is an assertion made but not proved

Wikipedia adds:  

..or a dogmatic expression of opinion.

History and Etymology for ipse dixit

Latin:   he himself said it

According to me (perhaps proving that the definitions are accurate!):

Lot of ipse dixit 

goin’ on round the world

and I’m gettin’ a little weary

of hearing all the spins and spurious platitudes 

that pose as reason and empathy

Oh happy day

We are about to be spun around into a better

frame of mind

as soon as everybody sticks it

to this crazy ipse dixit

Stoned and Sideways

So I got this stone-paper notebook

because a hundred notebooks

are just not enough

and I like it

If it’s not worth doing badly,

Is it worth it at all?

Must one avoid it

If one must/might fall?

My choice is to jump in

In spite of the risk…

…of not being perfect

…or of slipping a disc

What I am seeking is unclear to me;

It slides silently… 

…sideways…

…and just out of reach

Looking for Light in the News of the Day

In light of the darkness of recent events

I am feeling befuddled

And mixed up and tense

I’ve grown tired of the pickets

on this particular fence

Too much manipulation

Too much pretense

Some days I achieve empathy

Would I rather be dense?

Ah, well, life is so good when I look up and around

…and maybe the news can be simply turned down.

Not Dorothy Parker, but trying to sort it out

Now we speak of

“your truth”

“her truth”

“his truth”

“my truth”

Have we lost all affection for

THE truth or even SOME truth?

“All I want is the truth,

Just give me some truth”

 said John Lennon

Would we call that crazy today; and under-hyped?

What with people being labeled, pigeon-holed and stereotyped

Divided into categories, declaring how done wrong we all are………………………………………with a tinge of glee,

While creating new stereotypes for the opposition — how can this be?

Announcing how we must fight, fight, fight

in order to create utopia before the breaking news tonight.

in the name of progress and sanctimonious concern

What are we playing at?  What can we learn?

I hear the call to accept everyone’s truth; do not judge,

(while judging so harshly, refusing to budge)

and in the same breath condemn an alternate view

because only subjective reasoning is held to be true

Will we throw away commonsense and common ground

     for political gain and power unbound?

Will we turn our backs on the freedom we desired?

It kinda makes me sick

Truth is…. it makes me tired