Escalator

 Whenever I see a bunch of people standing still on an escalator, I feel an impulse to scream at them, "Don't you understand? This is your LIFE!"

But I usually don't.

Independence

I don't need your approval.  I just crave it desperately.

Hope/Fear

Live in hope.  Live in fear.  Each one entails the other, and both are close to the marrow of life.

Road Poem

Let’s take a trip to somewhere nowhereish –

A cul-de-sac among neglected trees.

Let’s find a spot where we can camp and fish,

And smell the timeless newness of the breeze.

I’ll be the driver if you’ll navigate;

I’ll man the map if you prefer to drive.

Let’s choose a road and leave the rest to fate;

Let’s find perfection while we’re still alive.

If not today, tomorrow; if not then,

I worry it will be a never-done.

Time is a sneak-thief; if we wait till when

We see him stealing, he’s already won.

Don’t think too hard.  Don’t weigh the cost.  Let’s go.

A world of sorrow’s in your cautious no.

Credo

The bad news is, the world is not a meritocracy.  The good news is, the world is not a meritocracy.  Don't spend your time pondering how much or how little you deserve; just do what you must to get what you want, and leave questions of merit to God, history, or no one.

Instant Gratification

The thing about instant gratification is, it's not very gratifying.

- Mike Lavoie

Small and Large Things

I am interested in very small things (like a cup of tea or a turn of phrase in a poem) and very large things (like human destiny).  Medium-sized things – such as politics, for instance – strike me as dull and vapid and not worth my time.