Talking to ourselves in public, under the impression we’re speaking to others, is only one of the funny things we do; imagining others are listening is another; thinking we know the difference, is funniest of all; beautiful, too. ~ [ 2089 ]
A little time on hands and knees Is good for the spirit. World leaders, begin this way: Clean your bathrooms, Scrub your floors, Make bread for the poor; They may or may not love you, But this is what your life is for. ~ [ 2088 ]
Is it something you wish your father had said or done, or your mother, perhaps, had she only known? Or is it just winter, and this bare, thorny rose? ~ [ 2087 ]
We do fairly well with our words and our meanings, Except where they lead to the destruction of the environment, And to persecution, injustice, poverty, starvation, and war. In those instances, it would be better if we learned to keep silent. That still leaves us plenty of room for poetry, and for self-exploration. It leaves us room to express our love, gratitude, and astonishment At finding ourselves able to write […]
If you believe what I believe, you’ll inherit a long series of misunderstandings. Some of these misunderstandings were handed down, others I conjured alone. If you believe what I believe, you’ll believe that you believe nothing — Or that you’ve risen above belief, like the sun on a cold winter morning. But beware, because soon there will be clouds, and you’ll believe in them too. Behold a flight of geese […]
Any day now, our ninety-year-old neighbor on hospice will take his last breath; and any day now, the young couple who live across the street will become parents of their first child. Knowing this, it would be arrogance on my part to be in any way dissatisfied with my own circumstances, or even particularly pleased. For one thing, I could die before either of the events take place. For another, […]
Yesterday, not quite asleep and not quite awake in a chair after lunch, I thought, What a wonderful dream it would be if I dreamed I was awakened by my mother, and found myself a boy again, with the sudden knowledge that what I had so long assumed was my life and its many experiences, was really just a dream. All my life, it’s been this way — I’m a […]
Child, I remind you that you’re a miracle, And that anything you may do, Any work or dream you may fulfill, Will not make you greater Than you already are. Miracles can’t be improved upon. By their nature — and that nature is yours — They live and breathe to bring about more miracles. I can’t tell you what you should do, or be, or become. I can only tell […]
I’m enjoying Melville’s Omoo, and am now about one hundred twenty-five pages in. More story-like than Typee, it’s worth reading for its sailing and sea vocabulary alone. And it’s certainly not without its descriptive humor, as shown in the opening of the twenty-eighth chapter: In a few moments, we were paraded in the frigate’s gangway; the first lieutenant — an elderly, yellow-faced officer, in an ill-cut coat and tarnished gold […]
I hope this note finds you well, and that you’ve been doing something today that you truly love, however simple or seemingly mundane — housework, for instance, which is what we’ve been doing, along with other pleasant chores, such as washing clothes and making bread. We ran before dawn, and we’ve both done a little reading. And I’ve spent a total of about five minutes looking at the computer, if […]
William Michaelian 