Knowledge

Knowledge being so vulnerable to nonsense, we must constantly shore up its defenses.

Messages (Gustafsson)

We speak, and what we say knows more than we do.
We think, and what we thought runs on before us,
as if that thought knew something we didn't know.
Messages travel through history, a code
masquerading as ideas
but meant for someone other than ourselves.

Lars Gustafsson, from "Ballad of the Dogs"

New poems

+10

One?

Our confusion derives from our conviction that we are One, or that we must become One. We begin many, we remain many, we end none.

Asparagus, leek & bacon quiche

From this recipe.

Humanity today (Wilson)

Humanity today is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. The mind seeks but cannot find the precise place and hour. We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life

Edward O. Wilson, from The Social Conquest of Earth

Receptivity

It is more important by far to be receptive to inspiration than to memorize others' revelations.

New poems

+8

Closer

Every time you eliminate the false, you step closer to the truth.

It's that they're nothing. (Madrid)

Mostly it’s not that poets are bad. It’s that they’re nothing. Most readings too. They’re not bad; they’re nothing.

This is something they should have taught us in MFA-land. Bad is not the devil. Bad can be good. The devil is what you see all around you: large piles of neither-good-nor-bad, towering stacks of nothingness. Nothingness and nobody’s ever gonna reread it. Miles and miles of poetry that completely passes for art—but nobody loves it.

Anthony Madrid

On death

When death takes the water out of your cup, suddenly there is nowhere for the fish to swim.

Why a poet? (Simic)

Another question poets old and young are typically asked in interviews is when and why they decided to become poets. The assumption is that there was a moment when they came to realize there can be no other destiny for them but to write poetry, followed by the announcement to their families that had their mothers exclaim: “Oh God, what did we do wrong to deserve this?” while their fathers ripped out their belts and chased them around the room.

Charles Simic

Studying religion

Studying religion is a great goad prompting us to notice and attack our own false premises, baseless assumptions, wishful thinking, and other fuzzy-mindedness.

New poems

+8

Shrimp trottole

Best thing I've made in ages—and no recipe!

The objective

The objective contains (and depends upon) the subjective, and vice versa.

Cookies

Made these Raisinet oatmeal cookies. They were all right, but I was a little disappointed. Too sweet, and you could really taste the poor quality of the chocolate (and I used the dark chocolate Raisinets rather than the milk chocolate ones).

Journeys (Popa)

He journeys without a path
And the path is born behind him

Vasko Popa, from "St. Sava's Journey"

Broccoli

A broccoli side dish I concocted. The cooked radish slices absolutely made the dish.

New poems

+6

Relativity

Everything is relative, including the relativity of things.

Another one (Miłosz)

day draws near
another one
do what you can

Czesław Miłosz, from "On Angels"

Dinner

Made Chermoula chicken from this recipe. Another disappointment.

At least I followed it up with a delicious chocolate cake! (Cake, frosting recipes.)

I prefer (Miłosz)

I prefer to lose thus than to win as they do.

Czesław Miłosz, from "Bobo's Metamorphosis"

On wishing

Wishing is important. It tells you what you want from the world, from other people, and lets you know what matters to you. But it doesn't take you any closer to acquiring or accomplishing those things. To expect wishing to bring you what you desire is like trying to tighten a screw with a reciprocating saw: it's a misuse of the tool, doomed to fail. Instead, wish for what you want, study the list, prioritize and choose the things you want to focus on first, and then ACT, using some of the many other—and more appropriate and more effective—tools at your disposal. (Sometimes you may have to work to acquire or develop the tools you need as a necessary first step.)

8

I've posted 8 new poems.

Curry

Made slow cooker vegetable curry from this recipe. It was very disappointing.

On death

To die is to lose. All else is lies.

Love is (Drummond de Andrade)

...love is what you're seeing now:
today a kiss, tomorrow no kiss...

Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Poems

7 new poems posted to start the month.