My first Friends were animals. Now, in my old age, my remaining friends are animals.In between I’ve had many wonderful friends that were human. Some were pals, some were business partners, some were lovers. Some I knew well, some I barely knew, others were very dear to me. They’re mostly gone. Maybe I’ve lived too long
Every thought that passed through Nub’s head came in the form of what we would now call virtual reenactments, something like videos with smells, sounds, and feelings. They were memories, but not in the usual understanding of the word.
Alchemists struggled for centuries
to turn base metals into gold.
They famously failed. It can’t be done.
Gold only forms when stars explode.
“He seemed like a nice guy, you know, quiet, sort of kept to himself”.
“Mmm, well if you think of anything, here’s my card, give me a call.
A lot of folks visit Niagara Falls, including me. I went in the mid-sixties. Little did I know that a distinguished Egyptian Pharaoh was there as well.
Femme fatale, Exotic dancer, Courtesan, Spy; Mata Hari has been variously labeled all of these. There is some truth to all of them, left out are: Mother; Abused Wife; and Scapegoat
Those who remain, we remember for the rest of our lives. Some for the large effect they had on the persons we became. Some others because of some small incident that stayed in our head thereafter, some act of courage, wisdom, or generosity.
The hill was the one upon which sat the farmhouse of my Shipley Grandparents. The ruins of the old log cabin were an easy walk down the hill.
The truck was loaded, the gas tank full, and the morning sun breaking. We left out of Clyde Back & Sons, headed for the big highway that ran from Des Moines to the Mississippi, then on to southern Indiana.
“If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you”
(Calvin Coolidge, President, 1923-1929)
There is no limit to what might be written. The limits come from the space the words must fit into.
The poke controls the pig, only so much will fit.
They do it in slow-motion, one pinpoint strike drawing one drop of blood per peck.
Aristippus, being asked wherein the learned differed from the unlearned said, “Send them naked to strangers, and you will see”.
Antwerp, Netherlands, 1560 – Ludovico Guicciardini sets pen to paper and reflects on the rapid growth of his city in recent years. He finds much to be pleased with. The city is richer and more populous than ever before. Traders of all sorts are flocking to the expanding market at Antwerp.
What does that mean? Nothing, of course, But doesn’t it sound like it means something? That’s part of the charm of poetry.
A lot of us are uncomfortable meeting strangers, speaking in public, leery even of speaking openly with in-laws at a family holiday.
Remember the toy of pegs & holes? The game was to tap round pegs; square pegs; and triangular pegs into their proper holes? It taught us all, early on, to think of disparate things as components of categories.
“Is it true”, asked Ailil of Medb, “that all is well for the wife of a wealthy man”? Medb snaps back,“What puts this foolish question in your head”?
A man living in the Province of Northumbria returned from the dead to tell what he saw. His story was recorded by Bede in his 731 A.D. book, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
My first notice of Achilles came
when I was very young. I had only to reach behind my head to the bookcase that also served as headboard. The encyclopedia’s of Funk & Wagnalls stretched the length of the shelf