SEWERS AND LADDERS

“Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become.” —Heraclitus What you see here is a lifelong version of the game of “Chutes and Ladders”… Continue reading →

TEMPUS FUGIT

“At all the more important moments while he was telling his story his face took on a very strange, composite expression. I could only interpret it as one of horror at pleasure of… Continue reading →

NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO BE

“Even the grief he could have borne was left behind in the country of youth, of illusions, of the richness of life, where his winter dreams had flourished.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald IF… Continue reading →

SWING AND AMISS

“Words like, ‘When you’re older’ must appease him / And promises of ‘someday’ make his dreams” —Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game (1966) An infant terrible, charming though. These days he’d be medicated, therapized,… Continue reading →

DIVIDED BY PIE

“If you live long enough, you’ll see that every victory turns into a defeat.” — Simone de Beauvoir  This one is about work, love, and friendship rather than my oft-expressed concern for “art,… Continue reading →

VIADUCT

I used to tell students…the difference between poetry and you is you look in the mirror and say, “I am getting old,” but Shakespeare looks in the mirror and says, “Devouring Time, blunt… Continue reading →

DYSEMPATHY

“People understand me so poorly that they don’t even understand my complaint“ about them not understanding me.” —Søren Kierkegaard Yes, I know that dysempathy is not a word, but antipathy, apathy, acedia, or… Continue reading →

GATE CLOSING PANIC

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” —Søren Kierkegaard  The title of this rant is a literal translation of a German compound noun “Torschlusspanik” (gate + closing +… Continue reading →

OVERSHARING WHILE DATING

“Above all, not too much zeal” —Charles Maurice de Talleyrand The neither young nor old gentleman in the image above has not learned the social graces. I’m not talking about mere etiquette; those… Continue reading →

FINDING YOURSELF LOST

“We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial—I believe we are lost.” ― Erich Maria Remarque YOU WERE YOUNG AND AMONG FRIENDS, then suddenly… Continue reading →