I don’t write in a journal everyday, but I have accumulated many entries over the past 50+ years beginning in 1966. Some items evolved into longer works. Among the leftovers little pieces survived. I thought a collection of these with a piece culled from the same date in a past year would make an interesting yearbook. The consistencies and inconsistencies of mind, skipping back and forth across time, provide varied perspectives. It is difficult to remember the context of the past we’ve lived; we also make suppositions about times that predate ourselves.

The few alterations from original drafts were to improve clarity. The worst of my work is not included. There remains enough mediocrity and immaturity to make me feel humble and you feel smart. There are also moments of accidental insight and incidental humor.

Author Stephen Crane referred to his little pieces as pills…apparently they were small and somewhat hard to swallow, but good for you.


Comments Welcome!

Thursday, January 12, 2023

old man where is your wisdom now

 

January 12, 1972  (I was 27)

 

old man where is your wisdom now

now that you have learned all your lessons

outliving Faust Lear and the Don

 

the great wars were escapades

once past great dreams and great acts are the same

paternal ghosts in the fog

a precious flaw in the wall between lovers

silent thrill of a laughing mute

or cut heard by Van Gogh

 

how big is the puzzle old man

and how will you face tomorrow

polarity is our only certainty

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