all of our names are written down somewhere

FRANZ KLINE

the taste of iron and the fear of death

Vision of the night: toads plunge from silver waters. -Georg Trakl

can you hear croaking amid the whispers of midnight
it's the splashing against the wings of finer things
those beings and creatures that some people deny
this noise is axe-heavy with the taste of iron             and the fear of death
this sound haunted the puritans and the jacobites
            and felt rough against the skin             but soft against the mind
who will now wade in the silver waters
who will take the plunge and croak with the toads
            you and I             that's who
begin slowly and then pick up the pace             along the muddy riverbank
the fear of death             is nothing more than the fear of life
the taste of iron             the croaking             the whispers
            and the touch of wings these things await
I'm ready when you are

james lee jobe

"The Buddha's teachings on love are clear. It is possible to live 24 hours a day in a state of love." 

Thích Nhất Hạnh

I am dreaming that George Clooney leaves the hoof prints of a horse as he walks. He sings to a pretty French girl, and then he actually becomes a horse. A handsome horse. I form a commune with several former co-workers and the sky becomes a mirror to reflect all life on earth. It’s complicated, this dream, and I can't remember a lot of things. There were long passages written and spoken in Farsi. People with shovel-heads dug long trenches. I sang them the Clooney song, and yelled to the great mirror in the sky, "This is a dream! I am the reflection of you!" 

james lee jobe 

"To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things come and go on their own." 

Jack Kornfield

I am lost in the ugliness of humanity again 

the richer humans are eating the flesh 

of the poorer ones 

            the weak ones 

the rich peel the poor like bananas 

they suck the bones clean and then purr 

            like contented cats. 

cruel
            yes
and that is no coincidence. 

everything cruel is on a compact disc 

so the government can watch on a computer 

all of our names are written down somewhere

not somewhere nice

this is repugnant to me 

the ugliness of humanity is now a map
            for the hideous 

they trace their favorite roads from a map 

with a pencil that they stole from a blind man 

I have no map and so I am lost most of the time

That's alright though
            I prefer it that way

I have nowhere special to be

james lee jobe 

"I think we are in the midst of this period where we are committing this suicide on the planet and everybody is just using up all of our natural resources like a bunch of insane people. That's what I worry about more than I worry about jazz." 

Sonny Rollins

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Thanks, jlj