Eclectic Scribe

Autobiography

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 02:09:00 +0000

Journaling keeps me

humble and human

when reread
post-change
in perspective—

a snapshot of me

proving that I can’t be

in the moment

one purely objective.

It's a drip pan for ink

that happens to leak

from cracks

in an imperfect heart
and when
read again

reveal who I was then

as well as how fragile

we are.

Lonely Hipsters [Redux]

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 00:43:00 +0000

So many, so lonely

perched in public

earbuds in

dressed to the tens

paperback in right hand

cigarette in the left

silently begging

to be noticed

but not realized

by another human

as sarcastically original

deeply flawed

apparently frugal

and brilliantly refined.

Big Box Remini-scents

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 16:14:00 +0000

I miss the smell of Wal-Mart

Fresh baked donuts

An earthy produce punch

Garden Center carcinogens

And an underlying hint of refrigerant.

Backpacking Realism

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:30:00 +0000

It's like the sky fell in the water

now it ripples 'round my feet

as they swell, and I think
and grovel and stink

in a thin crust of salt
and premium DEET

I ogle at more rocks and trees

that line majestic shore

as though I didn't see enough

of this the day before

and barely smile

because even my face

is feeling mighty sore.

Where I Am

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 23:07:00 +0000

Bathed
in the warm
       glow of neon
   seeping through 
       winds
   chilled by Freon
Shadows rest here
    never dancing
The floor hums
         rhythms
     through darkness
            beneath a clattering
     forty-five
   voices
as I
   sit alone
in the silence of
        one
swallowed whole
     by a series
of choices.

(Written 2.5 years ago during a lonely night at the Skylark Cafe shortly after moving to Seattle, while my wife was still in Upstate NY)

Social Security III

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 08:05:00 +0000

Why is it through prayer
that hearts bring to bear
the verses that look least
like scripture?

Social Security II

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 04:17:00 +0000

Money exists as a number
Credit, a number in red
Time's but for money or slumber
And without both, you are dead.

Social Security I

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 06:22:00 +0000

Brick is no match for the hammer
Wood's up in smoke with a match
Glass stands at the ready to shatter
Yet we have faith in a latch.

The Fringe of Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:02:00 +0000

Shadows dance wildly
with demons perceived

on the edge
of impenetrable darkness
between

what we choose to ignore

and decide to believe.

To Resurrect the Butterflies

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 07:08:00 +0000

If I could purchase
      a syringe
          of emotion
there have been days
    when I would.
Compassion
        elation
and loving
   sensations
that I would feel
        more
if I could.

Regressive Light

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 07:54:00 +0000

Like snatching a small gnat with chopsticks

The mind clasps certain details

With a brief flash of angst

They're ignited

And that is where reason derails.

Before long a bonfire rages

Fueled by distortions of history

Falsely presenting the future

As if how things could go well

Is a mystery.

Love as a Snack

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 07:52:00 +0000

Sometimes love is like pure chocolate

But it can be tough jerky, too

Sometimes soft and really sweet

Sometimes hard to chew.

On days when we're in Candy Land

It's clear our love is true

On other days, when we have a beef,

Well, . . . protein's good for you!

Hipsters

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 15:36:00 +0000

So many
so lonely

perched in public
earbuds in

dressed to the tens

paperback
in the right hand
cigarette

in the other
silently
begging

to be noticed

but not realized

by another person

just as perfectly
flawed

and brilliantly
refined.

My Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 22:29:00 +0000

Irony of ironies
    my one-track mind
  on an infinite
        meandering  

   m o n o r a i l

with its vigorously
     variable
  interest rate
stopping often
to smell one rose
        or lilly
                 or dandelion
    at a time
it can't see the forest
     for one tree
  or the tree
      for the wind
  or the wind
      for the cold
  or the cold
      for my coat
  but longs deeply
   to understand
                   them all
   thinking

      deeper

       than 
 
       roots
 
blessed contemplative
             cursed curious
. . . . . or do I have that backwards?

  want a taste?
    go to a circus
  in a neck brace
and blinders.

Think

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:26:00 +0000

The more we understand,
the less we demonize.
That is love.

Intersection at Midnight

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:10:00 +0000

Trickle
     trickle
little storm drain
    river dance
of the Emerald City
     Fir fingers
air-piano
      overhead
as the sidewalks
glisten green
      yellow
   red.

Poevolution (or Stale Passion)

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:36:00 +0000

It seems every few years
      that I find
a stash of old
   scrawlings
of mine
       and marvel
How silly I was!
But also
     how wise
         I've become
Then probe
      for a pen.

That smell

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 01:51:00 +0000

Walking down the street today
I got a whiff of something
It could have been roadkill
But it gave me such a craving
For corny-dogs.

Through the Mist

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:08:00 +0000

There is no faith
blinder
than patriotism
the true fog
of all wars.

The Passion of Vagabonds

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:23:00 +0000

I'm in love
with the art
of meandering
      which is
but the pastime
   of wandering
    as you
    mosey.

Aggression Perception

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:33:00 +0000

One man's meekness
    another man's timidity
one man's humility
    another man's weakness
a man's congeniality
    to another is passivity   
but to a woman
           it can vary
 by the hour.

Facebooked

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:17:00 +0000

What a grand mess
  we’re in
     slavery’s not dead
we are rented
   not bought
        and wander
where lead
    by pop culture
 sports
the thirst for more
      money
   status or fame
each bear
 has his
    honey
plugged-in
     to the web
      we’ve been wrought
pseudo-social
   writhing
 in loneliness
 with 300 friends.

Lonely Thinker

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:27:00 +0000

Loneliness
can be
   beautiful
time
for a thinker
    a poet
to painfully
pour
    soul
      deep
into fault-lines
of the world
      with
no one
to point out
my own.

Exotic Business

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 06:02:00 +0000

A five-man
        congregation
seated for dinner
One barks
   Asianese
into an I-phone
Two fat white hosts
     try to be funny
A lingual cross-pollinator
              murmurs and smiles
     awkwardly
Number five's eyebrows
        rise
Humor
         drowns
in translation.

Voting for Change

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:40:00 +0000

Opposing elitists are spending millions of corporate dollars (amounting colossal political debt) to sling mud, flail straw-men, and make empty promises. We Americans should know better than to vote for a mainstream candidate. I think most of us realize the problem, but are scared to initiate change. The reasoning goes:

I really like X, but he/she doesn't have a chance. . . I don't like the Republican or Democrat running, but have to vote for the lesser of the two evils- otherwise the candidate I hate the most is even more likely to win!

And maybe they would. But just imagine if by some miracle a large percentage of the electorate, who couldn't stand anyone on the ticket, voted anyway- just writing-in their own grandfathers at the polls. A mainstream candidate still wins the election, topping the other with, say, 25% to 18% of the vote. I'm pretty sure that the 57%, regardless of how many other candidates it's divided among, will send a clear message to congress, and to the rest of the world, that well over half of the citizenry who cared to vote are not happy with the way things are, and that reform is critical on both sides of the aisle.

Regardless of your political leanings, please don't sit this election out or follow the sheep off of the proverbial cliff. It's a gutsy move, turning against the tide of sentiment- feeling that your vote might be "wasted." But remember, most of those sheep aren't idiots, they just use the same train of thought to come to the conclusion that you might be.