in the shade of your regard

uncertainly flickers

and with certainty fades

in a dead coin,

on shores of dross sand,

my love

pays the silent ferryman

what haunts my love

as the ferryman’s skiff skitters

over waters endless, dark and deep?

is it the oaths made one to the other

that my love and your love
have yet to keep?

or is it the shadowed souls looking on
as my love starts to weep?

but even sorrow eventually

meets its end

for it is

exhaustion’s favored friend

my love lies still now

on the bone dry beach
of an alien land

awaiting your love’s regretful approach

with a soul smeared face
and a still open hand

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright July 2, 2001

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• poem: Her Hate
• my sister’s poem: Nachel by Nachel (with a small addition by me)
• poem: Passion without Reason
• poem: An Ode to Bean Dip
• Bartering from a paper clip to a house

~

by Nachel Kaur Mathoda (with a small addition by Ranjit Singh “Ron” “Ronny” Mathoda)
created, probably, when Nachel was in middle school

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• poem: Journey into Hyades’ Kingdom
• poem: Passion without Reason
• poem: An Ode to Bean Dip
• poem: Victory is Mine Sayeth I
• poem: Her Hate

of horn’ed head
and clove’ed feet

Lifting my pulse

Away

From reason’s too sharp seat

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright July 3, 2001

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• poem: Victory is Mine Sayeth I
• poem: Her Hate
• poem: An Ode to Bean Dip
• poem: Journey into Hyades’ Kingdom
• my sister’s poem: Nachel by Nachel (with a small addition by me)

and bring the chips

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright August 30, 2005

(Special thanks to Nisha Bhakta Dugal, whose exquisite bean dip resulted in this ode.)

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• poem: Journey into Hyades’ Kingdom
• poem: Victory is Mine Sayeth I
• poem: The Ice Cream Cart Disaster
• poem: Passion without Reason
• my sister’s poem: Nachel by Nachel (with a small addition by me)

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright November 26, 2005

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• poem: Journey into Hyades’ Kingdom
• poem: Passion without Reason
• poem: An Ode to Bean Dip
• poem: Victory is Mine Sayeth I
• poem: The Ice Cream Cart Disaster

patriotic rocketsicles,
sandwiches of the best kind,
unnaturally orange cones,
delightful mysteries
to a child’s mind

but now tires scream and lurch and scream
the cart jumps, like a deer,
turning and tumbling
the lid swings open
the dreams of youth scatter
popsicles of every profusion,
cold waffle cones,
shot into air

everything that rises must diverge
on arcs predictable and trite
ending on the sidewalk and the street
under the uncaring glare of the noon day sun
the worst form of blight

and the children
slowly recover

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright August 11, 2004

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• When humans become flying squirrels
• What makes an animal wild?
• poem: Passion without Reason
• poem: An Ode to Bean Dip
• Street dwelling in Europe vs America

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright August 17, 2008

You can find more of my stories and poems at http://mathoda.com/stories.

• poem: An Ode to Bean Dip
• poem: Passion without Reason
• poem: The Ice Cream Cart Disaster
• poem: Her Hate
• poem: Journey into Hyades’ Kingdom

STOP LICKING MY METAL TENTACLE

“Play fighting?”

“Yes. They’re not hurting each other.”

“What disgusting creatures.”

“Sir, we must maintain a proper perspective. The first survey team’s failure to-”

“Yes, yes. They were very appropriately punished. Imagine thinking we could just ignore these creatures!”

“Yes sir. Stupidity.”

“Are you sure we are translating the radio signals correctly?”

“No malfunction, sir. We checked.”

“This is all too difficult to understand. Why would they play at pain? Is it a defense mechanism, like with the weddilei’s unappetizingly dumb exterior shell hiding their shrewd delicious plasma brain?”

“No, all the researchers assigned to the question are in agreement that this is not about deception. The play fighting is conducted in front of an audience that is aware of what they are watching.”

“How shockingly strange.”

“Yes. And their unmatured ones also attend.”

“They bring their children along? Are they monsters?”

“You read the first survey report. These creatures aren’t like you or me, they’re made out of-”

“Yes, I know what they’re made of. It doesn’t bear repeating. But now, you’re asking me to believe that children can understand this play fighting obscenity.”

“I’m not asking you to believe anything, I’m telling you that the children actually perform the play fighting more often than the adult stage alien.”

“Are you sure it’s the same creature?”

“We’re sure. We studied them for several of their very short life spans. We studied all of their broadcasts which have reached us so far. We’re very sure.”

“It must be a form of insanity in their young.”

“That is our best hypothesis.”

“Well, your antenna are still buzzing uncomfortably. You have something more to tell me?”

“Yes, but it’s more unpleasantness.”

“I didn’t expect anything else. Go ahead.”

“These creatures employ false emotions.”

“False emotions?”

“Indeed.”

“Did you say false?”

“Yes.”

“You’re serious then. This isn’t some kind of prank.”

“Not at all. Sometimes their false emotions are called theater. Sometimes it is called professional wrestling. We’re not sure why they choose one name or the other, but we have our best hive mind working on an answer.”

“Is one more popular? Perhaps we should focus on understanding the one with greater resonance in their society.”

“We can certainly dedicate extra researchers to studying their professional wrestling.”

“Are there any other resources I can give you to speed your analysis? We must understand them thoroughly.”

“Will we have time when we encounter them to probe them all the way through before revealing our existence? That would certainly be of benefit, I think.”

“Look, these horrible creatures are still 89 light years away. By the time they get to us we probably won’t be able to do any covert probing. They show an aptitude for manipulating their environment that the first survey team chose to ignore. We can’t risk offending a newly met life form by probing them that way. Having them like us is the first goal of first contact.”

“Yes, I remember your lecture on that from my school days. Current resources will just have to suffice, then. Well, that’s all I had to discuss.”

“Hold on a moment, I had a horrible thought. What if they get here faster than we think?”

“What do you mean? They can’t get here sooner than 89 years from now.”

“Can’t they? These creatures play fight. They fake emotions.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“They’re deviants. They see things very differently then any other intelligence we’ve encountered.”

“Yes, we think it’s because they’re made out of-”

“What I’m trying to say is, perhaps they might have figured out a shortcut. They might get here in 42 years.”

“That’s impossible. They can’t break that law. It’s a rule inherent to the fabric of space time.”

“You’re an exo-sociologist, not a mad alien genius. They’ve already shown themselves to be insane. Let’s draw up contingency plans for an early contact, okay?”

“Yes sir. Should I rededicate our hive mind to the task?”

“No, keep it on the job at hand. Understanding the difference between professional wrestling and theater might be very important.”

“You often say, sir, that it’s the details that matter.”

“Exactly. When we come across these aliens, we want them to feel at home. If we have to play fight and fake emotions to make them befriend us, if we have to enjoy theater or show them our quality intergalactic professional wrestling, we’ll do it.”

“I admire your dedication and clarity of vision, sir.”

“Stop licking my metal tentacle. You’re dismissed.”

~

by Ranjit Singh Mathoda
created and copyright April 21, 2001

• Short Story: The Jester’s Parcels
• What makes an animal wild?
• Book review: Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
• poem: Journey into Hyades’ Kingdom
• poem: The Ice Cream Cart Disaster

“Let me just give you a little advice. Son, a fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan. And what we’re afraid of is, what your mother and I are afraid of, is that we have a son who is a fool with no plan.”

Thomas Boone Pickens Sr., to his son, who had switched from a medical major to a business major, and wasn’t doing particularly good in either. His son, T. Boone Pickens, went on to have a famous business career

~

You can find my other favorite quotes at http://mathoda.com/quotes.

• Favorite Quote: Schopenhauer on talent and genius
• Favorite quote: John Sculley just doesn’t understand
• Favorite Quote: Charlie Munger on envy
• Favorite quote: Benjamin Franklin on theory meeting fact
• Favorite quote: Galileo Galilei whispers

“I don’t believe there’s anything unnatural. I don’t believe chemicals are unnatural. .. It’s very simple we don’t invent molecules, compounds. They’re here, they’re in the universe. We reorganize things, we change them around, but we don’t make anything unnatural. Now we can create bad impacts, we can poison ourselves, we can poison the Earth, but that’s just the natural outcome of the mistake we made.”

Barry Schuler, entrepreneur

~

You can find my other favorite quotes at
http://mathoda.com/quotes

• Favorite quote: Galileo Galilei whispers
• Favorite quote: Benjamin Franklin on theory meeting fact
• Favorite Quote: Charlie Munger on envy
• Favorite quote: Robert F. Kennedy’s remarkable prediction
• Favorite Quote: Shackleton’s ad