Executioner happy to explain
How his wristwatch works
As he shadows me on the street.
I call him that because he is grim and officious
And wears black.
The clock on the church tower
Had stopped at five to eleven.
The morning newspapers had no date.
The gray building on the corner
Could’ve been a state pen,
And then he showed up with his watch,
Whose Gothic numerals
And the absence of hands
He wanted me to understand
Right then and there.
Journal of a Nobody
The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space. ~Italo Calvino
Commonplace book of a teacher, poet, and counselor.
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(Source: rnbmylifeinwords, via de-ment-ed)
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What are we doing here, and why are our hearts invisible?
— Anne Carson, from “Kinds of Water” (via weissewiese)(Source: invisiblestories, via distancenouveau)
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(Source: voigtf64, via goodmemory)
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Long after you’ve forgotten someone’s voice, you can still remember the sound of their happiness or their sadness. You can feel it in your body.
— Anne Michaels (via ontheedgeofdarkness)(Source: hellanne, via ontheedgeofdarkness)
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Overcome your uncertainties and free yourself from dwelling on sorrow. When you delight in existence, you will become a guide to those in need, revealing the path to many.
— Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (via allaboutlifeloveandsoul)(Source: samsaranmusing, via daflyingpumpkin)
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Photo by Mary Robinson
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The Supreme Moment by Charles Simic
As an ant is powerless
Against a raised boot,
And only has an instant
To have a bright idea or two.
The black boot so polished,
He can see himself
Reflected in it, distorted,
Perhaps made larger
Into a huge monster ant
Shaking his arms and legs
Threateningly?
The boot may be hesitating,
Demurring, having misgivings,
Gathering cobwebs,
Dew?
Yes, and apparently no. -
The School Of Metaphysics by Charles Simic
