Died at thirty, buried at sixty
I feel it in my bones, The coldness that the weatherman, Predicted for a week from now! I feel it on my messed-up knee, That I shattered years ago, On a hiking accident. When did I become so weak, so fragile? To feel pains that haven’t happen yet, To let people’s opinions, Become my reality? When did they break!? And, I’m not talking about my knee, Or my bones, I’m talking about my mind, My spirit. What happened to the calcium of my soul? What Sun can give me, The much needed, Vitamin D? I’m in my thirties, But I already carry a lot of dead weight, The trees of my dreams, Have become dead log, They block the view, Of long-lost hopes and dreams, And I can’t keep drinking from broken glass, And smoke past cigarettes. My poetry is bad, ...
Read MoreDon’t waste a prayer on me…
If you have to pray, Pray for the little girls and boys, Pray that they keep their dreams, That they stay young at heart, And walk the path of life, with a gentle touch. If you have to pray, Pray for my old neighbour, Who every night puts on loud Buddhist melodies, In hope of finding salvation. Don’t waste a prayer on me, darling, Don’t. I’m like a dead tree, That doesn’t feel the sour rain falling on it, Or the autumn leaves dancing around. Like Elijah I have to see death, To feel alive, Like dreaming of a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, Or being awakened by a Japanese earthquake, And 20 floor buildings shaking like a kitchen set. It takes a lot of talent to be happy, And I have none. I put my wrist on my ear, To listen to the whispers...
Read MoreLecture 1: From camels to stars
I have to admit that I knew I would enjoy Professor Gearson’s lessons as soon as I saw him quote parts of a poem (I Keep Six Honest Serving Men) by R. Kipling. In that beautiful poem, Kipling talks about the importance of the question words: what, why, when, how, where, and who. Professor Gearson then proceeds to structure his first lesson in this series around these questions. Below, I will post the questions and summarize the professor’s answers. What is a “golden age”? What is the Islamic Golden Age? The Ancient Greeks were the first to use the term “golden age” to mark a period in time. In their case, this term was used in a mythological aspect, to mark a period of the mythological past, when, according to them, humans were in complete peace with gods. In...
Read MoreMy Tomorrow, Your Yesterday
“We are not just passing by each-other” This beautiful movie tells a marvelous tale of human relationships, bringing together themes of love, time, memory, and unavoidable separation. All this is set in very interesting spacetime dynamics, making it a unique romantic sci-fi story, in what initially seems like a normal world, but then ends up with significant twists. Before you go and watch the movie, I have to warn you. I had the pleasure to watch the movie with my lovely girlfriend during a nice, peaceful August Saturday night, that marked the ending of what I called “her birthday week”. She ended up crying throughout it and went through a box of tissues. She’s a beautiful soul, with a pure heart. I guess we have to watch a couple of fun/action...
Read More“Love, Rosie”: A short letter to the author
“I’ve learned that home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.” Dear Ms. Ahern, How are you doing? My name is Maxtron Moon and I had the pleasure of reading some of your works. Most recently, I found your book, “Love, Rosie” in a used book store here in Japan. I have to say that I was reading your book while commuting all over Tokyo, with people, especially women of all ages, giggling over the cute cover. On one side, the romantic embrace of the hug from the movie scene and on the back cover, the illustration of a heart, switching views depending on the page I was reading, caused so many cute laughs from my right and left sides. It was almost like they were saying, “Who’s this foreigner, looking all serious with his messy beard and suit, yet reading something looking...
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