Go wreck yourself once more against the day
and wash up like a bottle on the shore,
lucidity and salt in all you say.
— David Mason, from “Another Thing,” Sea Salt, Poems of a Decade: 2004-2014
Notes: Poem via The Vale of Soulmaking. Photo: (via Your Eyes Blaze Out)
“Tomorrow’s a brand new day. Never been touched.”
~ Guzmin (Doorman), Modern Love S:1 – E1, When the Doorman is Your Main Man.
Photo: Mennyfox55. Related Posts: It’s been a long day
I remember, I remember … I closed my eyes. Eyelids are really just flesh curtains. Your eyes are always “on,” always looking; when you close them, you’re watching the thin, veined skin of your inner eyelid rather than staring out at the world. It’s not a comforting thought. In fact, if I thought about it for long enough, I’d probably want to pluck out my own eyes, to stop looking, to stop seeing all the time. The things I’ve seen cannot be unseen. The things I’ve done cannot be undone.
~ Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.
Photo: Mulholland Dr. 2001 (Naomi Watts) via i wanna see your eyes. Related Posts: It’s been a long day
Welcome to the world of reality — there is no audience. No one to applaud, to admire. No one to see you. Do you understand? Here is the truth — actual heroism receives no ovation, entertains no one. No one queues up to see it. No one is interested… True heroism is you, alone, in a designated work space. True heroism is minutes, hours, weeks, year upon year of the quiet, precise, judicious exercise of probity and care — with no one there to see or cheer. This is the world.
— David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
Photo by patty maher. Quote: Thank you Beth @ Alive on All Channels. Related Posts: It’s been a long day
Often I imagine the earth
through the eyes of the atoms we’re made of—
atoms, peculiar
atoms everywhere—
no me, no you, no opinions,
no beginning, no middle, no end,
soaring together like those
ancient Chinese birds
hatched miraculously with only one wing,
helping each other fly home.
~ Dan Gerber, “Often I Imagine the Earth” in Sailing through Cassiopeia
Notes:
Someone’s life,
their attainments
(forgetting that nine-tenths of it is lived on the inside)…
~ A. K. Benjamin, Let Me Not Be Mad: My Story of Unraveling Mind (Dutton, June 11, 2019)
Photo by Jamie Schafer via (aberrant beauty). Related Posts: It’s been a long day
i will wade out
till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers
I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness
in the sleeping curves of my body
~ e. e. cummings, from “Crepuscule” in Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of E.E. Cummings by Richard S. Kennedy
Notes:
“I surrender,” I said, first under my breath. Then again, a little louder, “I surrender.” I saw a bird, and another one. Objectively, I was in a beautiful place. Objectively, my body had been strong enough to take me out here. It was the subjectivity, the comparison with where I thought I should be, that hurt. “I surrender.” I didn’t need an answer. I just needed to breathe. To, once again, find meaning in the simplest moments.
~ Eva Hagberg Fisher, How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship. (HMH Books. February 4, 2019)
Notes: Photo by Alexandra C. Axelina via EyeEM (via Mennyfox55). Related Posts: It’s been a long day
Step out of the office. 15 hours and counting…
A slow walk down an empty hallway,
and a slower walk to an empty garage.
Ride home.
8:15 pm, cruising up I-95 North.
Traffic, frictionless.
Waze est. of travel time: 23 minutes.
David Crosby, “Carry Me” is on repeat.
Carry me, carry me
Carry me above the world
Carry me, carry me, carry me.
Waze: 10 minutes to Home.
Body races ahead
and eases into bed
slides under the covers
sheets, fresh, cool
seconds drip, unhurried
in ether, adrift, rising
above the world
Home, Home at last.
Notes:
I am only a little better at giving in than I used to be,
at slowing down,
at sitting still.
But progress is progress.
~ Pam Houston, Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country
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