Monday, July 31, 2006

Time spent Kipling

Sestina of the Tramp-Royal
By Rudyard Kipling

Speakin' in general, I 'ave tried 'em all,
The 'appy roads that take you o'er the world.
Speakin' in general, I 'ave found them good
For such as cannot use one bed too long,
But must get 'ence, the same as I 'ave done,
An' go observin' matters till they die.

What do it matter where or 'ow we die,
So long as we've our 'ealth to watch it all --
The different ways that different things are done,
An' men an' women lovin' in this world --
Takin' our chances as they come along,
An' when they ain't, pretendin' they are good?

In cash or credit -- no, it aren't no good;
You 'ave to 'ave the 'abit or you'd die,
Unless you lived your life but one day long,
Nor didn't prophesy nor fret at all,
But drew your tucker some'ow from the world,
An' never bothered what you might ha' done.

But, Gawd, what things are they I 'aven't done?
I've turned my 'and to most, an' turned it good,
In various situations round the world --
For 'im that doth not work must surely die;
But that's no reason man should labour all
'Is life on one same shift; life's none so long.

Therefore, from job to job I've moved along.
Pay couldn't 'old me when my time was done,
For something in my 'ead upset me all,
Till I 'ad dropped whatever 'twas for good,
An', out at sea, be'eld the dock-lights die,
An' met my mate -- the wind that tramps the world!

It's like a book, I think, this bloomin' world,
Which you can read and care for just so long,
But presently you feel that you will die
Unless you get the page you're readin' done,
An' turn another -- likely not so good;
But what you're after is to turn 'em all.

Gawd bless this world! Whatever she 'ath done --
Excep' when awful long -- I've found it good.
So write, before I die, "'E liked it all!"

Monday, July 24, 2006

ebbs, flows


There's a tide in the affairs of us all. it may be that tipping moment, that point of points. Or perhaps it is illusory, a matter of perception only. But it comes up, down, upon, into, whatever. There's no denying it, even when it's not obvious at all. The weight of fate, inertia momentus, irresistible strikes immovable, call it what you will. That has arrived for me. Not that I think there are moments in common all around here. Not at all. But looking back and thinking forward, perhaps wisdom does exist. If only as an informative force. Here abide wise monsters. Take the high road out of low circumstance. I don't know really but tides answer a call beyond nature. Is space nature? Is the moon part of "our environment"? What about gamma rays and black holes and the solar wind? Digression alert. but something is ebbing, something is flowing, waxing and waning. I feel an urge to swim.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

que sera sera

indeed. what is is, what isn't isn't. Truth, if it exists at all. Fraudulence, flatulence, fibrllating, fornicating, for real. You know? I don't. Please tell me more.