Shady Grove

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"Mythological representations of the world – which are representations of reality as a forum for action – portray the dynamic interrelationship between all three constituent elements of human experience.

The eternal unknown – nature, metaphorically speaking, creative and destructive, source and destination of all determinant things – is generally ascribed an affectively ambivalent feminine character (as the 'mother' and eventual 'devourer' of everyone and everything).

The eternal known, in contrast – culture, defined territory, tyrannical and protective, predictable, disciplined and restrictive, cumulative consequence of heroic or exploratory behavior – is typically considered masculine (in contradistinction to 'mother' nature).

The eternal knower, finally – the process that mediates between the known and the unknown – is the knight who slays the dragon of chaos, the hero who replaces disorder and confusion with clarity and certainty, the sun-god who eternally slays the forces of darkness, and the 'word' that engenders creation of the cosmos."

- From "Maps of Meaning"

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Like walking beneath the ocean

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Trying to write next to a cat is basically impossible.

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I got my first tat when I was 18. Gave my full back to my brother who had just started his tattooing career. Years later, my immune system ate up most of the ink and dulled its vibrancy (esp the yellow). Now I’m having to touch up something that’s already incomplete (free tats aren’t exactly easy to schedule =P). My brother’s work has improved exponentially, but I don’t regret giving up a large canvas to his nascent talents.

It made me look back on my early adulthood. My earliest romance with poetry. In fact, this phoenix was largely inspired by one of my favorite poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which I hadn’t revisited in years.

Hope it inspires:

Eight People on a Golf Course and One Bird of Freedom Flying Over

The phoenix flies higher & higher

above eight elegant people on a golf course

who have their head stuck in the sands

of a big trap

One man raises his head and shouts

I am President of Earth. I rule.

You elected me, heh-heh. Fore!

A second man raises his head.

I am King of the Car.

The car is my weapon. I drive all before me.

Ye shall have no other gods.

Watch out. I’m coming through.

A third raises his head out of the sand.

I run a religion. I am your spiritual head.

Never mind which religion.

I drive a long ball. Bow down and putt.

A fourth raises his head in the bunker.

I am the General. I have tanks to conquer desert

And my tank shall not want. I’m thirsty.

We play Rollerball. I love Arabs.

A fifth raises his head and opens his mouth.

I am Your Master’s Voice.

I rule newsprint. I rule airwaves, long & short.

We bend minds. We make reality to order.

Mind Fuck Incorporated.

Satire becomes reality, reality satire.

Man the Cosmic Joke. Et cetera.

A sixth man raises his gold bald head.

rm your friendly multinational banker.

I chew cigars rolled with petro-dollars.

We’re above nations. We control the control.

I’ll eat you all in the end.

I work on margins. Yours.

A woman raises her head higher than anyone.

I am the Little Woman. I’m the Tender Warrior

who votes like her husband. Who took my breasts.

A final figure rises, carrying all the clubs.

Stop or I’ll shoot a hole-in-one.

I’m the Chief of All Police. I eat meat.

We know the enemy. You better believe it.

We’re watching all you paranoids. Go ahead & laugh.

You’re all in the computer. We’ve got all

your numbers. Except one

unidentified flying asshole.

On the radar screen.

Some dumb bird.

Every time I shoot it down

it rises.

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MRW I have to greet someone and can’t decide between a kiss on the cheek, a hug, a handshake, sometimes even between a bow or an adab.

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Gotta love his 'lil black paw. Jelly heaven.

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"The line between good and evil runs down every human heart. The first thing is to win that battle in your own territory... When you look at the 20th century and think, 'Well, who brought on the horrors of the communist systems and the horror of the Nazi system?' It was people just like you... The price you pay for wisdom is radical disillusionment and the confrontation with evil. It's a terrible thing to confront and that's because human beings are terrible creatures; we're also absolutely remarkable creatures, but we have an unlimited capacity for brutality and every one of us carries it."

- Jordan B. Peterson

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