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BENEATH THE WAVES
She says she has always wantedto swim like a dolphin, and she laughswhen others tell her that she can,in the Florida Keys and in Hawaii. She tells them that anyone, at leastanyone with money can swimwith the dolphins, but she wantsto swim like a dolphin as well. She wants to see the sky appearthrough the…
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WAITING FOR HEAVEN TO CALL
He says he is waiting patientlyfor the arrival of heaven on earth. He is not sure what that will be likeand the descriptions he has seenare too fantastical to be believed,all clouds and angels and music He is hoping the things he lovesmost will be available in heaven,a good Alfredo sauce and Germanchocolate cake, for…
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SOTO
If you are able to speakmaintain silence,If you can bear the silence,listen to the song the sea sings.If you can sing with the seacount the grains of sandthat wash in on the next wave.If you lose count, begin againbefore the wave recedes.If the wave recedes beforeyou finish counting, bid it farewell.After you bid farewellreturn to…
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ME, MYSELF NOT I
It would be so much easierif I had a twin brother,and not merely a doppelganger. Doppelgangers are nice enoughbut they are never aroundwhen you most need themand the refuse to take the blamefor your actions, althoughthey are willing to blame youfor theirs, an ugly imbalance. Idential twins have advantagesif you can bend themto your will,…
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NOT A DONUT
I have never made a bagel. I have never jumped off the roof of a house to see what flight was like. I have never run a marathon or a half marathon. I have never owned a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Maserati. Or a Porsche for that matter. I have never driven a car at more…
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FLIGHT
Feathers openedfingers extendedwings unfurledarms outstretchedhead poised skyward, thenhead poised skyward lifting up into a sun filled skydreaming of impossible flight.
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PERSPECTIVE
It is always, the artist told me,a question of angles and elevations,but I am sure that was just his perspective. Dali threw all of that out, madea pretty good living at taking perspectiveout of his work, replaced by fluidity. For Dali that fluidity resultedin a fair bit of liquidity, which wasan irony not the least…
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DAITSU CHISHO BUDDHA 無門關 九
Twenty thousand generationsa hundredhundred livesthe briefest momentin being, there isno becoming, no leaving and nothing is attainedfor there is no needof attainment, Seijowhispered tono one. A reflection on Case 9 of the Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate Koans)
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DUST AND ASHES
Between Scylla and Charybdisthey cower amidst the ruinsfearful to look skywardlest they encouragethe rains of hell. Now and then they visitthe corpses, hastily buriedgrief drowned by the soundof the laugh of the gunnerpeering down from the hills.It is always night for the souland lookout must be keptfor Charon, who ridessilently along the rivers of blood,that…
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ADAM SMITH BE DAMNED
It is odd to discoverthat time obeys the economiclaws of supply and demandbut as I have aged, thathas become ever more clearas my supply has dwindled,my demand remains constantand the value increases accordingly. That may explain why, now,I am content to check the scoresand read the stats of my favoritefootball or baseball team, getting every…