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DIRECT ROUTE
He would rather be from somewhere. Where he is or is not going matters very little to him now, he will be where he will be, will go where he needs or wants to go or is taken, and when there, that is where he should be, so being there is no problem. But until…
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GATE GATE
The hardest thing of all is that there is no one to entreat, no one who has to sort the infinite voices, note who requested what so that delivery of the prayers, the few that warrant granting, go to the correct person, particularly given that there is no system in place to track the whims…
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KEEP THE NIRVANA
He was never one to go searching. It took up too much time. It certainly took far more effort than the results usually warranted. And there wasn’t anything in particular he wanted to go in search of. She said she was searching for ecstasy. He said he could buy it downtown, but it had grown…
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HUI CH’AO ASKS ABOUT BUDDHA
When you look in the mirror do you hope to see yourself, and who is that face that stares back? If you turn out the light, are you still there in the mirror, or has the illusion of you disappeared? If you crack the mirror, do you feel the pain of the scar across your…
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SEOUL MUSIC
The hardest part of getting old isn’t the near constant aches and pains but the senses that slip away, replaced by an ever deeper truth. She says to really play the blues on piano you must have Seoul and listening to her, you agree, although you aren’t sure if hers is Gangnam-gu or Jung-gu, but…
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VOYAGE FROM WITHIN
Magellan set sail 497 years ago, which had nothing to do with her desire to find a corner in which she could stand, protected on two sides, and still stare out into the world and see all that was going on around her. Better still if it were fashioned of plexiglass, it could surround her…
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ADOPTING A HISTORY
She likes to tell him that he came from a small village in Lithuania. He prefers to remind her that he was born in the District of Columbia which has never been mistaken for a small village in Lithuania, although he knows he could find several who speak Lithuanian there. And, he points out to…
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DEAR CASS
She’s getting downright boring, every night lying up there, staring down when she decides to part the clouds, saying nothing, as though all of the words of praise for her must come for us, unreturned. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by her vanity, it is why, after all, she is up there now, unable…
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TS’UI YEN’S EYEBROWS
The question is a simple one, really, but not one you were expecting, which is why you sit and grapple for an answer. Ask yourself, what if no answer is needed, what if there is no answer, can you remain silent, or will you feel somehow incomplete if you do not respond? All answers are…
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LOST IN A DREAM
In my dream last night, I was lost in a city of mostly dogs, but what was odd is that they were all standard poodles who only wanted to lick my hand and cheek. I tell you this not because the dream was unusual, it was in fact rather mundane. I didn’t awaken with a…