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A QUESTION OF TIMING
Umberto Eco, I believe,intending to or not,has found the perfect wayto bring classic playsback to life, to enable usto reinterpret theseold works, to hold theirreincarnated selves dear. All you need do is decidewhether you are onewho prefers beginningsor finds ends more satisfying. Go see Hamlet, but missthe first act or so, and museon why he…
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PERSPECTIVE
It will soon enough be time again,I am an old clockface on a towerat which no one but the truly boredbother to look, tucked in a cornerof a village half empty, its lifemoved away to places cooler,less stormy. So I sit and watchwhat life remains around me,the few children wishing theycould be elsewhere, some parentswishing…
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THE LETTER
Today I should receive the letterthat I sent to myself twenty years ago,telling me what I should be, where Ishould be, who I should be, for the meof twenty years ago was, by his ownadmission, far smarter than I am, althoughI am here and he is nowhere to be found. If the letter does not…
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DŌGO WON’T SAY 正法眼蔵 二十九
I am the lifeof a hundred million others,you are the lifeof a hundred million others,a hundred million othersare my life, a hundred millionothers arise from my death.How many hundred millionare the same?None of them will say. A reflection on Case 29 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye) Koans
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IN HIDING
It slipped away. He had no idea where it had gone, but he knew he had to find it. It could have been accidental, an errant passer opening the gateway and off it went. But he was so reliant on it that he knew he could not do much of anything without it. And he…
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IF ONLY
As I have aged, I hopeI have gotten smarteror at least more ableto adapt to life’s issues. But there are still areaswhere knowledge fails,where you cannot hopeto attain what you want. World peace is one such,honest politicians another,and the list could go onbut you get the picture. The ultimate failure howeveris imagining that you can…
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REGARDING HISTORY
We stand aroundin the shadowof the Coliseumstaring atthe Roman Forumimagining lifein the timeof the emperor. Fast forwardtwo or threemillennia,and imaginethe facesof those staringat the ruinsof our civilization if we have notdestroyed alllife by then.
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CONVERSATION
If you want a good conversationbirds should be your first choice,wading birds at the top of the list,although you still have to be quickfor if you meander they will lose interest. Animals are to who you should turnif you need advice on getting throughthe omnipresent obstacles life raisesto impede your smooth passage through it,but note…
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SONNET TO A PORTUGUESE
You came into my life last week, your nameforever locked away inside her mind.My life, she felt, would never be the sameand therefore left all thought of you behind.You loved her, I suppose, that summer nightthen left her, bearing me, until she turnedme over for adoption, that she mightforget the love that you so quickly…
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CAREER CHOICES
We were certain then that we’d bea success in life, that we’d drivethe kind of cars our fathersonly dreamed of as our motherschuckled about mid-life crises. They spoke about sons and daughtersof friends who were doctors,or at least lawyers, bemoanedthose who taught or held jobsthey called manual labor. But we were going in a whole…
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an old writer and his words 