curated absurity

love is eyes with lenses;
a soul hanging barefoot
in thin clouds.
love is air tangled in high grass;
the lights flickering like champagne,
winter stars, capable of healing,
of blood, of divination.

dark spots hidden in curated absurdity,
but in it witnessed, love becomes instead
what we're forced to place faith into.

and as we march and live noisily and drunkenly,
slinging our hearts through sensual windows,
laying on damp concrete, divested and feeble by a godless world,
we leave accidental footsteps, alienated,
but beautifully formed, marching collectively
towards some high event in a brilliantly overwelming sky.

Christmas Day, Japan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericthomasphotography/

someday, you'll see winter

for Nutella

someday, you'll see winter
shivering outside your doorstep,

whistling through the frosted window,
apologizing for being so damned cold.

and one day when you rise out of bed
and see that nothing has really changed

other than a fresh layer of snow
underneath the dogwood tree,

you say to yourself, ah,
and gulp air down like fresh water.

it wasn't her fault anyway, was it?
taking your coat, and forgetting the house key,

but not locking the door, becoming a new
leaf in a clear sky, a new story,

and the wind like a blanket
that will soon fit for your comfort.

Hiking as metaphor

My mind always seems to clear while I'm hiking. Like I'm breathing air for the first time. While I was climbing a mountain recently in S. Korea (which was directly up and directly down), my mind wandered on the similarities between life goals and hiking. I love the simple comparison because even when life seems so complex and overwelming, its more simple then we like to think it is. And bringing it to simplicity is the ultimate goal to me. ("Simplicity is complexity resolved.") I wrote the similarities down when I got home that night:

• When I don't focus on my feet, I lose my breath. When I'm only looking up, I lose my step.
• By keeping organized, I stay focused (my pace, my bag, my clothes, it all matters).
• Climbing a mountain is exactly what it is: climbing a mountain. Its a simple goal (though not always easy). Keep simple and clear goals.
• Know when to take breaks.
• And most important (as is the previous), even when I'm tired, keep going.

Somehow when I imagine any goals I do in the same format as hiking, it helps me. Hopefully, you too.

Any other similarities you have, I would love to hear!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericthomasphotography/



Went for a day trip hiking. Hiking always seems to clear up my mind. I've never been accustomed to the city. So I find comfort in clean air, nature, trees, mountains. It was refreshing. Like fresh water.