What are we now but voices
who promise each other a life
neither one can deliver
not for lack of wanting
but wanting won’t make it so.
We cling to a vine
at the cliff’s edge.
There are tigers above
and below. Let us love
one another and let go.
— Eliza Griswold
The mosquito knows full well, small as he is he's a beast of prey.
But after all
he only takes his bellyful,
he doesn't put my blood in the bank.
— D. H. Lawrence
Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love.
I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts.
I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion: I’m damned for what I do.
My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.
What is my sacrifice?
I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them.
I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.
So what do I sacrifice?
Everything!
I never intended to have this life, believe me—
It just happened. You know how dogs turn up
At a farm, and they wag but can’t explain.
It’s good if you can accept your life—you’ll notice
Your face has become deranged trying to adjust
To it. Your face thought your life would look
Like your bedroom mirror when you were ten.
That was a clear river touched by mountain wind.
Even your parents can’t believe how much you’ve changed.
Sparrows in winter, if you’ve ever held one, all feathers,
Burst out of your hand with a fiery glee.
You see them later in hedges. Teachers praise you,
But you can’t quite get back to the winter sparrow.
Your life is a dog. He’s been hungry for miles,
Doesn’t particularly like you, but gives up, and comes in.
— Robert Bly
“With the full backing and approval of the Elliott Smith Estate and the PAN-STARRS discovery team, I recently spearheaded a formal proposal to the International Astronomical Union to have a minor planet permanently named in his honor. We just received official approval, and the designation is now live: Asteroid (861969) 2014 OS439 is officially “Elliottsmith.” Something very interesting about this is that, the catalogue number for the asteroid is 861969, directly mirroring his birth date of 8/6/1969!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN7Fez5LQgI