Life On A B-I7

Poetry Challenge Day 138 (Sat Feb 19)

I love writing.
It’s not about the words
(mostly)
it’s about the feeling
of pen on paper.
Of course I have a special pen.
Shhhhh, I’m not revealing
what it is.
In the age of supply chain shortages
(thank you COVID)
I don’t care to tell you that.
Anyway…
It doesn’t really matter
what words appear,
all I really care about
is how they feel on the
paper when they
come out of the pen…

I’m well aware this is not paper… But that’s how it all starts…

Poetry Challenge Day 137 (Fri Feb 18)

Should I get a tattoo?
I think so…

Why?

Because I have an image in my mind
that perfectly suits me.

What better reason?

Poetry Challenge Day 136 (Thu Feb 17)

Do I write on the computer
or in my journal?
In my journal.
It’s much more personal,
and it just feels good.
I love the feel of pen on paper.
The exercise allows me
to step outside myself.
Although you could argue
I don’t get very far away,
it’s more perspective
then I would have otherwise.

Poetry Challenge Day 135 (Wed Feb 16)

My Calling Card

Skiing
Cycling
Mountain Biking
Kayaking
Overlanding

As of February 22nd, I have to add off-road motorcycling to the list.

Poetry Challenge Day 134 (Tue Feb 15)

People leave calling cards on my truck.
Invitations to join 4x4 clubs.
I know I shouldn’t be flattered by this.
It’s not about me,
it’s about my truck.
Nevertheless,
I feel sort of special.
Sooner or later I’m bound
to make some friends…

Poetry Challenge Day 133 (Mon Feb 14)

Ah Valentine’s Day!
Another great American Holiday!
Yes we should love,
especially those close to us,
but why not love everyone?
Why in fact,
do we not love everyone?

Poetry Challenge Day 132 (Sun Feb 13)

I’ve been trying to figure out
what exactly is poetry.
I stumbled across the notion
(quite by accident)
that a lot of people hate poetry.
(Seriously, it’s a thing.)
I suppose that’s true.
It may be true for me.
I don’t know why.
I suppose it might be because
a lot of poetry takes work,
and even then it turns out
to be something of a mystery.
(Completely unrewarding as it were.)
I think you know what I’m trying to say.
Does the lack of mystery here
make this something other than poetry?
Possibly.
I suppose that means
the question remains unanswered.

More on this to come…

Poetry Challenge Day 131 (Sat Feb 12)

If this were my last week on earth
I would spend it with my love.
I would hold her all night
and spend the daytime just
being close to her.
At the end of the week,
I would kiss her one last time
and tell her to let me go
and find a love to take my place,
and perhaps,
remember me,
occasionally,
fondly,
but not regretfully.

Everyone deserves love. Wanting someone to continue loving you after you are gone is pure selfishness.

Poetry Challenge Day 130 (Fri Feb 11)

My friends call me “Frenchy.”
I’ve been trying to force
my skis apart
by forcing my feet apart.
It hasn’t worked.
Now I’ve discovered it’s
not about my feet,
it’s all about my knees.
You may be wondering
what this is all about.
Let me just say,
this is earth shattering news
to me.

_My Ski Mantra:
“It all starts from the feet and goes up from there.”

1. Rotate with the feet (big toe/little toe).
2. Keep the tips aligned.
3. Pressure on the outer ski first, let the inner follow.
4. Knees apart.
5. Don’t use the upper body to turn._

Poetry Challenge Day 129 (Thu Feb 10)

Do you want to be happy?
It’s not that simple you say:
“When something bad happens to me
I become unhappy.”
This seems perfectly natural.
In fact, it is unnatural.
You don’t have to be unhappy
because something outside of your control
happened to you.
Everything is in your control.
It’s not that you can control everything,
but you can control what
everything means to you.

This might be my biggest take-away from reading the book “The Untethered Soul.” Thank you! You know who you are!

Poetry Challenge Day 128 (Wed Feb 9)

Things that are stupid:
An airfoil on the back of a shitty car.
A country song that’s not sad.
A ski day when the temperature is in the 40’s.
Someone whining about politics
when they know nothing about the subject.
Semi trucks in the left lane.
Poems that complain
about stupid shit.

_ Poetry Challenge Day 127 (Tue Feb 8)_

“We sat in tall grass by a boulder,
making ourselves small.
The day was crystalline.”

That is beautiful writing.
I would give anything (almost)
to be able to write like that…

I’m not talking about a Faustian thing,
if I were given the chance to trade my soul
for the ability to write like that

I would choose skiing instead.
I’m not sure the Devil would be
down on that deal…

The Devil (he/she) might require
a bit more collateral
than I am able to provide.

The quote is from Richard Powers novel “Bewilderment.”

Poetry Challenge Day 126 (Mon Feb 7)

I’m going skiing today.
It is the second love
of my life.
If you’ve been paying attention
you already know the object
of my first love.

Poetry Challenge Day 125 (Sun Feb 6)

If I correct your grammar
it’s not because
I’m smarter than you.
It’s because
someone has corrected mine,
and I’m just lucky enough
to have remembered it.

Poetry Challenge Day 124 (Sat Feb 5)

I met the love of my life.
It has taken almost a lifetime.
I’d like to say that I’m fortunate,
but I think I’m just lucky.
Lucky, in a mathematical sense.
If I had given up too soon
it might never have happened.

Poetry Challenge Day 123 (Fri Feb 4)

Sometimes,
when your not there,
I will gather the blankets
behind me
and press them
into the small of my back.
It makes me feel as though
you are lying next to me.

Poetry Challenge Day 122 (Thu Feb 3)

Be kind to all living things.
Stay balanced and steady.
Feel joy for all creatures.
Any suffering is also your suffering.

Poetry Challenge Day 121 (Wed Feb 2)

This poem was written by an AI.
You’d never guess that because
the model used to generate this poem
was intentionally tweaked to produce shit.

The AI wanted you to think I wrote it.

Poetry Challenge Day 120 (Tue Feb 1)

The problem with humans
is that we have no ability
to feel what it is like to be
anything other than human.

If we could actually feel like a dog,
or feel like a cat,
the world would be a very different place.

We might even be able to halt the mass
extinction of species currently in progress.
With just a little bit of non-human empathy
and real species understanding.

_ Poetry Challenge Day 119 (Mon Jan 31)_

If you are skiing
better now than you were
last year,
life is good and you’re just fine.

_ Poetry Challenge Day 118 (Sun Jan 30)_

Skiing.
Cycling.
Hiking.
Camping.
Mountain Biking.
My life is rich.
I could not ask for more,
except perhaps for someone
to share all of these things with.

Wait,
I have that too…

_ Poetry Challenge Day 117 (Sat Jan 29)_

It’s okay to take a bit
of time for yourself.
How else can we stay
sane in this crazy world?

I want my children to have
a bright future.
Sometimes I wonder if that
is possible.

Did those who preceded me
feel this way as well?

_ Poetry Challenge Day 116 (Fri Jan 28)_

Sixty-eight on-earth years.
It seems like so few really.
So much to experience and do.
Of course
You can’t do it all,
The trick is to enjoy
As fully as possible
That which you take
the time to do.

_ Poetry Challenge Day 115 (Thu Jan 27)_

Do things for the joy.
Do not do things
as a means to assuage
your fears.

_ Poetry Challenge Day 114 (Wed Jan 26)_

I haven’t seen you in a month.
I don’t like being away from you for so long.
Next time I want to take you with me.
We’ll find a sitter for the cat.