The Silent Evermore

bones, bleached bones
we are dead bones and marrow
at the end of the day comes
the spade and the barrow

we fritter time away
unafraid of the reaper
we glimpse as we age
the cost of time’s keeper

bones in museums
bones in the earth
all these remains are
runes in the dirt

no more petty woes
nor bitter grief borne
just the dirt and the worms
and the silent evermore

from this silence we came
and to it we return
one bacchanalian ball
ere a rest undeserved

no more petty woes
nor bitter grief borne
just the dirt and the worms
and the silent evermore

~e

cheers!

cheers! and here’s to friends
on whom each passing year
we increasingly depend
–cold days draw near

and gently who with sledge or blade
can clear away the solid ice
from a chilly core where love did play
amongst the naughty spy some nice

with age the lines are blurred between
familial blood and friendship’s love
ere the end that comes oft unseen
be true and strong until it’s done

happy birthday! happy christmas!
light the candles and serve the dishes
banish worry and welcome bliss
take heart from flame and make a wish

hang your joys and vivid fears
string them high upon the tree
bring them out each passing year
and light them up for all to see

let’s hang them out like dirty laundry
judge not our lives by hollow musings
both our sunday best and knickers tawdry
as we own and live them, our utmost truths

~e

The opposite of grief is not happiness. Rather, it comprises those rare expansive moments in our lives where something beautiful
or magical captures our attention and for a brief respite, we
unreservedly immerse ourselves in the truth of an
external reality.

~e

The Fallacy of the Concept of Evil: Or Why Hitler Didn't Kick His Dogs

Centuries of lingual and rational shortfalls have resulted in the concept of evil as a concrete, externalized force. Evil has become a token of a dichotomy described only in black and white tones. However, it is a false dichotomy predicated on the idea that human beings are either good or bad.

Reality dictates that good and evil are poor descriptors of people and their behaviour. Just two shades of the morality scale are hardly enough to describe the complex blend of values found in human psychology. Yet we cling to the simple notion that evil is an outside, absolute, all-consuming entity beyond our own determination.

Heinous deeds do not require the presence of a mythical totem. The truth is, good and evil actions result from the choices we make every day and every hour.

Hitler committed some of the most despicable acts on record. Yet it is recorded that he was kind to his dogs. This means that there still remained within him some small scrap of humanity. The icon of ‘evil’ displayed kindness and affection towards his pets while trying his utmost to exterminate the Jewish race.

This doesn’t mean Hitler was by any means a good man, but it shows good or bad deeds stem from the decisions we make day after day. And that just because an individual may choose to commit a litany of barbarous deeds does not show him incapable of mercy, tenderness or love.

The responsibility for our deeds falls squarely upon us. On us–not a shadowy myth, not a winged do-gooder and not any externalized force or supernatural being. This can offer us misery and it can offer us hope. But it also tells us the choice–in the end–is ours. On our choices shall history judge us. For they are ours alone.

~e