Thoughts on Contrails

This picture was taken by a friend of my, and I included it in the April issue of the newsletter that I run. It's a really nice picture, obviously, and shows just how beautiful the sunsets can be up here.

Master Marathon

Master Marathon, ahead of the pack
Thinking in miles and breathing wrung-out air
He pulls and pushes and transforms
Until the goals that were so far are now so fair

And then he slips through a light
and all the who's, whats, and hows
disappear into a blistering cloud
of whens, whys, and wherewithal.

Inside Out

And then there was nothing.
And it was worse than before.
Carefully articulated nothings.
And disaffected somethings.
As if nothing could ever work.

And then there was a dream.
Brilliant, bright, illuminating mirror.
A dream, it would seem, would be
to feel all that can't be felt.
As if nothing would ever work.

And while we're talking,
let's not forget to mention
The Sky.
Infinite, infinite, empty.
As if nothing could ever work.

Lovely Typos

I am on spring break right now, a week long hiatus from school work. And for me, that is more true than for many students. A lot of my friends have papers due after break or assignments that need to be emailed before we return to school. It is not without a bit of irony that a lot of these students are the same ones who have large and fantastical plans for break. Going on a vacation to some exotic (and some not) place where the alcohol is cheap and the music is loud. I don't feel as if these people have it bad. In fact, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit envious of their ability to spend time with careless impunity. I am left in the peculiar spot where I have nothing to do over break AND nothing due over break. Alright, maybe that is not entirely true, I have a few obscure english readings to do, but it has sort of become custom for me to do my english readings right before english class, and being a man of custom, I'd be hesitant to break tradition. With all of this spare time on my hands I have powered through more than a half of a season of Lost, played probably 50 games of MTG with my brother, and accomplished very little real reflection. Today I had a road trip, visiting someone who was sick. She was very glad to see me, and I know how simultaneously helpless and frustrated you can feel being sick on vacation. I got the chance to listen to new music on the way back, and I have to say one and a half hours of driving with nothing but music to listen to you forces you to think a little bit. While I came to no outlandishly unique or refreshing conclusions, I can say now, with a bit more confidence than before, that I have less and less of an idea of what I want to do with my life. I must admit, college had provided with the tools and experiences to more accurately approach what I would consider to be my "ideal" focus of studies. That is to say, what I enjoy the most and what I find most intellectually exhilirating. However, this perfect niche I seemed to have found myself has no obvious counterpart in the world of adult employment and I must say, that at the end of the day, the ratio of the time I spend enjoying what I'm studying to the time I spend worrying amount my future has become unpleasantly disproportionate.

On the upside, my interim advisor this semester is an extremely pleasant Frenchwoman. There are some days where I wish I had taken French in high school instead of Spanish.

The Ones Who Listen

Who hears the music?
The person who hears music?
Or the person who doesn't?
Who listens to reason?
The person who reasons?
Or the person who doesn't?
Who finds purpose in life?
The person who has purpose?
Or the purpose who doesn't?

Tell me, where are the answers, and how can I find them without changing myself?
Tell me, where are the others who despite all the changes remind me of myself?