--I SHOULD BE GOOD, BUT I'M NOT YET

…You can’t be what you can’t see.

…Sometimes I think this is where I live.  That there’s this other guy hanging out in the real world who looks and talks like me, but this is where I really live.

…Are there worse things than death?  Probably.  Being forgotten, for instance.  Being unforgiven or misunderstood, for instance.  The missing, for instance.

…It’s pitiful, but sometimes I can’t help it.  Sometimes the sadness just shows up unannounced, and it wants every bit of me.

…Last night the sunset was something else.  One clot of clouds looked like a macaroon: plum-colored on top, vanilla and raspberry-centered, blueberry on the bottom.

…Have you ever tasted handpicked blueberries?  They’re pretty tasty.

…It’s funny what your brain chooses to keep and what it decides to throw away.

…I took an online writing workshop over the weekend.  I wrote my guts out.  For the first time I can recall, I actually got tired of writing.

…The day before yesterday was 4/20.  It was smoking, but I wasn’t.

…Last week someone wrote: If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Len Kuntz's work you’re missing out. I don’t know a more skilled short/flash story/prose poetry writer. The end.

I think they actually meant it.  Or they might have been smoking, but either way, it was still kind of nice to read that.

…Someone also said this, and it may be a compliment: Len, No one does pain and horror like you. Goodness. Your writing is so visceral and searing with pain.

…I made a lot of random people happy last week, and that, in turn, made me happy.  It’s the opposite of schadenfreude.

…Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” has been stuck in my craw for some reason.  Before that, Youth Group’s version of “Forever Young,” which is a truly great song.  Don’t believe me?  Then, here/hear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQi8wEHMm5Y

 …The good news is…well, sometimes there isn’t any.  That’s when Depression steps in, wearing a vest bomb and swinging a machete.

… Saturn has 62 moons.  Who knew?

…I’m callused just by being near to you.  Who knew?

…Death Row’s not any fun.  Don’t believe that either?  Come and join me.

…I know, I know.  I should have sewn up those holes.  All that loose change spilled from the back of my head.  All those dreams fell to the floor and got stomped on.  And there we are.

…Could be I’m just suffering from a case of coulrophobia.

…When you’re the chosen ceramic, you always get used, whether you like it or not.

…What’s a lost soul to do?  Where’s an axe murderer when you need one?

…Do you ever think you see someone you used to know, but haven’t seen in a long time, like maybe twenty years or so, and then when you absolutely think it’s them, you realize it can’t be them, because they’d been twenty years older?  I do it all the time.  I don’t think anyone would recognize me after not having seen me for twenty years.

…You have no idea how good I’m being, if good’s the correct word.  Maybe I’m speaking about willpower.  Maybe prayer.

…Blue, or something bolder, would be good right now.

…I guarantee you, everybody locks their doors at night.  One way or another, they do.

…Your story is beautiful, and hard, and you should tell people about it.

…Yeah, but Ppl could still get hurt.  I mean, they’re still alive.

…When people say, “More than you could possibly know,” they mean it, but are they really right?

…You’re so quiet, you’re almost tomorrow.

…You need to tell me something: Are you falling apart?  Or is it just me?

…Sure, I could have been more careful.  Lots of times.  But I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone.  Just myself.

…If you understand, then you’re one smart cookie.

…I’m sorry, but I have another envelope for you.

…After the war is over, someone will count the bodies.  They always do.  

…I know this looks a mess, but it’s a work in progress. 

…I’m here waiting for another eclipse.  Those goofy glasses, the way they reminded me of “I Don’t Like Mondays.”

…Fun facts--A group of parrots is called a pandemonium.  A group of pelicans is a squadron.  A group of meerkats is a gang, or mob.  A group of finches is a charm.  A group of hedgehogs is a prickle, a group of iguanas a slaughter.   A group of jellyfish a smack, a group of kangaroos a mob.

…Hey, you’re pretty good.  Want a job here?

…“I’ve  learned to slam on the brakes.  Before I even turned the key.  Before I make the mistakes.  Before I leave with the worst of me.  Give them no reason to stare.  No slipping up if you slip away.  So, I got nothing to share.  No, I got nothing to say.”

…Pretty soon, all these things will become other things.  Won’t they?

…Sometimes it’s hard to trust yourself, to believe what’s true or what you thought was true.

…Sometimes the thing to do is walk it off.

…I know, I know.  We’re both wondering where I’m going with this.

…Sorry to be in your way. 

…Am I in your way?