—DANCING ON THE GRAVE THAT I ONCE LIVED IN

 

 

…“However difficult a door may be to open, once you find the key, it becomes easy.” Enta Kusakabe

 

…An awful lot of different things can happen if you do or don’t believe in something.

 

…It doesn’t take a lot, really.

 

...What’s the story I’m telling myself?

 

…All right, let’s go ahead and do this.

 

…Lay my head on the hood of your car, I take it too far…

 

...Just show up.

 

… A thing is never just a thing.

 

…It’s pretty hard to just sit there and wait for your best friend to die.

 

…We’re all tending toward something.

 

…Disappointment keeps us hoping.

 

…You can do, you can do. You can do, You can’t do.

 

…I’m pretty sure no one sighs as much as me or says, “Are you fucking kidding me?” as much as I do in a day.

 

…It really helps if you don’t care, but if you don’t care, what’s the point?

 

…I kind of get it, but you might not.

 

…And there she is, right on time, the saint.

 

…Hold tight, Sparky.

 

…“The goal is not to perform goodness, but just to be good so that we are surrounded by it.” Jay Halsey

 

…I feel like a dope, but that’s what you do when you’re a friend. 

 

…I should probably eat something.

 

...I think I might be sentimentally duped. Tell me if I’m wrong. 

 

...Are you leaving already?

 

…I get it, that some people need a push, but I’m not got at that. 

 

…We could have a countdown too, and that’d be slick, but would it really change anything? (I’m just asking, not cyclically.)

 

…But enough about me. Show me your entire collection.

 

…There’s nothing left to do but wait, so here I sit.

 

…Boy, I sure sigh a lot.

 

…I don’t think I want to think about that now. 

 

…I’m not fooling anyone, not even myself.

 

…It might be time for a Freshie.

 

…You have to laugh. What else are you going to do?

 

…You can only hide so much. 

 

…I’m nothing if not superstitious. 

 

…Some problems are unsolvable. 

 

…Even if it’s not real, if it saves you, isn’t that the point?

 

…What you never want to hear is someone saying, “I’m worried about you.” 

 

…Everything is one thing relieving the pain of others. It helps if you have back problems.

 

…You do the best you can to stay upright.

 

...We go through so many emotions each day, it’s a miracle we survive.

 

…That’s a good point.

 

…What’s it matter?

 

…You should at least look like you care.

 

..Whoa, Sparky, settle down.

 

…It shouldn’t matter but it does, what you said to me last time.

 

…Even when you’re here, you’re gone. 

 

…Sometimes there’s a lot more going on than what the sentence says.

 

…That’s good but it’s not good.

 

…Okay, let’s stop right here and never mention it again.

 

…Well that’s good, but…

 

…What I’m asking is, Have you been to a therapist about this?

  

…Yeah, great, but it’s not 44.

 

…Really? That’s what you’re going to use? Good luck, Chuck.

 

--What are you nervous about?

--Death.

--Everyone is. What else?

--Also Life.

 

...I hate these guys in charge. I do.

 

…“There is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said.” Joe Alwyn

 

…Those fonts, they get bigger, don’t they? Hopefully.

 

…I’m sorry. You deserve better.

 

…You just have to keep trying.

 

…“Thanks for the apology.”

 

--Is that an Andy Gibb 8-track?

--Somebody left it behind.

--Do you like Andy?

--Ah, yeah, well, I guess, Sort of.

--I Fucking love Andy.

--You do? Really?

--Fuck yeah. Let’s crank it up.

 

 —GONNA GO ROUND IN CIRCLES

 

Unknown

 

40% of police officers self-report committing acts of domesticviolence, leaving those who don’t self-report, unknown. The Los Angels Times

 

His morning cup is steaming again She hears the quiet violence under the hollow of his breath a rumble or a burp as he shoots his eyes across the table over her shoulder at the clock with the broken long hand

Broken bones broken cups and plates It didn’t happen if no one saw it That’s what they say 

They say Your baby is so dear so precious and darling He looks like dad already They say You should be so proud

He’s wearing his uniform ironed so perfectly flat and navy it looks black or black-and-blue 

Before he grabs his jacket his eyes flicker like a hummingbird caught in a hedge Come here and kiss me he says which you do one last time butcher knife held behind your back like a squirming dove

 

—SOMETHING’S BURNING

Smoking 

I am a backseat kid, sucking down front seat smoke that furls over the headrest like a dirty fist, stinging my eyes and ears. Mother’s fingers tremble while she holds her Tareyton like a knife. I see the deer, middle of the road, at the same time they do, but instead of swerving, Dad punches the accelerator much like he does me (THUMP!) but there’s a different, fuller-sounding THUMP! THUMP! as the animal bounces into a ditch. I wait for Mom to say something, for anyone to say something, but we just keep driving, the car hood slick, polished scarlet and smoking, the three of us driving to church on the only road we know.

 

—I SPILLED MY GUTS AT THE RED LIGHT

 

…“No one comes around here to feel saved.” Jay Halsey

 

…Oops, I forgot who I was again.

 

…I think I got a hanger.

 

…Who cares what it looks like as long as it’s the right thing?

 

…That could be a hit. I’m not lying.

 

--You better pull over.

--I’m not pulling over.

--Why not?

--Because he’s going to beat the shit out of me.

 

…There isn’t a bigger buffoon, or narcissist, anywhere:

Donald Trump Is Renaming The Kennedy Center After Himself 

 

…A guy teaches an octopus how to play piano:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/09/octopus-plays-piano-keys-tako/?utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F461b453%2F693ec2edcbd7b0639b16badd%2F6482a13851bc4a6b178d831b%2F16%2F61%2F693ec2edcbd7b0639b16badd

 

…That was a bad throw, Chief.

 

…So it’s just garbage tomorrow? Are you sure?

 

…Careful...

…(From the Associated Press):

 He said it four times in seven seconds: Somali immigrants in the United States are “garbage.”

It was no mistake. In fact, President Donald Trump’s rhetorical attacks on immigrants have been building since he said Mexico was sending “rapists” across the border during his presidential campaign announcement a decade ago. He’s also echoed rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler and called the 54 nations of Africa “s—-hole countries.” But with one flourish closing a two-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Trump amped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric even further and ditched any claim that his administration was only seeking to remove people in the U.S. illegally.

“We don’t want ‘em in our country,” Trump said five times of the nation’s 260,000 people of Somali descent. “Let ’em go back to where they came from and fix it.” The assembled Cabinet members cheered and applauded. Vice President JD Vance could be seen pumping a fist. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, sitting to the president’s immediate left, told Trump on-camera, “Well sid.”

...Here and now, nothing else means nothing.

 

…SHOOTING REPORTED LESS THAN 4.6 MILES FROM YOU HOME

 

…THEFT REPORTED LESS THAN 5.1 MILES FROM YOUR HOME

 

…I’m going to need handlebars tonight.

 

…No one should have to defend what he loves.

 

…We want grief to remain invisible because we can’t do anything about it.

 

…As you can plainly see, that didn’t work out so well.

 

…We know ourselves by how we are known.

 

...“How can you hide from what never goes away?” Heraclitus

 

…You can never say what should be until you know more.

 

…Even though my best friend has absolutely no tolerance for bullshit, he has a lot of tolerance for people he knows who are completely full of bullshit. I don’t claim to have that talent, but I give it a nod.  

 

…I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but this is real, the truth, and it’s not only despicable, but somewhat curable if we had politicians with guts…So far this year, the United States has experienced more than 400 mass shootings. Seventy at schools alone.     

 

...“The narcissism of depression is a hole with very steep sides.” Mark Doty

 

…“If you are blessed with success, use it to lift others. No man should celebrate victories while children have no chances. If you have more than you need, it is not truly yours; it belongs to those who need hope.”  Cooper Kupp

 

…It’s hard not to be greedy, whether you’re rich or poor. Something in us always makes us want more, even when we have enough.

 

…Metabolism drops with age, and I don’t have much metabolism left. 

 

…Love blows up the dam and then you have to decide whether it’s worth repairing.

 

…I like a look of Agony,

    Because I know it’s true.

          --Emily Dickinson

  

…Oh, right, here I am.

 

…Sometimes love is pretty unpolite, but it’s still love.

 

…“Maybe working on the little things as dutifully and honestly as we can is how we stay sane when the world is falling apart." Haruki Murakami 

 

…This is probably good enough, right? So why doesn’t it feel good enough?

 

…Okay, so here we go again.

 

…I’m not sure what I was doing. I think I was just looking for some good news. 

 

…The thing is you have to keep your eyes open, and that’s always the hardest part.   

 

…“I’ve never believed any of the research on breakfast being the most important meal of the day. Most of that was sponsored by cereal companies.” Marion Nestle, who edited the first Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health

 

…It’s hard to know where genetics fit into all of this.

 

…I’m pretty sure I know where I’m going tomorrow.

 

...“You don’t tell a giraffe what to do. You ask.” Linda Rutledge

 

…Everything, and everyone, holds a goodbye for someday.

 

…Some advice I give myself a few times a day: Wear knee pads when you go looking for your ego.

 

…“Here, truth had no place. And anyway, nine times out of ten, it was easier to tell a lie than to watch pity distort someone’s face. I didn’t want to be pitied.” Aria Aber, Good Girl

 

…Stand up straight at the foot of your love. 

 

...You don’t ever want to be that whiny bitch, but, well, sometimes you are.

 

…“Success means nothing if it doesn’t serve others.” Cooper Kupp

 

…More lunacy from your President: 

Trump Stands by Use of the Word “Retarded” Criticizing Tim Walz.

 

…And more still:

On Monday, Dec. 15, the president fired off a social media post, saying Reiner's death was "reportedly due to the anger he caused others through... a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME."

  

…From The Washington Post:

One in three Latinos who voted for Trump regret their decision, according to a poll.

 …Only one in three? Are you kidding me?

  

…“You will never be let down by anyone more than the one you love. That’s how gravity works.

 

…I mean, somebody’s gotta win, right?

 

…Memories stick to things. You have no control over them, none at all.

 

…“Perhaps it was true—maybe we really did all share the same kind of ordinary sorrow.” Aria Aber, Good Girl

 

…Few things are as perfect as snow. Maybe stars or the ocean, but there aren’t many.

 

…Sometimes it’s difficult when you see people with their clothes on.

 

…“Home is not the place you’re from, Woody. Home is the place you want to be.” West With Giraffes, Lynda Rutledge

 

…Everyone has a few stories they’d rather not tell.

 

…I’m not sure you understand the gravity of the situation. 

 

…I saw a doe and her fawn out by the blueberry bushes yesterday. It was awfully wet, so I’m guessing they were awfully hungry to be out there in that swampland.

 

…When things are falling your way, it’s easy to get overconfident, but when they’re not, well…

 

…If it’s too much for you, you have to say so.

 

…He thought I was hiding something. Because I was.

 

…What else? What else? There’s gotta be something.