Friday, October 27, 2017

OH WALKING MAN YOU SCOUNDREL



CONTENTMENT ARRIVED

Longing—done, over, nothing left to want.
Minimalism excludes lacking’s frustration.
Them that grow claws
think talons will help them fly higher—
avarice is not living well.
Food, water, shelter—check.
What more is there?  
Being not owned, full in nothingness.
I have become more content in silence
than I ever was in my success.


© M Durfee
10/27/17


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MY OWN SILENT THINKING

I met with an old friend yesterday.
He came to the city to visit graves of parents long dead.
I left him to his own thoughts.

Myself, I see little point in graveyards.
Get rid of the coffins and headstones
leave the decaying flesh;

Fertile farmland would be more useful in that abandoned zip code.

© M Durfee
10/27/17




Friday again? Really, already? OK it’s cool. I can deal with the deal of dealing 55 words making a complete arc. That is the prompt, not a picture or a word, thought or style; only 55 words exactly in the body of the text written in any form of prose or poetry.

In doing this we pay tribute to an old friend who started this challenge years ago. A man who lived a complete and full life and was taken from us who loved him too soon. BUT though we sigh and say “alas” Joy at Verse Escape has kept the tradition alive and it is now growing again.

SO HOW DO YOU PARTICIPATE? Well first write 55 words that complete the arc of beginning, middle, and end. That would be 55 words exactly. I do not count tittles and signatures, others may count different but generally it’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…55.

When you complete your 55 follow the link to Verse Escape leave a comment and let Joy know you are in for this week and link your own post to her in the comment section. She will visit and leave a comment and tell you to as G-Man would do to have a kick ass sort of week end.

Me being I this week broke the rules (sort of) and wrote 2 separate 55’s. I simply see little use of leaving one in the chamber. Have a wonderful day and a don’t forget—kick ass with a 55.

11 comments:

  1. Indeed, it's the longing that gets you. Silence sounds pretty golden right now. I used to imagine stories when I lay down to sleep. These days I imagine a scenario, usually me sitting on a porch, reading a book, looking out at nature. And NOTHING happens.

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  2. I love both of these, and they rather interlock, as well, so glad to see them here in tandem. The line that catches my personal eye is "Avarice is not living well.." So many these days seem to confuse having things with being happy, when being and having are totally different things. There are not a lot of benefits to age, but your first 55 shows the biggest one clearly--letting go of want. And I agree with the sentiments in the second--all those rituals are for the living, and I'm sure some may need them--but the dead don't know, and should be left to be what nature intended for them. Thanks so much for playing, Mark, and with both barrels. Have a kickass weekend, and a Halloween full of gummy bears as well.

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  3. Your last lines in the first convey the wisdom that only age can afford..

    ..and the second brings the notion of the detritus of life and wisdom into perspective.

    I enjoyed the read.

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  4. The first one is so reflective of personal satisfaction.
    I can hear/feel the huge sigh at the end.

    The second one...scatter my ashes where they'll do some good...under a tree, in a garden or flower bed.

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  5. I'm right with you, sir. Both in the believe that living with what we need is much more valuable (and enjoyable) than working our lives off in order to have all we think we want... and don't let get started on the waste involved in certain funeral rites. I understand that need for tradition and such, but seriously... sometimes, we go too far.

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  6. Am almost 62, meouwpoppa ... 3 more years of slavery ... then me will not care about food, water and shelter cuz I worked for it since age 17 ... 55 words is slavery as anything else, why not enjoy 56 words, hmmm? Love, cat.

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  7. "I have become more content in silence than I ever was in my success." I need to practice more silence. My tongue does get me bruised at times.

    Yes, we spend so much money on death when it is the living that need those stoned manicured acres.

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  8. Enjoyed both poems. Happiness is in being content and not enslaved to the burden of coveting more. Personally, I love graveyards .....but maybe not during full moons and Halloween cause there might be other weirdos like me there "enjoying" the graveyard.

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  9. You are a better being when comfortable in your own silence, blessings.
    And one day you can scatter me into the winds blowing in from Antartica, so I may become a part of this world I once walked, farm on!

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So Walking Man I was thinking...