December 17th's Zelda's Inferno exercises:
1) connecting 3 phrases (from random texts):
- why aren't I happier than this
- if you are excited about it
- hold tight to the memories
perversity of the brain
it holds tight to the memories of pain, humiliation, frustrated desires
while moments of joy and love slip through like water through a leaky flowerpot
walk through the fields of paradise and your boots stay clean
but mud and dog shit will always stick to your shoes
the popular theory of Christmas is joy but look beneath the veneer
see the stories of fearful introspection
Ebeneezer's apparitions, George Bailly jumping of a bridge, traditional holiday
suicides
who ask why aren't I happier then this
and find no answer
don't get excited about it
clean your boots
brush your teeth
wash your bowl
patch the leaks
breathe
all I want for Christmas is world peace and a million dollars
and I wonder if, if i really got them, they'd prove as disappointing as those toys I longed for and quickly forgot
the joy of Christmas morning gifts leaks away by the afternoon
but sixteen years later I still feel like lead in my heart
when I think of my grandfather dying on Christmas day
clean your boots
have to wipe away the mud every day
breathe
walk through the fields of paradise and your boots stay clean
but the scent of the flowers will linger, subtly, on your clothes
2) from a holiday wordlist:
darkness tree work wreath light ornaments star menorah fire present cheer koran
in the semi-darkness
of the shade
under the tree
light is filtered
through the branches
I would climb
through the dimness
to the top
(I was young
I was small
branches would hold
under my weight)
it was pine
like climbing up
a christmas tree
pine cone ornaments
(maybe I wanted
to be the
star on top
or the angel)
the quiet view
from the top
peace and solitude
was the present
(a gift that
keeps on giving)
sometimes I wish
I was small,
small enough again
branches would hold
under my weight