Category: Art

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Dharma is the support of the earth.

Born of compassion and kindness.

It patiently holds the thread

Of creation together.

Understand this and become a person of Truth.

–Sri Guru Nanak Dev,  Hymn 16, Japji Sahib

Phenomena V: Truth


At the Nub

Truth

Stripped

of pretense

scraped down

to the nub

bathed in

the acid

of reality

Truth

is coated by

no varnish

No twisting

spinning

bending

stretching

can alter it

Truth is inviolate

but there are many

pretenders

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–March 12, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Listening is a lamp that dispels the darkness of ignorance.

–Arya Sura, Jatakamala (aka Garland of Birth Stories

aka Once the Buddha Was a Monkey)

Phenomena IV: listening


Evaporation

Inattentive

I spent much of my life

speaking in paragraphs

to people who had difficulty

waiting

for the end of a sentence

before breaking in

to change the subject

to talk about them

their thoughts

not mine

which lay unfinished

by the side

of the conversation

with my ideas

drifting away

somewhere

probably forgotten

if not evaporating

into nothingness

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 6. 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

‘The comprehension of self’, that is the Beyond of all dharmas.”

–Siddhārtha Gautama, The Questions of Suvikrantavikramin

Phenomena III: delving


Film at 11

Froth

Deep down below

past even the words

are ideas and concepts

normally unthought

except by the weird

unkempt minds

of those who dare

to be different

Whipped creaminess

of dangerous notions,

syllables expressed

too rarely

and more seldom heard,

whizzes by faster

than can normally

be sensed

Grabbing on

to a possibility

I was taken downward

further than

imagination

could conceive

There is truth here

There is more

wherever I look

And who wanted

to be normal

anyway

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–December 28, 2007

Pony Party

Saturday Morning Art

dear calico, please delete this if you have a pony.

this was done just in case…..i know you’ve been busy!

dear everybody else, i know nothing about art… just a couple names. but i do know how to find a youtube!

some paintings by VanGogh …

with Enrico Pieranunzi’s melancholy music ( Canto Nascosto )

Art works of Johannes Vermeer

~♥~ Pony Party is an Open Thread. Don’t wRECk the pony! ~♥~

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure.

–Bodhidharma, Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices

Phenomena II: enticing


Strings

Semantic String Theory

Letters are scrambled

syllables sewn together

words aligned

into strings

thoughts condense

out of nothingness

and are arranged

into meaning

Sometimes

they vibrate

with Truth

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 3, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Dharma upholds both this-worldly and the other-worldly affairs

–Krishna, the Mahābhārata

Phenomena I: inhaling


Lurking

Blueprint

A notion

and intention

initially

Ideas congeal

words emerge

slide into place

some locked

some fit

to be tumbled

pliantly capable

of movement

until unity forms

Structural collapse

conceptual disintegration

and verbal desertion

are neighbors

skulking

on the other side

of walls too thin

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–March 18, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

State of the Onion XXX (Finis)

Art Link

Brain Scan

The Words

The words have control

command I attend

Through my mind they must flow

I am their vessel

They require writing

demand creation

Pushing boldly forward

whenever I pause

The words I give you

that they may be read

and spead their infection

into the future

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 16, 2006

Profiles in Literature: Satire

I hesitated on posting this because of Temmoku’s sage advice to avoid the discussion about the New Yorker topic.  But given that literature is my gig, I thought this could lead to some interesting discussions nonetheless.  My apologies.

Greetings, literature-loving DDers!  This long defunct series is soon to be revived full time, but the current kerfuffle over the New Yorker cover is practically begging for a discussion about the nature of satire, its history, form, and intents.  

In the past few days, a lot of text has been spilled over what is and isn’t necessary for satire to work.  I want to make one thing clear from the outset: I’m not here to discuss whether the New Yorker cover was offensive or not.  I am here to clear up some misconceptions about what satire is, what it “should” be, and how it works.  I’ll be addressing specific criticisms at the end of diary – but first let’s have a primer on satire itself:

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

State of the Onion XXIX

The graphic linked to below was created when I was experimenting with creating the “feel” of digital texture.  This one is wax.

Sometimes the poems express thoughts that plead for discussion.  Rarely does that discussion actually take place.  This is one of those.  In a performance it comes right before the closing words, which are immediately followed by a Q & A opportunity for spontaneous communication.

Art Link

Scratching at the Surface

Wishes and Horses

I wish someone

anyone

could tell me

would tell me

why people

behave as they do

with disdain toward

in disregard of

so sadistically

to people like me

What have

we done

to engender

such disrespect

to evoke

such contempt

to earn

your hatred

Whatsoever it was

we are willing

to work together

with you

to repair

the rift

to seal

the breach

to integrate

our existences

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 1, 2006

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

If there is a “We” and we want the world to be a better place, then one would think we would want to join in common cause, which requires finding common ground.  That last thing is not so easy.

State of the Onion XXVIII

The techniques I have used to create the eggs (the graphics) evolved over time, leading to the 3D look-and-feel exemplified by today’s art.  The poem is what it is.  It was written one day after my 58th birthday.

Ah, but I was so much older then.  I’m younger than that now.  I wish.

This series is almost over.  There are only two more poems after this one, for now, but one doesn’t know how many more acts there are to this story.  Time takes its toll.

Art Link

Cracks in the Shell

On Aging

The urge to expend all energy

to protect the container is strong

but what good does it do

to protect the body

if the spirit dies

Time demands its payment

Youth cannot be defended

by surrendering

to the needs of the flesh

The vessel slowly deteriorates

worn down joints

creak with every motion

muscles are too stiff

bones become brittle

but the contents

the mind/soul

can be bright and vital

growing fresher

with each new thought

with each opinion challenged

with each dip in the fountain

of knowledge

I will be forever young

if I continue to bathe

in the River of New

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–April 4, 2006

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

If there is a “We” and we want the world to be a better place, then one would think we would want to join in common cause, which requires finding common ground.  That last thing is not so easy.

State of the Onion XXVII

Art Link

Suspended in Blue

Common Ground

Common ground

cannot be found

when some people demand

that everyone have

the same beliefs

as themselves

Common ground is found

when it is acknowledged

that individuals

with different beliefs

can work together

towards the same goals

Common ground is found

when we concentrate

on what we do

not why we do it

or what we believed

while we were doing it

Common ground

is populated

when individuals

with different beliefs

can respect the value

of divergent points of view

Most important of all

common ground occurs

when people are willing

to be changed

by the effort they make

to seek it

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 10, 2006

Casting about for the Beauty Platform


The days go by, the years flow away

The oceans run dry…

But you are alone, in your soul and your eyes

These tears, these wounds…

But don’t you look, don’t look around

Stay the way you are

Stay yourself

The whole world lights up [in] your eyes

If the love lives in [your] heart.

You watched all the movies about love

But there’s also a lot of fairytales in real life

Don’t hurry, wait and you’ll see –

Everything will happen, just not right away.

But don’t you look, don’t look around

Stay the way you are

Stay yourself

The whole world lights up [in] your eyes.



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