poem

 (untitled)

Just in case you didn’t know,

or had forgotten—

each human is a universe;

so that when you walk up to them

with a fresh coffee in your hand,

and they have one in theirs,

you can each delve into

something strong and delicate,

bright and dark—

elements of

a vast chiroscuro

of failures, hopes,

dreams and

treasures.

And should you spend more time

with this creature with a mocha—

sharing the moment—

the features of the cosmos become

more apparent,

and constraint or expansion

become the truth

of the morning, or day,

or even decades.

Even the silliest, stupidest,

incubation is still immensely interesting,

every frozen flake of water is a marvel,

no matter how small.

poem

 (untitled)

Krispy Kreme is about to bring in the robots,

is what the news said,

in the aggregate

of dog and pony

stories.

They’re aiming to cut time in production

through automation, and

within the next eighteen months

we’ll see frosting,

filling, and sprinkles

handled by metal hands;

all part of an effort to maximize

points of access

for fresh doughnuts.

Within the next eighteen months expect savings,

Krispy Kreme is about to bring in the robots.

Recent Letter to Sedaris & Recent Dylan quote

I heard David Sedaris on a podcast this fall, and that prompted a letter to him. A week later a Bob Dylan quote goes up on the internet; an interesting serendipity, and something I address in my upcoming novel:

Dear Mr. Sedaris,

Recently you were talking with Alec Baldwin, and said:

“Do you know when you meet someone and they say I want to be a writer? Or I want to be an artist? I ask, is it all you care about? Because if it's not it's going to be pretty hard for you. If you're not on fire…. You meet people like that where it's like opening the door of an oven and it's like—wow—and you take a step back. That doesn't mean they're good but they’re just intense—it’s all they think about, its all they talk about, its all they care about—they don’t have relationships, they’re not good friends for other people, it’s all they’re focused on.”

First, have you gone through another ‘on fire’ period since your twenties? Or have you been on fire to one degree or another ever since? Please consider being ‘on fire’ and what it means as a human, to another human, and humanity in general. Maybe now is not the time to be intense, maybe people on fire ought to be scorned? Or maybe everyone should support those on fire, occasionally buying them a sushi lunch with cold beer.

Sincerely,

John De Herrera

@colorfield_arts

 “Creativity is: a funny thing. When we’re inventing something, we’re more vulnerable than we’ll ever be. Eating and sleeping mean nothing. We’re in ‘Splendid Isolation,’ like in the Warren Zevon song; the world of self, Georgia O’Keeffe alone in the desert. To be creative you’ve got to be unsociable and tight-assed. Not necessarily violent and ugly, just unfriendly and distracted. You’re self-sufficient and you stay focused.”  --Bob Dylan

poem

 (untitled)

When your life becomes surrounded

with a hundred or more stories

about what you did and how you acted,

that’s when you pull the armor in tight

and remind yourself

of the decades

proving yourself true

as a poet;

digging, speaking the truth;

no matter,

no matter;

don't let go now,

carry on;

carry on.

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