#skill
I've never been one to rhyme,
An Achilles tendon persistent over time.
Chains that bind my hands,
Leaving my poems devistatingly bland.
It may ail me for life,
I may give up, after years of strife.
Someone told me free verse was harder,
I loved them too much to barter.
You see, rhyming is a skill I lack,
I take every syllable as a personal attack.
Failure is hard, unbearable,
But not trying is a shackle, unwearable.
3d ago
May 31, 2026 at 2:55 AM UTC
The first coping skills I was taught
Was to snap a rubber band,
On my wrist.
At first, it worked-
Never quite captured the sting the same,
But it kept the thoughts at bay.
Underneath the fold of my brain,
I didn't like the way I could be fixed,
So easily.
So, I snapped it harder,
Pulling back like a bow and arrow,
The target, my forearm.
Over and over,
Again and again,
Until bruised welts formed,
My skin turning purple and red,
Until the rubber band would snap.
I showed my therapist,
I could help but smile
See, I am sick! I really am!
Her brows knit,
Let's try something else.
5d ago
May 29, 2026 at 3:19 AM UTC
The quill dances through the sheet,
my eyes amazed as I see
how the words flow as if
you didn't really have to think.
The lines appear, you spread the ink
with such an art I can't believe
it looks like it's easy to write this
art, instead of difficult as it really is.
I didn't want to see what I've seen—
lots of papers, thrown into the bin
with lines that I'll never read
lost to create what I do see.
No, I didn't want to see it—
I preferred to think of you as that dream
of a skilled master who doesn't think
because he really has no need.
Apr 5
Apr 5, 2026 at 5:08 AM UTC
The bitter truth is,
you can’t rescue a culture overnight.
You can’t free or educate individuals to see what excellence really is..
Especially if they have never been shown or encouraged to seek it.
And that hurts us all and the damage carries forward , even worse.
I spent my life cultivating
depth,
insight,
and attempting integrity...
and to see the gulf opening wider, and the inexcusable consequences.
It’s the worst generational collapse in recorded history. A shameless erasing of standards, taste, discernment, quality substance, class , and sadly of nuance.
" ... the ones who will fight to maintain skill, knowledge, and integrity
they’re rare, but they exist. " ( Nabokov to Kubrick)
And they’re the ones who carry the thread forward. That’s why perspective, passion for art and craft, isn’t wasted.
Are you part of that line?
One of the people keeping the map of excellence alive, even as everything around it is recycled, rebooted,
or just plain ... flattened ?
OR are YOU the problem,
pumping out sludge and meaningless unwanted
self centered skill - less garbage?
( It's a rhetorical question, and
obviously only you know the true answer deep down inside. ... but for the rest of us ...
For empathy itself ,
it's a self examination and A real internalization that you, and only you can and need to deal with.)
Dec 22, 2025
Dec 22, 2025 at 2:29 AM UTC
He was a cluck-fu chicken
And he brought his feathered fight kickin'
And there was no denying
That he was masterful and mighty!
He knew a chicken sensei
Who trained him day and night
The way to do instant striking moves
'Til his skill was out of sight
But there's one thing that happened
When push came to shove,
He had to bring his full-fledged chicken fight from above!
Jul 6, 2025
Jul 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM UTC
In the debate between dubbing and subbing
I side with subs to savor the original
mellifluous French, Tamil, Korean, Italian...
Reading the subtitles assists the deaf
and hard of hearing although voiceovers
benefit the blind and vision impaired.
Historically dubbing was employed
by fascist governments to advance
the nationalist agenda. In our own time
the tendency to consider dubbers dumb
implies reading’s the indispensable skill.
My wife reads her mail while watching movies
so she prefers dubs. I admire her mastery
of two idioms simultaneously
but my limited bandwidth favors subs.
Jun 5, 2025
Jun 5, 2025 at 6:57 AM UTC
Five quick syllables
Then you plug in seven more
Five will wrap it up
©2025
Jan 11, 2025
Jan 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM UTC
Robert Frost
Loved and lost
Much
But never lost his touch.
Sep 17, 2024
Sep 17, 2024 at 2:53 AM UTC
It's beautiful stuff,
this pale yellow braided rope --
I smell retsina.
Sep 15, 2024
Sep 15, 2024 at 2:57 AM UTC
He's unconsciously
incompetent, but he's nice --
when he has a beer.
Jul 3, 2024
Jul 3, 2024 at 2:39 AM UTC
The squatting men place
the spittoon further away --
and aim into it.
Nov 27, 2023
Nov 27, 2023 at 3:34 AM UTC
That's how the world turns:
by people making something --
tangible that lasts.
May 14, 2023
May 14, 2023 at 3:06 AM UTC
experience is experience of a skill set
to tell of a experience is to tell of a skill set
to tell a tale of a experience is to tell a tale of a skill set
a tale of experience is a tale of a skill set
a skill set is a set of skill
a set of skill is a set of a player’s skill
a player’s skill is a player’s set of skill
to tell a tale is to tell a player’s experience
a player’s experience is a tale of a player’s experience
a player is a player’s tale of experience
telling is telling of a tale
a tale is telling of a tale
a tale is a player’s tale
tell is telling of a player’s tale
wishing is wishing a tale
wishing is wishing a player’s tale
wishing is wishing of a telling tale
wishing is wishing of a telling experience
to wish is to tell a tale
to wish is to tell a telling tale
a tale is a tale of a wishing tale
Oct 16, 2022
Oct 16, 2022 at 2:16 PM UTC
Finishings can be
The hardest part
In these final steps
All the craftsmanship
Has already occured
The finishings are
Mere inevitabilities
You must
Come to terms
With the idea that
Perfection is a
Necessary goal
Precisely because
It is unattainable
You must reconcile
Yourself to failure
It's not perfect
You have to make
Your peace with that
How?
Well..
You lay out
Your tools
And you
start again
Jul 25, 2022
Jul 25, 2022 at 5:53 PM UTC
Sometimes you stumble upon a key
It was a weird key that does not fit anywhere
Yet continue with your journey
A lock may have lost keys
But a key will always have a lock that it can unlock
Jun 18, 2021
Jun 18, 2021 at 12:32 AM UTC
You say, creation is the only power.
but , what about destructing a stone and carving wonder???
Apr 29, 2021
Apr 29, 2021 at 5:45 AM UTC
the 20th century is the man power of the 20th century
the 20th century is the stool of the 20th century
the 20th century is a skilled stool
man power is a stool of man power
man power is a stool of a 20th century
man power is a skilled stool
the 20th century is a skilled of the 20th century
the 20th century is a skilled of man power
experience is a stool of experience
experience is experienced of a stool
experience is experienced of man power
experience is a skilled experience
experience is a power of experience
power is a skilled power
power is a skilled experience
power is a skilled 20th century
power is a skilled stool
power is man power of a stool
power is man power of a 20th century
power is man power of a experience
a skill is a skilled man power
Nov 30, 2020
Nov 30, 2020 at 3:20 PM UTC
Out of touch with the ground
I walk a thin line
I am in lonely equilibrium
A broken umbrella
Swinging to-and-fro
On this trapeze
Coming untethered
From these elapsing heart strings
New love's dividing line
Depends upon its precise timing
Port de bras
The illusion of imponderable lightness
Take a leap of faith
Reach out for me
Oct 24, 2020
Oct 24, 2020 at 1:20 PM UTC
Teach me
Something
That
I have not
Learned
Well
Let me
Explain rightly
What
You have already
Learned
Sep 9, 2020
Sep 9, 2020 at 11:16 AM UTC
I must say
I faintly recall
The telling of your
All
Intensely sensed
Dream
I paid no mind
How very rude
As drool came out
Of my mouth
A cat nap
Ensued
You left me in my slumber
I now understand
My blunder...
“Listening” really is
A skill
Chalk this up
To empirical research
I will
May 28, 2020
May 28, 2020 at 10:56 PM UTC
An ordinary river is continuously flowing,
Where different water species are roaming,
But none of them are really surviving,
They stay for a while and later end up dying.
Until one day a master came in,
Everyday he is deeply staring,
He noticed a fish that is not dying nor moving,
That made the river realize the fish is not leaving,
Together, the river and the fish began blooming,
People started recognizing, visiting and appreciating,
From then on both the river and the fish live to be seizing.
May 21, 2020
May 21, 2020 at 9:35 PM UTC
An artist's hands are never clean.
A smudge of black, a splash of green...
Worn and scarred, they present
to life and hard work, a testament.
Calloused & bent, yet skilled in their craft,
from holding a pen or a brush by the shaft.
Stained with paint or ink or charcoal,
an Artist's hands are the tools of his soul.
Feb 27, 2020
Feb 27, 2020 at 4:21 PM UTC
Before I act, I’ll think to ask
Where each simple action leads
By looking ahead (a useful task)
I’ll plant some amazing seeds
Results do not come unaware
Blown in by whim or chance
They come by taking loving care
And by thinking in advance
So look ahead I gladly will
My just rewards I’ll reap
I’ll practice at this helpful skill
Form a habit that I’ll keep
Many mistakes I can prevent
By thinking where this leads
“Looking Ahead” is heaven sent
To help me choose my deeds
Nov 27, 2019
Nov 27, 2019 at 9:48 AM UTC
And
That smile
Is alternate medicine
Still wonder!
Why every textbook
Missed to mention
Nov 22, 2019
Nov 22, 2019 at 9:50 AM UTC
_____________AI, ROBOTICS_____________
I am not a play string
nor a puppet on string.
We are being planted
just as a support to skill,
just as an update for software
on virtual terminals
_____________HUMAN_____________
I am not a play string
nor a puppet on string.
We are being planted
just as a human to kindness,
just as an update for our system
on life terminals
Nov 8, 2019
Nov 8, 2019 at 2:10 AM UTC