JordanM's New Writeups

Rabbi Nachman's Hundred and Eighty First Lecture (poetry)

2012-07-09T20:33:17Z

Said the Rabbi,
Let us Sigh
And let our spirits both be broken
In this whole world of why
The ropes that bind us serve us for a token
For man can never fly
except in dreams from which he is awoken
So let the lower rope be broken.

Come and let our bellies start the sigh
come and let it shudder through our body
from the tingling in our thigh
to the expectoration twisted in our lungs
of these two ropes
stained with blood
one evil and one good
let our sighing make the evil rope be broken!

The Merry Abandonment (poetry)

2012-07-06T23:37:59Z

Was I weighed down with longing?
My garden didn't thrive...
Honor, hope and strength, or wisdom?
Just give up all five!

I tread you ocean floor
I float above the poor
Shall I drop rhyme or sense or grammar?
Or shall I drop all four?

Someone must have mapped this place,
It seems unmapped to me
Do I lose longitude, or latitude?
Or do I ditch all three?

I say the same the raven did,
when his long tale he quoth,
Should I maintain my silence, friend,
Or just give up them both?

Death to Harry Potter! Long Live the Revolution! (idea)

2010-06-16T23:46:10Z

So... A small group of elite individuals proclaim that, through virtue, not of talent, wit, wisdom, or developed skill, but through aristocratic birth, they are superior to the rest of humanity, to whom they give the mocking name "Muggles". Their children are educated in an elite private boarding school, divided into competitive halls, in which sports, specific and arcane forms of learning, and the lore of their small and isolated community is passed on to the next generation. Within this group of elite young students, there is a hierarchy of birth as well, and the most elite of them all, Harry Potter actually has, on his forehead, a symbol of his superiority in the form of a star which exists because he is fated - fated, mind you - to defeat great evil, again, because of his birth.
Furthermore, an obsessive concern with blood purity has created massive inbreeding as this group of elites attempt to keep their blood pure. Our hero - he of the mythical father, predetermined to…

Three McDonald's Poems (poetry)

2008-11-28T11:50:32Z

Three McDonalds Poems:

Apagorevetai Tou Kapisma: (No smoking) Ledra Street, Nicosia, Saturday Afternoon:

The older style, the better way,
I run the risk of tripping to cliche
It's peaceful here. The mix and match
of people is appropriate. The young
are with their lovers the old are with their families,
and no one is alone;
(but me, and I am an exception)
The mountains aren't fertile here. ]The ground gives her gifts,
but sparingly]. The gifts she gives, she gives with all her heart. Women are doing their sunday shopping
Boys are playing; this world is still a mountain to be conquered; even the things that don't seem friendly, are so:
Advertising, sports-cars, billboards: all are at peace.

An ambulance goes by, lights blaring. It's siren is turned off. The cars give way

When man first tried to look at the sun, it burned his eyes. He thought of…

Drinking Alone in the Moonlight (person)

2007-11-01T18:33:43Z

This is a freer translation, done with the help of a damn good dictionary, and consulting about 35 other translations, all of which are good, but none of which catches the combination of freedom and intricacy which this poem has in the original...(Not that I caught it myself, but a guy's got to try...)

I see flowers on the door and I have a jug of wine

But I have no friends to share this joy of mine.

I lift my glass to invite the moon's shine

And if you add my shadow â well, thatâs three.

Now the moon, my brothers, doesnât like good wine

And my shadow just follows me â but hell, thatâs fine...

The moon is my friend and my shadow's the thing

that the moon and I need to welcome the spring

The moonlight dances a jig when I sing

When I dance like a drunkard my shadow takes win

Your poet, when sober, had us three all in tie

But when I got drunk my shadow and moon…

Helping a loved one with depression (person)

2007-10-16T19:29:32Z

1. Hold their hand.

2. Sing to them.

3. Stay patient, no matter how angry they get.

4. Remember, they didn't choose to be depressed

5. No amateur psychotherapy : you don't know how to do it and they don't need it.

6. In fact, don't try to cure them at all. You don't know how to do it, and they don't need it.

7. A kiss on the forehead works wonders. A hot tea. A place on the couch. A blanket. Something to tell them, they're home.

8. If they want to cry, let them. You can't talk them out of it.

9. If they want to talk, listen. Don't ever give advice.

10.Sympathize, and smile. Remember this will pass. If you don't know it deep in your soul, how will they?

11. Make sure they're getting professional help: even if they don't want it, even if they hate you for it. It can be helped, and they'll be thankful for it later...

And remember one thing: Professional help is NOT enough. More than anything,…