1. Imagery: Prompt: Choose a setting (real or imaginary) and describe it using detailed sensory imagery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create a vivid scene, just like a painter with words.
   
2. Metaphor: Prompt: Compare a personal experience to an everyday object or phenomenon in an unexpected way. For example, "My heart is a compass that always points to the north of your laughter."
   
3. Simile: Prompt: Write a series of similes to express intense emotions. For instance, "As brave as a lion facing the storm, as fragile as a petal in the wind."
   
4. Rhyme: Prompt: Craft a short poem or lyrics with a consistent rhyme scheme. Experiment with different rhyme patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.) to enhance the musicality of your writing.
   
5. Meter: Prompt: Compose a poem with a specific meter, such as iambic pentameter. Pay attention to the syllabic beats in each line to create a rhythmic flow.
   
6. Alliteration: Prompt: Create a tongue-twisting line using alliteration. Focus on the repetition of initial consonant sounds to add a playful or musical quality to your writing.
   
7. Assonance: Prompt: Write a passage where the vowel sounds within words echo each other. Experiment with different vowel combinations to create a melodic effect.
   
8. Personification: Prompt: Choose an inanimate object and personify it. Describe its actions, thoughts, and emotions as if it were a living being.
   
9. Symbolism: Prompt: Select an object or element and explore its symbolic meaning. Connect it to broader themes or emotions in your writing.
   
10. Enjambment: Prompt: Write a poem where the thoughts flow continuously from one line to the next without a pause. Explore how this technique can create a sense of movement or urgency.
    
11. Repetition: Prompt: Repeat a word or phrase throughout a poem for emphasis. Consider how repetition can enhance the overall impact and meaning of your writing.
    
12. Free Verse: Prompt: Embrace the freedom of expression by writing a poem without adhering to rhyme or meter. Allow your thoughts to flow organically, exploring the beauty of formless verse.
    
13. Stanza: Prompt: Divide your writing into stanzas to create distinct sections with varying themes or tones. Explore how the organization of lines contributes to the overall structure of your work.
    
14. Theme: Prompt: Choose a universal theme (love, loss, freedom, etc.) and explore it through your lyrics. Delve into the nuances and perspectives associated with the chosen theme.
    
15. Tone: Prompt: Write a poem that conveys contrasting tones. Explore how shifts in tone can evoke different emotions and responses from the reader.
    
16. Connotation: Prompt: Select a word with strong connotations and use it in a poem. Explore the emotional baggage and cultural associations tied to the word within the context of your writing.
    
17. Irony: Prompt: Craft a poem with elements of irony. Create situations or lines that convey a meaning opposite to the literal interpretation, adding layers of complexity to your writing.
    
18. Allusion: Prompt: Reference a well-known song, book, or historical event in your lyrics. Explore how the use of allusion can enrich the depth and meaning of your writing.
    
19. Syntax: Prompt: Experiment with sentence structure to create different effects. Play with word order, sentence length, and punctuation to convey specific emotions or rhythms in your writing.
    
20. Diction: Prompt: Choose a specific mood or atmosphere you want to convey and carefully select words that evoke that feeling. Pay attention to the impact of your word choices on the overall tone of your writing.
    

1. Imagery: Creating vivid mental images through descriptive language.
   
2. Metaphor: Using figurative language to imply a comparison between unrelated things.
   
3. Simile: Drawing comparisons using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities.
   
4. Rhyme: Employing words with similar sounds at the end of lines.
   
5. Meter: Organizing lines with a rhythmic pattern, often in syllabic beats.
   
6. Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
   
7. Assonance: Repeating vowel sounds within nearby words for musicality.
   
8. Personification: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities.
   
9. Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent deeper meanings.
   
10. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
    
11. Repetition: Emphasizing ideas or emotions by repeating words or phrases.
    
12. Free Verse: Unrestricted by traditional poetic structures like rhyme or meter.
    
13. Stanza: Grouping lines together to form a distinct unit within a poem.
    
14. Theme: Central idea or underlying message explored in the poem.
    
15. Tone: The poet's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject.
    
16. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations attached to words.
    
17. Irony: Presenting ideas in a way that signifies the opposite of the literal meaning.
    
18. Allusion: Referencing another work, person, or event to enrich meaning.
    
19. Syntax: Arrangement of words to create specific effects or convey emotions.
    
20. Diction: Careful choice of words to convey a particular meaning or atmosphere.
    

1. Imagery: Prompt: Choose a setting (real or imaginary) and describe it using detailed sensory imagery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create a vivid scene, just like a painter with words.
   
2. Metaphor: Prompt: Compare a personal experience to an everyday object or phenomenon in an unexpected way. For example, "My heart is a compass that always points to the north of your laughter."
   
3. Simile: Prompt: Write a series of similes to express intense emotions. For instance, "As brave as a lion facing the storm, as fragile as a petal in the wind."
   
4. Rhyme: Prompt: Craft a short poem or lyrics with a consistent rhyme scheme. Experiment with different rhyme patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.) to enhance the musicality of your writing.
   
5. Meter: Prompt: Compose a poem with a specific meter, such as iambic pentameter. Pay attention to the syllabic beats in each line to create a rhythmic flow.
   
6. Alliteration: Prompt: Create a tongue-twisting line using alliteration. Focus on the repetition of initial consonant sounds to add a playful or musical quality to your writing.
   
7. Assonance: Prompt: Write a passage where the vowel sounds within words echo each other. Experiment with different vowel combinations to create a melodic effect.
   
8. Personification: Prompt: Choose an inanimate object and personify it. Describe its actions, thoughts, and emotions as if it were a living being.
   
9. Symbolism: Prompt: Select an object or element and explore its symbolic meaning. Connect it to broader themes or emotions in your writing.
   
10. Enjambment: Prompt: Write a poem where the thoughts flow continuously from one line to the next without a pause. Explore how this technique can create a sense of movement or urgency.
    
11. Repetition: Prompt: Repeat a word or phrase throughout a poem for emphasis. Consider how repetition can enhance the overall impact and meaning of your writing.
    
12. Free Verse: Prompt: Embrace the freedom of expression by writing a poem without adhering to rhyme or meter. Allow your thoughts to flow organically, exploring the beauty of formless verse.
    
13. Stanza: Prompt: Divide your writing into stanzas to create distinct sections with varying themes or tones. Explore how the organization of lines contributes to the overall structure of your work.
    
14. Theme: Prompt: Choose a universal theme (love, loss, freedom, etc.) and explore it through your lyrics. Delve into the nuances and perspectives associated with the chosen theme.
    
15. Tone: Prompt: Write a poem that conveys contrasting tones. Explore how shifts in tone can evoke different emotions and responses from the reader.
    
16. Connotation: Prompt: Select a word with strong connotations and use it in a poem. Explore the emotional baggage and cultural associations tied to the word within the context of your writing.
    
17. Irony: Prompt: Craft a poem with elements of irony. Create situations or lines that convey a meaning opposite to the literal interpretation, adding layers of complexity to your writing.
    
18. Allusion: Prompt: Reference a well-known song, book, or historical event in your lyrics. Explore how the use of allusion can enrich the depth and meaning of your writing.
    
19. Syntax: Prompt: Experiment with sentence structure to create different effects. Play with word order, sentence length, and punctuation to convey specific emotions or rhythms in your writing.
    
20. Diction: Prompt: Choose a specific mood or atmosphere you want to convey and carefully select words that evoke that feeling. Pay attention to the impact of your word choices on the overall tone of your writing.
    

1. Imagery: Creating vivid mental images through descriptive language.
   
2. Metaphor: Using figurative language to imply a comparison between unrelated things.
   
3. Simile: Drawing comparisons using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities.
   
4. Rhyme: Employing words with similar sounds at the end of lines.
   
5. Meter: Organizing lines with a rhythmic pattern, often in syllabic beats.
   
6. Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
   
7. Assonance: Repeating vowel sounds within nearby words for musicality.
   
8. Personification: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities.
   
9. Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent deeper meanings.
   
10. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
    
11. Repetition: Emphasizing ideas or emotions by repeating words or phrases.
    
12. Free Verse: Unrestricted by traditional poetic structures like rhyme or meter.
    
13. Stanza: Grouping lines together to form a distinct unit within a poem.
    
14. Theme: Central idea or underlying message explored in the poem.
    
15. Tone: The poet's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject.
    
16. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations attached to words.
    
17. Irony: Presenting ideas in a way that signifies the opposite of the literal meaning.
    
18. Allusion: Referencing another work, person, or event to enrich meaning.
    
19. Syntax: Arrangement of words to create specific effects or convey emotions.
    
20. Diction: Careful choice of words to convey a particular meaning or atmosphere.
    

I have been able to suppress it in the past, but I am tired of watering down my personality for others. These days I just allow myself to let go, even in situations when I shouldn't. It's like that internal control mechanism is broken. I have had few bouts of rage in the past, but I was able to control them, disconnect myself from the people, maybe write an article or a poem to make me feel better.
When I feel anger, sometimes it's so strong that I feel like I want to burn the whole world (I imagine myself being in the middle of an inferno). I don't have anything against individual people on this planet, I have been a conflict avoider in the past, heck grew up putting off fires in the house, even though I was the youngest. I feel atleast in the past I had something to protect or worry about which would make me not go berserk, but how I find myself currently in- I just don't enjoy or care about anything. Every stupid interaction, every stupid thing just brings disappointment along with it, and I can't feel grateful about shit. Please don't suggest me to do yoga, I might lose it again. Let me know how you guys handle your anger, or what can I practically do?
Come to think of it, during my school days whenever I used to feel angry, I could channel my anger towards kicking the football as hard as I can. That used to make me feel better. Ofcourse I don't play football now but when I was in college for my masters a while back, there was one instance where I did channel sone of my anger on hitting a broken tt ball, and one where I kicked a basketball like a football and hit it too high. I don't have access to any sports equipment now though, currently pursuing an internship.

In another thread, I mentioned how the San Diego cast, who had a few underage cast members, needed something to do other than going to clubs because they had a hard time getting into them. They also dealt with hecklers. I named a few things like movies, concerts, sporting events, etc., but realized that camera crews couldn't get into them, limiting them to places that wanted publicity like nightclubs.
But in earlier seasons, they showed the casts going to see each other perform at gigs (going to see Andre and Becky's separate shows, showing Heather recording an album), sporting events (Eric and Kevin going to a basketball game, showing some of the players and Eric's dad who's an NBA referee, and showing Heather and Julie going to the Meadowlands and meeting Larry Johnson), the field trip that the Boston cast did for their group job to see people speak at an event in Philly, open mics (Kevin reading poetry at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Kat reading a poem at an open mic), and so on. The earlier casts got to do more and were less limited in where they could go.
What caused this shift in where they could go? Did businesses not want to be bothered with camera crews anymore, limiting where they could go to nightclubs and sponsored chain restaurants?
What are people's thoughts on this? I'm curious.

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian/Jewish
• Residence: Illinois
• Income Bracket: 150-200k
• Type of School: Large Public
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None

Intended Major(s): International Business/Business Undecided
Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 3.9/4.87 (4.87/5.33)
• Rank (or percentile): Not Calculated at School
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: All honors + 10 high honors/AP (both are considered equally difficult at my school)
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Lit and Comp, AP Micro/Macro, Honors Chinese 5, Business Leadership, Cooking

Standardized Testing
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT I: 1500 (720RW, 780M)
• ACT: 34 (35E, 35M, 32R, 34S)
• AP/IB: AP Human Geo (5) (I can only take APs starting junior year and didn’t take any last year :( because I was dumb）

Extracurriculars/Activities
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. #1 UNICEF club Senior Outreach Chair at my school (made social media posts and got people to join club)
2. #2 Senior Service Leadership Board (One of 8 members of board (in class of 1000) picked to lead grade-wide senior service project, spoke in front of school to introduce project)
3. #3 HS/Club Baseball (spent most of my time Fr-Jr year playing club baseball in hopes of playing in college only to realize last summer I didn’t want to play in college 💀 and quit before senior year)
4. #4 English/History tutor at school (picked by sophomore and junior English teachers to tutor peers)
5. #5 Travel Baseball coach (coached 2 summer travel baseball teams soph/jr years while still playing full time)
6. #6 Youth Basketball Coach (coach youth basketball classes 3-4 hours a week)
7. #7 Baseball academy senior coach (run offseason/summer programs for little kids)
8. #8 Poetry writing (I have written more than 85 poems and am trying to get some published. I swear they are actually good 💀 I just need to try harder to get them published cuz I only sent them to one place)
9. #9 Student council board (kind of like a step below real student council, we just met with student council once a month to tell them things everyday students wanted changed)
10. #10 Co-president of ping pong club (lol)

Awards/Honors
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. #1 School Chinese Award (given to top 2 juniors taking Chinese)
2. #2 Junior School Character Award
3. #3 National Chinese Honor Society
4. #4 Senior School Character Award #2
5. #5 Illinois State Scholar (basically means nothing lol just sounds good)

Letters of Recommendation
(Briefly describe relationships with your recommenders and estimated rating.)
College Counselor: 9/10 knew her well and she liked me a lot
English Teacher: 9/10 see above
Chinese Teacher: 10/10 had her for 3 years and built a great relationship with her (she also nominated me for my #1 award)
Interviews
(Briefly reflect on interview experiences, if applicable.)
Georgetown: 8/10, over zoom but got along pretty well and interviewer shared good insights with me
WashU: 9/10, in person, had a fun time with interviewer and he even gave me some book recommendations and sent a personal thank you email to me afterwards
Essays
Spent a looong time on my personal statement and it turned out pretty well, 9.5/10, talked about how I love finding unique restaurants which is ironic since I used to have a peanut allergy that I had to overcome through daily immunotherapy over 8 years and used that idea to illustrate that consistency is at the heart of who I am and I have a unique way of finding the best in every person and every situation (maybe a little corny but every professional I showed it to said it was great).
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:
Ohio State RD + 0
Baylor EA + 20k
ASU EA + 15k
Iowa EA + 12k
Indiana EA + 8k
UIUC (EA, Instate) (no scholarship to the school I’m probably going to bruhhhh)
UF EA + 4k
American RD + 20k
George Washington RD + 25k
Fordham RD + 25k
Waitlists:
WashU (ED2, pleaaaaase let me iiiiinnnnn brooooo)
Tulane (EA)
Grinnell (RD)
Colby (RD)
Rejections:
Georgetown (REA deferred to denied) (RIP this was dream school)
Vanderbilt (RD) (expected)
NYU (RD) (kind of expected)
Additional Information: I should have applied to more reach schools. Idk if I would have been able to afford any of them (gotta love how fin aid works) but I wish I did. I am probably gonna commit to UIUC for bus+ds, just making sure that’s what I really wanna do. My school also only lets people take AP classes in their junior year but my parents did not want me to be too stressed out and forced me to take none (very unusual I know) which I think made my application less strong to the top schools I wanted to get into. However, it did make my junior year wayyy less stressful so I guess I cannot complain too much. My ECs are also underwhelming because I literally played baseball 6-7 days a week from freshman year-end of last summer. I don’t regret it at all but it certainly limited me in that respect.

1. Imagery: Prompt: Choose a setting (real or imaginary) and describe it using detailed sensory imagery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create a vivid scene, just like a painter with words.
   
2. Metaphor: Prompt: Compare a personal experience to an everyday object or phenomenon in an unexpected way. For example, "My heart is a compass that always points to the north of your laughter."
   
3. Simile: Prompt: Write a series of similes to express intense emotions. For instance, "As brave as a lion facing the storm, as fragile as a petal in the wind."
   
4. Rhyme: Prompt: Craft a short poem or lyrics with a consistent rhyme scheme. Experiment with different rhyme patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.) to enhance the musicality of your writing.
   
5. Meter: Prompt: Compose a poem with a specific meter, such as iambic pentameter. Pay attention to the syllabic beats in each line to create a rhythmic flow.
   
6. Alliteration: Prompt: Create a tongue-twisting line using alliteration. Focus on the repetition of initial consonant sounds to add a playful or musical quality to your writing.
   
7. Assonance: Prompt: Write a passage where the vowel sounds within words echo each other. Experiment with different vowel combinations to create a melodic effect.
   
8. Personification: Prompt: Choose an inanimate object and personify it. Describe its actions, thoughts, and emotions as if it were a living being.
   
9. Symbolism: Prompt: Select an object or element and explore its symbolic meaning. Connect it to broader themes or emotions in your writing.
   
10. Enjambment: Prompt: Write a poem where the thoughts flow continuously from one line to the next without a pause. Explore how this technique can create a sense of movement or urgency.
    
11. Repetition: Prompt: Repeat a word or phrase throughout a poem for emphasis. Consider how repetition can enhance the overall impact and meaning of your writing.
    
12. Free Verse: Prompt: Embrace the freedom of expression by writing a poem without adhering to rhyme or meter. Allow your thoughts to flow organically, exploring the beauty of formless verse.
    
13. Stanza: Prompt: Divide your writing into stanzas to create distinct sections with varying themes or tones. Explore how the organization of lines contributes to the overall structure of your work.
    
14. Theme: Prompt: Choose a universal theme (love, loss, freedom, etc.) and explore it through your lyrics. Delve into the nuances and perspectives associated with the chosen theme.
    
15. Tone: Prompt: Write a poem that conveys contrasting tones. Explore how shifts in tone can evoke different emotions and responses from the reader.
    
16. Connotation: Prompt: Select a word with strong connotations and use it in a poem. Explore the emotional baggage and cultural associations tied to the word within the context of your writing.
    
17. Irony: Prompt: Craft a poem with elements of irony. Create situations or lines that convey a meaning opposite to the literal interpretation, adding layers of complexity to your writing.
    
18. Allusion: Prompt: Reference a well-known song, book, or historical event in your lyrics. Explore how the use of allusion can enrich the depth and meaning of your writing.
    
19. Syntax: Prompt: Experiment with sentence structure to create different effects. Play with word order, sentence length, and punctuation to convey specific emotions or rhythms in your writing.
    
20. Diction: Prompt: Choose a specific mood or atmosphere you want to convey and carefully select words that evoke that feeling. Pay attention to the impact of your word choices on the overall tone of your writing.
    

The end of Lebron is coming. I saw it in his body language in the first game of the Nuggets series. The greatest player to ever do it facing an unbeatable foe with the grace of someone who knows that in this historic game, in the build of it, there is an end for everyone, and his time has come.
It’s okay.
Like the end of The Golden Girls, it’s natural for a basketball player, even one as mighty as Lebron James, to face the end of the journey. We can celebrate it.
But that doesn’t make it any less gut wrenching.
The first place my brain will always go when I think of Lebron is to that chase down block against Andre Iguodala in the final minutes of the 2016 NBA Finals.
In a career of achievements, to win against the mighty Golden State Warriors, in that era, against that team, in his second stint on the Cleveland Cavaliers, made a west coast basketball fan like me scream in ecstasy.
What ferociousness. What energy. What need to win.
Sometimes we all need it.
Sometimes we need it so bad that we will sacrifice everything for it: Friends. Time with our families. Comfort.
All of the above to taste the glory like Lebron did that afternoon when he ran up on that backboard and stuffed the shit out of Andre Iguodala’s sure-thing slam.
Tears poured out of my eyes when the Cavaliers won that championship in 2016; not because one half of my family emigrated to this country through Cleveland, though that’s pretty cool, but because what I had just watched allowed me to taste the kind of greatness I had always dreamed about ever since I had written my first poems in high school, and hid them in a safe away from intrusive eyes.
What can you say about Lebron James, to Lebron James, other than thank you. Thanks for the memories. I wouldn’t be who I am without you? Thank you for helping me dream?
In some way there’s a kind of purity to Lebron losing and going out to a player like Jokic. A player who he can unequivocally say is better than him now, and whom he must immensely respect for playing the type of basketball that Lebron himself has always tried to play.
Scary thought: Is Jokic just better than Lebron period?
Lebron, if nothing else, has always been a humanist. Not without his flaws of course.
He could be pouty and grumpy when things did not go his way, and no one could call him the most patient player, his mid-season trade disease is an easy thing to point to if you want to find flaw, but Lebron is no less human than any one of us, and for over twenty years since first landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, he has been living in front of us, making all of the same mistakes that any one of us can make, but doing it in public, as the first NBA Social Media Superstar.
How?
Along with a few other global athletes and perhaps Taylor Swift and Beyonce, this guy has been the most famous human on the planet for almost two decades. The pressure of that, again, mind blowing, and yet there are those that knock the guy for his character.
What about the sacrifice?
There he is every night, 82 games a season, for as many games as he can possibly do it, giving it his all, loving the fans as he loves the game, and paying homage to the history and players who came before him in a way that only a true student of the game can.
All the work he puts into body and mind before, during, and after the game. The training, the workouts, the diet, the rest, the sleep, the days away from his friends and family, all of that is part of what we see on the court, the Lebron we see is such a small piece of the puzzle.
I’ve always know that Lebron was a student of NBA history but on his new podcast it struck me to hear him say that it was one of his most important values. How many of us care that much about the history of our craft?
Lebron has given everything to basketball, to something bigger than himself, and there is something so painfully touching about that that my fingers shake a bit as I type these last words to a man whom I owe so much of my own identity and psyche to; that’s it’s almost embarrassing.
For all the points. All the assists. Especially the assists, for all of the tactics. For the greatness and sacrifice. For the gathering and community around your aura. You are the greatest to ever do it, even if there are, and surely will be more like that, like you.
You’ve left this game better than it was before you got here. You’ve left us all a bit more in awe. A bit more aware of what we’re capable of on our best days, and our worst.
Has the King played his last games? Agree or disagree?

1. Imagery: Creating vivid mental images through descriptive language.
   
2. Metaphor: Using figurative language to imply a comparison between unrelated things.
   
3. Simile: Drawing comparisons using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities.
   
4. Rhyme: Employing words with similar sounds at the end of lines.
   
5. Meter: Organizing lines with a rhythmic pattern, often in syllabic beats.
   
6. Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
   
7. Assonance: Repeating vowel sounds within nearby words for musicality.
   
8. Personification: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities.
   
9. Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent deeper meanings.
   
10. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
    
11. Repetition: Emphasizing ideas or emotions by repeating words or phrases.
    
12. Free Verse: Unrestricted by traditional poetic structures like rhyme or meter.
    
13. Stanza: Grouping lines together to form a distinct unit within a poem.
    
14. Theme: Central idea or underlying message explored in the poem.
    
15. Tone: The poet's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject.
    
16. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations attached to words.
    
17. Irony: Presenting ideas in a way that signifies the opposite of the literal meaning.
    
18. Allusion: Referencing another work, person, or event to enrich meaning.
    
19. Syntax: Arrangement of words to create specific effects or convey emotions.
    
20. Diction: Careful choice of words to convey a particular meaning or atmosphere.
    

Title, from the us. Open to chat about anything. Into sports, movies, writing poems, cooking, reading, basketball, dogs,. Currently studying to be a lawyer. If any of that interests you, or doesnt, hmu! Id love to hear avoutour hobbies to!

1. Imagery: Prompt: Choose a setting (real or imaginary) and describe it using detailed sensory imagery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create a vivid scene, just like a painter with words.
   
2. Metaphor: Prompt: Compare a personal experience to an everyday object or phenomenon in an unexpected way. For example, "My heart is a compass that always points to the north of your laughter."
   
3. Simile: Prompt: Write a series of similes to express intense emotions. For instance, "As brave as a lion facing the storm, as fragile as a petal in the wind."
   
4. Rhyme: Prompt: Craft a short poem or lyrics with a consistent rhyme scheme. Experiment with different rhyme patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.) to enhance the musicality of your writing.
   
5. Meter: Prompt: Compose a poem with a specific meter, such as iambic pentameter. Pay attention to the syllabic beats in each line to create a rhythmic flow.
   
6. Alliteration: Prompt: Create a tongue-twisting line using alliteration. Focus on the repetition of initial consonant sounds to add a playful or musical quality to your writing.
   
7. Assonance: Prompt: Write a passage where the vowel sounds within words echo each other. Experiment with different vowel combinations to create a melodic effect.
   
8. Personification: Prompt: Choose an inanimate object and personify it. Describe its actions, thoughts, and emotions as if it were a living being.
   
9. Symbolism: Prompt: Select an object or element and explore its symbolic meaning. Connect it to broader themes or emotions in your writing.
   
10. Enjambment: Prompt: Write a poem where the thoughts flow continuously from one line to the next without a pause. Explore how this technique can create a sense of movement or urgency.
    
11. Repetition: Prompt: Repeat a word or phrase throughout a poem for emphasis. Consider how repetition can enhance the overall impact and meaning of your writing.
    
12. Free Verse: Prompt: Embrace the freedom of expression by writing a poem without adhering to rhyme or meter. Allow your thoughts to flow organically, exploring the beauty of formless verse.
    
13. Stanza: Prompt: Divide your writing into stanzas to create distinct sections with varying themes or tones. Explore how the organization of lines contributes to the overall structure of your work.
    
14. Theme: Prompt: Choose a universal theme (love, loss, freedom, etc.) and explore it through your lyrics. Delve into the nuances and perspectives associated with the chosen theme.
    
15. Tone: Prompt: Write a poem that conveys contrasting tones. Explore how shifts in tone can evoke different emotions and responses from the reader.
    
16. Connotation: Prompt: Select a word with strong connotations and use it in a poem. Explore the emotional baggage and cultural associations tied to the word within the context of your writing.
    
17. Irony: Prompt: Craft a poem with elements of irony. Create situations or lines that convey a meaning opposite to the literal interpretation, adding layers of complexity to your writing.
    
18. Allusion: Prompt: Reference a well-known song, book, or historical event in your lyrics. Explore how the use of allusion can enrich the depth and meaning of your writing.
    
19. Syntax: Prompt: Experiment with sentence structure to create different effects. Play with word order, sentence length, and punctuation to convey specific emotions or rhythms in your writing.
    
20. Diction: Prompt: Choose a specific mood or atmosphere you want to convey and carefully select words that evoke that feeling. Pay attention to the impact of your word choices on the overall tone of your writing.
    

1. Imagery: Creating vivid mental images through descriptive language.
   
2. Metaphor: Using figurative language to imply a comparison between unrelated things.
   
3. Simile: Drawing comparisons using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities.
   
4. Rhyme: Employing words with similar sounds at the end of lines.
   
5. Meter: Organizing lines with a rhythmic pattern, often in syllabic beats.
   
6. Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
   
7. Assonance: Repeating vowel sounds within nearby words for musicality.
   
8. Personification: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities.
   
9. Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent deeper meanings.
   
10. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
    
11. Repetition: Emphasizing ideas or emotions by repeating words or phrases.
    
12. Free Verse: Unrestricted by traditional poetic structures like rhyme or meter.
    
13. Stanza: Grouping lines together to form a distinct unit within a poem.
    
14. Theme: Central idea or underlying message explored in the poem.
    
15. Tone: The poet's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject.
    
16. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations attached to words.
    
17. Irony: Presenting ideas in a way that signifies the opposite of the literal meaning.
    
18. Allusion: Referencing another work, person, or event to enrich meaning.
    
19. Syntax: Arrangement of words to create specific effects or convey emotions.
    
20. Diction: Careful choice of words to convey a particular meaning or atmosphere.
    

Previous post

Down there

And so with the miracle of elixirs and a disgustingly strong constitution, Calap Roud looks half his age, except for the bitter fury in his eyes. He waits to be discovered (for even in Reliant City his reputation was not one of discovery but of pathetic bullying, backstabbing, sordid underhand graft and of course gaggles of hangers-on of all sexes willing, at least on the surface, to suffer the wriggle of Calap’s fickler every now and then; and worse¹ of all, poor Calap knows it’s all a fraud). Thus, whilst he has stolen a thousand sonnets, scores of epic poems and millions of clever offhanded comments uttered by talented upstarts stupidly within range of his hearing, at his very core he stares, mouth open, upon a chasm on all sides, wind howling and buffeting him as he totters on his perch. Where is the golden cage? Where are all the white-headed fools he shat upon? There’s nothing down there but more down there going so far down there is no there at all.

Last time we discussed the alchemies Calap Roud was using to keep himself young, and no we see their effect. Half his age (which peeking ahead a little means he appears to be in his mid-40s). The only thing that betrays this, supposedly, is the "bitter fury in his eyes". Are the elderly more inclined to have a bitter fury in their eyes? I suppose if you're like Calap Roud, you only get more bitter with age.
He thinks himself a talent, but he has yet to be discovered. And we see what people think of him instead. He's apparently been abusing his high position to a fairly serious degree. They're definitely in dire need of a #metoo moment in Reliant City. Flicker doesn't respect it one whit. The bullying is pathetic, the grafting is sordid and underhanded, and the hangers-on are clearly just pretending to like him.
The phrase "suffer the wriggle of Calap's fickler" is particularly disgusting. There's no doubt about what a "fickler" is in this context, but it's also a callback to last week where we had the vermin "swarming [...] into fickle talent's crotch". There phrase itself is also just unpleasing to the ear. The assonance between "wriggle" and "fickler", with those hard consonants in between. It's real nasty stuff.
But Calap knows it's all a fraud. That probably feeds into his bitterness. He knows he is where he is because of factors completely unrelated to artistic merit. He can't trust anyone to truly like him, because he's made himself so utterly unlikable.
Then we get a listing of all the things Calap has stolen from actual talented artists. A thousand sonnets, scores of epic poems, and even random comments. The numbers are certainly exaggerated, but it gets the point across. I love the phrase "talented upstarts stupidly within range of hearing". It perfectly encapsulates how Calap views actual talent with contempt. Not only are they "upstarts", but their sole mistake was being in the vicinity of Calap Roud.
And we see that he has now found himself alone. I read the chasm on every side of him as him having starved out all the competition. He effectively killed the whole grassroots movement. He robbed all the young artists of their chance to become established, by mercilessly tramping over them and stealing all their art. And he still doesn't realize his error. He still views those below him as fools, unworthy of success.
This paragraph ends with just a beautiful garden path sentence:

There’s nothing down there but more down there going so far down there is no there at all.

This is a brilliant joke Erikson is playing here. First we have an easily parsed statement: "There's nothing down there". Except for what? Well, "more down there". But then you instinctively want to parse the next part as "going so far down there", except that is wrong! Erikson has tricked us. It actually reads "going so far down" and then the final clause is "there is no there at all", which mirrors the construction of the start of the sentence. Just brilliant.

Last ditch effort

Calap Roud has spent his entire albeit modest fortune bribing every judge he could find in Farrog. This was his last chance. He would win the Mantle. He deserved it. Not a single one of the countless vices hunting the weakling artists of the world dragged him down—no, he had slipped free of them all on a blinding road of virtuous living. He was ninety-two years old and this year, he would be discovered!

And Calap Roud still isn't playing fair, because why would he? He's gotten away with it so far. This journey is his last resort. He's all in. That "he deserved it" comment is especially salient. Plagiarists often plagiarize because they think they deserve the end result, but aren't willing to put in the work. So here Calap Roud is willing to do anything except put in the work in order to win the Mantle.
Notice also how short these sentences are. Short, concise statements. First laying out the problem (it's his last chance), then intent, and then the underlying reasoning.
We see again his utter contempt for other artists, which he justifies to himself by establishing his moral superiority, i.e. his abstinence. It's a moral puritanism that is quite similar to that of Arpo Relent, but whereas Arpo is a true believer and a zealot, Calap is insincerely using his virtuous living as a means to an end. Of course that's a distinction that doesn't matter much as they're both sanctimonious assholes.
Then we get a statement that seems equal parts desperate and pathetic. He's 92 years old and still waiting on recognition. Again, he's not willing to work for it. But it's the thing he wants the most in the entire world. And he's deluded himself into thinking he'll make it. But even then, you get the sense here that he doesn't fully believe it himself, hence the desperation.
We also see one of Erikson's favourite metaphors popping up with the "blinding road of virtuous living". This is of course a pillar of one of the central themes of the Book of the Fallen and arguably the central theme of the Kharkanas Light stands for justice but it blinds and removes all nuance.

Unfortunate side effects

No alchemies or potions in the world could do much about the fact that, as one grew older and yet older, so too one’s ears and nose. Calap Roud, as modestly wrinkled as a man in his late forties, had the ears of a veteran rock ape of G’danisban’s coliseum and the nose of a probiscus monkey who’d instigated too many tavern brawls. His teeth were so worn down one was reminded of catfish mouths biting at nipples. From his old man’s eyes came a leer for every woman, and from his leer came out a worm-like tongue with a head of purple veins.

I want to start by posing a question that I do not know the answer to. What is the difference between alchemies and potions? I would have thought them to be synonymous but perhaps there is some difference in connotation that I am not aware of.
However that may be, Flicker is highlighting Calap's facial features here. I like the reusing of the verb "grow" in the first sentence. It's a bit unintuitive but it scans. By reusing the verb he's emphasizing the causal relationship between the two. It's not a coincidence that Calap's ears and nose are so enormous, it's just because he's old as dirt.
Then Flicker compares Calap to apes. His ears are compared to those of a rock ape that has had a career as a coliseum fighter. I don't believe rock apes are a real world species, though a google search reveals that there is a Vietnamese cryptid that's called a rock ape. A quick look at the description doesn't show anything about them having massive ears, so perhaps that connection is mere coincidence. However, I've seen pictures of boxers after a particularly gnarly bout and they often have these enormous puffed up ears, so that part at least I understand.
And his nose is, if anything, even more comically out of proportion, being compared to a probiscus monkey with a similarly puffed up nose. There also isn't a mention of him being toothless, but rather it is implied that his teeth are simply worn down to little nubs. Why is the catfish in the comparison biting at nipples? Presumably because that's what Calap would be doing.
Flicker emphasizes how creepy Calap is by reminding us that he's an old man, staring at (presumably) much younger women, and finally he gives us the most phallic description of a tongue that I have ever seen. I like the progression here. We get the leer from the eyes, and the tongue from that leer. It lends the description a disturbing and uncomfortable air.
But notice also the "worm-like" nature of his tongue. Obviously it's a part of the phallic imagery, but I think it also speaks to how he uses his tongue. He's underhanded and willing to use all sorts of dirty tricks to get what he wants.
And that does it for Calap's description. Next time we'll start discussing one of the most important characters in the story: Purse Snippet. See you next week!
¹ I suspect this is an OCR error. When texts are scanned for audiobooks they have algorithms for reading the text. Sometimes they get it wrong, and e -> t is a fairly common error. Since 'worse' is also a word, a less sophisticated algorithm may not have caught that. I'd be much obliged if someone with a physical copy of the novella could check if this is also present in that text
Next post

1. Imagery: Prompt: Choose a setting (real or imaginary) and describe it using detailed sensory imagery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create a vivid scene, just like a painter with words.
   
2. Metaphor: Prompt: Compare a personal experience to an everyday object or phenomenon in an unexpected way. For example, "My heart is a compass that always points to the north of your laughter."
   
3. Simile: Prompt: Write a series of similes to express intense emotions. For instance, "As brave as a lion facing the storm, as fragile as a petal in the wind."
   
4. Rhyme: Prompt: Craft a short poem or lyrics with a consistent rhyme scheme. Experiment with different rhyme patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.) to enhance the musicality of your writing.
   
5. Meter: Prompt: Compose a poem with a specific meter, such as iambic pentameter. Pay attention to the syllabic beats in each line to create a rhythmic flow.
   
6. Alliteration: Prompt: Create a tongue-twisting line using alliteration. Focus on the repetition of initial consonant sounds to add a playful or musical quality to your writing.
   
7. Assonance: Prompt: Write a passage where the vowel sounds within words echo each other. Experiment with different vowel combinations to create a melodic effect.
   
8. Personification: Prompt: Choose an inanimate object and personify it. Describe its actions, thoughts, and emotions as if it were a living being.
   
9. Symbolism: Prompt: Select an object or element and explore its symbolic meaning. Connect it to broader themes or emotions in your writing.
   
10. Enjambment: Prompt: Write a poem where the thoughts flow continuously from one line to the next without a pause. Explore how this technique can create a sense of movement or urgency.
    
11. Repetition: Prompt: Repeat a word or phrase throughout a poem for emphasis. Consider how repetition can enhance the overall impact and meaning of your writing.
    
12. Free Verse: Prompt: Embrace the freedom of expression by writing a poem without adhering to rhyme or meter. Allow your thoughts to flow organically, exploring the beauty of formless verse.
    
13. Stanza: Prompt: Divide your writing into stanzas to create distinct sections with varying themes or tones. Explore how the organization of lines contributes to the overall structure of your work.
    
14. Theme: Prompt: Choose a universal theme (love, loss, freedom, etc.) and explore it through your lyrics. Delve into the nuances and perspectives associated with the chosen theme.
    
15. Tone: Prompt: Write a poem that conveys contrasting tones. Explore how shifts in tone can evoke different emotions and responses from the reader.
    
16. Connotation: Prompt: Select a word with strong connotations and use it in a poem. Explore the emotional baggage and cultural associations tied to the word within the context of your writing.
    
17. Irony: Prompt: Craft a poem with elements of irony. Create situations or lines that convey a meaning opposite to the literal interpretation, adding layers of complexity to your writing.
    
18. Allusion: Prompt: Reference a well-known song, book, or historical event in your lyrics. Explore how the use of allusion can enrich the depth and meaning of your writing.
    
19. Syntax: Prompt: Experiment with sentence structure to create different effects. Play with word order, sentence length, and punctuation to convey specific emotions or rhythms in your writing.
    
20. Diction: Prompt: Choose a specific mood or atmosphere you want to convey and carefully select words that evoke that feeling. Pay attention to the impact of your word choices on the overall tone of your writing.
    

1. Imagery: Creating vivid mental images through descriptive language.
   
2. Metaphor: Using figurative language to imply a comparison between unrelated things.
   
3. Simile: Drawing comparisons using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities.
   
4. Rhyme: Employing words with similar sounds at the end of lines.
   
5. Meter: Organizing lines with a rhythmic pattern, often in syllabic beats.
   
6. Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
   
7. Assonance: Repeating vowel sounds within nearby words for musicality.
   
8. Personification: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities.
   
9. Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent deeper meanings.
   
10. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
    
11. Repetition: Emphasizing ideas or emotions by repeating words or phrases.
    
12. Free Verse: Unrestricted by traditional poetic structures like rhyme or meter.
    
13. Stanza: Grouping lines together to form a distinct unit within a poem.
    
14. Theme: Central idea or underlying message explored in the poem.
    
15. Tone: The poet's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject.
    
16. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations attached to words.
    
17. Irony: Presenting ideas in a way that signifies the opposite of the literal meaning.
    
18. Allusion: Referencing another work, person, or event to enrich meaning.
    
19. Syntax: Arrangement of words to create specific effects or convey emotions.
    
20. Diction: Careful choice of words to convey a particular meaning or atmosphere.
    

1. Imagery: Prompt: Choose a setting (real or imaginary) and describe it using detailed sensory imagery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and textures to create a vivid scene, just like a painter with words.
   
2. Metaphor: Prompt: Compare a personal experience to an everyday object or phenomenon in an unexpected way. For example, "My heart is a compass that always points to the north of your laughter."
   
3. Simile: Prompt: Write a series of similes to express intense emotions. For instance, "As brave as a lion facing the storm, as fragile as a petal in the wind."
   
4. Rhyme: Prompt: Craft a short poem or lyrics with a consistent rhyme scheme. Experiment with different rhyme patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.) to enhance the musicality of your writing.
   
5. Meter: Prompt: Compose a poem with a specific meter, such as iambic pentameter. Pay attention to the syllabic beats in each line to create a rhythmic flow.
   
6. Alliteration: Prompt: Create a tongue-twisting line using alliteration. Focus on the repetition of initial consonant sounds to add a playful or musical quality to your writing.
   
7. Assonance: Prompt: Write a passage where the vowel sounds within words echo each other. Experiment with different vowel combinations to create a melodic effect.
   
8. Personification: Prompt: Choose an inanimate object and personify it. Describe its actions, thoughts, and emotions as if it were a living being.
   
9. Symbolism: Prompt: Select an object or element and explore its symbolic meaning. Connect it to broader themes or emotions in your writing.
   
10. Enjambment: Prompt: Write a poem where the thoughts flow continuously from one line to the next without a pause. Explore how this technique can create a sense of movement or urgency.
    
11. Repetition: Prompt: Repeat a word or phrase throughout a poem for emphasis. Consider how repetition can enhance the overall impact and meaning of your writing.
    
12. Free Verse: Prompt: Embrace the freedom of expression by writing a poem without adhering to rhyme or meter. Allow your thoughts to flow organically, exploring the beauty of formless verse.
    
13. Stanza: Prompt: Divide your writing into stanzas to create distinct sections with varying themes or tones. Explore how the organization of lines contributes to the overall structure of your work.
    
14. Theme: Prompt: Choose a universal theme (love, loss, freedom, etc.) and explore it through your lyrics. Delve into the nuances and perspectives associated with the chosen theme.
    
15. Tone: Prompt: Write a poem that conveys contrasting tones. Explore how shifts in tone can evoke different emotions and responses from the reader.
    
16. Connotation: Prompt: Select a word with strong connotations and use it in a poem. Explore the emotional baggage and cultural associations tied to the word within the context of your writing.
    
17. Irony: Prompt: Craft a poem with elements of irony. Create situations or lines that convey a meaning opposite to the literal interpretation, adding layers of complexity to your writing.
    
18. Allusion: Prompt: Reference a well-known song, book, or historical event in your lyrics. Explore how the use of allusion can enrich the depth and meaning of your writing.
    
19. Syntax: Prompt: Experiment with sentence structure to create different effects. Play with word order, sentence length, and punctuation to convey specific emotions or rhythms in your writing.
    
20. Diction: Prompt: Choose a specific mood or atmosphere you want to convey and carefully select words that evoke that feeling. Pay attention to the impact of your word choices on the overall tone of your writing.
    

1. Imagery: Creating vivid mental images through descriptive language.
   
2. Metaphor: Using figurative language to imply a comparison between unrelated things.
   
3. Simile: Drawing comparisons using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities.
   
4. Rhyme: Employing words with similar sounds at the end of lines.
   
5. Meter: Organizing lines with a rhythmic pattern, often in syllabic beats.
   
6. Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
   
7. Assonance: Repeating vowel sounds within nearby words for musicality.
   
8. Personification: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities.
   
9. Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent deeper meanings.
   
10. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
    
11. Repetition: Emphasizing ideas or emotions by repeating words or phrases.
    
12. Free Verse: Unrestricted by traditional poetic structures like rhyme or meter.
    
13. Stanza: Grouping lines together to form a distinct unit within a poem.
    
14. Theme: Central idea or underlying message explored in the poem.
    
15. Tone: The poet's attitude or emotional stance toward the subject.
    
16. Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations attached to words.
    
17. Irony: Presenting ideas in a way that signifies the opposite of the literal meaning.
    
18. Allusion: Referencing another work, person, or event to enrich meaning.
    
19. Syntax: Arrangement of words to create specific effects or convey emotions.
    
20. Diction: Careful choice of words to convey a particular meaning or atmosphere.
    

This poem is INSANE.
SOME VERY POPULAR SONGS
for example cows beneath the moon, peaceful souls, ruminating, Buddha-guts in the high grass, hidden between small trees and
clumps of brush in the constant greenness, a practical black-and-white- spotted metaphysics, tormented by summer flies which stick to their
saliva. The space hangs inside their eyes like a gong, which beckons to the slaughterhouse. Or a blue rain barrel in the south, where
the sky is an endless continuation of blue, hallucinated spaces during the day, but real. The tricks of the Rolling Stones are over.
I listen to Leonard Cohen singing, there is a war between the men and the women, why don’t you come on back to the war, it’s just be-
ginning. Various grasses grow along the edges, enchanted green. The grass is moved, moves itself, and all the years came, like
always, one after the other: good- bye, fast cloud, goodbye blue sky in the window frames, good- bye, dried grass,
naked in the first twilight, goodbye. A wet barbed wire fence stands there, crooked posts, goodbye, suburbs, as though
no one lives there, fragments of biographies and newspapers, the senseless waving. Some lines are like the waving of children from a
train window while passing through strange cities in the afternoon, passing the rows of low-rent apartments with the single faces at the windows:
if all the confessions in the world that were ever given and written down in the courts of the world were put together and
dragged by one after the other, what an endless misery it would be to be in the world. Someone calls, dials any old
number, and I hear only their breath, and there again is the distance, the soft crackling noise of the
confusion in another place, and otherwise nothing there in the afternoon. And in the morning, when you get up and stare at the hotel
breakfast and you don’t understand why you’re in this hotel room, where you actually are, and you think about what you can do at eight in the morning
after an almost sleepless night, and nothing else comes to mind except to take the three dirty shirts to the laundry, having already
showered at seven, do you embrace the morning light at nine? Or do you say, goodbye, morning light? And then you hear the rush
of a flushing toilet while you walk along a long hallway and what do you feel then? That everything is in order? At ten someone calls and
talks about death, and you make a joke about the film projectionist with cancer who’s been with the company for 25 years, and whoever else is in the room
laughs as well. Who goes through the rooms, unfamiliar, and remembers the lines from the song: Green leaves, how are you alone? What sort of damned lonely
business letters are being written. The signatures don’t matter at all. And you sing your song, “Lady, I’m out of here!” That also belongs to the popular
songs. The peaceful Buddha-souls lie spotted black-and-white in the greenness. They chew beneath the same light the soft green grass again.

1. (for H.S.)

Where the ruble disintegrates into single kopecks, or the dollar into cents, or the D-mark into pfennigs like guilders, where the lira disintegrates
like the franc into centimes and the English pound into the cheap tobacco of Spanish coins, where the ostmark breaks into eye-wrinkles and a
tractor stands in the candlelight, where the Swedish öre disintegrates into insurance like world empires, where the sturgeon dies in the rivers and the herring
in the North Sea, where the distances between the cities grow like the disintegration among the single cities, where the yen is changed into the cruzeiro,
where too much is invested in soap, where the Bulgarian tin cans are converted into Argentinean bank drafts, disintegrating like the Finnish
currency, where forests are rafted down the rivers, where bone meal becomes plastic, where sums are copied, where the geese become zlotys
and are frozen in black aspic, where the dinar drives the camel, the corn rots in the fields, decaying like teeth which will be exchanged, where the
peso dies miserably, the black underwear rises, disintegrating like revenue stamps into whichever sort of coins the faces may disintegrate, into whatever bodily needs, piss, dirt paths, rest
rooms and bed sheets, where the army is financing the study of poetry, where the technical institutes explain the world, the twitching heart of a turtle
hanging from a thread for all to see, where the licenses set the limits, decomposing into animal-pictures, where signatures are needed, testaments, accounts, where the bank
holidays are there for a sigh of relief, to hang out the flags and decorate the day, where the carbide stank, where the bottles burst, where the rubble lay strewn and the tattoos,
the companies proliferate like the mass media, the chunks of stone and rubble have been cleared aside, the pain and the sorrow sold off, decomposed into monthly wages,
where there is still something to do, the specter of unemployment drives them together, the ghosts of the owners, the ghosts of the employees, where all of them are busy
administering this world, or what they consider to be this world, traps, driven together in the offices, but the offices disintegrate, where the rooms have many doors and glass
walls, the elevator shafts disintegrate, the arcades disintegrate, smashed store windows, mold spores, wild vegetation, in between store-window
mannequins, rats scurrying through long ruined arcades, rats in the pale empty corridors of the skyscrapers, where the last cripples are still being
driven together, everyone driven together to administrate this world, these walls, cyclone fences, entrances, the class- rooms like ruined swimming pools,
like signatures which disintegrate, where nights the children scream in the apartment towers, dismally bound to the silence, where the children throw up
their baby food again, where the bodies lie next to each other in the darkness and masturbate in order to go to sleep, finally exhausted and empty, decomposing
like the face of a television announcer in the half-insane dream, who makes new announcements in different voices like on scratched records, disintegrating
like shillings, where the twisted pain becomes jokes in a dialect, applauded by the ranks, where the ranks finally disintegrate, where a radio announcer
pulls her tampon out of the hairy hole between her legs on the toilet in the office of the National Public Radio during a pause in which poems are read, where the
Sundays are endless, decayed like sick lungs, where it is said, that is not your face, that is not your face, where the coins disintegrate into faces, old
faces, dead faces, grieved and hideous on the banknotes which disintegrate, where we go, simple daylight sparkles in the rain puddles, sparkles in the
dripping trees, pleasure, the astonishment of the eyes, when you laughed as you saw your trailer, the beautiful laughter of a total lack of understanding as you opened
the car door, where the checks corroded the surroundings, paper disintegrated into nickel, decayed like a currency made from black dream-slag, which crumbles at the
next touch, where a woman has no other chance than forward through the bushes, like Bolivar disintegrating into centimos, where maybe you’re in a dream,
it’s time that we tell each other more stories, where one doesn’t stand with their back to the wall, but rather in an open door, in the daylight, which doesn’t disintegrate like the
wavy plateau with the lethargic chicken hawks circling above, quiet black movements, clear in the air, where the sky no longer fits in the picture and together with the clouds
passes by in the window. Who’s calling through the frozen forests? Who’s wandering through the snowed-in halls? Who’s freezing and huddled together in the endless
transfer station, where the rupees disintegrate, changed into dirhams, faces upon them, theories of probability, dog bones, death a white apparition in a
white invisible tent, Jeep tracks with dust clouds trailing behind, death is a dried-up camel skeleton by the wayside, death is a
dead skunk on the highway, death is a dead cat on an empty parking lot, death is the long rows of suits on the chromed
rack in the next men’s department, death is a chopped down tree, where the shadow-shoes lie, worn out, where the houses have no
walls anymore, where the electric lights wander about in the rooms, nuclear decay, multiplication, optical lenses, behind the frost patterns on the window the book is shut
and a face cries, a brain is opened, the exhilaration of a dark, clear winter night is illuminated by constellations and does not fall, where death is a dried-
up river bed, white gravel and the plateaus fly by, you see that, we saw them spread out, the plateaus, flying by white in the headlights,
I went back into the hastily constructed apartment, the dreams continuing, the plateau white, I stared into the aluminum pot, at the rest of the broccoli under the light,
the plateau passing by, white, with the slight indication that we make, where a dirty, rickety claw is a clean hand stroking a mahogany
table, having plundered the many daydreams, now it lies rickety and crooked on the clean surface, where the Luxembourgean francs become Malian
dollars, which disintegrate into Cuban pesos, who is it who shits out money and lets a forest die so that he can appear in the comics, massaged on the beach, he with the mantraps
and self-inflicted gunshots, observed by helicopters, a marked man, who is it who drags their suitcase through the bus station, who is it who drops a coin into the TV automat, who is it who skims the
psychoanalytical journals in order to solve a case, who is it who interprets the world, who is it who interprets the next construction- site fence, who is it who interprets the apartment,
shadows of people burned into the asphalt, stones with human shadows on exhibit, aerial photographs of the landscape allowed for postcard greetings
by the Minister of War, he who allows, believes he has the rights for fencing in, where the piastres are scrap, poetry is not a waiting room where one stays overnight, tired,
behind a newspaper opened to the swarming masses of war, every word is war, scrap-words like death, driven together in herds, without differences,
should I have slept with your wife, should I have had more magazines, should I have used the dish- washer, should I have followed the movie
posters, filigree-gray hypothetical questions, tendrils, cement ornamentation, where the dreams die off like plateaus, a canister on the shark, the daily view out the
window into this side street, which you don’t know, where the dollar disintegrates into kopecks and the ruble into cents, where pesetas are wrung from the bones,
but the pleasure is greater than the sorrow, the drachma is smaller than the lust, reduced to a hundred lepta, which disappear at the next opportunity,
where the Turkish pounds are extracted from the tendons, decayed, decayed in the buildings of the 19th & 20th centuries in West Germany, extensions, bills, obligations, everything
the same, pawned off, worn out, trashed, pawned off again on television, from the serial, from the jukebox. Gentle face, in the middle of the crowd you’ve seen
the twitching body, suddenly the concert was over, did you stammer, did you cry, where the corridors are cement, where the speaker boxes boomed, where the faces
broke into dream-wrinkles, where the city maps have white spots, where the color white in no way means death, where the dog fur fails to warm, where the ways end, Ivory Coast is a
fantastic name, tattoos, scars, moving in, moving out, many thanks.

1. (History)

Last night I was thinking about the love story of Adolf Hitler. I saw the permanent waves in the hair of Eva Braun. How many German women
today look like the smile of Eva Braun. The photos reproduce themselves. I was not, I know, born in a photograph. Snow fell in April,
as I was born, shrouded in the ornamental cloth of the baptism ritual. The war, I don’t understand what that is, which language is where? Eva Braun
smiled at Adolf Hitler, that was in Berlin. What did Adolf Hitler first say to Eva Braun? Which distances exist between the permanent waves on the
photo and the old fashioned curling iron for permanent waves which I saw later on a windowsill? As I slept in the Academy of Art in Berlin, I thought about
this curling iron for permanent waves. The photo was a memory which I looked at. Twenty years later I looked at a fat face in the daily
paper, which drank ersatz coffee in a Berlin hotel from a hotel coffee cup, the title was Professor, the title was not to be identi- fied. Eva Braun, was your neck shaved?
Eva Braun, what did you think about the Sarotti chocolates? Adolf Hitler, as you went through Munich with your Pelikan watercolors, what did you see? The Sütterlin script ruined the
handwriting. From the handwriting I was supposed to learn. Adolf Hitler skimmed over the city maps. Eva Braun looked in the crystal mirror at her cunt. Which size
did your thighs have, Eva Braun? I know girls who look exactly like the Eva Braun who looks like Eva Braun in the photo. I grew up, considered my pubic hairs, considered
nipples, considered the reeds, years later I considered the picture of Eva Braun. In the same month a breast of the wife of the American president would be
cut off, in another historical photo old men polished their assholes on brocade-lined armchairs after the conference, the southern afternoon is full of
junk, dust, crumbling constructions. What was with the intestinal worms which Adolf Hitler’s German shepherd had? What was with Eva Braun? A storybook story which one suppressed
like years later the interpretations, ended. Half of Austria arrived in a train, kissed Eva Braun’s hand, looked at her tits, sealed with permanent waves. Adolf Hitler
passed out postcards. I saw my mother in a photo in a long row sitting and laughing, I saw my father in a photo going along a tree-lined avenue,
naive in uniform like an avenue tree, what were they playing as they were photographed? I saw the creases in the pants of Adolf Hitler in a photo, I saw, four years
old, a dark train station passing by in 1944, I saw an enameled sign with blue and yellow wool and knitting needles on the red brick wall of a train station,
Eva Braun, did Adolf Hitler tenderly stroke your pussy with his tongue? Adolf Hitler, did Eva tenderly suck your cock? Or was that taboo thanks to
the state and politics? Come stains on the winter coat, a couple of generals in the toilet, they drew battle plans on the shitty wall, named names, heights, deployments,
Eva Braun, what did you feel when you got the capsule? Did you simply think you’d had your chance? Did you think, now I’ve had it? And the teeth of the German shepherd
fell out of his jaw after the strong injection. The orgasm of death is cheaper than the orgasm of life, although it’s questionable whether the orgasm of death isn’t simply pent up
life that explodes. Why isn’t life in the multitudes every day? Why permanent waves, Eva Braun? Why are you smiling, Eva Braun? Why
do you take cough syrup, Eva Braun? Didn’t Adolf Hitler know that the Austrian psychoanalysis, lying in the sentences, lies? I was never at the river Inn, also
have no desire to look at the water, also have no desire to look at the water in Cologne, dead water, full of dead fish and plants, dead water, which they fought over, borders,
coals, fires for the industry, furnaces, embers in the night, dancing figures before the open fires of the industrial complexes, no holy saint swims in these dead waters, no holy saint spits
out the apartment window, the crude passing through is better than taking pills, the patents, Eva Braun, how was it for you under the shower, German charcoal, flamingo flowers, Spanish irises
and pails? Adolf Hitler in a nightshirt, in the cement, under the earth’s surface, sparkle of nerves, dancing over the files, he dreamed madly in the cement bunker,
supposedly never hit anyone personally, he had others enough to do his hitting, there are always others who sign, hit, hang, indeed there are
always others, employees, secretaries, office boys, insanity, Eva Braun, you straw puppet, smoke, cyanide, trace elements, signatures, which suddenly become single living
persons, things, the shabby things, they’re standing in the room. Did Adolf Hitler stand before you in the room with a stiff cock, Eva Braun? Who washed your bra, Eva Braun? Did you think about
Persil laundry soap? World history in the form of industrial comics, Eva Braun, a lace dress in the large hall, among the human voices, shoulders lifted high, did you see them? What’s with
the dyed hair? What’s with that old high German? What’s with the fossilized love stories? Word-ghosts, dirty bastards of history, stumbling through the rhymes,
between the film-shadows of Berlin, shadow gestures, projection-screen-shadows, shadow-screams, collapsing shadows, later accompanied by a soundtrack, synchronised
lip movements, Eva Braun, in which magazines were you reading? I have to remember: my mother loved airplanes and ghosts, which reappeared, phantoms, she dreamed of them,
even before she cooked for the men at the airfield, in her odd French, my father borrowed a car in his school-English, the top rolled back, they
stopped in the countryside, they fucked at the edge of a warm yellow wheat field in July. My mother loved cheap paperbacks, she looked to see if the seam in her stockings was straight, she went
across the meadow in a silky shimmering dress. The father-in-law left his library to the state of Israel for a sentimental reason, and what happened before, that these forms
developed, more sentimental than the memory of house-corners and street names? More sentimental than permanent waves in a photo? I have to remember the pale suburban settlement, I
have to think about the truck that suddenly stopped in front of the house, packed with people and their belongings, billets to make the foreignness even foreigner, checked off
the lists, bedpans, briefcases, pomaded and parted, they had nothing, owned the in- sanity of never-owned imaginary goods, if they spoke, from where they came, the biographies ruined
by dead Austria, old myths, fallow fields, the opposite is not the industry, the oppo- site disappears in the old photos, in which history disintegrated all around, Eva Braun, opaque
window glass, portals, coma in a Swedish hotel room, shots in the leg above the stocking garter. Now the computers are tossing bones in the air, Stanley Kubrick, the film trick
is revealed, despite four-channel-stereo in the red-plush cinemas of Soho, where I am one rainy evening, walking through London alone, quiet, collected, in the light gray, windy
February evening, decaying London, elegiac West End streets, elegiac advertisements, elegiac theater buildings and striptease clubs, elegiac filthy book stores under aged,
murky dust, rusted leaky water pipes along the house fronts, a senselessly ringing alarm on a house wall, dismally yellowed paint, entrances with the names of bodily flesh,
which for a few moments can be bought, contact between a lonely cock and a cold cunt before the weak gas heater of the rented room, miserable and lost in the
maze of numbers, bleak and frozen in the money. Eva Braun, who wrote you postcards? Eva Braun, have you ever stood freezing in Piccadilly? Eva Braun, what did you say in the moment
when that photo was taken? After the movie I crawl shivering under the thin blanket of a cheap hotel in Bayswater, Odeon station, the monster quarter of London, crumbling courtyards, buried
bodies, the gas-fired fireplace doesn’t heat, the wallpaper is stained, I read a few more poems by Frank O’Hara and W.C. Williams, I drink the rest of some cold coffee out of
the paper cup that stands on the marble mantle over the fireplace, I’m alone in these American poems and see myself in them in the middle of this London night, yellow fog lights along the
streets, Victorian monster-columns and portals the whole street long, windows patched with cardboard, curtain-scraps, and suddenly, in the silence, completely crazy, I remember the call sign
of the BBC radio one morning during the war. I remember the after-the-war-chocolate of the English soldiers, blue plums on a cart, which was being pushed through a courtyard,
Strauss waltzes, a dark movie theater and war. A bone tossed in the air, a killer’s tool on the white screen of the memory, a flickering shadow, hidden behind ornamental flowers,
together with the shadow-noises from the stereo speakers is nothing but a shadow in the eerie, insane ballroom of Death, which is the air, Death blows bubbles in the air, it’s much better to relax
peacefully with a liverwurst sandwich during the lunch break, better to eat the plums out of the icebox without saying you’re sorry, better to drink cold coffee from a paper cup
in a hotel room at night, better than moving pictures, aerial photographs, Eva Braun, I’m thinking here in this Cologne night, stuffy and dismal, while I look at a photo, which tells of the love
story, kitschy and hand-colored, Eva Braun, little monster among the decor, smiling stupid and sad in the photo, and before the photo was taken,
really. The eyebrows are touched up, your mouth is open, lipstick on the lips, are the stocking seams straight? Are you wearing a flowered dress? Has someone
messed up your hair? What’s with the accent? Did someone give you a horny look, your slightly fat baby face? Have you forgotten your cunt? Did your cunt dry up out of fear as the war began?
Berlin sky, as I flew in with a Pan Am plane, I first saw a cemetery between the houses, the gentlemen laid their newspapers on the empty seats,
the taxi driver swore about the passers-by as the lights went on. In the subway hall someone held their bloody, dripping face between their hands and turned toward the tiled wall
as the automatic doors slammed shut. Did you mend your stockings with Güterman’s silk thread? How did you look in a swimsuit? Did you shave your armpits?
Shaved armpits always look like soap and deodorant, stubbly and slick. Fantasy has taken over the industry with its employees.
Did you eat a liverwurst sandwich? Did the liverwurst sandwich taste good? Did Adolf Hitler have sweaty feet? Did he kiss your hand? Did he talk in his sleep? What did you take
against the headaches? What did you think as you were chauffeured along the Kurfürstendamm? In the fading shadows of 5 in the morning I sit there between the folded up,
locked up patio chairs and tables, smoke kif in the shadow of the Café Kranzler awning and walk through the tear gas clouds and shards of glass from the shattered storefront windows, the whores
having hastily retreated as the street battle began a few hours ago, then I take the first subway train to the Wannsee, where a couple of swans are rocking between the garbage along the shore, a lifeless pier,
a weak dawn, light gray. What kind of fur coat did you wear? What kind of toothpaste did you use? I tremble in the first dawn in Berlin, take the socks from the radiator,
let down the shades. It’s a pity that you didn’t invent love, Eva Braun. I write this rock ‘n’ roll song about your terrible insanity, Eva Braun. Would you have
liked this song? Would you have sweated as you danced? What did you talk about as you were alone in the cement bunker? Why the color brown? What did the tongue demand? No one loved Adolf Hitler, and that was why he
had to win the war? Did you see the bodies? Did you see the hand-to-hand combat? Did you see the flame-throwers? Did you see the burned faces? Did you see the gas-cripples? Did you
see the killer-virus spores? Did you see the flower-shadows? Did you look out the window? Did you turn off the nightstand lamp? The permanent waves of
order on your head, your fat, bare shoulder, your underwear from the department store, your pierced ear lobe for the jewel, your handkerchief with the mucous, the camellia
between the legs, your ass-shapes in the garter belt, your nipples, will they remain a secret? In the middle of the historical showplaces of the war, the war is a showplace, who even
looks? Is a love story necessary that needs so many questions? Now you’ve disappeared in the historical photo. Now the disguises are going around. Now the story is broken down and over.

1. (D-Train)

: letting the newspaper flutter out the rolled down window, a child’s hand, with the
shreds of paper against it,
the misery (foreign countries), which invests in this country, sits on every furtively glanced-at
street corner, sad, tired faces, without expression, bags under the eyes, lines around the tight-lipped mouth,
a young woman cries from exhaustion in a two-and-a-half room apartment, in the unfolded architecture of geometry, it’s night and the heating pipes are ticking,
Quote: “The most dangerous animal that exists is the architect. He has destroyed more than the war.”
Hair loss following birth, fear on the street, in the middle of the day, if one stands still, surrounded by the multitudes, the absent
glances, waking up, coughing & spitting
in the sink, postponed material circumstances, the delicate bodies pushed up against the walls by the cars, the same rows of suburban streets
all the way into the inner city,
single, running bodies between the
convoys of the auto industry, blurred figures
behind the dirt-flecked security glass windows, smaller than their own bodies in the industrial shells,
the newspaper rips in the headwind,
shreds of paper drift over the narrow gardens along the tracks, kites made of stinky printer’s ink, collages of the daily gradual madness,
frozen swirls of words: brand names,
reptile brains, hate, slander, semantics, the
big families continue on. In the streets the skinny girls’ bodies, bones with a little skin over them, in colorful rags from the second-hand store,
“when the music’s over” between the rain-
faded old advertisements, (neon-light extinguished curiosity to live, calligraphy)
extinguished poetry. The dawns
are damp and impassable, masses of bent-over figures, they disappear in the offices, they go into the stores, they have to go to schools, kindergartens,
their ways of life distinctive between
rows of products and shelves, in the pestilent-light-flicker of the TV at night the faces of the politicians appear and discuss, in the pestilent-light-flicker
of the TV the strange faces appear on the wall of the room: do you remember
“until the end” the dark house entrances, in which we stood together,
do you remember your own kisses in the stairwell, do you remember kisses
at all? (Or what
you felt?) Submerged in the glowing grass along the paths, seen from the open train window, we let the newspaper shreds fly.
Yellow afternoon light reflects in the windows which we pass by, September-yellow
and what kind of country is this,
what kind of thoughts are
thought to the finish here, finally to the end,
the end “the aristocracy
of feelings,” hahahaha, that’s
not to my taste,
if anyone should have anything to do with that at all, IBM-typewriter-feelings and kisses,
I stretch out my feet, how does that one over the other, in this fit together? compartment, the white Converse All
Star basketball shoes, 12 dollars, on the red plastic seat, and once again the piece of newspaper torn for the child at the open
train window: how the words fly (masks),
the fragments, it’s one of those gentle afternoons that we rarely have, light over the pale, monotone cities, soft afternoon light
on the crumbling facades of the suburbs
and tract homes, soft September-afternoon-light
on the faces in the open windows which we pass by, gentle human-faces in September,
the hate of the newspapers rips, flutters as paper in the hand, that cheerful sound in the moving
D-Train: it brings us from the northwest regions of West Germany through the zones of industry and profit,
dead, abandoned winding-towers, black wheels in the air, slag heaps, dead roads, black, sooty steam locomotives on a dead
track, rusted railway lines
& dust-coated Scotch broom along the embankment, do you really remember your own kisses?
And when the West (“Oh to be out of here, German industry here where everything went collapses? as wished except for the new”)
“Here in this land I live!”: do you really live? (“To be far away and in a foreign No, not this country.” E.P.) sensation.
Until now this was a foreign country, wherever you look,
Memory: I hear the shaky The chestnut voice of the poet on a record tree in the in an apartment, evening, lightless sinister hallways narrow courtyard, and without voices, maybe 60 names on the nameplate in the entryway still-standing by the glass door, locked early, elevators, the stairwell light out, a red glowing light switch at the end of the hall, the calendar and then in the midst of the lifelessness picture television film sounds behind a door on a as I walk along there / the voice of the office wall, poet stuttering in on a Sunday morning, and sun now, after the hallways, in this blinds, West German apartment years later suddenly again)
Prone Venus and Coca Cola 1974, verbs in a continuous chronology, “this Coca Cola of the entire world”
why do you want to speak nicely?
“Must we be idiots and dream in the partial obscurities of a dubious mood in order to be poets?“ (W.C.W.)
Burned out in a beautiful September light, the personal economy: a total disaster,
is the economy a personal feeling? Contradictions because I speak, contradictions because I think
about it: notes in the newspaper margin, being torn to shreds. The few friends scattered about the suburbs, the new friends strewn singly across the country-
side. Different voices, different biographies,
deviations, “good so.”
Discussion: Where everything is forced to connect…
What did you feel as you touched the naked body with your lips, what did you
feel in the middle of the trashed
landscape, word-gods, side-street-sex, under the arranged machines? Let me remember, you say, let me remember, leave me
alone, you say, leave me, gentle face
in a soft September light, like now: answer softly
answer, “in the midst of the daily plundering, or?”
Like the faces in the open afternoon-windows don’t answer. There is a sheet-metal field, dented,
“valse d’autumn” or how such a feeling is called,
not the clarity of looking out a D-Train window, gentle, gentle rhythm here now,
let me, let me remember, you say. Small train stations appear and remain behind,
meaningless structures, : remain behind? meaningless stops : meaningless?
yellow-red fire in a scrap yard,
gentle, gentle woods, last remains of forests in which the thin morning fog still hangs, traces of dampness, not
bent over, small peaceful ponds, forgotten
at the edge of an estate (:“we’re coming back,” in that house, we’re coming home, home?) for the eyes a fugitive rest, from the train window
looking out, the long, slow
even view across this country. There is a hunkered-down green, fantastic green, which passes by, and a child’s hand stretched out the train
window.
Why sadness? All: you gentle
faces in the afternoon light (no faces : you gentle faces between for the coins) the billboards, you gentle
faces in the window frames,
you gentle faces in the September light, you gentle faces of West Germany, tired and sad, you gentle faces, hungry for cunt, cock, tits, hungry for an exotic everyday
life, hungry for a kiss, hungry to feel your own kiss between the walls,
hungry between the advertisements, hungry between the classified ads, hungry between the pictures,
the advertising sales department closes at nine in the evening the movie theaters are darkened, to show a
little more life, the box offices close a quarter-hour after the main feature begins,
the television station broadcasts until shortly after midnight, hungry in the narrow
gardens, hungry for a gentle embrace,
what do you give your selves? What kind of a horror is that, when one stops in the middle of the street, standing among the passers-by,
& each for everyone a passer-by.