Find me on facebook. This is not a blog. It’s an advertising brochure for popularity. Facebook ain’t great either. But some kind of genuine contact is possible there, and it may lead to meaningful connection or communication.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000815414695
I am only a bridge between worlds.
Existing on the margins of society.
Linking the familiar with the strange.
I have learned many languages in my time.
I am unusual, only because I am so old,
and none remember my construction.
I convey the prosperous and the poor,
the well-adjusted and insane, the wicked
and the virtuous, without judgment.
You do not notice the bridge very often.
Even if you do, it’s architecture seems
archaic, complex and a little esoteric.
You sometimes wonder at the foresight
of those who built a bridge in such a place,
close to the wild primitive world, far from civilization.
Then you may marvel at the foresight of its builders,
the sophistication of its structure or be quietly overawed
by the genius of its architect. Mostly however, you prefer
to keep this from your mind, to focus on what’s now .
You hear my voice sometimes, singing at night,
or sighing from the memory of the joys and the
misfortunes of the many I remember who have
risen up and passed away. You vaguely understand
the feelings you hear in these sounds but cannot
speak my strange language, that is so hard to learn.
I endure and I change in my own cumbersome way.
Some day when my masonry has further split, and
shards begin to fall away more often, then cracks I
feel already, will rise to the surface. I will groan more
often and more loudly. People will complain about
safety and a decision will be made to replace me.
I shall be covered and surrounded by the metallic
paraphernalia of construction crews and quietly,
out of sight, I will be unceremoniously demolished.
I will be replaced by some new shining structure.
There will be a toll to pay to cross the new bridge.
This is the way you choose to do things now.
The inconvenience will be what you most notice.
Or perhaps a gentle longing for the good old days.
Few will mourn. Mostly you shall carry on,
as you have always done, like the river, talking,
laughing, crying, loving, working, playing, dreaming,
scheming, remembering, lying and dying.
Rarely, one of you will suddenly realize
that you too, are nothing more than a bridge
between worlds, linking your own familiar
with your own strange, and you heart will
suddenly explode with love from knowing
the world endlessly produces so many bridges,
between so many different worlds.
But nothing will fundamentally change.
I am only a bridge between worlds,
linking the familiar with the strange.
10 October, 2010.
© Justin Dent.
I am genuinely puzzled by this paradox. Maybe it’s the great cosmic joke.
- Emptiness creates fullness. Questions are the answer -
For example:- Many, if not most people, seem to create in their lives a problem, by filling it full of activities and then feeling somewhere between not quite right and outright depressed, because they detect an emptiness within themselves or their lives.
I say this! I enjoy the wonder of life. I also find it a challenge. I have lots of empty space/s in my life even though I am busy. I am pleased to have this emptiness, because the bigger it is, the more room I have for you to share some of it with me. Celebrate your emptiness. No! Even better, cultivate it. Perhaps the emptier you are, the bigger your soul is, like an expanding balloon. (Just don’t burst).
Don’t listen to any lunatic who tells you, they have the meaning of life ready-made, to give to you, to fill you up. If you are able, and this is beyond me most of the time, try to imagine how frightened they must be, to want everyone to confirm that they have ‘THE’ answer to life. Don’t misunderstand me. I believe there are answers (plural), unique for everyone. It just seems to me that unless you find your answers for yourself you are always in danger of excessive dissatisfaction.
For lots of people, the answers to the question of their life’s meaning is in relationships with their family and friends.I think these people are the closest to being happy.They are perhaps 'happy enough’.Or is this wrong? Don’t you sometimes feel that niggling itch somewhere inside, that needs exactly the right kind of scratch, which raises questions.
I am happy enough, when I find a good question to explore. And there are questions everywhere. One of them is reading this now. Will this question, I wonder, stop by for awhile and enjoy the company of another question or run away from itself and other questions, because it has 'THE’ answer and therefore many questions? Just think about it a little. But don’t lose your sense of humour along the way. And if you happen to lose your mind, don’t worry it will find you soon enough. It’s a kind of biological default setting for most of us.
But if you are already full, especially full of yourself, then move on to somewhere more comfortable. I wouldn’t want you to be unhappy. I am a firm believer in disbelieving all belief that cannot withstand the test of my own experience. But boy do I sometimes get itchy.
- JD.
Anonymous asked: Have you ever been depressed?
*laughing* I certainly have. In my view, depression and many other ‘stigmatized’ human experiences, add depth and complexity to one’s appreciation of the world. Depression is not something I would recommend. On the other hand, if a person was incapable of depression, they have ascended to some higher plane, or are remarkably insensitive. Please note I said, 'incapable of depression’. There are good people who have led happy lives free of depression. To judge them on the basis of their fortunate circumstances is just as prejudiced as judging another on the basis of disadvantaged circumstances - in my opinion. Everything I say is only my opinion. I do not claim to know the truth or possess knowledge or wisdom. I like contemplating the questions. I esteem imagination very highly, far higher than myself. Loving oneself is of little consequence in my view. Accepting oneself is a necessary condition of contentment.
faleste-deactivated20111113 asked: thaanks for the follow! you're a great writer. oh, and is your blog name after salinger, or ...is that just your name? haha
Thank you on both counts, re: following and writing. The initials of my first and last name are J and D, so people do call me JD. And it’s a handy way of signing, shorthand. The ‘Slant’ is just fictional. I didn’t read 'Catcher in the Rye’ until I was in my twenties, which is a shame. I would have liked it far more as a teenager.
neue-gedichte asked: Lovely writing. :)
thank u :)
Tourists visiting Earth are advised it is classified as a Category 3 World - ‘hostile and dangerous’
“A rapid acceleration of evolution occurred amongst the dominant primate, a hominid, (commonly referred to as human beings) on planet earth between the 17th and 21st centuries in the Christian calendar of that world.
A variety of causes have been discussed as possible pressures driving the species in the direction it took. The Industrial Revolution and the rise of mass manufacturing of totally unnecessary items is widely recognized as a key contributor.
The information technology revolution beginning in the latter part of the twentieth century was seen at the time by many humans as a hopeful event that might have contributed to the perpetuation of their species. What they failed to appreciate was that they were already too far advanced down the evolutionary path to reverse the process.
Thus 'Homo sapien sapiens’ (human beings) evolved into 'Homo devorares’ (Human consumings), which means something like the hominid (or human) who is solely concerned with consuming (that is ingesting and/or owning and possessing) things.
Widespread destruction of the natural environment, and a complete collapse of the social and economic systems followed over a period of 200 or so years. The planet was rapidly depopulated in the face of these pressures and its ecology altered radically.
It is currently in the midst of an ice age estimated to persist for another 100,000 years. Though isolated friendly outposts exists where tourists are welcomed, we recommend extreme caution at all times while on this planet.
The Inter-galactic Commission of Friendly Civilizations (ICFC) provides aid in the form of basic necessities to the hominid inhabitants but has imposed economic sanctions and prohibits trade in any items that may be used for a military purpose. Though friendly on the exterior, the species has a number of destructive, hostile and self-serving instincts it has not yet mastered, and aggressively denies are, 'a problem’.
Tourists are commonly frustrated by the local inhabitants obsession with phrases like 'we are loving beings’, 'happiness comes from loving yourself within’ 'love is all you need’, 'love is the answer’ and 'love yourself’.
Whilst these remarks may appear to have a certain superficial truth, given the primitive stage of their evolution, human consumings do not act in ways consistent with such speech. They are very concerned with their appearances, romance, tribal identification, affiliation with various belief systems and generally derive immense pleasure from drama and conflict.”
JD.