occasional reflections on culture & politics
There's more to this blog - there's also the web site and the YouTube Channel. My energies lately had to be more focused on finishing some other projects: the recently finished longer poem "Qaddish / Sanctus / Bismillah", a meditation on divinity an increased effort to finish my longer poem "The Garden" (not about gardening,… Continue reading µ#11: More Content on philjohn.com
on philjohn.com: Life Is A Wake
on philjohn.com: Qaddish. Pt 2.5
ПУТИН, ИДИОТ(PUTIN, YOU IDIOT) Путин, идиот,когда сам идёт,когда прочь идёш? тыпреступники надзиратель за преступниками:твои приказы - твои дела:убийца, насильник, поджигатель, мучитель,мелкий воришка и только бандит,убийца Чечни, Сирии, Грузии, Украины,угнетатель русских, белорусов и других народов,реабилитолог Сталина,головорез КГБ,воскреситель темницы народов,воскреситель гулага,воскреситель стукачества,воскреситель фашизма,разрушитель гласности,разрушитель перестройки,разрушитель демократии,разрушитель справедливостиразрушитель мира,уличный хулиган,лжец и детоубийца,тебе не стыдно? ты похититель фьючерсовразвратитель людейкак… Continue reading #204: Poem: Путин, идиот (Putin, You Idiot)
I NEED TO BELIEVE Corvallis, October 9th, 2022 – P#786 I need to believethat beneath all this sorrowbeneath all this painand all this senseless senselessnessis waiting a future timemuch better than the current onewaitingto be bornout ofallthis I need to believebecause without this beliefthere would be nothingkeeping mefrom seeking madnessrather than sanityand desperationrather than resilienceand… Continue reading #196: Poem: I Need to Believe
SOMETIMES, THERE'S NOTHING TO SAY Corvallis, August 14th, 2022 – P#782 sometimes, there's nothing to saynot that there wouldn't be anythingto talk about: for I could say all I want,but talking about it, would that not implya social component? so shall I cryout loudinto the wilderness? for I really feellike screamingout loud: and yet, who… Continue reading #185: Poem: Sometimes, There’s Nothing To Say
THE FLEETING SELF Corvallis, July 4th, 2022 – P#776 sometimesI seem to have forgottenwho I waswhat I've donewho I am I look at my worksometimes with a senseof incredulity:how did this happen?could I've really done this?who was this methat wrote all this,said all this,did all this? I feel like a stranger to myselfand all is… Continue reading #172: Poem: The Fleeting Self
I am currently – among other things – working on editing my fifth poetry volume. It will largely consist of my absolutely insane mega-poem “Pastiche”, a 20000-long act of utter lunacy. As I am going over its meandering bouts of madness, I come across parts written in English, French, Latin, Greek, German, etc. – some… Continue reading #162: Seize the Day
WE ALL Corvallis, April 28th, 2021 - P#773 we allhave hopeswe allhave dreamswe allseek solace of the soul for as we walkin this valley of darknessfar too oftenwe're all alonewe're all, deep down,a single being,reaching outfor all our lives:for all our sakes:and though we trythe only certainty in birthis death;and all that happens in betweencan… Continue reading #161: Poem: We All
The new YouTube Channel for Erratic Attempts is open. It currently contains some poetry, will in the future also showcase my music (which is already available as audio on Soundcloud) and maybe some videos.
I. During the recent weeks, we have heard demands for uttering shibboleths from athletes or artists at two crucial occasions: During the Beijing Winter Olympics – held in a totalitarian state – and during the genocidal war waged by Russia against innocent Ukraine. What do athletes, what do artists, what do performers think about gruesome… Continue reading #156: Politics, Arts and Sports: Some Erratic Reflections
SYLLOGY XLVI INVOCATIO(VERSIO LATINA) nunc est horaclamansagitansnunc est horaclamantesagitantesrogantesprobantesdubitantessumus:estqui sumus?estqui speramus?estquae est?hora istatota, omnahora istavivantesmoriturisperantessumusnunc horanunc sumus VARIATIO PRIMA:IN THE MADNESS OF THE CURRENT WORLD / in the madness of the current worldseek we only to survivefor long enough to see this through: to finish our affairs right hereso that prepared we'll be -so that… Continue reading #150: Poem: Nunc Est
PRETEND WE Corvallis, December 8th-30th, 2021 – P#769 pretend wethere could be normalitythere could be a way to beas we were before pretend weall we wish will come to passall we wish will make us wholeand fill empty souls pretend wetime could easily turn backpast mistakes won't haunt us sowe can have it all pretend… Continue reading #123: Poem: Pretend We
TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD Corvallis, August 20th, 2021 – P#754 how it would beif finally wecould claim to comprehendwhatever it isthat daily surrounds us? are choosing weto blissfully ignoreall that life has to offer in joy and in pain,in bliss and damnation,in promise and anguish,in safety and danger,both heaven and hell? in this all-twisted worldyou… Continue reading #110: Poem: To Understand the World
ONE MOMENT IN TIME(一期一会) Corvallis, May 29th, 2021 – P#752 what we areit iswhat it is there is nothing hereand everything we are not meant to lastand yet we want to thisis foolish desire for meaninglies in the fleeting,not in permanence in the endin the beginningwe areand we'll be there has to be an endin… Continue reading #100: Poem: One Moment in Time
WAKE FOR A WORLD OUT OF BALANCE Corvallis, December 31st, 2020 - January 10th, 2021 - P#749 stand we here in judgementof a world that's gone awry ? whose judgement is therewe should listen to?who's left among usthat should judge? we see the signswe hear the wordsand there are countless other ones we don't and… Continue reading #70: Poem: Wake for a World out of Balance
PASSOVER Corvallis, April 8th, 2020 - P#734 there’s a feeling rising upfrom somewhere deepinside the strangest sensation:intense, and yet gentle,a realization, for sure,of something I’ve already knownand yetdon’t care to face all the time the silliest thing,it’s so banal,it is so trivial,it is so utterly devoidof any originalityand stillso rarelytrulyexpressed we live our livesin constant… Continue reading #13: Poem: Passover
AT THE HOUR OF THE WOLF Corvallis, October 13th, 2019 - January 12th, 2020 - P#725 come, all doubts and questions come nowat the hour of the wolfat the time of sleepless terrorslogic drifting into dreams so shallowthat some thinking still remainsyet all reason here is lost failures fill this time of tormentssymbols chase around… Continue reading #8: Poem: At the Hour of the Wolf
Erratic Attempts 