LATE-NIGHT APHORISMS

LATE-NIGHT APHORISMS

by William Thomas

NOT CONVINCING 

If you have to convince yourself 

That something is true, good or just...

 It probably isn’t.

JUST CHECKING 

“Hello!” the master shouted into the adept’s ear. 

“Anybody home?”

Belief System

THE BIGGEST ILLUSIONS 

This & Not This

Us & Them

MICE 

I don't like setting traps to break the necks, 

drown and otherwise abort the lives of living beings

 whose ancestors have been around 

so much longer than mine. 

"Kindly exit my premises to avoid injury,” I tell them. 

“And don't even think about sex.”

MAN OF FAITH 

He was a man of faith 

There is nothing more dangerous

SORRY ABOUT THAT 

We're sorry we killed your children 

Your spouse 

Your future 

Your hope 

We just want to be your friends

JUST RELAX

We live with constant noise and distraction, 

Relax with violent imagery, 

And wonder why we cannot find 

Peace and serenity

THE GOLDEN RULE REVISITED 

Those making the rules get the gold.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 

Be nice

FISSION FOLKS 

I've noticed that nuclear families 

Often result in fission

B.S.

1,500 years Before Screens, 

T'ao Ch'ien suggested cultivating idleness. 

Not crossing a busy street looking at a screen, 

But sitting still looking out our eyes. 

Be careful, he said. 

All our busy-ness is wrecking the place. 

Eying his fields and thatched hut, 

T'ao Ch'ien also said, who needs anything more? 

(He actually wrote: “Wanting nothing beyond enough.”) 

Also…

“Why all this reverent longing for ancient times?”

Damp weeds reminded him “never to resist.”

Smart dude!  Which is what you’d expect 

From someone named after the Tao. 

Me, I prefer my Zen on a big flatscreen, 

While sipping coffee and eating Fig Newtons.

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? 

We are here to get the lessons 

We so persistently and often perversely  

Arrange for ourselves  

BEST ADVICE 

Shut up Take only what you need 

Put something back

COOK’S CREW

We are ripping out our space colony's intricate life-support web 

As surely as Captain Cook's seamen in Tahiti pried the iron spikes 

From the hull of their ship 

To trade for the favors of the comely vahines ashore. 

At least they got laid.

SPACE COLONY ETIQUETTE 

The first stupidest thing anyone can do onboard a space colony 

Circling a minor G2 star on the fringes of this M5 Galaxy is to forget 

They have to breathe oxygen every minute and 

Drink at least 2 liters of uncontaminated water every 24 hours. 

The second stupidest thing anyone can do onboard 

This habitat in space is to think that radionuclides, mutagenic chemicals, 

Old cellphones, spilled oil and discarded plastics can be thrown “away”.

Onboard Earth, where everything recirculates,

What goes around comes around. 

Usually with interest.

VERMEER & GRETA 

Squirming in her voluptuous proximity, 

Vermeer stands close beside lovely Greta. 

They are peering under a black drape at a pear 

Balanced on a contrasting purple cloth. 

Retaining their vivid tones, both objects appear 

Improbably suspended upside down 

In the ground-glass of his newly acquired 

Camera obscura…

Greta: "Is it real?" 

Vermeer: "It's an image made of light." 

Greta: “Don’t be an oaf.”

Photo Captions:

We are all Alice In Wonderland

Zen Master

BS Button - push often

Christmas mouse

Man of faith

Memorial to the victims of the Ukrainian strike on a residential building in Belgorod.. -Aleksey Nikolskyi/Sputnik.

Heavy lifting

Be Prepared For The Unexpected -Will Thomas Photo

Relaxing with Rambo

Gaugain's vahines in Tahiti

Earth dancing in the infinitude of space

Vermeer's Girl With The Pearl Earring