It’s fun to revisit old 5WP’s in these compilations. Some of them far back enough that I’ve forgotten that I made them!
,
present
is
time
right
now
Decades ago, I watched Mike Ditka spout “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift—that’s why they call it the Present.” I usually quote it ironically, but I can’t deny that it stuck.
,
one
glance
aged
the
strainer
One afternoon, I looked at our metal kitchen strainer and realized that it had been thoroughly beat up over its years of service. I never noticed the kinks and divots in the frame, and I’m back to being blind to it. The power of the thing overwhelms the thing of the thing.
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lost long blame empty vessel
interstellar crime missing alien gem
phenomenal floating history endless wish
More fun with the pointed brush cursive and the Artstack Poetry Haul challenges. Between February (italics) and January (pointed brush) it seems that it takes about two weeks of practice to get confident in running a new script on the 5WPs.
,
bright
flashes
through
plastic
slats
Las Vegas lights up with illegal fireworks on July 4th and New Years Eve. This 5WP was surprisingly tricky. I tried a few arrangements that fell flat, including this one. It was rescued by my old axiom “when in doubt, add noise” with the wash lines for slats.
,
sing this pen on page
time passing in this book
I finished another notebook on 1/24/2025 (started 10/14/2024). Turns out that bound composition books are not fun to graph on, especially at the end when everything feels wrinkled. One day I’ll find at good use for the ones still at home. Until then, I’m sticking to spiral notebooks for quickly graphed 5WPs.
For this psuedo-triptych, I included the back page of the journal where I had started practicing with the brush around November. I’m really happy with the refinement that happened over three weeks of daily practice.
It wasn’t fun to start with the pointed brush, so it’s a nice reminder to get uncomfortable because that’s where the new growth is hiding.
,
I am finally finishing my Alphabet Magic series. The sketches were completed in 2023, but the publishing of those sketches and photos has dragged on (the calligraphy detour didn’t help!)
Last week, I made a big push to edit the images. I had been annoyed by the Windows photo editor but I’m super happy after using GIMP (which I learned due to the calligraphy detour.) Plus these posts pair great with new and ancient drafts of those Penny Delight poem-proses.
It’s awesome to close out a long unfinished project. I am a firm believer in just pushing stuff out there. In the process of publishing, synchronicity swoops in and creates connections that can’t be planned in advance.
Keep exploring and cya next time!
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PS-The Wisdom Books, Robert Alter
As part of my wisdom kick, I picked up a copy of Robert Alter’s translation of Job, Proverbs, and Qoholet (Ecclesiastes).
Job is an enigma. A good dude gets crushed, argues about whether he deserved it, and God pops in to yell at everybody.
In a world with a human-ish diety, it reads weird. This book makes more sense for an atheist. We might have some agency, but we’re buffeted by the whims of grand forces beyond our control—society, fate, nature. We don’t matter. We’re fleas on the tiger, hopefully it takes us to a good place, but there ain’t no guarantees.
Arguing about fault is fruitless. The competing monologues between Job and his accusers are just Tweet-storms between opponents talking past each other.
I respect canon and the filter of time. Anything from the ancients that made it to the present must have something worth reading, even if I reserve the right to pick and chose what to believe from the good book. One day, I should read the rest of the Bible without god. I wonder if I will enjoy it more.
Robert Alter’s introduction and commentary helps make sense of an otherwise befuddling text. I really enjoy his opinions on the development of the text. It’s hard to kick the reflexive perspective of hardcore divine inspiration, so it’s nice to have someone say, “yeah the text is corrupt here.” The confusion isn’t all on me as a puny reader. At a practical level, the formatting (using the main text over footnotes on the same page) is superb, the information is always immediately at hand.
~
Unlike Job, Proverbs did not hold up, in spite of fond memories reading this book many times as a kid.
It did not utterly bore me as the “Wisdom of Solomon” (all sizzle and no steak), but there was more noise to signal than I had remembered. The memorable images are still there (the lazy man rolling back and forth on his bed like a door), but I had forgotten all the chaff that came with this book. It burns pages selling the beauties of wisdom. Bro, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t already buy in!
This time, I was struck by it’s optimism—do good and good stuff will happen. Maybe that was a better fit three decades ago, with America as the global hegemon and an apparently principled Christian conservatism on the rise. But such sunny optimism doesn’t feel right in the wake of two failed wars, a mismanaged epidemic, bipartisan ineptitude in federal power, and the flagrant cruelty of the evangelical church.
I suspect the reception of these ancient works are intimately tied to current events. Maybe I’ll find more resonance in old testament prophets, demanding repentance and a return to righteousness….maybe Proverb’s calls to wisdom weren’t misplaced after all.
~
Ecclesiastes is beautiful.
I never noticed this before, maybe because this book demands that you age into its reading.
Robert Alter’s prose certainly helps, as well as the formatting of the page as a true prose essay. However, I checked my King James Bible and noticed that it read great as well, even though the copy was chopped into verses and was full of anachronisms breaking up the flow.
Growing up, I primarily read Proverbs. That might be right for a young mind, keeping them on the search for wisdom and avoiding laziness. But after hitting a certain place, it’s impossible to avoid the bigger things in the world. It’s not so sunny out there.
If wisdom is the way, how do we explain this insanity?
Strangely enough, the gentle hedonism of this book is one way through. Pursue the wisdom, but don’t expect it to work out. Enjoy the fruits of your labor if it comes, but don’t kick yourself if it don’t.
Years after reading the bible, I did not expect to have a fully aesthetic moment in reading this book. Other parts of the Bible must hit such heights. Maybe the Sermon in the Mount. Is it hiding in the minor prophets?
Time to start digging.
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PPS—Nothing deep here, just messing around with the banjo and recording it for giggles (January 13).
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PPPS-Pointed Brush Progress (February)
At the start of the year, I went through all my scripts and put them in a book (black ink). After January, I ran the pointed brush to see how it improved (red ink).
I don’t think the printed text improved much, but that’s because I got totally sidetracked into the cursive, which I adore. I don’t think my pointed brush cursive here was the best, but I guess it’s good to have an “average” example.
That said, there is no greater feeling of flow than graphing with the brush pen while feeling the “edge”.
.