glimpses by Luke Downes

1. sometimes i say things i do mean, but still wish to take back.

2. poetry should not be a exhibition of the deep recesses of the poet’s soul, rather a quiet, hazily-lit window in.

3. my dog’s breath smells like dog food.

4. my tombstone shall read: “I did all I could.”

5. how love feels: “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhOc0V-ES40&...;

6. we should all be so lucky as to be humble and kind, because maintaining an understanding in the face of spite or hate is one of those easier-said-than-done things.

7. i will do.

8. i drink my coffee black, my tea with just a little honey, my whiskey straight and my wine red and cool.

9. stop reading this. go read something educational or entertaining. this is neither.

10. i’ve fucked up too many times to count, but i don’t regret a single thing.

11. i always have sushi on my birthday.

12. i’ve been hooked on vodka and grapefruit juice with a splash of soda lately. they go down a little easier than expected.

13. my journal is filled with bits of other people and things that make little sense, but when you put it all together, you’ll see me there.

14. if you only see one more movie in your life: bergman’s scenes from a marriage (the long version for Swedish tv).

15. if you’ve seen that already: meirelles’ city of god.

16. if you’ve seen that, too: reichardt’s old joy.

17. if you’ve seen and loved all of those: let’s have a movie night.

18. i’d give you everything i’ve got for a little peace of mind: “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaeopola8eA”

19. i am a warrior.

20. being humble is like walking on ice: you’ll slip here and there. dig your feet in.

21. there is nothing quite like being intoxicated on sunshine.

22. the sea tells secrets if you listen closely.

23. All right, brain. I don’t like you and you don’t like me, so let’s get this over with and I’ll go back to killing you with beer. – Homer Simpson. Laughter really is the best medicine.

24. Kate Winslet is the most fearless working actress.

25. read other people’s poetry out loud.

26. I’ve always been considered an asshole for about as long as I can remember. That’s just my style. But I’d really feel blue if I didn’t think you were going to forgive me. – Royal Tenenbaum, one of the greatest characters ever created for the screen.

27. If nothing makes your skin crawl, it’s on too tight.

28. There is a sense of busted possibility in my family, passed from generation to generation.

29. Don’t fight a war without your eyes on the prize.

30. Experience is the name we give our mistakes.

31. Reinvent yourself! “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK5D8nWADTQ”

32. If you have pocket aces and the flop and turn give the other guy a straight draw, fold.

33. Smile pretty. Watch your back.

34. It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes intellect fruitful and gives birth to the imagination. – Thoreau.

35. I come from a place you grow up desperate to leave; a place you want to your back on.

36. I didn’t realize I had never fit in until I started to fit in.

37. All girls are a trap, a pretty trap, and men expect them to be. – Tennessee Williams, “The Glass Menagerie” (Scene 6, Line 54)

38. Every day, I have one of those thoughts like, “I don’t breathe deeply enough” or “I need to sit more straight” and I think, for a moment, I have found the source of my unhappiness.

39.

A total stranger, one black day
knocked living the hell out of me

Who found forgiveness hard because
my, as it happened, self he was -

But now that fiend and I are such
immortal friends, the other’s each

-e.e. cummings, the only person of note I may have speechlessly withered in front of

40. Does prison rob men of guilt?

41. Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor. – Arnold Toynbee, historian.

42. I listen to songs in languages I don’t understand when I’m feeling something indescribable.

43. Spargi d’amaro pianto/
Il mio terrestre velo. Mentre lassu nel Cielo
lo preghero per te. – Aria from Lucia di Lammermoor.

44. Translation:
Ah, shed your bitter tears/
over my earthly remains. But meanwhile in
Heaven above I will be praying for you.

45. I can recite the alphabet as quickly backwards as I can forwards.

46. Lady Astor: Sir, if you were my husband, I’d poison your drink.

Churchill: Mam, if you were my wife, I would drink it.

47. The worst injury I’ve suffered is a disconnected heart.

48. The bible says we have free will. We say everything is God’s will. When will humanity become entirely accountable for our own misdeeds?

49. Irony: Diaper spelled backwards is repaid! Take that, ma!

50. I love a bartender unafraid to call me “Baby” or “Love.” A cynic would see a fake smile and a buttering-up of him for a bigger tip. I see a genuine affection and a beating heart.

51. If a man finishes a poem, he shall bathe in the blank wake of his passion and be kissed by white paper. – Mark Strand

52. A man I knew once said to me: “Travel safely, I’m richer for having met you.”

May the journey of life be safe and rich for us all.