My Small Boat

The lintel low enough to keep out pomp and pride:
The threshold high enough to turn deceit aside.

Fable is more historical than fact, because fact tells us about one man and fable tells us about a million men.

Revenge of the Poet
I’ll write a poem
that’ll show’em

The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right.

Carnival
Ladbroke Grove is funkier than York
In York you see policemen walking
On the beat
But in Ladborke Grove
You see them walking
On the off-beat

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.

2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2.

- The good not done, the love not given, time
Torn off unused -
from Aubade

The Queerness of it All
frQg
pQnd
plQp

by reference to http://www.mysmallboat.info/2005/10/22/matsuo-basho/

You must have long range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short range failures.

On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.

On Being Asked for a War Poem
I think it better that in times like these
A poet keep his mouth shut, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right;
He has had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth,
Or an old man upon a winter’s night.