Devil May Be

The Devil may be
Sick like me
That would explain
The misery.

He was scarred, yes
Took it hard
Unleashed hell
On earth.

And then G-d said
The devil is dead
Only I exist
I paint things red.

Thank G-d that He
Isn't broken like me
Wouldn't that be
Absurd.


Copyright 2012   Liya Khenkin

I can't express my feelings any more Than I can raise my voice or want to lift My hand (oh, I can lift it when I have to). Did ever you feel so? I hope you never. It's got so I don't even know for sure Whether I am glad, sorry, or anything. There's nothing but a voice-like left inside That seems to tell me how I ought to feel, And would feel if I wasn't all gone wrong. Robert Frost, Servant to Servants, excerpt

"It's such a mess in there."
"It's not such a mess. It's just undergoing renovations."

- from the movie "It's Kind of a Funny Story"

New Year

It's amazing the subtle difference in perception as life's occurrences beat at you, like the rock Elijah the Prophet observed had been dented by years of single drops of water pelting its surface. Books I've attempted to read in the past take on an entirely different meaning. Some books illicit understanding and empathy from me, while 10 years ago I would have fallen asleep by the 9th page.

I wish I didn't have the negative experiences. But by the same token I'm terrified for my current state to be altered, for better or worse. Yes, I need to get up and readjust my position in the boat, but why rock it any more? Are the storms not enough? 

Here's to less storms for the new year - or, at least, possession of a better navigation system, or perhaps a better boat or floating device. Or perhaps, two firmly-planted feet on dry, stable land! Where's the fun in that though? Never mind.  Happy New Year.


Robert Frost's A Question:


A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.  -- Elbert Hubbard

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. 
-- Arthur Schopenhauer, Studies in Pessimism


Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you.  -- Rashi


Live people ignore the strange and unusual. I myself am strange and unusual. 
-- Lydia from Beetlejuice