Sunday, October 12, 2014

TO KNOW MADNESS





To accept the reality
of our Creator
is to know madness.
One sees not only a single future,
but understands the possible outcomes
of all futures at once.
Madness discovers patterns
that others fail to see,
and in time learn to overlay
 the pieces of chaos until harmony
 is discovered.
Madness also possesses
an unspoken hunger for knowledge
 and wisdom that is never satisfied.
There is no submission to mortality,
only a want of unlimited existence;
the desire to become one with all that is.
The mind mantled in madness
processes faster than the body can react.
Thoughts are experienced,
not individually,
but in clusters with
a multitude of emotions
bleeding into and out
of each of those thoughts.
All things are one.
The understanding
of this is madness; a salve
against the wounds of the limitations
accepted by dominance of humanity.
Once this is realized and accepted,
madness becomes genius.
No boundaries to what one can do.
Conformity is no longer
a part of the equation of existence.

© Feb 6, 2013 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Dream on...

All too often we forget those moments that define serenity. I was reminded this morning by an incident that mirrored such a moment. Last week, I was out driving after a long day. I found an old country road canopied by trees. The evening breeze rattled some of the leaves loose and they did their lazy dance to rest with their kinsmen, ready to be scurried along to the nearby creek and carried to a final resting spot.

Aerosmith softly carried my thoughts to all literature pertaining to life, the forest, and magic. Robin Hood, Merlin, Arthur, The Faerie Queen, John Muir, Walden, Athos, Porthos and Aramis were all dancing in my head. Each leaf represented a thought from another that shaped my literary life.

Peace attained, if only for that moment. And it just re-occurred. Dream on...

http://youtu.be/89dGC8de0CA  

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Good evening...

 I am tired. Ready to pass out. Aren't we all? Whether a domestic goddess or a laboring slave to the grind, we all feel the same weary when Luna calls us to rest or become. We are each a genius in our own right. And through that genius, there are some that reach madness. When the subject consumes the student...wisdom is found and intellect dismissed. Today, it appears, they refer to one attaining "enlightenment" as a individual psychosis It does not matter what we "are," it matters who we "become." Let us find our own inner peace and relax. Don't loose a wing. Persevere...

Sunday, August 24, 2014

It is not far...

What would one find down this path?





Would taught fear overtake us in minutes and terrors appear? Or would we find peace and touch magic again? Should we evolve? We have been subjugated by the Elite. They try to manipulate the temporal change. Even now, my mind seems dazed to speak against the loss of freedom. But we must all shake the trance and live without fears. Do not riot...relax...Let's walk and find the presence of peace. It is not far...
© August 24, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic


Shall we find such peace?

There are times when one hears a few things shuffle in the closet.  Not necessarily the one in the corporeal corner, a bit deeper. Far beyond mental and into the light of spiritual. Was it as simple as two wooden hangers under the same spell as the candle, rattling bones; or perhaps the chains that keeps one from regaining wings? The mind finds that single forgotten moment of terror; the one more lost for the struggle of sanity than the classes of society. It is always there. Awaiting a thought. Then it beings to burn like a wild fire. We have all faced a fears or terror. Now we are late in existence. Perhaps annihilated. We must forget not share with others so that they might find a new depth to madness. Do we really wish others to add to their burden? If we set aside ego and proceed to progress, we than chance a moment to evolve. Self-controlled madness is more challenging than an 8 hour chess match listening to Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries.”

Thursday, August 21, 2014

My Love

Love is my strongest asset, but my greatest liability. From this day forward, I shall confine it to paper. My desire will bleed from my quill, my boundless emotions will fill my inkwells, and my imagination will create the moments that should have been... 


~  Duke of the Arctic 8/21/2014


I am glad it was not real. If it had been, I would still be soaring. Once aloft on wings of enchantment, the world is left behind, lessened, diminished, and at times forgotten. I lost myself in the cathedral of her soul. I was higher than any mortal intoxicant could offer. I touched the 'neath side of heaven's floor. Then she was gone and I fell back to the rocky, yet beautiful estate of reality.

 ~  Duke of the Arctic 8/21/2014

 

Monday, August 11, 2014

R.I.P. Sir Robin Williams

Laughter will fall short of the endless echo, and smiles will not be so carefree.
Peering through the looking glass has lost the comical distortions.
Life has sharp teeth again.
Thank you Robin for offering the natural painkiller called humor. I was truly addicted. You shall be missed.



NOTE: photo is random internet find. 

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Happy 12th Birthday Byron Alexander Cohn

Blood or not, you are my son. I miss you. I love you. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of you and wish we were together, but I dare not dwell on that thought or madness will take me to places I wish not to be. I truly understand the constant battle to suppress rage. Dr Bruce Banner has become my study focus. Meditation keeps the Hulk chained deep in my being.
Be safe and take care of your mother, I once truly loved her.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Has My Magic Diminished?



{{{flash}}}

I remember adding my magic to the world and enchanting it, as a child. I bought something in a bag for 25 cents. Looked like glitter, but was promised magic.

{{{believing}}}

Later, on that typical hot evening under the endless skies of Texas, I watched the fireflies...entranced.

{{{awe}}}

I remembered the pouch. I leaned against a tree and chanted my wish, “I seek the language to unite with hope. Belief is reason. One day the Fae will return. I will remember, always. I will enchant the world for peace, everlasting…”

{{{prayer}}}

I blew the contents into the breeze. Each metallic mote of color was brought to life with fire by the fading sun.

{{{shimmer}}}

I witnessed magic. It has always been with me, but never joined the game. I thought it mocked me and left. I failed to realize the significance of experience when on a road to redemption. Humbleness and awe are what makes magic. We are here to share our gift and experience the contributions of others to this existence.

{{{bowing}}}

NOTE: Photo was an unexpected internet find. I hope someone can identify the photo artist. Perhaps more photos could invoke further memories. The worldly corruption of faith and honor have numbed by mind and I forget the magic. I am getting old...but still believe...

July 13, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic




NOTE: Photo was an unexpected internet find. I hope someone can identify the photo artist. Perhaps more photos could invoke further memories. The worldly corruption of faith and honor have numbed by mind and I forget the magic some days. I am getting old...but still believe...there are moments...memories...

July 13, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Back to reality...or my perception thereof...

Occasionally, I visit Craigslist to get a laugh.  This post had my native imagination running "hog" wild. I envisioned half drunk rednecks with chainsaws chasing down wild pigs. I actually went to the tool shed to check the working condition of my chainsaw. As I read the post, I realized that the gent needed someone to cut up fallen trees in exchange to hunt. My medieval mind was arrested and cast to the dungeons of reality. No such luck to hunt a wild bore with a screaming chainsaw. Oh well...back to reality...or my perception thereof...

http://austin.craigslist.org/lbg/4541345261.html

Use your chainsaw to hunt game on a ranch (South Austin)

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Happy Birthday, America?


I am saddened by the fact that in 3 days our country will rally to celebrate a freedom that is no longer ours. We gather to eat, drink and be merry to commemorate our winning a freedom from a tyrannical monarchy. Through the years our government has slowly and stealthily morphed into the beast we so fear that we uprooted ourselves from our mother countries and pressed the natives of this beautiful country into small reservations.
We know that there is a legal beast lurking behind every corner. It has devoured the elegant Lady Justice and left the taste of blood and fear on the tongues of the masses.
Many have become so afraid of falling prey to the powers that be that they cheer when another is taken. They wipe their brow and sigh, “I have lived to run another day.” So many are terrified of the government that should fear the people. What have we done, other than turn our backs on ourselves and our children? Why should we live in fear? Why should we allow our leaders to constantly divide us by instigated racial tension? All politicians have the same desires, they just label them Democrat or Republican to divide and conquer the masses. I have witnessed it for 40+ years and have discovered it exists through the history of man. They say history repeats itself. That is because we never learn the lesson! It is time to stop the tyrants and return to our roots. Protect your families, respect your friends, be true to your morals, never give up your guns and guard your freedoms!

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Father's Day 2014

There is nothing like a midnight drive, through the hill country, on the back roads. Dire Straits weaving in and out of hearing range as the wind screams into the open Jeep. Luna plays peek-a-boo through the blanketed veil of clouds and draws my memories back to the time when I was ensconced in love.
I smile for a moment, and then I realize how I have suppressed years of being forlorn. The cold emptiness starts to creep in. Mem’ries of what used to be slowly slither up my spine and hisssssssss into my thoughts. “You are nothing.”
The man, who once wondered what true love really was, remembers the day he met the woman that touched his soul, the Muse that extracted the stopper from the inkwell of his lyrical heart. She was the one that gave him wings. The soldier that feared nothing recalls breaking down in tears and becoming mortal the day his son looked at him and said, “Daddy, I love you.” The joy of having a son!
Then the darkness settles in. The beauty becomes a beast and clips his wings. The venom from her tongue paralyzes like a scorpion’s whip! He cries out into the night, "Oh, Prometheus, gladly would I suffer the eagle as to this. Cast me to your chains and you submit to my agonies."
 The wind suddenly becomes a roaring beast, flapping mighty wings that stir the cold breath of eternal solitude. The moon, the watchful eye of the past, ever so slowly, blinks in and out of the clouds like the burning gaze of a blank stare.  Harmonic whispers from the radio, fade and return like taunting kisses from a love gone astray.
I have, once again, felt the cold embrace of madness. Where is Morpheus? Oh eternal sleep, let me rest and forget.

June 16, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Acacia Park, Colorado Springs, CO 1988

The year was 1988. The place, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Acacia Park, 115 E. Platte Ave, to be exact. There was a strange electricity in the air. I worked at the 29¢ Hamburger Stand across the street from the park. I got to meet many amazing people. There was a certain madness in most of them.
A beautiful girl named Carrie was one such person. I thought she was Lita Ford when I first saw her. We became friends and shared many good times. Mostly under skies of amber rain. She used to peel the labels from her Budweiser bottles and give them to me. "Keep these safe Don. One day you can trade them in for kisses." She moved to California, or so I heard, long before I could cash them in. That and the fact that she was dating a friend of mine, Tony, left the "cashing in" just a casual thought. Tony was quite the character. Long haired pretty boy. Used his looks and charm to dole out the empty promises to every pretty girl that walked by. He worked his charisma like a smooth oiled machine. He would say, "Watch this, Don. I'll bet I get a kiss." Every time. The girls fell for his sob story e~v~e~r~y time. "My girlfriend died. I miss her so." They stepped in to offer hugs and kisses. SMH!
Then there was Robyn. The 6" tall blonde that surely had ancestors from the lost tribes of the Amazon. She twisted her ankle and I carried her to my friend's truck. We got her the the hospital and got her took care of. She fell in love with my friend. I think they are still married. Good guys finish last.
Then there was Shadow and Crystal. They were never apart. If you wanted Crystal, look for Shadow. Wherever Shadow was, Crystal was close. And then there was Shadow's right-hand man, Bill. Big Bad Bill! Big ol bruiser. Sucker punched me once, from the side, and I just turned and grinned at him. It hurt like hell, but I refused to let him see it. He never grew aggressive around me or my friends again. Lied on me and it came back to bite him in the bum.
Ah! And how can I forget the beautiful young lady with yellow eyes! She batted them at me  few times and we flirted, but nothing ever came of it. 
My roommate/boss' name was Chris Baer. Cool cat! Stayed up one night drinking til 4am. We were promised the next day off. We knocked of a bottle of Everclear, a ton of brewskies, and other liquor. The area manager called us at 4:30 and told us we had to work. Ha! We ran to the store and bought 2 boxes of NoDoz. We each ate a box and went to work. It was a long day. After sleep, he introduced me to one of his friends. OMGoodness! She was beautiful. Her name was Mary. She was a manager at an "3.2" bar. We went dancing one night and then had a stroll under the moon and chatted. I was nervous. I was still new to the game. Had only dated 2 girls before her. Time and distance took its toll. I have always wondered...
There are so many more. 
Where are they now?

NOTE: photo is a random internet find



Saturday, February 22, 2014

Daily thoughts

Don't get me wrong. I have friends from every ethnic group, country, faith, gender, and sexual preference known to man (and perhaps a few not yet known). And I care for each of them. But I am not understanding all the hell-raising going on in Arizona over some claiming religious rights. Does this mean I can sue a Muslim that refuses to sell pork in his store? Does this mean I can sue Protestant church for not using the Koran? Does that mean I can sue the Black Panther movement for not allowing me admittance to a rally? Does that mean I can sue my neighbor for not sharing his wife? All these examples are based on beliefs. Why have beliefs at all if they are to be trampled at the whim of a few political puppets?
I remember the 70s very well. No one flaunted a label and everyone was friendly. WTH happened? We all embraced a label and stuck it on our egos and pushed our chest out to promote our egotistical way of living. I have walked through Harlem unmolested and unscathed, but if I walk through those streets with a "white pride" shirt on, I won't make it 2 blocks. Be yourself and quit promoting your ego! I don't care about your way of life as long as you don't try to push it on me. Being different is what makes us human.
All this crap is just the government stirring up derision and hate amongst the masses. This will make it much easier for them to institute their police state. Wake up and smell the sheep fodder. Walk away from the madness!

Friday, February 21, 2014

~TRANSFORMATION~




I awoke with a start
and realized how rich I truly am.
My coffers are filled
with love and hope.
My friends are my jewels and gold.
I’ve no need for trivial sparkles
that perish as quick as the sun sets.
I am still a man among men
and a king in my little room.
I dance between memories
with rabbits and ducks
and give them life
and they offer more love
than my queen
ever mustered up for show.

I now realize…
I never had what it took
to be a king
until I lost my kingdom.

© Nov 16, 2013 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

NOTE: photo is random internet find

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

I Offer Life to the Words of Poetics


 
As night falls
I offer temptation
To those not easily taken
Draw closer
Into the shadows
Let me prove the depth of…

…life…

This evening…I…
Am the instrument
of creation
The giver of wings
The whisperer of…

…words…

The darkness
Settles in… I…
Reach for your soul.
Submit to my longings
Let me take you away
I offer the caress of…

…poetics…

© Dec 9, 2013 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

Sunday, February 16, 2014

when I die

When I cross over,
I do not want any of you
to visit my grave.
I won't be there.
I will be alive
in the books you read,
riding the wind
that causes your hair to stir,
dancing in the flame
upon your candles,
living within the song
that brings back yesteryear.
Do not cry for me.
Celebrate my new beginning.
The caterpillar is gone,
the cocoon is empty,
the butterfly is free.
Look for me in the fields of flowers,
listen for my whispers in the wind.
Do not miss me.
I will be with you
always...
Look in your heart for that is where I will reside.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Daily thoughts

Yes, I write of love and the awe I have for the most amazing gift our Creator gave to mankind, the woman. Without the woman, there could not be life. Life manifested beauty from the essence of woman.
Many have inspired pieces from me, but the love and whispers are from a time long past. I am not extracting the splinters from the flesh of beauty, I am focusing on the fragments of beauty left on the tree.
Some say my writing invokes flirtatious behavior. Many say I play with hearts. Bah! So, I must clear the air of these matters. The only skin my hands will ever caress, from this day forward, is that of parchment. The only body my hands will hold in dance is that of my quill. The only love my heart will embrace is that of literature. The only blood I will ever spill is the ink in my well. The physical world means little to me any more. Yes, the body is a nice playground, but the soul is the cathedral I seek to wander.
My intention is not to capture your heart, because I might break it with one of my many inequities. I want none of you to feel the cold, dark emptiness of solitude...even if but for a moment. It is most hollow. My desire is to touch your soul with the wisdom and magic that have graced my life. To teach and to learn. No matter your action, reaction, or lack there of, I learn from each of you. Silence is as much of an instructor as endless conversation.
With all that being said, let us move into the future as one hope and one love of restoring harmony to our planet. Namaste.

NOTE: photo is a random internet find

Saturday, February 8, 2014

I miss you...

There were good days and bad. I will remember both. I will always cherish to good times. The bad times just make the good days seem a bit more sweet. No one will ever erase the memories of you. No one will ever replace you. We were the perfect match. I regret that you failed to see this. I am sorry I could not destroy your demons, but I was busy fighting mine. I find inspiration in all things, but the beauty that guides my hand is the memory of you. Through all the damnation you cast upon me, I focused on the angel you once were. That is how I choose to remember you. The pain I have come to bear numbs the searing emptiness. It will never end. I add my cries of loneliness to the howling winds. Hear me. My tears are now one with the rains. Feel me once again as I slide down your cheek. I miss you...

© Feb 8, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic



NOTE: Photo is random internet find

Thursday, February 6, 2014

MY MARY IN LACE


Without form the mist falls
embracing memories from the halls
caressing this night of trees
setting to dance the ball room of leaves
wind songs offering whispered phantoms
answers to life’s unspoken questions
Sol and Luna never to know

The darkness and fires that burn within,
each morn, leave dew
on the conversation
between old gods and new.
Smooth the edges of the broken pieces
of the chalice of mankind.

As I sit in sorrow
pondering what could be
in the stead of what was,
Luna beams through the darkness of dreams.
It is here that my Mary appears in lace.
What lovely features has she;
shadows of ebony adorn ivory skin
like love etched with caressing kisses.
My apparition comes close.

I long to reach out,
but Percy’s words are adrift
quelling the fires of passion.
Desire will hide in the rain
and fall to the earth to find shelter
and flow to the seas of madness.

Oh Mary, Oh Mary
your Byron seeks not to destroy
only to gaze upon your beauty
to write of love’s sweet joy.
Attend me in lace
as my quill will dance
to attest the existence
of your gentle grace.

Concept: Nov 11, 2013
Completion © Feb 6,  2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

NOTE: my thoughts on what George Gordon might have written for Mary Wollstonecraft.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

COME TO ME





Does my invitation frighten you?
It should not.
Love is not a token of light
but a world within darkness…

Shhhh…..
As I shut out the world,
Allow me the heavenly gift of unsculpting you…
Let me trace your essence…
Let me find you without sight…

Close your eyes and feel…
My whispers, like the Autumnal winds that tease your hair…
My touch, the loving hand of the Creator…
My love, like the gentle wisps of fog that caress the valley…
My kisses, like a butterfly, find sweetness wherever you exist…

The darkness is now filled with the luminous awe of innocence.
What have we found?

Is it enough?
No. Not for ever…
but yes, in the moment
We are complete…

Do not think…
…just listen…
…feel…
…love…

My quill will bleed memories of this moment.
All will know of you…

© Jan 29, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Please remove my letters from your numbers?

 

I was cool with math until they started trying to make it a mystery novel by adding my beautiful alphabetic characters. When my professor ask me what the function of "x" was. I told him it was the end-mark of "fox, box, and chicken-pox." It is also the bookends of "Xerox," and "Xanax." Is the starting point for "X-ray" and "Xylophone." And the midpoint of "axe" and "Sixer." He was not as amused as was the class. Needless to say, "I failed math, but aced literature."



You've mixed my letters
into your soup of numbers
I believe that qualifies
as a literary blunder.



The only line affected
by the function of "x" or "y"
Is the spelling of my word
not a dot on a line.



Please take your numbers
that flow not together
Leave my elegant letters
to form and dance forever.



1 + 1 = 2
That will always be the rule.
Any that claims the contrary
I might label a fool.



How dare you ever say,
"1 + 1 = B."
How can you mix the beauty
of letters with crude numerology?



© Jan 2, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic




NOTE: photo a random internet find and words just a prod of jest toward math.

enough to carry me

The older I get the more cynical my views on being "in" love. It is an intoxication for the young; like alcohol. The buzz fades in time, yet we continue the chase until we rest beneath the daisies. The butterflies migrate from the body and return to the ether. Emptiness is left as the fragrance is bled from the blossom. All things wither and die. Love, life, and the pursuit of happiness. The memories are there. That is enough to carry me through the rest of my days.

I pine for the youthful vigor of love. But have outrun its reach. Now I wander into the fields of Autumn and dream. I am in love with the idea of being in love. That is enough to carry me through the rest of my days.

I remember the fall. Catching her. Seeing her smile. The rise. Regaining and maintaining altitude from the magic that her essence found in me. Watching the awe bleed from her eyes as we soared the upon the winds of peace, between the mountains of pain and into the valley of peace. It was there that I first glimpsed the shadow of darkness within her beauty. The doubt of purity. The jealousy of my faith and belief in love. She did not understand that I was teaching her to fly. As I turned to search the past, I felt her clip my wings. She failed to realize that love was not a destination, but a journey. She stranded us both. Forever lost.  She wandered into the night and left me alone. My love in and of itself was not enough for the two of us. Now I await the mountains to crumble and fill this chasm of emptiness. Her memory will keep me alive and in torment until that final day. That is enough to carry me through the rest of my days.

© Jan 2, 2014 ~ DBC, Duke of the Arctic