Monarch in the House (Monarchia in Domus)

 

Tendrils

The seemingly haphazard flight of the butterfly is a lack of understanding on behalf of the world that is observing it; judging it.

 

A flood of light and a wing in a dream,
   A thought transforms,.
      from a tear to stream. . .

 

Don't allow your ideas to remain compressed between the image files on your computer.

"Monarch in the House" is dedicated to Captain D.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Dawn Once More

 

Soundtrack

If DOM had a soundtrack, then it would be Bill Nelson's "A Bird of the Air Shall Carry Thy Voice," from the two disc release, Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights (1988, Enigma/Cocteau).

I've lost track of Bill Nelson's work over the years, but for a period of time I really got into his instrumental releases, because they were unlike the Metal and guitar-oriented instrumental music that I enjoyed (and still enjoy — I love the shred and furious dexterity of the "guitar gods").

"A Bird of the Air Shall Carry Thy Voice" remains one of my all time favorite instrumental pieces.

This piece is an offshoot of the sessions related to "Monarch in the House (Monarchia in Domus)."

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Life in Too

Life's too short to walk the long path of despair.
    Write your pain on a piece of paper,
       Then tear it into a million pieces.

Life's too precious to cheapen it with lies.
    "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
        Keep watch at the door of my lips."†

Life's too open to box yourself in.
    Lift the lid;
        Let in the light.

Life's too big to go at it alone.
    Be guarded, but not isolated.
        Let someone in, eventually.
            (Other than the undertaker.)

Life's too easily missed trying to "do it all."
    Stop and smell the roses.
        Trite, but true.


† Ps. 141:3

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Too Easy

Too easy to rationalize acts of unkindness.
Too easy to bury the wrongs.
Too easy to forget those that are suffering.
Too easy to dismiss out-of-hand,
      without concern or remorse.
Too easy to blame "they" and "them,"
      from beneath the sanctity of a black veil.
All too easy to pretend that the little things don't matter,
      even though life itself is but a collection of little things.

As we flatten the world,
      we mustn't allow our souls to be flattened in the process.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Tendrils 11

I would sooner believe in the gremlins of the mechanical world than disbelieve in the angels and demons of this world.

 

Chivalry neither diminishes nor invalidates equality, but celebrates the natural, God-given differences between a man and a woman.

 

It's not the color of someone's skin that you should worry about, but the color of their heart.

 

To teach is to truly learn.

 

A reasonable, sensible, and respectful level of political correctness is tolerable, so long as being "PC" doesn't trump chivalry or romance.

 

Stir the controversy stew, salt and pepper to taste, serve steaming hot in a sugar bowl, and wash it down with a witch's brew.

 

Absolution: A word, a weight (a wait), a wish, a want, a worry, a responsibility, a sign, a cycle, and the soul of serenity.

 

Tension can be a pivot point, a yoke, a gag, or a pair of handcuffs.

Choice separates them.

 

The trouble with deciding between the lesser of two evils is that you're dealing with the Devil either way.

 

We tend to treat the familiar linearly; as just another vanilla point along the highway of commonplace.

 

Beware the long shadows of complacency and apathy, because they often contain predators.

Alternate Version

Beware the long shadows of complacency and apathy, because they hide—in plain sight—the silent beasts of our demise.

 

About

This collection contains a few of my favorite Tendrils: #1, #9, #11.

#2 is dedicated to all those don't regard chivalry as a bad or dirty word.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Love/Hate

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Christmas Spirits

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Christmas in My World

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril

Numbers don't lie. The number wranglers, on the other hand, are another matter altogether.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Fallen 2010 A - Mistified

 

About

Leafification 2010 — reality...focused.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Fallen 2010 B - Up Close and Personal

 

About

Leafification 2010 — vivid unreality.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Thorn

 

About

This piece is a glimpse into what this imaginary fellow (in my head it was a guy) was thinking.

This scene was imagined as a series of comic book panels: A shadow of a figure walking slowly (and without purpose) down the dirty streets of <your favorite metropolis here>, hands in pockets, head down, and lost in thought...at sunset...in Autumn. The text would "float" in boxes above the character's head.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Golden Ratio Guy

 

About

This work is a branch from the sessions that produced the piece, The Golden Ratio (ASCII Face) (TGR (AF)).

Soundtrack

If this image had a soundtrack, then it would be "Supercrush!" from the fantastic album, Addicted, by the Devin Townsend Project.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Time is a Lie

 

Original Draft

 

Time is an illusion—a visual lie—perpetuated by calendars and clocks.

And we are just rabbits being pulled from the hat of perception.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Warmth Within (Thankful)

 

About

I'm thankful everyday and for each day.

May you find something to be thankful about this Thanksgiving.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Life Is

Life is about the ever present now.

Life is about the story.

Life is about me, you, and all of the stories in between.

Life is about a beginning, a middle, and an end, and all the twists and turns that become the threads and the tags and the tendrils of our lives.

Forever.

And ever.

'Till death do us part.

Or, until, the story ends.

Whichever comes first...

 

About

A moment of reflection, instigated by a classic episode of Columbo ("Murder by the Book"), and as seen through the eyes of life in the abstract, as said in a whisper of hopes and prayers, and worked as a life in progress.

Amen.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Tendrils 10

Satisfaction: Finding eddies of meaningfulness in an ocean of creative possibilities.

 

Sometimes apprehension and doubt are a few of the stepping stones in the path to success.

 

Anxiety can be a persistent gnat or a swarm of angry bees.

 

Plan for tomorrow,
      Pray to see the end of this day,
          Be thankful for the ever present now,
              And let the arrows of your heart fly where they may...

 

When you try to be all things to all people, you become nothing to everyone.

 

No dream ever dies due to a lack of want or desire, but due to a lack of faith and commitment.

 

Never and forever last only as long as a lifetime.

 

"Reality" isn't tamperproof, failproof, or foolproof.

 

Resentment is the sediment of the soul.

 

Telling the truth is always easy when there are no consequences to the teller.

 

You cannot walk in the darkness without it swallowing you whole.

You cannot step into the light without it bathing you in its intensity.

You can wander in the twilight, pondering the divisions of light and dark, until death claims you—and then you'll have no choice at all.


© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Thoughtmare: Haunted

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Elanor

If you're brave enough to venture deep into the haunted foothills on a moonless night (in late October), then you might catch a glimpse of Elanor.

Just be certain that she doesn't catch a glimpse of you.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

At the Core (Elements)

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

At the Core (Disintegration)

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

At the Core

 

About

A visual remix of the 2001 CD album artwork that I did for Howard Hart's guitar-oriented instrumental album, Banquet on Mars.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Sanity is a patchwork of truth and lies.

Alternate Version

Sanity is a patchwork of truth and lies.

How they're stitched together is up to you — and your imagination...

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Life is a series of deep breaths, punctuated by gasps, hiccups, and yawns.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Perspective — it makes reality real.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Playground Epiphany

Children on a playground that were strangers not more than twenty minutes
ago,
     are playing and laughing together;
          falling into a natural rhythm of fun;
               breaking out into spontaneous games of tag and kick ball;
                    creating on-the-spot adventures—fueled by imagination...

Kids come and go,
     like bees and butterflies in a garden;
          like rambunctious little clouds traversing a deep blue sky.

All are welcome.
     None are turned away.

All are different,
     in color, size, ability,
          yet somehow all the same.

Order and organization reveal themselves,
     naturally.
          Organically.
               Easily.

This is a true social network,
     at least
          until it's time
               to go home.

 

About

A parental observation.

If this applied to the adults, then the world would be a better place.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Opportunity

 

About

"Opportunity" (O) is about creative possibilities; taking a "good" idea and overworking it (or working it to death), and losing the forest for the trees.

O applies to anyone that has ever had to wrestle with an idea.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Day that Was

A message that I left for my wife, just to make her smile. (It did.)

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Inception to Completion

 

About

"Inception to Completion" (ItC) is about possibilities, struggling to find the finish line, and losing the forest for the trees.

ItC applies to anyone that has ever had to wrestle with an idea.

The maze was generated by the excellent The Maze Generator at www.billsgames.com/mazegenerator/ and used with kind permission from Bill Kendrick.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Another Today's Tendril...

In a heartbeat the naturally beautiful can turn destructive—and deadly. The naturally beautiful: Weather, animals, insects, relationships.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

When skies turn grey, don't run away. But when they're green, swirls may be seen.

 

About

One afternoon in late summer the color of the swiftly moving clouds had turned from dark grey to grey-green in a matter of minutes.

The wind had also gone from breezy, but unremarkable, to tree bending and howling.

Fortunately, the storm didn't turn tornadic.

This TT also has a cousin in the following weather TT: 2009.12.29.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

It's true that only a fool dismisses (out of hand) the advice of others. It's also true that only an idiot relies on the advice of fools.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The business of doing business means dealing with a lot of P: Politics Paranoia Pomposity Process Procedure Pontification Plans Polling Peddling Prima donnas Patter Prattle Perception Promises Panoptic pandering "Power"

 

About

Pondering "the price of doing business"—personal, professional, spiritual—produced this P.

Updated 20220724

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Don't assume that others will know or understand. Provide the contextual clarity. Of course, lawyers and law makers seem predisposed to ambiguity and interpretation — and obsessed with contextual sensitivity.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Choices

The ever present now is all about choices.

       The ones you make,
           the ones you fake,
       the ones you regret,
           the ones you forget,
       the ones that fill your waking dreams,
           the ones that fill your inner screams.

The ever present now is about this or that,
       and a set of choices keep them apart.

To make a choice is not so bad.

It's their voices in your head that will drive you mad.

Today's Tendril...

Keeping it simple is easier said than done – especially when the tree of choice has many branches.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Golden Ratio (ASCII Face)

 

Tendrils

There are times when the path from idea to artwork takes you down rat holes, tumbling through rabbit holes, and into black holes.

 

The artist and the scientist know too well the meaning of begat.

 

Sure, an umbrella keeps the rain off of you, but what does it matter when you choose to play in the rain?

 

Simplicity is a tadpole that becomes a frog (or a toad).

 

Simplicity is a rat hole, if you let it.

 

For artists, engineers, and scientists alike, keeping it simple is easier said than done.

 

If balance and equilibrium were states of perfection, then we'd never know the wonders of frost or the jewels of dew.

 

Complexity is a Frankenstein stitched from the fabric of simplicity.

 

Chasing the possibilities can be a lot like chasing windmills.

 

At some point you have to accept that you're stuck in the quagmire of choice, especially when you're reaching for the clouds.

 

It's amazing how this, 8^), can cause so much consternation.

 

Soul Star (Surviving the Darkness)

 

About

What started out as a simple ASCII image (complete with tagline) turned into a tree with many branches.

The seed that became the tree:



© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Advantage: When you get your opponent to worry about the race, while you keep your eye on the prize.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Creativity isn't about formula; it's about formulation — turning the intangible machinations of the mind into a form that can be consumed by others.

Alternate Version

Creativity isn't about formula; it's about formulation — turning the intangible machinations of a restless mind into something—anything—that can be appreciated or criticized by others.

Dedicated to my Notebook Brother.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Patience, like praying, isn't a gift. It's a discipline — and requires diligence, mindfulness, and practice.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The "best of times" are those moments that are deliberately experienced in the evolving dynamic of the ever present now.

Alternate Version

To make the "best of times" more than mere moments relived in hindsight, longing, and reflective fondness, embrace the tendrils of the ever present now—and then extend them; turn existence into purpose.

For nothing can be remembered, until it is lived.

 

About

This TT originally published on 2010.07.24 to my now retired Tags and Tendrils Twitter account.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Just One Word

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

A Dream that is You

 

About

A true story.

Made for, and dedicated to, my wife.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Many believe that dreams are lassoed from the wild plains of reality. Isn't it better to believe that the opposite were true?

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Life Lessons: Bowling

• Follow your dot.
• The arrows don't lie.
• It's better to hit the pocket than to throw a rocket.
• Bowling with bumpers is a metaphor for having a safety net in life.
• The 7-10 split is also known as "Devil's Horns." Good versus evil extends to all aspects of reality.
• Bowling with your family is hit and miss.
• Bowling etiquette should be carried into other lanes of life.
• This is what happens when you throw a lot of strikes in a row: You forget how to throw a spare.
• Just because it looks good going down the alley doesn't mean it'll amount to much.
• Smooth and easy wins the game.
• Cosmic bowling may be confusing and disorienting, but the pins, the lanes, the balls, and the rules don't change.
• Everyone throws a strike once in a while. Enjoy the moment, but then get on with the game.
• Approach and follow-through are more important than velocity.
• Bowling a perfect game, making a 7-10 split, or executing a great trick shot is a matter of practice, persistence, and perseverance.
• Whether you prefer traditional bowling, duckpin bowling, or candlestick bowling, the objectives are the same: Stay out of the gutter, knock down as many pins as you can, and get the highest score possible.

Dedicated to Monk.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Too often, faith is treated like the interior of a home — decorated to suit one's taste and filled with bric-a-brac and knick-knacks.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Said an Angel...

Said an angel in a dream–

Let one demon through the door,
     soon will follow many more.

Let temptation plead its case,
     and you'll not win the sinner's race.

When I woke,
    I looked and screamed,
        'cause in my bed
        the Devil said,
          "You, my friend, are what you dreamed."

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

At the Crossing of I

 

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The "straight and narrow" doesn't have crooked lines, though it does have many circles.

 

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Sometimes our beliefs must be stepped on before we stop treating them like doormats.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

A moral girdle is easily removed, thus revealing the sausage of the soul.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Pressure is irrelevant when capacity, capability, and determination are present.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Just for Fun 1

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Swallowed Me Whole

Somehow, in a way that I can't explain, the night snuck up on me – and swallowed me whole...

I found myself knee-deep in whispering grass
and at the center of a firefly vortex.

Distant drums thumped
   and punched
      and pounded
         a slow,
         steady,
         hypnotic
         rhythm.

A crow cawed.

The Snark clapped.

God smiled.

And the moment rolled on
   and on
     and on,
like an amber marble
      across a frozen lake.

Until finally,
   in a way that I still can't explain,
the morning snuck up on me
      – and swallowed me whole...

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Epiphany

Through the eyes and the ooze of an apparition.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

There are no secrets to success. Anyone that claims to have them is trying to take advantage of you—for money, for power, or for sport.

Alternate Version

There are no secrets to success. Success comes from patience, persistence, and perseverance.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Skaitella

Sky whales and cloud logs vying for visual dominance in a vast sea of Rayleigh blue.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

In battle, there is no such thing as "blind fury." There is only fury or restraint. Anything else is a lie, an illusion, an omission, or subversion.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Ambition

      If only the wind and the sky would cede their powers to me, thought the red ant, fantasizing atop the highest tree in the city, then I'd rule the world—with fists of iron.

      As the ant slipped deeper and deeper into a trance of megalomania, a sparrow dropped out of the sun and ate the ambitious ant.

      The End

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril...

Impatience, as much as defiance, is the mother of independence.

Dedicated to, and inspired by, Monk.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Sky-blue is most vivid when seen through the eyes of creativity.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Simple Words

     "Once upon a time," that's how it all began. Those four simple words, first spoken to me as a child, made new worlds magically available—wholly real—and sparked a deep passion for stories.

    And what is a story, after all, but an escape hatch to a greener pasture, even when that pasture is visited at midnight (alone), beneath a Hunter's Moon, as the tendrils of a rolling blue fog coil their way into a starless sky, while a wolf bays from somewhere nearby, and a weathered scarecrow emerges from the fog, impassive and silent, and beckons you to come closer, with his unusually long straw hand.

    And you do...

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Mindstorm 2 (Tendrils)

On the third rock from the Sun, beneath rich starlight black, a child sails the celestial seas of his mind, and never comes back...

Dedicated to my wife, because she liked an early version.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Universal Norm

If you look carefully, you can see an "Aladdin's Lamp" in the image and the open maw of a yellow polar bear. And a fish.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

End-times (The Hour Draws Nigh)

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Filling the Cracks

 

About

A moment of melancholy, magnified, enhanced, and exaggerated, then dispatched with pen and paper, and ultimately transformed into something positive.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Thrinking and thraking, and binking and barking...pretty much how my day went. (It was a confusing day.)

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Easter 2010 - The Cracks are Showing

 

About

"The cracks are showing" works on many levels and is a reflection on the here, the now, the way back then, and the all too soon.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Truth

Truth isn't always pretty.

© Copyright 2012 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Content and context can be the difference between:       a smile and a frown;          epiphany and confusion;             life and death...

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Integrity speaks for itself (proudly). Greed lies—and vies—for itself (surreptitiously).

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Amorphous Bioluminescence

What's glowy and blue and swims fast at you?
   An amorphous thing. An amorphous thing!
What changes its form and isn't the norm?
   An amorphous thing. An amorphous thing!

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

I have no qualms fighting for "lost causes" that I believe in. It's chasing after the ghost causes that I find bedeviling.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Life can be a series of beginnings, endings, and blurry in-betweens.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Chance Encounter

Two old ghosts, who hadn't seen each other in many years, happened upon one another in the hallowed halls of the New York Public Library (late one evening in January).

	FRED	Hey, George, it's good to see you!
	GEORGE	You, too, Fred! Been a while. You're looking well.
	FRED	Thanks. So do you.
	GEORGE	So, tell me, what do you miss the most about the living world?
	FRED	[thoughtfully] Holding a book in my hands and turning its pages. I really miss that. A good book always felt great to have and to hold.
	GEORGE	[nodding] Yeah. I know what you mean.
	FRED	What about you? What do you miss the most?
	GEORGE	[without hesitation] Writing. The physical act of writing. I really miss the feel of pen on paper. And then holding the page—the written word—in my hands.
	FRED	Definitely. There was a special magic to gliding your thoughts across a page.
	GEORGE	[sullen] Yeah.
	FRED	[sighs] Yeah.

For a few, long, silent moments, the old ghosts drifted into the solitary memories of their lives.

	FRED	Well, I have to go, George. Good seeing you again.
	GEORGE	It was good seeing you, too, Fred. Take care of yourself.
	FRED	Thanks. You, too.

And the old ghosts went their separate ways, never to see each other again.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Another Cerebral Haunting

So tired of the "wait!"
So drained by the debate.

Sticky's the web of choice.
A thousand thoughts; no voice.

The blank page is daunting.
This, my cerebral haunting.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Said the Devil...

Oh little specklings,
     so fraught with indecision,
     so very frail,
     so deluded in your exalted place in time and space,
you're unable to hoist
even a single
heavenly
sail.

Oh little ashlings,
     rising from the embers of The Divine,
blown by the winds that you cannot tame;
     so rife with pain,
your joy is to pine.
          And whine.

Oh little dustlings,
     so consumed by trivial things,
     so amused by the simplest things,
          and wistfully wrapped in daily drama,
     so tortured by the here and now,
     forever else,
          and forever more.

Oh little meatlings,
     blissfully ignorant of what you are—
          in-sig-nificant,
          a lightless star—
you're nothing else,
     and nothing more.

Still. . .I want you,
     Evermore.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

To weave and to be woven, is the dream that is unfrozen.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Art folders.
    Art fodder.
Idea boulders.
    Idea prodder.

Pen the moment,
    revise it thrice.
A choice to make:
    fire or ice?

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Sometimes you have to recognize the hammer in the message.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Staring at the Ceiling

Staring at the ceiling in the dark is a lot like staring at the sun at noon.

At least that's what I whisper to the monsters under my bed, right before I throw a light on them and laugh in their faces.

And it scares the dickens out of them.

I love messing with them like that.

Good times.

Good times.

 

About

This is a true story.

At least the part about the ceiling.

And the dark.

And the dickens.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril...

The trouble with creature comforts is that they can turn into little monsters.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Progress and futility all in one: Boiling the ocean one bucket at a time.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Life is a board the length of you. Nail it, plane it, and saw it with care.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Reality: One part complacency, one part ferocity, one part calamity, and one part TBD.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

As Expected

    "Every night, when the house is most quiet, green hands spider their way from my closet to my bed," said Milo.

    "And then what," asked Dr. Ni, a prominent psychiatrist specializing in adult sleep disorders.

    "We shake hands," replied Milo, a grin awakening his face.

    With a hint of disbelief in his voice, Dr. Ni says, "You shake hands?"

    "Yes," Milo said, firmly and without hesitation.

    "And then what happens?"

    "We talk about — you," said Milo.

    "Me?"

    "Yes, you, Dr. Ni."

    "Why me?"

    "Because the thing attached to the green hands is very interested in you, Dr. Ni. Very interested. I've told it all about you and how you've been helping me with my nightmares and delusions. It wants to thank you for all that you've done. In fact, it's in the waiting room right now. It wants to shake your hands."

© Copyright 2010,2012 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

I Iconified

I of the storm,
of the imperceptible,
of the imagination.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Tendrils 9: Context Sensitive

Trust is a matter of perception.

 

Commitment is relative to proximity.

 

Hope is magic dust — and should be sprinkled liberally.

 

Too often, morality is context sensitive.

 

Consumers and producers: The yin and yang of greed.

 

Repetition is an important part of learning, until it stifles creativity.

Alternate Version

Repetition is an important part of learning; an alchemy that turns difficult into "second nature."

 

Your public face and your private face will be present when you face God.

 

About

I came up with this collection on my way to <location not important>.

I stopped to get a cup of coffee at <eatery not important>.

I scribbled an initial draft of the Tendrils on <surface not important>.

The loose theme to the collection: context sensitive.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Balance is precarious in a world rife with ethical, moral, and spiritual extremes.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

A nightmare: Arriving at the plateau of complacency and then hunkering down.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

To separate expectation from actuality is to live in the moment...is to be part of the ever present now.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Tendrils 8

You know it's quiet when you can hear the soft crackling of a bubble bath.

 

Beauty that does not inspire has either become commonplace or cruel.

 

10! - 9! - 8! - 7! ...

The seconds prior to midnight on New Year's Eve are no more or less precious than the seconds after midnight.

1 ··· 2 ··· 3 ··· 4 ...

 

To be a "giant among men" and a ghost or stranger to your family—to love—is failure.

 

Two paths in life, but never more.
      Zero tolerance for mistakes.
One path leads to salvation, the other to damnation.
      "Zero-to-hero" only takes a lifetime of choices...

 

Resolutions made on a whim break as easily as a glass (half full) shatters when it hits the floor.

 

About

This collection penned during the "in between moments" on New Year's Eve, 2009, and early AM 2010.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.