last week’s poems 14
Brendan: There’s only two species of people in this world, did you know that? Some scientists looked way way back in our evolution and discovered that all humans come from just two kinds of monkey, the Chimpanzee and the Bonobo. They’re almost indistinguishable. They’re both primates but they have completely different characteristics. The chimp if it’s scared will fight and in some cases even kill its own. But, the Bonobo, they just huddle together and fuck.
JR: Yeah yeah, you’re a lover or a fighter.
Brendan: The Bonobo are almost extinct. You need to figure out which species you are, and you better do it quickly.
- Son Of A Gun (2014 Film)
one big reason the Bonobos are endangered is that they only exist in the Democratic Republic of Congo where civil unrest makes it challenging for wildlife conservation groups to access and protect the species
here’s to the Bonobos out there trying to love well and create well:
The artistic process is about making the "flow" periods longer— and the "doubt periods" a source of creative inspiration.
- Bronques
the metaphysics of my room
the sketches were all half finished
strewn about my floor
but my bed was right next to my paint supplies
and the charcoal was getting into my lungs
so i packed up my easel
put it in a carrying case
tucked it under my bed
and with it i cleared my lungs
but lost my heart
i put my drawings in storage
until a time when i had a space
that i could be free to breathe
and to paint
but when she came over
she never saw the portraits i had sketched
of her and how i remembered her always
it was hidden away
almost forgotten
i could breathe
but the air wasn’t the same
and the sketches were still half finished
and all the poets sold their souls in copywriting
thinking about your life as an art piece >
they say you can’t make something great without first making a lot of something
“the city is more dangerous than the jungle, no?”
- Juan, fisherman who’s house we stayed at on the black water of the Amazon
the funny thing is they’ll be happy for you but only once you’ve made it
notes from a writing course i took long ago
the first draft is going to suck
only work to a word count
never reread on a first draft.
writing is always going to be hard. it is you against you. it’s a slog it’s a slog. it’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a blindfold on. you have to be addicted to the puzzle.
my ego is getting in the way of creation because the creation isn’t showing up perfectly
don’t write out of your identity wounds, don’t write to tell people you are smart or witty
love the idea you are trying to write about instead of yourself
remove yourself from the response of other people
1 hour of writing everyday
don’t play a victim, create from a place of joy
stop telling yourself this is hard
oh dear friend its been so long
since we got along
and oh old lover its been so long
since we loved at all
and oh old dreams its been so long
since i set you free
a story about a long waiting line to heaven or hell but nobody knows which one they are going to
i had lost the chaos for a little while but it was coming back
Bonobos and Chimps both share 98.7% of their DNA with humans
“Bonobos really like to play, even as adults — so much, that some researchers think the bonobo is the most playful species of all.” - https://www.awf.org/blog/endangered-bonobo-africas-forgotten-ape