Tag Archives: empathy

Day 29 — dirty books + factoid couplets

Almost every poem this month to date has been, in essence, a love poem. To books. To reading. To reading books. This one, breaks that pattern.

The Poetic Factoid is actually a series of Hypertext Factoids with Bactoids — It’s a poem where every line has a hypertext link to verify its claim. About why Reading is good for you. (A familiar theme true, but these are more of the facts I’ve collected along the way as I research. Originally they were just gonna be the text from the articles, but then I realise a couple of them rhymed; then I made the rest do so as well. It was fun.)

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dirty books

do alarm me : a little : i sometimes think : who held this before me : & worse : what did they hold as they held this book : various things have been  ::  in  ::  second hand books i’ve bought : & i don’t just mean : abandoned bookmarks : & forgotten pressed flowers : but other things : have been caught : like muffin crumbs : jam smears : peanut butter blotches : is that tomato sauce : have you been eating Cheezels : or Mac’n’Cheese : squashed mosquitoes : & miscellaneous other bugs : can now tell the difference : i believe : between coffee plops & tea drops : wait is that blood : no i don’t want to know  ::  & sometimes : i think even worse : the things i cannot see : are actually the curse : like getting medical & technical for a sec :  what if the previous reader was sick : germs bacteria fungi microbes : how many of them are still hanging around : did the previous reader : wash their hands : not just after gardening : or emptying the bin : please tell me : i’m not holding microscopic : drips of pee : or for that matter //

// look it doesn’t matter : i think i’ll put the book down : just for a bit : while i go & take  ::  some time out

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Day 29 Factoid Overload — Hypertext Factoids with Bactoids

reading …

reduces stress
aids academic success

boosts brain connectivity
improves your memory

more than one book at a time challenges & improves cognitive flexibility
can be used as a form of therapy

expands your vocabulary
develops empathy

gives your brain a comprehensive workout
causes new neural pathways to sprout

improves concentration a heap
before bed gives a better night’s sleep

to kids supercharges early language acquisition
whereas kids reading to dogs improves their own condition

makes you kinder
protects you from prison (kinda)

even prolongs your life
(which ya gotta admit, is kinda nice)

Day 08 – why read + empathy

Today’s poem is an attempt at answering a question I get asked often (or variations thereof) — why do you read so much?  It’s a tough one because it seems pretty self-evident to me … but over the years I’ve jotted down various reasons & this poem attempts to pull them together into a cohesive form. It’s possibly still too long & requires an edit. I’ll see how it looks/feels in a couple of weeks’ time.

The Factoid concerns the correlation between empathy & reading fiction …

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why READ : an inexhaustive list

why do I breath : I mean : seriously 

cos I can’t not : compulsion

it’s : escape & refuge : adventureland & safe space : idyllic pasts & dystopian futures : a chance to ignore the dumpster fire that the world constantly seems like it wants to become : just for a few hours 

to get lost : lose time : time travel : to walk a mile : or warp the space time continuum : cause the real world to cease to exist : lose myself : in the wash & flow : of well told tale 

to let this : always overworked brain : go off leash
to glean answers for questions : I didn’t even know : I needed to ask
to explore the beauty : & darkness of humanity : to share a sacred indulgence
to understand myself : others : the world : to heal the wounds : to fill the lonely void of the universe’s vastness with a brief flicker of light

to experience : sustenance : catharsis : terror : joy : sadness : triumphs : heartbreaks : tears & sorrows

to share minds with : philosophers two thousand years dead : Caesars : physicists capable of explaining the universe : poets who explain the human heart : saints & sinners : & tanner’s sons from small market towns who change the world

because I can’t live every life I want to
because I can live lives I wouldn’t want to actually experience but enjoy experiencing 
because it’s fun being thrown into other universes : other time periods : other countries : other cities : other world views : other consciousnesses : other POVs : hell it’s even fun just to be thrown across the street : things look rather different from behind their curtains than mine

relax : after long tiring days
rejuvenate : on days when I have to do : nothing 

I love words
I love stories

I like who I am when I read
I like looking through mirrors & into windows 

I’m a loner who enjoys  solitude  silence  stillness : dreaming while awake

because the alternative : isn’t an option

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Day 08 Factoid – Reading fiction increases empathy

walking a mile in someone’s book

countless studies have shown:

folks who read fiction often
     have greater social cognition (work out what people think & feel)
     are better at measuring interpersonal sensitivity
     are more likely to help 
     can identify, understand, & share in someone else’s feelings
     behave more altruistically
     result in better doctors

so, to repeat 
     reading fiction is empathy-building
     so stop farking about here 
     go read a goddamn novel 
     & become a better person
     you numpty
                             (or words to that effect)

Day 14 — world peace + snow

Today’s poetry book was a collection of (second rate) haiku-poems. The author himself described them as haiku-poems to differentiate between them & traditional/proper haiku. So I likewise decided to attempt a few haiku-esque poetry today 1) because they’re short & I’m tired & 2) because I have a tendency to overwrite so forcing brevity is good. They’re based on a prompt: what’s standing in the way of world peace? They mostly adhere to the supposed traditional rules of haiku. Except for the Poetic Factoid. All were written based on notes taken over the past couple of weeks. 

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… in world peace’s way

i.
inequality
tax the rich right now
kill billionaires

ii.
dogma of all kinds
cold organised religion
believe & let believe

iii.
imaginary 
when superstition outweighs 
observable truth

iv.
lack of empathy
certainty in one’s rightness
apathy (too much)

v.
i’m 100% certain 99% of us just 
want quiet peaceful lives yet we let 
1% of sociopaths run everything

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Day 14 – TIL  how easy it is to cook the system when you’re tired

A “traditional” haiku
this line has five  beats
seven  syllables go here
back to five  now  snow