Day 22 — conundrums + more conundrums

The idea for this one has been nagging at me for several days & many of the pairs popped (or rather worked their way) into my head as I drove home from work into the setting sun. The Poetic Factoid today is actually many Factoids in one — & picks up where the first poem leaves off (there was so much I couldn’t fit in to the top poem; hence part ii).

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the great moral conundrum of our time

Life gives us choices. Constantly.

From little easy ones like:  boxers or briefs.
Vampires or werewolves. Dogs or cats.
Chips with vinegar or sauce. Autumn or spring.
Reddit or Twitter, iPhone or Android.
Toilet paper over or under. Moon or sun.
Glass half full or half empty. Running marathon
or sitting on the sofa sensibly with a book.

To big hard ones like:  pineapple on pizza
Be rich or be in love. Be talented or popular
(obviously not everyone can be both like me).
Live by the ocean or in the mountains.
Cold pizza for breakfast or hot crumpets 
for dinner. Window or aisle. Sweet or savoury.
Fiction or non-fiction. Venice or Reykjavík.

& here’s where we arrive at the prime conundrum:
Rereading old favourites or trying out new books.

If you’re looking for some wise words of wisdom from me here to guide 
your way forwards, sorry to disappoint — I’ve yet to solve this myself.

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Day 22 Factoid — reading choices

Part ii: more reader-specific conundrums

Buying more books or reading the ones you have.
(Warning: this is a strawman option 
hence why it is first on the list)
Comfy at home or in a cozy cafe.
Morning or evening; day or night.
In bed or on couch. Silence or with music.
One book at a time or many books at once.
Indoors or outdoors. Hardcover or paperback.
Audio or physical. Sci-fi or fantasy. 
Or crime or romance or historical or thriller.
Or history or memoir or nature writing.
Series or standalones. Classics or new releases.

Tea or coffee or hot chocolate while reading
Or Sauv Blanc or whiskey or GnT or even water.

Day 18 — my antilibrary + definitions

A word I’ve long liked given I live within one is antilibrary — so today’s poem explores that idea in a magic realism kinda way. The Factoid is presented for those who do not know what an antilibrary is but want to know. Lifted straight from the dictionaries it is.

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My Antilibrary has no End

wake again : from the ancient childhood dream : drifting high above the sea : toward the house on the summit : of a mountain range long gone : our eternal sanctuary : respite : from mortal mistakes : our sempiternal palace : our immutable mansion : our cosy cottage : that scales in size as required : especially for us : where we go : our safe house : between sentences

the home that has held us : healed us : for centuries : millennia : & more

all my books : that endless room beyond my library : where exists every book never written : as well as all the ones that were : including many of my own : past present yet to be : books lost forever : in the fires of Alexandria : in fear driven religious pogroms of every stripe : in rising damp : in neglect : in forgotten buildings falling down quietly return to earth slow soft embrace : lost ledgers from ancient Egypt : Greece : the Xia dynasty : companions to the Bhagavad Gita : biographies of Buddha : Incan glyphs : Mayan & Aztec hieroglyphs : tomes from Timbuktu & Tibet : archives even from Atlantis, Avalon, Tír na nÓg : scrolls from beyond the stars 

wake again : from the room : where once i wandered : nightly : seeking that volume : that would save : my life : from turning away 

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Day 18 Factoid – an actual dictionary definition

antilibrary  / ˈantiˈlʌɪb(rə)ri / 

The [rather impressive] collection of books you own but have not yet read, for whatever reason, but would still like to one day, when they’re needed, all of which keep you intellectually curious & humble. Books which reminds you that there’s still plenty you don’t know (yet). Plenty you don’t even know you don’t know. These innumerable beautiful unread books, should not be viewed as failures, but as sources of inspiration & future learning. & you should not stop buying them, simply because shelf space is getting a little tightish or your mother tells you you should.

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)