"Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? . . . If it be, give me thine hand" (2 Kings 10:15). I do not mean, "Be of my opinion." You need not. I do not expect of desire it. Neither do I mean, "I will be of your opinion." I cannot; it does not depend on my choice. I can no more think than I can see or hear as I will. Keep your opinion; I, mine, and that as steadily as ever. . . . Let all opinions on one side and the other: only, "give me thine hand." . . . "If thine heart is as my heart," if thou lovest God and all mankind, I ask no more: "Give me thine hand." . . . [and] love me with a very tender affection, as a friend that is closer than a brother, as a brother in Christ.

- John Wesley qtd in Michael Lodahl's The Story of God

Banksy Art, Chalk Farm, London, England

Flaming, stormy, sparkling! She embraced me with her whole self, and my self disappeared.

For she was not she but the whole universe.


Evgenii Ivanovich Zamiatin. We

Olin, San Diego, California

Bugheera Secret Coolcat Houdini Elvis Beaver Shadow Schade, Fort Sumner, New Mexico

I've been in love with this ball of fur for the last nine years. 

Filmed about four years ago.

Birds, Stockholm, Sweden

Rwanda, Africa

dishwasher

i sat on the counter and listened to the dishwasher make its full cycle.

i sat on the counter and listened to you explain.

i asked the same rephrased questions while reversing the syntactic order.

you gave the same rephrased answers while instilling a gentler tone.

i understood and didn't understand

"that makes sense." but it doesn't.

forty-six minutes and four seconds later

i understood without understanding.

the dishwasher clicked once more then vented its steam.

you are gone. no i'm not. yes. you are.

maybe i'm starting to grow up.

the day before was wrong

but we'll make up for it today

i whispered

my arm under your sweet head

we're only saying our goodbyes

in the splinters of dusty night dreams

in the uncomfortably comfortable bed

do you remember my birthday

or my name

do you remember 

or did you remember to forget

i'll remind you to remember

we listened to the snap of sails on the pacific

we touched the cold northwestern wind in the park filled with machines

we experienced the coast glitter like a 1920s dress covered in jazz

we followed the broken road and didn't have to worry -- only drive and drive

there was a story about a ceiling

the trees were silent because all the birds had left

and you read lying on your stomach

your voice more honest

the words emerging from your mouth

became sunburned and sandy

gulls bolted landward to snatch them up

they are greedy

or maybe just hungry

the day before was wrong

we'll make up for it tomorrow

all that is wonderful right now

do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for. 

- Epicurus 

5th Ave, New York City