The Ancient Modern
Poetic sketches of the Gateless Gate that joins us to the Unseen, Unlost and Unavoidable
307. Ash and Maples NEW
306. Now That It’s Inside Out
305. Exile and Madness: Some Thoughts On Being Cursed
304. Even This Far
303. PŌNIKŌAN
302. All But Immersion
301. For Salad And For Wine
300. And Of All Things
299. Prayers of Ignorance
298. Hypothermia
297. Every and No
296. New
295. The Wreath of Silence
294. The Image
293. The Appearance of Wisdom
292. New Delhi, 1958, Page 105
291. Home
29o. The Self of the Myth-Made Man
289. A Metaphor
288. The Master
287. Lifted
286. Waiting For The Echo
285. About The Thing Lost
284. Scape
283. The Olivet Prescription
282. The Asters
281. A Brief Reply
280. Kong Ming Cooperates With The Tao
279. Our Freedom To The Altar
278. To See God
277. Where the Lover Shows the Secrets
276. Prayers of Incomprehension
275. A Kitchen Incantation
274. Consolations
273. Porch Poem
272. Of All The Living
271. Together, God
270. Who Furrows? Who Follows?
269. Suggested By A Passing Bee
268. Genesis At Golgotha
267. Can We Escape
266. Brief As Memory
265. It Hasn’t Seen
264. Based On A True Story
263. Used, Good Condition
262. Prodigal
261. The Desert
260. Closed
259. Opened
258. Disparate
257. Long Into Night
256. The Archangel Contemplates A Buddha
255. The Tale of the Two Guides
254. Unconditional Conditions
253. The Chase
252. Motion Picture Soundtrack
251. Texit (with Audio)
250. One Question Asked Three Ways
249. To Thusness
248. I’ll Step Now Down (with Audio)
247. Aeternus Adventus
246. Wide-Wide
245. There Was No Beginning
244. No One Knows the Hour
243. Inherence / Repercussion
242. Theotokion
241. Patience
240. What I Think When I Think Of The Moon
239. Who Are Awake
238. Where (Not) To Look
237. Prothesis
236. Eighteen Death Haiku
235. Enclosed, Disguised
234. Unless I Ache
233. Seven Images of Opposition
232. Castles
231. Did I?
230. To You The Cursed
229. Observances
228. Here And In A Thousand
227. To Them That Go Down
226. Orthodox
225. Step Outside
224. Prima Causa
223. The Trees
232. I Have No Island
231. Vin Nouveau
230. Always to the Clouds
229. Return To The Elixir
228. I Tried Walking Off The Job
227. Informed
226. Boundary
225. The Sunday of the Paralytic
224. Whereunto Shall I Liken This Generation?
223. Apprentice
222. More Are The Children
221. Wounded Reaching
220. In Praise of Arthur Machen
219. Between Two Lives
218. Those Who Came Before
217. Poetic Catechism
216. Telling Time
215. Give Everything Away
214. Physics of Insight
213. Water, As A Witness
212. Song of the Pacific Boatman
211. Room of Exits
210. Standard of Living
209. Bar Gods
208. Timing
207. I Am Like The Birds
206. The Old Learning
205. Scientia Nostra
204. Heir of Prophecies, Part X
203. Heir of Prophecies, Part IX
202. Heir of Prophecies, Part VIII
201. Heir of Prophecies, Part VII
200. Heir of Prophecies, Part VI
199. Heir of Prophecies, Part V
198. Heir of Prophecies, Part IV
197. Heir of Prophecies, Part III
196. Heir of Prophecies, Part II
195. Heir of Prophecies, Part I
194. How You’ll Know
193. I Watched With Them
192. The Noise from the Party
191. Correction
190. Periodical
189. Etc., Missing You
188. After All, Heaven
187. Anyone Could Find It
186. The Old Answers
185. But If It Dies
184. A System of Cross-Referenced Files
183. Voyage
182. Another Dream of Yellow Millet
181. Nile
180. The Sea Is Nothing
179. Passing Through
178. Primrose
177. Mortal
176. Anguish In This Flame
175. The Idolaters
174. Prayer and Germination
173. What More From Earth?
172. Hellenic Haiku
171. Ritual
170. Anagogy
169. Open
168. On Leaving Two Spaces After A Sentence
167. Defer
166. Solipsis
165. Mythopoesis
164. The Forest Shade
163. A Little Rhyme About Trash
162. Damn Normans
161. Lear
160. 20/20
159. Three Stories of Education
158. The Chrysoberyl Necklace… Fairies & Ghosts
157. Celestial Cartography
156. Center
155. By the Stream
154. Honestly
153. Certain
152. Night Sounds
151. Abbreviated
150. Letter
149. Feast of Books
148. The Descent
147. Endgame
146. The Writer’s Wife
145. Two Saints
144. Lost
143. All the Writing of the World
142. Silent Water, Spoken Light
141. Le Pays de L’Amour-Propre
140. Subway
139. All the Rage
138. Haunted By Virtue
137. Awake in the World of Dreams, Part 5…Fairies & Ghosts
136. Christopher
135. To Write A Poem Like Baudelaire
134. Old Tom Has Some Work To Do
133. Terms of Venery for Solitary Birds
132. The Rabbit Creation Myth
131. Awake in the World of Dreams, Part 4…Fairies & Ghosts
130. Awake in the World of Dreams, Part 3…Fairies & Ghosts
129. It’s a Lifelong Singalong, If You Let It Be
128. The Work of Reading
127. Awake in the World of Dreams, Part 2…Fairies & Ghosts
126. Out of Courtesy
125. Beautiful Moon! Bella Luna!
124. Awake in the World of Dreams, Part 1… Fairies & Ghosts
123. Honesty
122. Two, Hearts, Two Paths, Two Ends
121. Seconds
120. This And Not Another
119. My Friend Shal
118. Local Weather
117. Eat Them All
116. Life Untended
115. The Woman Who Followed the Wind… Fairy Tales and Ghost Stories
114. The Terror of the Day’s Routine
113. I Saw the Wonder and Glory
112. The Elixir of Life Continued
111. Human Life in a Lotus
110. Regarding Eggs
109. Evelyn Mary’s Dictionary
108. Isolation and Permanence During the Pandemic
107. A Poem While Gardening
106. Poetry and the Real
105. I Dream a Renovation
104. Fratricide
103. The CMB
102. Stories from the Other World
101. Eve
100. Cape Town
99. Minotaur
98. Interpreting Depression
97. Fitted for Gracefulness
96. The Boy Who Tasted the Moon
95. Listen
94. The Unknown Project
93. A Tale of Jerusalem
92. Sermon
91. Hospitality and Insurance
90. The Floating Crucifix
89. We Dream of Cosmic Laundry
88. Further Thoughts on Myth
87. The Raven Creation Myth
86. Even from the Silence
85. The Heart of the Debate
84. To Craft a Recognizable Story
83. Together, Whispering
82. Only a Gesture
81. Comparing the Metaphysical Triads
80. As the Beginning, So the End
79. Poetry and the Image of God
78. Stress, Sensitivity and the Inner Life
77. Overlooking a River Downstream from a Clearcut Forest
76. The Lost City, A Fairy Tale… Thin Places
75. On the Way to Church Today
74. The Reflection
73. Tang Poems
72. Countdown
71. The Eighth Step Is the Water
70. Heaven
69. Returning to a Symbolic Worldview
68. Reflections on Lalibela, the Spiritual Heart of Ethiopia
67. 41, 68, 99, 11, 6
66. Behind the Silk Mirror
65. The Copper Chain
64. The Elixir
63. Searching for the Center, Part 3
62. Searching for the Center, Part 2
61. Searching for the Center, Part 1
60. Two Birds Over the Sky in Addis…
59. Prophecy and Narration
58. Jimsonweed
57. Dream Tornadoes Make Deadly Company
56. My Impressions on Safari: The Infinite and the Absolute
55. The Runes
54. A Thousand-Year Storm
53. Late Night on the Favorite Five
52. Empty
51. Interpreting Asian Poetry: Passivity or Conservation?
50. A Reaction to the Recently Televised Self-Surgery
49. The Loom
48. The Garden Tour
47. On the Relationship of Good & Evil in Religion & Fairytales
46. Nicodemus
45. Poetic Education
44. Never By the Clock
43. Literacy as Medicine for Obsessive Thoughts
42. Tea Will Teach You
41. The Bell Park
40. Cain
39. The Importance of Modern Art
38. The Carpenter’s Wife, a Fairy Tale
37. The Ongoing Debate
36. Inspiration
35. A Combination of Wings… A Fairy Tale in Verse
34. Something to Keep in Mind
33. Shelter From the Noise
32. The Coyote Creation Myth
31. Some Advice for Contemporary Mesopotamians
30. Science and Culture
29. Ambrose and the River Troll
28. I Am Drinking With Li Bai In New Mexico And We Interrogate The Moon!
27. Sidereal Invitation
26. Pleasure and Personhood
25. Why You Should Read Arthur Machen
24. Another Wednesday in Africa
23. The Orgy
22. Rocks and Seeds
21. Pain in Childbearing
20. A Forgotten Tale of the Early Church
19. Turtles as Revelation
18. Psychological Astronomy
17. Who Walks When I Am Walking (A Poem in Prose)
16. The Wise General
15. Too Many Doors
14. Enjoying Slowly
13. Poetry and Biology
12. Handmade Beauty
11. Ethics and Poetry
10. A Pedestrian Nightmare
9. The Falsity of Measurement
8. On The Eagle and the Lightning
7. What Heaven Reveals
6 On the Two Types of Music
5. The Hidden Life of Time
4. Poetry and Environment
3. Time, Death and Science
2. Two Poems
1 Holy Wednesday: A Poem
Comments on Reflection XII: Handmade Beauty:
The connection between how we express ourselves non-verbally, and non-physically, using the grammar and language as we put forth as words on paper (handwritten or typed, but not typed into an electronic document), usually distinguishes the amount of effort that we are willing to put into any matter.
In this short reply, I am using a dictation program (Dragon) that allows me to “write” without typing or using a writing instrument such as a pen or pencil. What I say can be edited (and usually is edited, at least lightly), but I can never achieve the focus that comes from the slower writing process of using a pen on paper. I can type quickly and I can speak quickly, and– just ask my wife– my words usually somehow get me into trouble. The pen forces us to think-ahead, and that can only help us, right?
I believe that setting our thoughts down for others to read is a sort of Beauty in itself. I would not have used that word, but I like how Joshua used it and has coined it for himself. Whether putting my thoughts down through writing using script or typing a few words into an online blog, many of us are trying to get our world-view across to others. I’ve never been able to write well in cursive. I can hardly remember how to write a capital Q or Z in script. For this reason, when I write, I use the method I first learned: printing.
I went to elementary school in the early 1980s. Even back then, in a rural town on the East Coast, handwriting was being deemphasized in general. The typewriters had arrives many decades before the 80s, and my first use of a computer at school happened in about 1984. We were introduced to computers as newfangled typewriters.
The loss of handwriting is a valid point here, but even worse, is the loss of Beauty that Joshua sees coming from our handwriting. I believe our thoughts ought to be the Beauty, not how we choose to express them. How we choose to express this Beauty is a personal choice for most of us. For Joshua, it seems, handwriting is important (and it is important for me too), but for others who have limited experience with this method of communication, the tool of choice is probably a computer keyboard or a phone’s touch screen– at least in the Western world where technology is readily available.
However a person chooses to express their Beauty– if there is beauty inside of them– seems valid. In the same way that a person can use Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator to manipulate digital “matter,” others will use acrylic or oil paints on canvas to actually paint. For my writing methods, I choose to dictate, handwrite, and type. All of these methods allow me to express what I hope is Beauty.
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I really enjoyed this thoughtful post. I think you’re right about expressing the beauty any way we are able. I wonder if what grieves me most about the loss of handwriting is a loss of tradition and connection with past generations of pre-keyboard writers. I’ve heard that C.S. Lewis and Rene Guenon, as examples, handwrote whole manuscripts that required very little editing. How did they sustain a single narrative for such a long time!? I’m feeling good if I can get through a whole typed paragraph without the urge to check my phone! Slow, sustained thought, handwriting, expression of story and philosophy – the “beauty inside” – the connections seem deep, but fragile.
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