commonplace book

This is just to say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

—William Carlos Williams

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Fairy tales do not start, nor do they end, in the dark forest. That son of a gun always shows up smack dab in the middle of a story. But it will all work out.

Now, it may not work out how you think it will, or how you hope it does, but believe me, it will work out. Exactly as it's supposed to.

Ted Lasso S02E05: "Rom-Communism"

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If all our life is but a dream, fantastic posing greed

Then we should feed our jewelry to the sea

For diamonds do appear to be

Just like broken glass to me

Panic! At The Disco - Northern Downpour

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In the year 1054, astronomers in the imperial court of the Song dynasty looked up at the sky and saw a star where there had been none before. It was so bright, it could be seen even in the middle of the day, but in two years' time, it had disappeared. The Song astronomers called it kèxīng, a guest star, for its brief visit to Earth's heavens.

700 years later, an Frenchman looked through his telescope and saw a glowing cloud he mistook for a comet.

900 years later, an American noticed that the glowing cloud was in the same place as the guest star from 1054, and suggested that they were the same object.

Twenty years ago, a telescope named after that same American took a photograph of the guest star, now identified as the Crab Nebula.

Hubble telescope composite image of Crab Nebula

Because of the records of the ancient Chinese astronomers, we know that this nebula was created by a supernova—a star that ran out of nuclear fuel, and rather than fade away, chose to go out with one big, beautiful bang.

So that's how stars die, then.

That's one way to look at it, from a human perspective.

But everything that made the star is still there.
The heat and the gas and the light. They just changed shape.

The law of conservation of energy and matter.

It goes on to become new stars, planets,
comets, glittering clouds of gas in the sky.

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It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they're supposed to be.
I've been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

—Pat Schneider

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I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There’s nothing more to say.
The poem ends,
Soft as it began,—
I loved my friend.

—Langston Hughes

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If children don't grow up

Our bodies get bigger, but our hearts get torn up

Arcade Fire - Wake Up

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Oh, Heaven

Heaven is a place

A place where nothing

Nothing ever happens

Talking Heads - Heaven

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Do or die, you'll never make me

Because the world will never take my heart

Go and try, you'll never break me

We want it all, we wanna play this part

I won't explain or say I'm sorry

I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar

And give a cheer for all the broken

Listen here, because it's who we are

Just a man, I'm not a hero

Just a boy who had to sing this song

My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade

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And if you wanna find me, I'll be out in the sandbox

Just wonderin' where the hell all the love has gone

Playin' my guitar and building castles in the sun

And singin' Fun, Fun, Fun

Barenaked Ladies - Brian Wilson

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I'm always dragging that horse around

All of his questions, such a mournful sound

Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground

Cause I like to keep my issues drawn

It's always darkest before the dawn

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

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Caminante, son tues huellas
el camino, y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino
Se hace camino al andar
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
seve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar
Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.

—António Machado

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Nightswimming deserves a quiet night

The photograph on the dashboard

Taken years ago

Turned around backwards so the windshield shows

Every streetlight reveals a picture in reverse

Still it's so much clearer

R.E.M. - Nightswimming

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were you talking to me? oh weird i'm not here
yeah i got out of bed, curl-creamed my hair
cracked three eggs in a bowl and warmed them just fine
changed at London Bridge, caught the Jubilee line
turned up at the place, did the thing, said the hi
but yeah, no, yeah—power cut behind my eyes

i made a laughter noise, said mmm when you spoke
wasn't sure of your pronouns so said 'morning, folks'
went to the bathroom, pissed, the chain broke

couldn't remember what to do with a thing when you break it
in the mirror, good to see you,
shame you couldn't make it

—Lucas Jones

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