Let us hurry

by Jan Twardowski

Let us hurry to love people they depart so quickly
Leaving only their shoes and silence on the phone
Only what is unimportant tends to drag like a cow
The most important is so fast it happens in split-second
Silence that follows – normal and unbearable
Is like clarity born straight from despair
When we think about someone who is no longer with us

Please do not be so certain that there is still time left
For certainty happens to be most uncertain
It takes away our sensitivity along with happiness
And comes concurrently with pathos and humour
Just like two different passions yet not as strong as one
Tend to die down so quickly, like thrush song in July
Like a sound somewhat clumsy or a vacuous bow
They have to close their eyes in order to truly see
And even though to be born is a greater risk than to die
We love still too little and always too late

Do not write about it too often but write once and for all
And you will be like a dolphin both gentle and strong

Let us hurry to love people, they depart so quickly
And those who do not, will not always return
And you never know while speaking of love
Is the first one last, or the last one first.

Translated from the Polish by Pawel Maciejewski

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The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Narcissist

by Elizabeth Mika and Frederick Burkle

Narcissism in America is all the rage these days — even more so than usual, and that really says something — not in the least because of the popular GOP presidential candidate who is the center of media’s attention, a subject of dinner talks, friendly chats at the post office, local KKK meetings, neo-Nazi blogs, and your cat Fluffy’s worst nightmares (it may be the hair — imagine a hairball it would make).

But the said candidate is not the only one whose tremendous self-regard has recently mesmerized the public (as it always does). There is Pharma Bro whose loudly self-proclaimed humanitarianism stands in stark contrast with his decidedly non-humanitarian actions, and an award winning musician who thinks he is more influential than God. And why not! Go big or go home, as any narcissist would tell you.

Ridiculing the cases of such grotesquely overinflated self-regard can be entertaining, but there is a dark side to it, of the kind that real nightmares, and not just Fluffy’s, are made of. This is what this paper is about.

Full text.

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P.S. Yes, the above may sound familiar to our faithful readers.

You may also want to see this (and please do):

When being smart is not enough: Narcissism in U.S. Polity

 

P.P.S. Please spread the word. Our future is at stake. Thanks.

Right On Time

For Clare, and other discouraged friendly souls out there.

P.S. And for an encore, 500 crows:

 

Blessed Be The Poor

Blessed be the poor
For always being there
Ready to meekly accommodate
Our efforts to save them from their fate

Blessed be the poor
For always being there
In a place close enough to travel on vacation
But safely distant from our home
 
Blessed be the poor
For always being there
As cannon fodder, voting bloc,
And a subject of treatises and dissertations
 
Blessed be the poor
For always being there
Giving us a chance to talk about oppression
And justice with genuine emotion
 
Blessed be the poor
For always being there
To make us feel worse for a brief moment
But better for the rest of our life
 
Blessed be the poor
For always being there
With just enough presence to assure our salvation
But not so much to spoil the party
 
Blessed be the poor
For always being there
To grow religions and cathedrals
Without claiming either
 
Blessed be the poor
For always being there

EM