just as good

Sometimes all that's needed a foul mood to snap is a solid, hour-long, afternoon nap. Myself I just took one, then did my yoga, and feel just as good as if on La Droga. Sleeping when my body was calling out for it (and staying away from that chemical shit) when coupled with breathing and sun salutations does foster a lasting and healthy sensation that buoys the spirit and brightens the mood far better than choosing to just sit and brood. Therefore close those peepers and enter repose, awaken and strike up a fine yoga pose, then fix a light supper and sit down to write, this short, simple sequence can cause much delight.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

Baroque classical music

In order to write I've developed a trick – I listen to Baroque classical music. The strains of Beethoven and Bach and Mozart awaken my senses with a bold kick-start; they occupy portions and parts of my brain that yearn for distraction again and again. The music I listen to cannot have singing for otherwise I will for sure get to thinking and just try to figure out what's being said, which snuffs out my fires and makes them go dead. I first started doing this back in the day, on my Sony Walkman Beethoven would play, his final 9th Symphony was all I would hear through bright orange headphones attached to my ears. The cycle continues; it still serves me well; it's nearly surefire, like ringing a bell; it helps me keep writing in silence or crowds, when people around me are noisy and loud. To do it just download a classical tune, rejoice that you've found a most timeless of boons, take pencil and paper or use a laptop, with practice you surely will come out on top.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

just to sit

I yearn to be one with the flotsam and dust, to be in this manner is something I must. To unlearn my learning is another goal; to surf on the regular, get hella swoll. There lives deep within me way down in my loins, a treasure not measured in rupiah coins, it begs for attention most every day and sometimes can dictate my patterns and ways. To channel my powers and just to sit still, to master the urges and subdue the will, these are things that no one can give, none can steal, I'll make of my weaknesses a filling meal.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

ooo

It is a strange folly to sit here and write with a mind still clouded from drinking last night when I watched a handful of dwarfs dance and fight as they with much comedy improved their plight.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

extrima kasih, pak

When visiting fair, far-flung Indonesia remember your phrases – foremost though T'rima. It's followed by Kasih – these two mean Thank You; please say them quite often to friends old and new. In keeping with trends in most adventure sports there is though a dashing, fresh kind of retort that's used to give thanks to a younger, fun crowd – it's spoken not softly but boldly and loud. An Extrima Kasih just bursts with elation as well as the sincere and honest sensation of gratefulness toward a fine counterpart who keeps in the folds of his own beating heart the not-quite-so-subtle or too-modest dream or being the bossman of all that's extreme. Please still be respectful to those who are old – respect in this country is worth more than gold – but try out this hot phrase on dogs of the sea and say to a surfer: Extrima Kasih!

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

on flipping switches

I learned how to turn off most yearning feelings when I was a pipsqueak, first spreading my wings. It happened soon after my family moved to Deutschland – Germany – where I felt behooved to throttle the misery building within so as to my new life abroad to begin. The friends and dear classmates that I'd left behind weighed massive and foremost upon my young mind, so much so I had to just learn to unfeel, with such strong emotions I couldn't then deal. Now I'm in my thirties, becoming a man, on my own two feet I can more and more stand, but still I can flip off what most others can't – compassion and longing and deep-seated want. Oh well, that's my station, it isn't so bad, at least I don't easily break or get mad, please wish me good fortune and much Happiness as I navigate this here flesh-and-bone mess.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

chaotic and fair

I'm back from an island, Gili Trawangan, there I found adventure and new friends and fun. It took but an hour by a mountain bike around its circumference to pedal and hike, friendly were the people that I met out there on that tiny island chaotic but fair. Now off to old Singapore I must be going for I've some fine people my face to be showing. Sleep well then my hearties and keep your heads high, your hearts still and empty, and all your wounds dry.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

there and ponder

By speaking about great immutable Truths one shepherds them into all-too-skinny booths, imprisoning them with inadequate words, transmuting what's gold into fresh, steamy turds. Therefore I'll remember next time I dare speak to stop up my pucker and shore up what's weak, to keep to myself many things I have learned, to cherish such beauty as sacrifice earned. This task is not easy, for others expect to sit there and ponder, comment, and correct, to say how I should have done this or done that while I keep on spewing until I go flat. Silence it is golden, worth more than much else, it's greater than petty, material wealth, a pillar of strength in a house built of sticks, I'll now shut my yapper before I fall sick.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

life-giving sod

Upon this here island – the one of the Gods – is much rich, volcanic, and life-giving sod. Sent down from the peaks of Agung and Batur it nurtures a people both mighty and pure. Through smart cultivation they grow rice in it, manured with great heaps of holy cow shit, they coax from it mountains of fruits and veggies that mass on green bushes and bunch up in trees. We eat of this bounty most every day, so long as deities still grant us our stay, until life's inevitable strikes us down and turns us right back into life-giving ground. So eat up, my hearties, do not miss a grain, lest all of that labor should have been in vain, but finish each morsel that lands on your plate for she is a fickle and tricky one (Fate).

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

master these bones

We each have the option of doing what's Right, of choosing the pathways that lead into Light, of seeking and speaking and searching for Truth, and learning from Wisdom that lives in a tooth. It should not in any way be a surprise that the self-same orifice from which spew lies can also come loving and welcoming tones, for we as mere babies first master these bones. Our jaws are the wellspring of much human strength, we use them through all of our short lifetimes' length, we eat, talk, and kiss with them, spit and chew too, convinced that there's nothing that they cannot do. Next time though that we turn to challenging tasks and meet them with our teeth quite mightily clasped, we hope to remember to stop and relax, imagining our jaws were but made of wax. In this way we combat the faulty illusion that fearfulness is an unwanted intrusion and not something that we can choose to discard, avoid, and say No to, like sugar or lard. So take now a moment to open the jaw, to stretch out and loosen that animal maw, delight in the pleasure of this simple move with which one can alter the mind from it's groove.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥

on friendly manis

Manis meows at my door, hoping I will pet her more. Even though it's early morning she arrives with little warning, sneaking out from neighbor's gate with hope that I her needs will sate. All she wants is tender scratches which she takes in fleeting snatches as I move around my place, washing torso, feet, and face. Then she jumps onto the table, old she is but more than able to alight and disappear, purring at me as she nears. Off she goes to check the rooms where she will perch and lick and groom and clean herself most anywhere – in the kitchen, on the stairs. I do miss her, when she's gone, maybe I should coo and fawn and give her more love when I'm able and she's lying on my table. Who can know the ways of cat, why they come or go, at that, praise the goddess of the feline for her presence makes our hearts shine.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥