Lamp Post in the Marsh

The Skeptic danielwdavison.substack.com

Illustration created by Midjourney Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published He taught doubt in the classroom, ’Cause doubts were in his head. A bitter lonely geezer Who complained and swore in bed. He’d say, “Now Pascal’s wager Ain’t worth the poker chips. It’s bussin’ misers’ tables Knowin’ bastards leave no tips. It’s sayin’ friends are faithful, But seein’ that their fake.

Fairyland danielwdavison.substack.com

Illustration created by Midjourney Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published His mom groaned and said, “It’s just fairyland.” But his dreams were like nothing on earth. And he thought as he felt his life ebbing away Of that place he had known since his birth. He recalled how the fairy-folk danced fully clothed ’neath a honeyed light strained through a sieve. Is nakedness evil? Are birthday suits bad? He pondered such things as a kid.

thanks for the good story, Daniel. I don't know as much about Armenia as I should, or about vampires at all. But I was intrigued to see from Wiki that the dakhanavar (դախանավար) was a real legend there, as recorded in 1854 in the book, Transcaucasia and the Tribes of the Caucasus by Baron August von Haxthausen. I unerstand also that the first literary vampire book was Polidori's in 1819. So...

In the late spring of 1838, the Viceroy of the Caucasus ordered a surveyor from Kiev named Nikolai to explore and map out a network of gorges located at the base of Mount Ararat in the oblast of Armenia, an area reputed to be near where the ark of righteous Noah alighted when the great flood’s waters receded. Nikolai, who was fluent in both Armenian and Turkish, traveled southwest into the Caucasus from the city of Tiflis.

I had to laugh to myself about Evan and his Cliffs Notes. The first book in my life that I DNF was the Grapes of Wrath, so I bought the CN thinking it would get me through the exam, but I barely made it through those. Something about that book just rubbed me the wrong way... Maybe that would be my astral Inferno, haha :-) I also just wanted to say I'm so impressed with your writing throughout.

If you’re joining us just now, follow the snake’s tail to the Prologue or climb a ladder to the Table of Contents. The unborn universe had clammed up and was refusing to speak to Evan. It had moved from the chambers of his heart into his lower diaphragm; and he could hear it conferring (sotto voce)with Niyati, which was starting to piss him off since it meant they were talking about him.

The Analects (論語) danielwdavison.substack.com

Today I dipped into D.C. Lau’s 1979 translation of the Analects (論語) of Confucius (a.k.a. “Master Kong”). I felt inspired to transform a few phrases and clauses that caught my eye into the following impressionistic stanzas. Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published Sometimes the easiest way out Is through an open door. But some will sit and stare and wait, Or lose themselves in fierce debate Until they find it is too late. The portal stands agape no more.