The Golden Age

The Golden Age
     is now

The Golden Age
     is always  now

Me writing this,
     you reading it


-Jim DuBois
April 30, 2017

Late Afternoon Lull

Dropping words on the page,
in no particular order,
rambling, relaxing,
wondering if far from now,
on my deathbed,
I'll confuse real life
with some of the
Minecraft worlds
I spent so many hours in,
saying to people,
my beloved ones
I am departing from,
"Remember that village
we visited and
took care of that one time,
with the great view
at the edge of the swamp?"
and they'll say,
"Yes, yes. I loved
that place."

And that'll be as good as
anything
at that moment.

But now these thoughts
are passing
and I'm going
to read
then make us dinner.


April 27, 2016
-Jim DuBois

The days pass by

The days pass by
  like lovers
    and old friends,

Unfolding in ways you didn't expect,
  and turning into memories
    before you can grasp them


-Jim DuBois
July 20, 1998

Notes from 2015

1. Things take time.
2. Progress is incremental.
3. Love adds meaning to life.
4. Perseverance is important to achieving things.
5. Life ends up being what it is instead of what you wished it was; but if you accept that you can work with it and move forward.

-Jim DuBois
Inspired by the previous entry.

Notes from Years ago

1. Slow down, find Natural rhythms
2. See world in biggest picture possible.
   Expand your boundaries, increase your visions
3. See Now (present moment) as
   complex sum of all there is;
   helps you understand that
   every moment is always
   new and different
4. See your place in the universe

I think it's the same

I think it's the same,
I think it's the same,
I think it's the same,
I think it's the same
old thing as yesterday,
but it never is.


-Jim DuBois
July 2, 2014

Relaxing in the late afternoon

Relaxing in the late afternoon
in January,
watching the dusk deepen,
I think of those days
you told me about
where you'd only
work up enough ambition
to reach the doorknob
but not enough to know
whether you'd make it
out of the room or not,
and I appreciate your lack of effort
because these days
nobody takes the time
to stay still for long.


-Jim DuBois
Jan 13, 2014

Sometimes, Temporarily

Sometimes, temporarily,
instead of
always or never

yeah,

sometimes, temporarily


-Jim DuBois
Aug 19, 2013

Living only on Wednesday

Living only on Wednesday,
living only on this bench
outside the library
below the grey clouds


-Jim DuBois
May 22, 2013

Freight Train

Freight train

creaking by,
rumbling by

overhead,

makes me feel like
I've gone back in time.


-Jim DuBois
Jan 17, 2013

The Inertia of Familiar Things

The inertia of familiar things
The inertia of familiar places
The inertia of familiar people

The orbits we live in
The places we stay at rest
The places we stay dormant

Dormant potential energy

The bonds we don't break
The escape velocity we usually never reach
The bubbles we live inside

The ruts we travel along
Those familiar grooves
Those familiar moves

The energy trapped in neural pathways
The memories we always revisit
The moments we repeat through time

The things we always say
The habits we learned long ago
The roads we take without thinking

Repetitive habitual energy

Time for something new

Some unfamiliar territory
Some awkward things to say
Some unpracticed words

Things we don't know how to do
Places we haven't been
Broken bonds, released energy

Dynamite in the foundation
Rocket fuel in the boosters
Fire in the neurons

A new day
A new life
New time

Now


-Jim DuBois
May 7, 2012

Twins

I.

The day those twins
were born,
I walked up to the hospital
to greet them.

It would have been easy,
in one way,
to do nothing,
but I saw this chance
to do good
and I took it.

Many hours later
I walked home
having greeted the newborns
and been kind to the new parents.


II.

1/2 hour walk to get there
2 couples, 2 sets of twins
4 parents, 4 newborns
4 parents, friends of mine
4 newborns, new friends
1/2 hour walk back home


III.

I spent about twenty hours
that week in the hospital,
sometimes til 2 in the morning,
helping do something important
but undervalued
in the world.


I remember holding
one twin in the solarium
while the other 3 were
being held by other
friends and family
so the parents
could get some sleep.

Mostly I just gazed down
at the little one
sleeping in my arms,
and absorbed and radiated
serenity,
but sometimes
I would glance up
and catch the eye
of my friend
holding the other twin
and connect
with big smiles.

It was one of the
most peaceful times
I have ever had.


Also, one night
I got to help
feed some twins
supplemental milk
so they would gain weight.

If you have never
had to have a friend
gently open a newborn's mouth
so you could slowly drop in some milk,
you have missed
one of the greatest events
that occurred on the planet.


During that week I was
my most true self
that I have been
in a long time.


-Jim DuBois
March 1, 2012

Here and Now

Here and now,
greater than any
fame or fortune
greater than any
achievement.


-Jim DuBois
Jan 1, 2012

Already

The time
          is already
                wasted

The dream
          is already
                gone


-Jim DuBois
2001?

Early Morning

Early morning is like
    a foreign country,
populated mainly
    by birds
      and
      empty soda cans



-Jim DuBois
April 26,1999

Wading Through Time

Wading through time
    like drunken soldiers,
killing time
    wasting time,
    like totally wasting it, man

Like some kind of
        Lazy heroes


-Jim DuBois
2004?

__ of __

Son of
    improbably intelligent primates

Offspring of
    supernovas of primordial stars

Descendent of
    quantum fluctuations in the early universe


-Jim DuBois
May 9, 2011

The Roost - #1

Sitting at the Roost,
pretending to be an intellectual,
or at least to be busy,
by writing thoughts in my notebook.

Sitting at the Roost,
wishing for more friends,
or at least for closer ones,
hoping to engage a human via technology.

Sitting at the Roost,
in the corner,
on the couch,
drinking tea
and writing,
to kill time,
or at least to try and enjoy it.


-Jim
March 12, 2011

There's Still Time

There's still time
    to surprise me,
    to show up randomly at my door
    and pledge yourself
        to the revolution
        and to me,
    to don your old heroic gear
        and enter the battle
        once more,
    to open up your mouth
        and say no
        to the things that need
        to be said no to,
    to stand up,
    to fight for love,
    to reach for other humans,
    to be brave,
    to open your heart.


-Jim DuBois
Jan 28, 2011

Faded

I.

I never thought
those times would
become faded

Or that my voice might be
the spectre of the past
calling out,
reminding you,
reminding me,
of something…

…something indistinct
but important,
locked away in memory,
in childhood,
in these faded photographs
of who we used to be
but can never be again.



II.

I never thought
those times would
become faded,
but these photographs
tell the true story,
that we weren’t who we
thought we were,
and we still aren’t,
and it’s only by a trick
of the mind
and avoidance of the sight of our old bad
hair cuts
that we convince ourselves
that nothing’s changed.



III.

Sometimes something
indistinct can tell us
more than something precise,
because what is essential
is dynamic and can’t be captured…

…we can only be reminded of it,
and experience it anew.

We have memories and feelings
about the past
but no more moments of it.



IV.

I look out the window,
watching the grey weather
quietly drop snow onto Northampton
as I write down some thoughts
that came to me
after looking at these old pictures.

I know that one day,
this moment will also fade,
this ink will disappear and
the paper crumble.

Until then
I just want to say:

We still have time
to be who we’ve
always been.



-Jim DuBois
2005?