Clipmarks | akarra's clips

Emily Dickinson's "Such is the Force of Happiness"

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:19:04 GMT

clipped by: akarra

“Such is the Force of Happiness…” (787)
Emily Dickinson

Such is the Force of Happiness -
The Least - can lift a Ton
Assisted by its stimulus -

Who Misery - sustain -
No Sinew can afford -
The Cargo of Themselves -
Too infinite for Consciousness’
Slow capabilities.

Tags: poetry, dickinson

Homeless Heroes?

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:37:07 GMT

clipped by: akarra
clipper's remarks: Some people make the most of the opportunities they're given, even when given very little.

Clip Source: thehobodays.blogspot.com

Andre Nash, 45, dubbed 'Supertramp' became an unexpected hero in February of this year when, using a beer-soked rag as a mask, he forced his way into a Brooklyn apartment which was ablaze. Nash, who is known to regularly spend the nights on park benches pushed his way through thick, choking smoke to reach the burning appartment and lead Terence Naylor and his two school-age sons out to safety. [primary source New York Post]

Tags: celebrities, homeless, poverty

Bobby Driscoll's Death

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:34:24 GMT

clipped by: akarra
clipper's remarks: A child star's death raises questions about celebrity past and present.

Clip Source: thehobodays.blogspot.com

There is little doubt that Bobby's death was ultimately due to drug abuse. The autopsy cited cause of death as heart failure, brought about by a hardening of the arteries, likely attributed to the prolonged use of narcotics. It could, perhaps, be argued that Bobby was born predisposed to addiction or that his inability to handle fame led him there but when you dig into his background it becomes apparent that his difficulties began earlier and it is more likely these issues which caused Bobby to turn to the drugs that eventually killed him.

Tags: celebrities

"Fan Piece, for Her Imperial Lord," by Ezra Pound

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:09:45 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: www.ashokkarra.com

Fan-Piece, for Her Imperial Lord

Ezra Pound

O Fan of white silk,
clear as frost on the grass-blade,

You also are laid aside.

Tags: poetry, haiku

Jefferson on self-evident truth and equality

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:37:53 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: www.ashokkarra.com

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

Jefferson’s “we” is most certainly universal, not just the rambling of a particular people, for to effect a just break in the bonds uniting Britain and her colonies, both sides must understand what is just. The basis of justice is truth here, self-evident truth: all men are created equal; all men have certain Rights. If they didn’t, there never would have been a government anywhere, at any time. The purpose of any given government is to secure equality, to secure rights.

Tags: politics, jefferson, equality

What did Batman Begins have to teach about justice?

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:40:29 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: www.ashokkarra.com

Bruce Wayne’s own take on fear is the central moment in the movie: asked by Alfred why he chose the bat as his insignia, when he is scared of bats, he answers (roughly) “I wanted my enemies to share my fear.” Despite all of Al Ghul’s training, he’s still scared, even of bats. What differentiates him from the criminal who trained him - Al Ghul showed him how to be Batman, in essence - is that he’s scared of himself. The problem with criminals is that they’re scared of nothing. Justice, then, is fear of what one is capable of. To be unjust is to try to lack all fear.

Tags: movies, batman

A choir entirely of homeless people...

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:39:00 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: thehobodays.blogspot.com

The Choir of Hard Knocks is made up entirely of homeless and disadvantaged people, formed in Melbourne, Australia. It came to prominence as the subject of a five-part Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary series broadcast in 2007. The choir raised money to record a CD through busking in city streets. It was their first experience in a recording studio but the album has now sold in the region of 100,000 copies and the choir has won numerous industry awards. They also hold fundraising concerts at venues such as the Melbourne Town Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

Tags: homeless, music

Poem: "I am away from my computer"

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:13:53 GMT

clipped by: akarra
clipper's remarks: Poem by Ashok Karra.

Clip Source: ashokkarra.com

I am away from my computer
for Nancy - happy birthday

It is always lonely online.
There are only thoughts:
words and pictures leaving this world
cold, electronic.
All of it conspiring to say
I don’t know what I want,
I don’t know who I am,
I need to learn to be happy.

Joy is truly not felt alone,
but found in laughter:
love and friendship keeping this world
warm and sensual.
Only - once at the diner
They laughed, but I stared out
at a streetlight at night.
In darkness you realize you’re alone
wherever you are.

Tags: poetry

Brooklynistan?

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:18:39 GMT

clipped by: akarra
clipper's remarks: One blogger reacts to the threat of radical Islam in NYC.

Clip Source: orderdisorder.blogspot.com

I read this little article and got to wondering, has radical Islam gained a valuable toe hold in NY city? The article, A Masjid Grows in Brooklyn, in the Jerusalem Post seems to think so. It is sad to think that not only are these kinds of "no-go zones" possibly popping up here, but that one has top read it in a foreign paper. More importantly I suppose, why isn't there even a hint of this in any other media source?

Tags: politics

"The Human Abstract," by William Blake

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:14:26 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: ashokkarra.com

The Human Abstract
William Blake

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody Poor;
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

And mutual fear brings peace,
Till the selfish loves increase:
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.

He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the grounds with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.

Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head;
And the Catterpiller and Fly
Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat;
And the Raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.

The Gods of the earth and sea
Sought thro’ Nature to find this Tree;
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the Human Brain.

Tags: blake, poetry

Celebrities who were homeless

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:58:45 GMT

clipped by: akarra
clipper's remarks: One such celebrity was no less than David Letterman. Amazing what one has to go through to get a career started.

Clip Source: thehobodays.blogspot.com

David Letterman

Emmy Award-winning television writer, comedian, author and talk-show host of the television talk-show Late Show with David Letterman spent time living out of his Chevy pickup truck while struggling to establish his career.

Tags: celebrities, homeless

"Love - is anterior to Life," Emily Dickinson

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:11:11 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: inrethinking.blogspot.com

"Love - is anterior to Life..." (917)

Emily Dickinson

Love - is anterior to Life -
Posterior - to Death -
Initial of Creation, and

The Exponent of Earth -

Tags: poetry, dickinson

"On first looking into Chapman's Homer," John Keats

Mon, 12 May 2008 01:58:59 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: inrethinking.blogspot.com

On first looking into Chapman's Homer

John Keats

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—

Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Tags: poetry, keats

Regarding Nezval's "Defenestration"

Sun, 11 May 2008 05:19:43 GMT

clipped by: akarra
clipper's remarks: A complex poem gets a complicated commentary.

Clip Source: inrethinking.blogspot.com

2 -3. Prague has decided to sail from the medieval order. The ship of state looms large in the darkness, as if it needed no otherworldly protection.

It does not sail without style. Neon lights that resemble bright climbing monkeys bring us back to Babel. The ship itself is a powerful scent, a water beyond the waters below, and even the light from everyone's enjoyment seems so pitiful, contrasted with the motion of it all.

Tags: poetry, nezval, czech

Emily Dickinson, "When Night Is Almost Done..."

Fri, 09 May 2008 23:05:06 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: inrethinking.blogspot.com

When Night Is Almost Done...

Emily Dickinson

When night is almost done,
And sunrise grows so near
That we can touch the spaces,

It’s time to smooth the hair

And get the dimples ready,
And wonder we could care
For that old faded midnight

That frightened but an hour.

Tags: poetry, dickinson