Without Bars: Four By Six

WITHOUT BARS

Prefers to drink at home
The alcohol’s cheaper
And being by yourself
The company’s better

Skin Deep: Four By Six

SKIN DEEP

Complexity can be
Such a burdensome gift
So sympathise with those
Who prefer the shallows

A Condensed I Ching: Four By Six

A CONDENSED I CHING

Circumstances vary
Winds and waves come and go
To be firm and correct*
Always an advantage

~~~~~ ~ ~~~~~

* “‘Firm and correct’ is a meaning of the character zhen 貞. It means that you have to be steadfast in your character, not wavering, and do the right thing at the right time regardless of your personal desires. It is a moral quality.

This however is not the original meaning of zhen in Chinese divination manuscripts. The original meaning is something like ‘to address a statement to the oracle.’ In the old days you did not ask questions but you addressed statements containing a wish or desire: ‘would it that I become king’, for instance. More generally said, zhen implied that you consult the oracle.

Somewhere during the Han dynasty I guess this meaning was discarded and replaced with ‘firm and correct’ which better fits the Confucian doctrine that was in vogue at that time.”

– What Does ‘Firm And Correct’ Mean?

Intimate Strangers: Four By Six

INTIMATE STRANGERS

Once we walked hand in hand
How did our paradise
Become a cross between
A maze and a mine field?

Petrified: Four By Six

PETRIFIED

Quivering on the brink
Too nervous to engage
Deep breath … Jump! Don’t you think
Time’s come to act our age?

Sound Advice: Four By Six

SOUND ADVICE

My adviser tells me
We can do anything
Though the impossible
Takes a little longer

Ah Now I See: Four By Six

AH NOW I SEE

What we dismiss as shit
(Beyond the bodily)
Is no more than something
That we don’t understand

… Reached Your Destination: Four By Six

… REACHED YOUR DESTINATION

At ease with gentle breath
Eyes open, unobscured
Escape unrequired
At peace with what arrives

Small Mercies: Four By Six

SMALL MERCIES

We’re stuck here forever
Yes it may be painful
We have eternity
So what’s with the big rush?

Sexism V. Feminism: Four By Six

SEXISM V. FEMINISM

There are those who get it
And then those who fail to
Who inflicts? Who suffers?
Balls or tits? Beside the point