On Friday, September 4, 2015 at 8:03:06 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> INFERNO
>
>
> There's no escape
> As days grind into years
> And dreams are smothered by
> The dull routine
> Of morning coffee,
> Friday evening beers,
> With watercooler chatter
> In between
> The semicolon pauses
> Where one sees
> Houndstooth partitions
> Spaced like cattle pens
> For cardboard faces,
> Gray anomalies,
> Cell phone brigades
> Of highrise denizens
> Whose mortgaged hours
> Hang heavy 'round their throats
> Like shackles cut
> From Jacob Marley's chains.
> Bowed heads,
> Hunched shoulders bent by woolen coats,
> Souls battered
> Raw by daily aches and pains --
> Too tired to care,
> Too beaten down to change.
> So back and forth they march
> Like windup toys
> In mindless motion
> Silent, sallow, strange,
> As far removed
> From giggling girls and boys
> As shriveled husks
> That huddle near to death
> In nursing homes,
> On cold hospital sheets.
> And age comes fast
> As Winter's frosted breath
> For those who crowd
> The dusty city streets
> As pushpin bustlers
> Race to punch a clock
> And shuffle papers
> Till another day
> Has passed them by
> While harried brokers hock
> Tickertape lives,
> And corporate robots vie
> To subjugate
> Their doppelgänger selves
> For flocks of figures
> In some ledger book,
> Or stocking tin-canned nourishment
> On shelves.
> And when the bell tolls
> Hurry home to cook
> A pauper's feast
> Of frozen meats and bread,
> Then wash the dishes,
> Lug the trash,
> Relax, undress, brush teeth,
> And off to bed.
> Another day
> Exchanged for petty cash
> As days grind into years
> And men grow old
> And crave the Summer hours
> They'd rashly sold.

On Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 9:40:09 AM UTC-5, Coco DeSockmonkey wrote:
> On Friday, September 4, 2015 at 8:03:06 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > INFERNO
> >
> >
> > There's no escape
> > As days grind into years
> > And dreams are smothered by
> > The dull routine
> > Of morning coffee,
> > Friday evening beers,
> > With watercooler chatter
> > In between
> > The semicolon pauses
> > Where one sees
> > Houndstooth partitions
> > Spaced like cattle pens
> > For cardboard faces,
> > Gray anomalies,
> > Cell phone brigades
> > Of highrise denizens
> > Whose mortgaged hours
> > Hang heavy 'round their throats
> > Like shackles cut
> > From Jacob Marley's chains.
> > Bowed heads,
> > Hunched shoulders bent by woolen coats,
> > Souls battered
> > Raw by daily aches and pains --
> > Too tired to care,
> > Too beaten down to change.
> > So back and forth they march
> > Like windup toys
> > In mindless motion
> > Silent, sallow, strange,
> > As far removed
> > From giggling girls and boys
> > As shriveled husks
> > That huddle near to death
> > In nursing homes,
> > On cold hospital sheets.
> > And age comes fast
> > As Winter's frosted breath
> > For those who crowd
> > The dusty city streets
> > As pushpin bustlers
> > Race to punch a clock
> > And shuffle papers
> > Till another day
> > Has passed them by
> > While harried brokers hock
> > Tickertape lives,
> > And corporate robots vie
> > To subjugate
> > Their doppelgänger selves
> > For flocks of figures
> > In some ledger book,
> > Or stocking tin-canned nourishment
> > On shelves.
> > And when the bell tolls
> > Hurry home to cook
> > A pauper's feast
> > Of frozen meats and bread,
> > Then wash the dishes,
> > Lug the trash,
> > Relax, undress, brush teeth,
> > And off to bed.
> > Another day
> > Exchanged for petty cash
> > As days grind into years
> > And men grow old
> > And crave the Summer hours
> > They'd rashly sold.

Fortunately, I'm retired. I used to pack books into boxes all day long. Talk about a repetitive, unrewarding job!

I've always found it ironic that I worked as a book packer because I grew up in my father's House-in-a-Box! (Where he packed my fudge on a nigtly basis, but that's a story for another poem.)

On Friday, February 24, 2023 at 1:53:37 PM UTC, George Dunce wrote:
> On Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 9:40:09 AM UTC-5, Coco DeSockmonkey wrote:
> > On Friday, September 4, 2015 at 8:03:06 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > > INFERNO
> > >
> > >
> > > There's no escape
> > > As days grind into years
> > > And dreams are smothered by
> > > The dull routine
> > > Of morning coffee,
> > > Friday evening beers,
> > > With watercooler chatter
> > > In between
> > > The semicolon pauses
> > > Where one sees
> > > Houndstooth partitions
> > > Spaced like cattle pens
> > > For cardboard faces,
> > > Gray anomalies,
> > > Cell phone brigades
> > > Of highrise denizens
> > > Whose mortgaged hours
> > > Hang heavy 'round their throats
> > > Like shackles cut
> > > From Jacob Marley's chains.
> > > Bowed heads,
> > > Hunched shoulders bent by woolen coats,
> > > Souls battered
> > > Raw by daily aches and pains --
> > > Too tired to care,
> > > Too beaten down to change.
> > > So back and forth they march
> > > Like windup toys
> > > In mindless motion
> > > Silent, sallow, strange,
> > > As far removed
> > > From giggling girls and boys
> > > As shriveled husks
> > > That huddle near to death
> > > In nursing homes,
> > > On cold hospital sheets.
> > > And age comes fast
> > > As Winter's frosted breath
> > > For those who crowd
> > > The dusty city streets
> > > As pushpin bustlers
> > > Race to punch a clock
> > > And shuffle papers
> > > Till another day
> > > Has passed them by
> > > While harried brokers hock
> > > Tickertape lives,
> > > And corporate robots vie
> > > To subjugate
> > > Their doppelgänger selves
> > > For flocks of figures
> > > In some ledger book,
> > > Or stocking tin-canned nourishment
> > > On shelves.
> > > And when the bell tolls
> > > Hurry home to cook
> > > A pauper's feast
> > > Of frozen meats and bread,
> > > Then wash the dishes,
> > > Lug the trash,
> > > Relax, undress, brush teeth,
> > > And off to bed.
> > > Another day
> > > Exchanged for petty cash
> > > As days grind into years
> > > And men grow old
> > > And crave the Summer hours
> > > They'd rashly sold.
> Fortunately, I'm retired. I used to pack books into boxes all day long. Talk about a repetitive, unrewarding job!
>
> I've always found it ironic that I worked as a book packer because I grew up in my father's House-in-a-Box! (Where he packed my fudge on a nightly basis, but that's a story for another poem.)
Do book packers make enough money to retire? Or, do they have to think outside the box to do so?

On Friday, February 24, 2023 at 9:25:24 AM UTC-5, NancyGene wrote:
> On Friday, February 24, 2023 at 1:53:37 PM UTC, George Dunce wrote:
> > On Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 9:40:09 AM UTC-5, Coco DeSockmonkey wrote:
> > > On Friday, September 4, 2015 at 8:03:06 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > > > INFERNO
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > There's no escape
> > > > As days grind into years
> > > > And dreams are smothered by
> > > > The dull routine
> > > > Of morning coffee,
> > > > Friday evening beers,
> > > > With watercooler chatter
> > > > In between
> > > > The semicolon pauses
> > > > Where one sees
> > > > Houndstooth partitions
> > > > Spaced like cattle pens
> > > > For cardboard faces,
> > > > Gray anomalies,
> > > > Cell phone brigades
> > > > Of highrise denizens
> > > > Whose mortgaged hours
> > > > Hang heavy 'round their throats
> > > > Like shackles cut
> > > > From Jacob Marley's chains.
> > > > Bowed heads,
> > > > Hunched shoulders bent by woolen coats,
> > > > Souls battered
> > > > Raw by daily aches and pains --
> > > > Too tired to care,
> > > > Too beaten down to change.
> > > > So back and forth they march
> > > > Like windup toys
> > > > In mindless motion
> > > > Silent, sallow, strange,
> > > > As far removed
> > > > From giggling girls and boys
> > > > As shriveled husks
> > > > That huddle near to death
> > > > In nursing homes,
> > > > On cold hospital sheets.
> > > > And age comes fast
> > > > As Winter's frosted breath
> > > > For those who crowd
> > > > The dusty city streets
> > > > As pushpin bustlers
> > > > Race to punch a clock
> > > > And shuffle papers
> > > > Till another day
> > > > Has passed them by
> > > > While harried brokers hock
> > > > Tickertape lives,
> > > > And corporate robots vie
> > > > To subjugate
> > > > Their doppelgänger selves
> > > > For flocks of figures
> > > > In some ledger book,
> > > > Or stocking tin-canned nourishment
> > > > On shelves.
> > > > And when the bell tolls
> > > > Hurry home to cook
> > > > A pauper's feast
> > > > Of frozen meats and bread,
> > > > Then wash the dishes,
> > > > Lug the trash,
> > > > Relax, undress, brush teeth,
> > > > And off to bed.
> > > > Another day
> > > > Exchanged for petty cash
> > > > As days grind into years
> > > > And men grow old
> > > > And crave the Summer hours
> > > > They'd rashly sold.
> > Fortunately, I'm retired. I used to pack books into boxes all day long. Talk about a repetitive, unrewarding job!
> >
> > I've always found it ironic that I worked as a book packer because I grew up in my father's House-in-a-Box! (Where he packed my fudge on a nightly basis, but that's a story for another poem.)
> Do book packers make enough money to retire? Or, do they have to think outside the box to do so?

They cain't think outside the box when they's livin' in a House-in-a-Box.

The problem isn't about the willfully ignorant thinking outside of their boxes but that they don't even realize that they have boxed their selves, so you cannot expect them to be able to think how to get out of their self centered boxes to think outside of them.

Along the lines of something MLK touched upon -- what is more frustrating than intentional malice is self indulgent blindness. Malice can be corrected for they know what they do, but coddled blindness may not, for they cannot see the error of their ways.

I saw someone slingin' his usual donkey shit about sentimental slop-- someone who apparently doesn't even understand his own writing of his Life's past woes-- that's definitely sentimental! Also Country Music tropes are usually considered sentimental...

On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:24:39 AM UTC-5, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> The problem isn't about the willfully ignorant thinking outside of their boxes but that they don't even realize that they have boxed their selves, so you cannot expect them to be able to think how to get out of their self centered boxes to think outside of them.
>
> Along the lines of something MLK touched upon -- what is more frustrating than intentional malice is self indulgent blindness. Malice can be corrected for they know what they do, but coddled blindness may not, for they cannot see the error of their ways.
>
> I saw someone slingin' his usual donkey shit about sentimental slop-- someone who apparently doesn't even understand his own writing of his Life's past woes-- that's definitely sentimental! Also Country Music tropes are usually considered sentimental...
>

Donkeys kick and Donkeys bray
Donkeys lie around all day
Scarfing waffles, swishing flies
Setting records straight with lies.

On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 4:51:58 PM UTC-5, Will Donkey wrote:
> On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:24:39 AM UTC-5, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> > The problem isn't about the willfully ignorant thinking outside of their boxes but that they don't even realize that they have boxed their selves, so you cannot expect them to be able to think how to get out of their self centered boxes to think outside of them.
> >
> > Along the lines of something MLK touched upon -- what is more frustrating than intentional malice is self indulgent blindness. Malice can be corrected for they know what they do, but coddled blindness may not, for they cannot see the error of their ways.
> >
> > I saw someone slingin' his usual donkey shit about sentimental slop-- someone who apparently doesn't even understand his own writing of his Life's past woes-- that's definitely sentimental! Also Country Music tropes are usually considered sentimental...
> >
> Donkeys kick and Donkeys bray
> Donkeys lie around all day
> Scarfing waffles, swishing flies
> Setting records straight with lies.

According to that logic, I'm a Donkey, too!

Go Team Donkey!!!

On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 1:33:09 PM UTC-5, George Dunce wrote:
> On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 4:51:58 PM UTC-5, Will Donkey wrote:
> > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:24:39 AM UTC-5, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> > > The problem isn't about the willfully ignorant thinking outside of their boxes but that they don't even realize that they have boxed their selves, so you cannot expect them to be able to think how to get out of their self centered boxes to think outside of them.
> > >
> > > Along the lines of something MLK touched upon -- what is more frustrating than intentional malice is self indulgent blindness. Malice can be corrected for they know what they do, but coddled blindness may not, for they cannot see the error of their ways.
> > >
> > > I saw someone slingin' his usual donkey shit about sentimental slop-- someone who apparently doesn't even understand his own writing of his Life's past woes-- that's definitely sentimental! Also Country Music tropes are usually considered sentimental...
> > >
> > Donkeys kick and Donkeys bray
> > Donkeys lie around all day
> > Scarfing waffles, swishing flies
> > Setting records straight with lies.
> According to that logic, I'm a Donkey, too!
>
> Go Team Donkey!!!

In honor of my country, I thought I'd be a Moose-Donkey, but that would be a Monkey and I already use Monkey for Pen.

With all the varieties of animals there are in this world, you'd think I should be able to come up with more than a half dozen animal-derived names.

On Friday, March 10, 2023 at 4:11:52 PM UTC, George Dunce wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 1:33:09 PM UTC-5, George Dunce wrote:
> > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 4:51:58 PM UTC-5, Will Donkey wrote:
> > > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:24:39 AM UTC-5, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> > > > The problem isn't about the willfully ignorant thinking outside of their boxes but that they don't even realize that they have boxed their selves, so you cannot expect them to be able to think how to get out of their self centered boxes to think outside of them.
> > > >
> > > > Along the lines of something MLK touched upon -- what is more frustrating than intentional malice is self indulgent blindness. Malice can be corrected for they know what they do, but coddled blindness may not, for they cannot see the error of their ways.
> > > >
> > > > I saw someone slingin' his usual donkey shit about sentimental slop-- someone who apparently doesn't even understand his own writing of his Life's past woes-- that's definitely sentimental! Also Country Music tropes are usually considered sentimental...
> > > >
> > > Donkeys kick and Donkeys bray
> > > Donkeys lie around all day
> > > Scarfing waffles, swishing flies
> > > Setting records straight with lies.
> > According to that logic, I'm a Donkey, too!
> >
> > Go Team Donkey!!!
> In honor of my country, I thought I'd be a Moose-Donkey, but that would be a Monkey and I already use Monkey for Pen.
>
> With all the varieties of animals there are in this world, you'd think I should be able to come up with more than a half dozen animal-derived names.
They have to be animals native to Canada, such as monkeys, elephants and goons.

On Friday, March 10, 2023 at 11:18:27 AM UTC-5, NancyGene wrote:
> On Friday, March 10, 2023 at 4:11:52 PM UTC, George Dunce wrote:
> > On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 1:33:09 PM UTC-5, George Dunce wrote:
> > > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 4:51:58 PM UTC-5, Will Donkey wrote:
> > > > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:24:39 AM UTC-5, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> > > > > The problem isn't about the willfully ignorant thinking outside of their boxes but that they don't even realize that they have boxed their selves, so you cannot expect them to be able to think how to get out of their self centered boxes to think outside of them.
> > > > >
> > > > > Along the lines of something MLK touched upon -- what is more frustrating than intentional malice is self indulgent blindness. Malice can be corrected for they know what they do, but coddled blindness may not, for they cannot see the error of their ways.
> > > > >
> > > > > I saw someone slingin' his usual donkey shit about sentimental slop-- someone who apparently doesn't even understand his own writing of his Life's past woes-- that's definitely sentimental! Also Country Music tropes are usually considered sentimental...
> > > > >
> > > > Donkeys kick and Donkeys bray
> > > > Donkeys lie around all day
> > > > Scarfing waffles, swishing flies
> > > > Setting records straight with lies.
> > > According to that logic, I'm a Donkey, too!
> > >
> > > Go Team Donkey!!!
> > In honor of my country, I thought I'd be a Moose-Donkey, but that would be a Monkey and I already use Monkey for Pen.
> >
> > With all the varieties of animals there are in this world, you'd think I should be able to come up with more than a half dozen animal-derived names.
> They have to be animals native to Canada, such as monkeys, elephants and goons.

Monkeys and elephants and goons... Oh, my! That's the Dunce Family!