Blindman’s Ballad

Madame Life's a tart in bloom;

Death's her pimp upon the stair;

she may ask you to her room;

he'll be waiting while you're there.

She may see you as a friend;

you may gyp him once or twice;

but he'll get you in the end;

and you'll have to pay her price.

After it's all said and done;

after laughter, songs, and prayers;

Death takes everything you've won;

and kicks you down the funny stairs.

[ -- a guest contribution from our friend,

the Blind Bard of Indiana]

tableau sur Seine

the Louvre

the river

the green  glass    sky

       [Aldous Huxley, Point Counter Point (1928), p.  311]

Two views of Mr Stokes

(1)   Old Mr Stokes, the gardener,  passed

          carrying a rake.

(2)  Old Mr Stokes,  recognizable

       by the four parallel pencil-strokes 

       issuing from his chin

       [Aldous Huxley, Point Counter Point (1928), p.  186]

Life in the leaf-litter layer

     The waiters darted about  almost invisibly,
        like leaf-insects in a forest

       [Aldous Huxley, Point Counter Point (1928), p.  280]

Motes in Light

     The leaning column  of yellow light   full of motes

       [Aldous Huxley, Point Counter Point (1928), p.  246]

Fixed That For You

* A rising tide lifts all boats.

=>  A rising tide … drowns those with no boat.

* The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

=>  The proof of the pudding is in successfully digesting it. 

(Otherwise, the pudding might have a slow-acting poison.)

* “We demand the right to contradict ourselves!”

(-- student-rebel slogan, Paris 1968)

=>  No, we don’t.

Fixed That 4 U.