Haiku and original painting

By Trishaa Moran












Twin branches
mist over water
reflections times two.





















For more of Trishaa's paintings, and to hear her songs, go to her website.

A storytelling invitation for you in our book: "Why God Can't Stop Laughing at You"

(via Eddie Blatt)

PEOPLE OF EARTH We have within the last 24 hours received channeled instructions from 'On High' informing us that the time has come for all the spiritual people of the world to own and confess just how silly they have been at times in their pursuit of the ineffable Greatness of the Divine Being. Indeed it has been decreed that in order to pass through the Pearly Gates, every man, woman and dolphin will have to come clean about some of their spiritual foibles! We, Brian Emmett and Eddie Blatt*, humbly offer the following Storytelling Project as a means to that end. To those prepared we must ask the following deep and meaningful questions:

* Are you getting tired of trying to look so “God-damn spiritual'?

* Are you weary of projecting the image of the oh-so-noble and perfect spiritual personality to the world, equipped with spellbinding morality and unbending integrity?

* Are you yearning to express the Inner Nitwit?

* Are you longing to let the world know just how crazy you and/or your friends have gotten on occasion?

* Do you know a story or two of an unsurpassed absurdity?
If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions then please keep reading! A few more questions to consider:

* Do you believe that God loves laughter and good humor?

* Do you believe that He/She would approve of, and probably even delight in people laughing at their own foibles and silliness while trying to relate to His or Her instructions.

* Do you believe that the Divine would support your participation in a project that may help your fellow humans to become more understanding and sympathetic towards spiritual aspirants and the struggles they endure?

It has been our observation that mixed in with all the profound, transformative and sacred moments which we all have enjoyed in our spiritual life, many of us have, to varying degrees, participated in moments of extraordinary foolishness, staggering jerkiness and world-class inanity just begging to be shared and enjoyed by others. So we are creating a book sourced from spiritual folk about spiritual life, that will not only be funny and/or humorous and reveal genuine insights into who we are as people but also introduce a number of genuine insights and lessons learned about spirituality itself. The book will also serve as an acknowledgment of our common quest for reunion with the unspeakable Greatness of the Divine. One of the more idealistic aspirations we have for this book is to achieve an affectionate camaraderie with those who have left behind the old games of sectarian defensiveness, one-upmanship and undue personal pride, that have served to keep us all at a distance from each other for eons.

So, if like us, you have a lot of yeses in your answers to the above questions, and you have a sense of humor about yourself and maybe even your life-path, you could receive a yearly royalty by becoming a contributor to a wonderful new series of books called:

'Why God Can’t Stop Laughing at You' (The New Spiritual Humor As Revealed By Authentic Practitioners!)

The story about your experiences in Spiritual Life need not necessarily be about yourself as long as you get permission from anyone identified in the story. If you can't write well we offer the possibility of story-submission via audio recording (cassette, CD or MP3, or alternatively by phone). And please feel free to pass this invitation along to your friends! We have a website where you can see sample stories written by us and all the information you may need to become involved. Feel free to come from whatever angle you wish as long as it is humorous, witty, or funny, and not an attack or an advertisement for someone or something.

Our commitment is to A New Spirit Of Openness. The authors who will be included in this collection are those who can demonstrate this new freedom, trust and self-confidence, and who have a lighthearted willingness to have a laugh at themselves in the context of their attempts at spiritual practices. We hope this book will facilitate openness and rapprochement across a broad range of peoples and practitioners from many Traditions, Paths and Religions, and from all across the world.

Yours in Laughter, Brian Emmett and Eddie Blatt
Why God Can't Stop Laughing At You

P.S. Kindly remember: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!


(Eddie is a member of WordsFlow.)

More Poems by Jan Busch

Recently I asked WordsFlow participants to write a 'rant', partly because it was a poetry prompt on Poetic Asides that week, and also because it's a great way to write with a lot of energy and clarify one's thoughts into the bargain.

Here for your enjoyment is Jan's rant poem, and as a bonus another piece of hers which defies description!


My rant is:

Others,

who seem to know
what's best for me.
They tell me clearly and daily
what to do or indeed
what NOT to do.

They say,
who to see where to go and
more often than not
who NOT to see and
where NOT to go.

Their opinions freely given, at
no charge, except to me.
FRUSTRATION!
What these kindly well meaning
folks do not realise is,

I am ok
doing what I do
seeing who I see and
going where I want. When
what I actually feel like is,

slapping these advisers around
their body with thongs,
rubber bands,
or even,
a wooden spoon.

Simply, because
these same kindly well meaning,
folks could take their own
advice and
then mirror it.

While I am
never to old or
too young to have fun,
make mistakes, and then
do it all over again.

SO THERE!!!!



Breath Like Poo

Walking along Beryl heard
'Your breath is like poo'

'What who said that' said Beryl
'Your breath smells like poo' came again.

Looking around no one to be found
Beryl was confused and then

'Here - up here'
throwing her head up almost cricking her neck, Beryl noticed

a big lump of poo with white
feathered wings.

'Shit' exclaimed Beryl.
'That's right' the poo said.

Beryl went, 'This can't be right, human
poo goes down the dunny, cat poo

is covered in the garden, and
dog turd is on the footpath'

The poo replied 'Have you not
heard of holy shit?'

Beryl made a snap decision to walk
out of the dream and

on the way out
sucked on a mint.

Great Articles on Poetry

Since we've been looking at poetry here just lately, I'll refer everyone also to Writer's Resource Center (aka PoeWar) where this year's annual game, 30 Poems in 30 Days, is now running during September. You can join in with your own poems in response to the prompts if you like (it's not too late!) either on the main site or by joining a more private workshop-type group.

Articles
AND, in conjunction with this, John Hewitt who runs the site is also posting some very good articles on poetry and the writing thereof.

And that's not all
If you haven't discovered Poewar yet, it's worth checking out for information on other kinds of writing besides poetry, and for commercial opportunities.

- Rosemary (Facilitator)