the valley below

Phaedrus

Aug 8, 2026 ∞

heirloom of nine parts over twelve days (5/6 and 8/9)

but(him)self, o bearer of the silver-bow, lord who throws-from-afar(hekatebolos)Apollo,

at one time(and indeed)across rugged Kynthos you go(you take your way)
(pass)(set out)(run)(get onto, out of, into something)(you go on-board
or disembark)(a ship)(to bestride and protect a fallen friend)(or
to drag the body off)(of an enemy)(you mount a chariot
and stand beside another),

but at another(time, you go)wandering aimlessly around
to shun and flee-from islands and men.

αὐτὸς δ᾽, ἀργυρότοξε, ἄναξ ἑκατηβόλ᾽ Ἄπολλον,
ἄλλοτε μέν τ᾽ ἐπὶ Κύνθου ἐβήσαο παιπαλόεντος,
ἄλλοτε δ᾽ ἂν νήσους τε καὶ ἀνέρας ἠλάσκαζες.

many(o many)to(for)(by)you(are)the temple-dwellings and the woody(with tree-
like markings)groves;

but all(o all)(whole)(get, you)(acquire, you)(possess, you)the lookout-places(hill-
tops)(peaks)and(watch-towers)and(the friends, o friend, by the friend)he
would love the highest(topmost)(outmost)(inmost)headlands(cliffs
and bluffs)of lofty mountains(and lofty asses, well, and lofty mules),
and the(nine)rivers flowing-through(o flowing)into the sea;

πολλοί τοι νηοί τε καὶ ἄλσεα δενδρήεντα:
πᾶσαι δὲ σκοπιαί τε φίλαι καὶ πρώονες ἄκροι
ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων ποταμοί θ᾽ ἅλαδε προρέοντες:

but you(to)(for)by Delos, o Phoibos(bright, radiant, pure), you most delight
and gladden, cheer, make content the(etor)heart(life-passion),

ἀλλὰ σὺ Δήλῳ, Φοῖβε, μάλιστ᾽ ἐπιτέρπεαι ἦτορ,

(as Odysseus, even in the midst of his tall-tale, admits of ships
driven by oars, and wars, and throwing spears and arrows, o dyad-
mournful(sorry)(good-for-nothing)(wretched)(painful)things,
which by others at least become horrible, nevertheless,

those things(to)(for)by him, is(the)beloved, which somehow the god
had put there, in his phrenes(heart-breast-perception-memory-
desire-anger-inward-thought); for different men(he men-
splains, as he lies)take joy in different works.

ἀλλά μοι αἰεὶ νῆες ἐπήρετμοι φίλαι ἦσαν
καὶ πόλεμοι καὶ ἄκοντες ἐΰξεστοι καὶ ὀϊστοί,
λυγρά, τά τ᾽ ἄλλοισίν γε καταριγηλὰ πέλονται.
αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ τὰ φίλ᾽ ἔσκε τά που θεὸς ἐν φρεσὶ θῆκεν:
ἄλλος γάρ τ᾽ ἄλλοισιν ἀνὴρ ἐπιτέρπεται ἔργοις.
Odyssey 14.224)

there(to)(for)by you the Ionians with their trailing tunics gather together
their(him)selves with children and with worthy
and venerable bed-partners and wives.

ἔνθα τοι ἑλκεχίτωνες Ἰάονες ἠγερέθονται
αὐτοῖς σὺν παίδεσσι καὶ αἰδοίῃς ἀλόχοισιν.

(as black Ajax and red Ajax would never take their stand apart, on
the battlefield at Troy, not even a little; but as, into the fallow land,
wine-dyad-dark-oxen(fixed-together-plough in equal-thumos-spirit-
power-drive)both-bearing(carrying)(bringing)they stretch(stretch,
you!)and bend(bend it!)and draw-it-out(you, do that too!)
the fixed-together-plough;

but, there and then, on both sides, from their under-end-most-horns
much sweat gushes(so you two, spout)forth;

and they-two(indeed)the polished-yoke-alone-apart-it-works(it bars
the way)(youre worked)(youre barred)dyad-releasing(letting go,
hurling, throwing, sending, letting flow and spouting forth)through-
and-against the furrow;

but(it)overtakes(reaches)(finds)(will-be-accomplishing)(arise,
you!)the limit of the earths arable land;

so they-two, beside-both-standing, beside-both-passing-beyond,
beside-both-transgressing, exceedingly they make their stand,
(to)(for)(by)(belonging)an-other-to-the-one.

Αἴας δ᾽ οὐκέτι πάμπαν Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς υἱὸς
ἵστατ᾽ ἀπ᾽ Αἴαντος Τελαμωνίου οὐδ᾽ ἠβαιόν,
ἀλλ᾽ ὥς τ᾽ ἐν νειῷ βόε οἴνοπε πηκτὸν ἄροτρον
ἶσον θυμὸν ἔχοντε τιταίνετον: ἀμφὶ δ᾽ ἄρά σφι
πρυμνοῖσιν κεράεσσι πολὺς ἀνακηκίει ἱδρώς:
τὼ μέν τε ζυγὸν οἶον ἐΰξοον ἀμφὶς ἐέργει
ἱεμένω κατὰ ὦλκα: τέμει δέ τε τέλσον ἀρούρης:
ὣς τὼ παρβεβαῶτε μάλ᾽ ἕστασαν ἀλλήλοιιν.
Iliad 13.701)

but those by boxing(you) and dancing(you) and singing(you),
(they)remembering you(they delight, gladden, and satisfy)with joy,
delight, gladness, and cheer, that they would make their stand(-up-
right, stand-up, rise-up, begin, stand-still, anew)their struggle,
battle, action, assembly, contest, argument, issue — their AGON.

οἱ δέ σε πυγμαχίῃ τε καὶ ὀρχηθμῷ καὶ ἀοιδῇ
μνησάμενοι τέρπουσιν, ὅτ᾽ ἄν στήσωνται ἀγῶνα.

and he(indeed)would say, to be undying and ageless always,
which thereby would come-and-go to meet,
that Ionians altogether-as-a-body
(o all-together, all-at-once)
would very-well-be;

φαίη κ᾽ ἀθανάτους καὶ ἀγήρως ἔμμεναι αἰεί,
ὃς τόθ᾽ ὑπαντιάσει᾽, ὅτ᾽ Ἰάονες ἀθρόοι εἶεν:

for of all would he see grace, favor, beauty, glory, kindness, good-
will, gratitude, gratification, delight, satisfaction; but he would
take pleasure in, enjoy, rejoice, have full enjoyment in, the thumos
and men — (he)(o he)looking into(upon)beholding — and women
with beautiful girdles(and leashes)and swift ships(with ship-like temple-
dwellings)and of swift-selves, their possessions(property, heirlooms,
“the fur coat grandma wore”, you add, and we say sure, and wealth,
estates, farms, fields, vineyards, materials)both-many-and-both.

πάντων γάρ κεν ἴδοιτο χάριν, τέρψαιτο δὲ θυμὸν
ἄνδρας τ᾽ εἰσορόων καλλιζώνους τε γυναῖκας
νῆάς τ᾽ ὠκείας ἠδ᾽ αὐτῶν κτήματα πολλά.


(just as the beautiful girdles, maybe fur coats too, in the fake-wedding, when

Odysseus has newly-burst-forth from his disguise and slaughtered the suitors,
and the old maid wakes-up Penelope, from a very good sleep, to tell her; and it
must be the happiest of all moments in the whole history of human poetry, after
one of terrifying brutality; but Pen doesnt go to him right away; she holds back
her trust, telling their son that they have signs known only by themselves, to prove
they are(to)(for)(by)each other; and Odysseus pretends to hold a wedding,
to distract the Ithakans from the fact he has just butchered their best youth;
or, as he voices-meta-through:

“but we have killed the prop(support)(stay of the city)(the sunken rock,
reef)(bank)(barrow)(that which keeps a ship steady, ballast,
and also earrings, maybe Heras mulberry ones
from yesterday — ),

those great-most-excellent-ones among(young men)the shoots-
and-consequences of satiety, surfeit, and insolence)in Ithaka;

but those, we have ordered you
to consider(purpose, plan, contrive)(perceive,
observe — watch — guard — beware)."

ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἕρμα πόληος ἀπέκταμεν, οἳ μέγ᾽ ἄριστοι
κούρων εἰν Ἰθάκῃ: τὰ δέ σε φράζεσθαι ἄνωγα.

but Eurynome cleans all the gore from Odysseus so that hes suffused again
with beauty, as when a craftsman gold-overlays-on-silver; so we again can see
his locks of hair-hung-down like purple hyacinth; so-looking-immortal goes he
to meet Penelope; he calls her strange, she calls him strange; then she tests him,
by telling the maid to bring his bed; and Odysseus proves himself, by saying, you
cant do that, as we made our own bed, so we know it very well; especially by one
particular feature, which only he could accomplish; which was, he built it from
a living tree, roots in the ground; Pen melts into tears and asks him forgive-
ness; Pen-splaining, the jealous gods gave them misery based on how happy
they would have been together, throughout their youth; but there are many men
who would have tried to deceive her, and thats why she has to test him; Pen-
splaining-further, that neither would Helen have gone with Paris, and become
the center of the Trojan war, had she not been so deceived; from which we may
conclude, that she tests him, as taking such precautions now, against
ever being the woman
at the center
of a war;

and then he appears, to her, as welcome as the land to men who are drowning,
and she couldnt let him go from her white-armed, like Heras, earths, embrace;
and Athena holds back time, so that they have enough of it, for tears, for hugs,
for conversation, and Od tells Pen about his sign; until the old-maid Eurynome
dresses their bed for them(probably we should check her out);
but they, as one might put it, “gladly went
together to bed, and their old ritual."

but his voices-meta-through,

“and they(by himself)(by herself)(indeed)thereupon-gladly-welcomed(o gladly-
welcomed ones)of the ancient(couch)bed(lektron)(yous make ancient)(make
it ancient, yous, that which is laid down)(the site, the place)(the rite, the law,
the order)(rule, precept, right)(tribunal,

they)come to walk-about(approach)(reach)(take their way)(visit)(present-
their-self-to)(to come or fall into their hands, approach
as one(we)suppliant, having-reached-home, after
swimming, spinning, and piling-in-
heaps,

their deepmost law
(our zebra-dove)
of peace."

οἱ μὲν ἔπειτα
ἀσπάσιοι λέκτροιο παλαιοῦ θεσμὸν ἵκοντο:
Od. 23.147-296)

but toward this great wonder, of which the rumour(report, fame, glory)never
will it perish(come to an end)(die)(be lost)(undone)(in a state of)(ruin),

those girls(maidens)(nymphs)(daughters)(puppets)(dolls)(pupils of
the eye)(in the hieron)(o girls), who as women we call the Deliades,
of the far-shooting-one, are the handmaids(o handmaids)(dwellings);

cf Phaedrus

πρὸς δὲ τόδε μέγα θαῦμα, ὅου κλέος οὔποτ᾽ ὀλεῖται,
κοῦραι Δηλιάδες, ἑκατηβελέταο θεράπναι:

and those(shes)since(you are already following the dyad-word-song)there
and then, the first(o first)indeed(on the one hand)Apollo(they)would sing
(celebrate, commemorate, make famous, tell over and over again, recite,
repeat, harp upon(him),

)but(on the other hand)back again, anew, in turn,
hereafter, again further(bow wow)(aouuu)
Leto and(indeed)Artemis, pourer-forth-of-arrows,

αἵ τ᾽ ἐπεὶ ἂρ πρῶτον μὲν Ἀπόλλων᾽ ὑμνήσωσιν,
αὖτις δ᾽ αὖ Λητώ τε καὶ Ἄρτεμιν ἰοχέαιραν,

(o shes)remembering(him)and of men(o rearing-up)(rearing)(the rearing-
up into manhood)and of old age(o ageing)(ageing)(the ageing)and
of women(they)sing the hymn,

but(they)work upon by spells and enchantment(bewitch)(charm)(spell-bind)(work
upon by wiles)(cajole)(beguile, deceive, cheat)(charm, delight, ravish)
(by hims-and-theys-enchanting)

the tribes(races, classes, swarms, nations)(of tribes races, classes,
swarms, nations)(by tribes, races, classes, swarms,
nations)of human beings.

μνησάμεναι ἀνδρῶν τε παλαιῶν ἠδὲ γυναικῶν
ὕμνον ἀείδουσιν, θέλγουσι δὲ φῦλ᾽ ἀνθρώπων.


from hymn 3 to Apollo

Jul 21, 2026 ∞

from the unspeakable contingencies of time (a poetry for sisterhood)

(all, at least
it said)

then by me, these two voices en-joined let be,
to we, sisters in offering promise and prayer

as slight temper to make the passing storms

for held jointly, in common, though wounds, in-
deed, in kinship be, of beloveds, the poems

and a spoken word, silent heretofore — koina

my pieces impart, as you impart, as we impart
as parts - carried - apart of ones-being-in-love

by toils and grief and all-possible-turns

now to share it, O world, we let her be sung
the wind-gathering-song of our broken heart

. . .

(therefore)(or certainly not) beautifully by you
(does it seem)(do you seem)(seem you) to be said,
and do you accept
the word?


(πάνυ γε
ἔφη)

οὐκοῦν καλῶς σοι
δοκεῖ λέγεσθαι
καὶ ἀποδέχῃ
τὸν λόγον

Charmides 156ξ

//

καὶ ἐμοὶ ταῦτα συνεύχου
κοινὰ γὰρ τὰ τῶν φίλων
Phaedrus 279ξ

mogis pos

🌓

Jul 20, 2026 ∞

being carried apart

                        or(am i
      really)(it says)(be i n g  l   y

or)have you not sensed and perceived(
and have you not been run into — )that
these(girlssssss) in this way, they speak
(and lay   )(by speaking and laying) . . .

and (she has and holds and carries
and you have and hold and carry
and) it makes flow and pour
and shed and scatter
and shatter (by
the forked-
tongue-
vip-
er
)
?


ἢ οὐκ ᾔσθησαι
ὅτι ταῦτα οὕτως
λέγουσίν τε καὶ ἔχει

155ξ

//

mogis pos
mogis pos
mogis pos


Jul 19, 2026 ∞

as harmonium despair (we trial six-handed instruments) as immortalities

exhalation:
we need every breath you give
we must bind it with our own
so the One receives our dyad

inhalation:
(word being soul)

instrument:
by through-takings, would you shelter me,
O whistling, flute-playing-Pan,
through the body of a child,
through-bodied-father
embodying the all —
turnings-conjoined-
round O whole-
playing-part
grown-in, would you put-on your hands?

chord:
to take care is to hold
sisters crying-out
in-visibles
to cure


//

ἐκ δὴ
τούτου τοῦ λόγου
διαίταις
ἐπὶ πᾶν
τὸ σῶμα
τρεπόμενοι
μετὰ τοῦ ὅλου
τὸ μέρος
ἐπιχειροῦσιν
θεραπεύειν τε
καὶ ἰᾶσθαι

156ξ

//

mogis pos

Jul 13, 2026 ∞
we of the leaf (hemeteroi helikiotai)
we being irreducible (say you)(they say)(O saying one)(i say)(the saying)
that itself (it let)(let it) would be a leaf
but some song (she) sung upon the pharmakon (lets it)(it lets) be me
if someone would sing (she) along (you) and at the same time (me) (inquire)(use)(consult)(entreat)(experience) (being slightly wounded) by we
all in all in all we will make a (healthy) living tree (and overgrowingly) would make the pharmakon
but without (send it up)(let it grow wild)(accomplish it) of the song
no help would be (neither to nor from) of the leaf


καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον
ὅτι αὐτὸ μὲν εἴη
φύλλον τι

ἐπῳδὴ δέ τις
ἐπὶ τῷ φαρμάκῳ
εἴη

ἣν εἰ μέν τις ἐπᾴδοι
ἅμα καὶ
χρῷτο αὐτῷ

παντάπασιν
ὑγιᾶ ποιοῖ
τὸ φάρμακον

ἄνευ δὲ
τῆς ἐπῳδῆς
οὐδὲν ὄφελος εἴη
τοῦ φύλλου

155ε
May 18, 2026 ∞

news of orchids



Phaedrus:

isn’t it overgrowingly (huper-phuos)

(in) other things
and also by the names (honomasin)
joined (together) (eresthai)

// Phaedrus 234ξ

οὐχ ὑπερφυῶς

τά τε ἄλλα
καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν εἰρῆσθαι

//

yesterday, in the kitchen, our friend whos out
from prison, was sharing gossip about a junior
being caught and being sent to aranjep
over kampung coffee and orchid media.

and no, they never tell me how it works.
the violet news arrives always from inside
the shackled parallel, the humbled inflorescence.
recirculating sources its own mystery.

war-salvaged rumors from the streets are white
like mouses ears that dream into my peers.
we build them nests from all our mixed-up hair.
the silver blacks the blonde. the ashen thatch.

the trees trail overgrowingly through tails
and tubers until, tangled up, the bearded roots.
to found us here. among inmates and outlaws
and songs, as clove tobacco blanketed our evening.

did you know, they blow the breath of dust
until a fungus makes the faerie home?
a thinking blink is how they move from there
to here, a mayfly mask, the wake to name a wink.

the jungle knows no law, leastly, my wooden sanity.
and when reports an owling bloom, my nervous cell —
i dont believe in walls, i saw you on the battlefield, and
i dont believe youre dead, how could you trust me.

so we have come to be present, by the previous
of evening, out of Potidaea, from the army.
and as having arrived, through time, gladly
i go. and two-thirds of the words are backwards slang.


//

Socrates:

we have come to be present (hekomen)
by the previous of evening
out of Potidaea from the army-ground (stratopedon)

and as having arrived through time
gladly
i go

upon the together-dwelling (sunethes)
rubbed-throughs (diatribas)

// Charmides 153α

ἥκομεν τῇ προτεραίᾳ ἑσπέρας ἐκ Ποτειδαίας ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατοπέδου

οἷον δὲ διὰ χρόνου ἀφιγμένος
ἁσμένως
ᾖα

ἐπὶ τὰς συνήθεις διατριβάς

//

🌒

May 17, 2026 ∞

underneath a circle

the face of the moon
sheds her shimmering veils
until the night sky
goes quiet again

to give the charm or bite the leaf
a river coursing swift or deep
through horn or through ivory

at around noon
grey eyes toward the ground
in swastikasana underneath
a circle of blue

(from a prison cell)


//

Phaedrus:

how (ti) does it shine (phainetai)
by you

O Socrates

the logos?

234ξ

τί σοι φαίνεται
ὦ Σώκρατες
ὁ λόγος

//

🌑

May 16, 2026 ∞

commandment



the clay was in your hand. life turned

onto the skin. a fountain was desire.
i dipped my fingers in, day after day

to taste this young and yearning body.
you didnt have to tell me even once

until my garden was creased and crinkled.
as later fell, we were unfolding it all

together. the sweet milk of a whisper.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

(love) (ask) (erota)

// 234ξ

ἐρώτα

May 15, 2026 ∞

burlesque empire



to cross the Rubicon, where left meets right,
we found a body. being unrecognized,
we hold it side-by-side her photograph.
the printed animal in black and white
was captive to the scene: how Bettie used
the furniture, her pose and what it meant
to her, her legs and what they wore for us.
stilettos pointed out the stars. surely
they were not hours in bondage to a fault.
the leather business never skins enough,
as keys to pleasure play the vault betrayed,
and suits around her salivate like wolves.
the burlesque empire folds itself around the twain:
a missing woman tangled in the pin-up queen.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

but if
(on the other hand)
you still long for (potheein)
anything

leading (the way) and holding (it) (hegoumenos)
to have been left aside (para-lepein)


// 234ξ

εἰ δ᾽ ἔτι τι σὺ ποθεῖς

ἡγούμενος παραλελεῖφθαι

May 14, 2026 ∞

finish fingertrap



finger
finger
finger
finger
thumb

finger
finger
finger
finger
thumb

finger
finger
finger
finger
thumb

Rachmaninov


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

i
(one the one hand)
really
enough (ikana)
by me
practice (nomizo)
the (things) having been spoken (eiremena)

// 234ξ

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἱκανά μοι νομίζω τὰ εἰρημένα

May 13, 2026 ∞

axios



my monsoon, in decline, lets run again. the cocks
roll thunder. high on this island, cloud-blind, some soft
grey ankle socks deliver me. wherever

cast ironies become a blanket feast. the cold,
like snow, but i belong to it. and where i sit,
i am not alone. i am the least

interesting thing about me. morning is a word
upon blue lips. change comes from a beast behind
the oracle. meaning takes a midnight train

to hear the tightropes hum. like details falling down
a face, like curtains swaying in a drift. if
i fail, then i forget. and being neither of these.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

but there must be (dei)

not even one (medemian)
harm (blaben)
from itself

and help (opheleia)
born (gignesthai)
by both (amphoin)

// 234ξ

δεῖ δὲ

βλάβην μὲν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ μηδεμίαν

ὠφελίαν δὲ ἀμφοῖν γίγνεσθαι

//

previously

no post again tomorrow
for routine medical & traffic.
enjoy infrastructure. x

🌘

May 12, 2026 ∞

tasty vs stinky



if the (un)father(ing) flew
a pulpy, creamy poem
to feather they were not
a man, what then would

i eat for dessert?

being care-
ful of the spikes —
and mind-
ful of the blast radius —

a durian

released by my small hands,
to share between my friends.
frozen, blended custard; topped
with darkness (chocolate) crackling.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

nor
for you wishing (boulomai)
to be unnoticed (lanthanein) by others
(is it) similarly (homoios)
powerful (dunatos)

// 234ξ

οὔτε σοὶ βουλομένῳ τοὺς ἄλλους λανθάνειν ὁμοίως δυνατόν

//

feet

May 11, 2026 ∞

and her funny expression



the way is borne between
two virgin sisters:
a line for little kings,
a line for little beggars.

if the way feels very long,
sometimes the truth
is this: turn yourself
around to see her face.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

for neither
for the taker (lambanein)
(is) the balance (axios)
of equal grace (charitos ises)

// 234ξ

οὔτε γὰρ τῷ λαμβάνοντι χάριτος ἴσης ἄξιον

May 10, 2026 ∞

myth of a hermit crab



when, among strewn stones, the roar, sea-rubbled
coral, drubbed-featureless bones, by the vast
intelligence of salt-lung-water, currents, swells
and cycles of one planet to another
precious, semi-circle moon

when, of intertidal spine or ladder, a rambler up
and down the baking sand, the beach, which burns
my feet, the purge of undertows, the surging rips
and sneaker waves
behind, above, on wind a hunting wing


when, a shadow moving in, to halt
the camera, home, returns me to my knees
knuckled, imprints of gravel on red skin
engraved by seashell shards, held-back, worked-in
to kneeling, as if eons, there, to wait

for when, if ever, the sun can
be still enough to catch
the nestled-in extend
a tentative feeler, a tiny
bristled limb

when those barely let
light breathe or gills retreat
between the lens and
a shuttered eye-
stem

the how-less
greet


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

but the loving (one)
would not urge (keleuein) you
toward all the loving (ones)

to hold (echein) this thinking-through (dianoia)

// 234β

οὐδ᾽ ἂν τὸν ἐρῶντα
πρὸς ἅπαντάς σε κελεύειν τοὺς ἐρῶντας

ταύτην ἔχειν τὴν διάνοιαν

//

🌗

May 9, 2026 ∞

rude wisdom



true story, when i was nine or ten
my father, at the time, sat me down
as fathers do, to read Plato’s Apology.
there had been a situation at school.

it was a public school and i was new.
it had to do with bullying and needing
to choose a side. well i guess a child
encounters force beside deliberation.

after i finished reading, he asked me
what Socrates would do. it was not
really a question. and i was no fool.
i said, but papa, i am not Socrates.

this morning, i woke up from a dream
about an oil spill. well the sign put forth.
it grew like coltsfoot in the broken step
where id removed an unbelonging one.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

well i guess (oimai)

// 234β

ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι

//

previously

May 8, 2026 ∞

the daddys issue

some days like i become your magazine
some days like i become your loaded gun
these days it makes no difference which (oil spill)

yes i read your letter yesterday and all
the days before, your hollow men, your dump
truck spat into my bed, and im not sure

it got there but i wrote you on the third
to say, how dare you write me when you never
learn to read a single fucking word


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

whether id recommend (para-aineein
for you
to gratify
all
the not-loving (ones) (me erosi)

// 234β

εἰ ἅπασίν σοι παραινῶ τοῖς μὴ ἐρῶσι χαρίζεσθαι

//

oil spill

May 7, 2026 ∞

on genealogy

for when you’re here, have this of me. as time
lets go of us, a song escapes the circlet in
a stranger coming home; eventuality.

under covers of moonlight, the folding pages
yellowed in memory, a gnawing book-
worm spins the orphanage; mulberry leaves.

some shadows at a funeral see less,
and lesson me, nightmare and burnt-off limb.
to hold a hand in grace; fatherlessness.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

equally (isos)

if you would really ask (eroio)
me

// 234β

ἴσως

ἂν οὖν ἔροιό με

May 6, 2026 ∞

the self-guarding deliberation of one who wouldn't love

so, paedophilia is in the news again. or
ephebophilia, as the clarifiers say, making clear
nothing. and every soul in Athens seems
a perpetrator and a victim of the crime; i
have come to understand it as a spectrum.

the young, the young, we must protect the young;
who does and doesn’t say it is a creep. so where
might i protect them from the citizen? and where
might i protect them from the serpent of my tongue? if
here, rare and slithering and beautiful, it would insert itself

into your ear. into any nubile mind, and call it
education. once upon a time, a little fiction built
the beating heart of my self-government. all fallen
on the shell-shocked ears of popular abuse. all fallen
across the scattered pages of history.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

you
really
remember (memneso)
the things having been spoken (eremenon)

and (put) it into the heart (en-thumou)

that (on the one hand)
beloveds (hoi philoi)
warn (nouthetousin) (or put-in-mind)
lovers (erontas)

of the practice (epi-tedeumatos)
being (ontos)
bad (kakou)

and (on the other hand)
no one ever yet in the household (ton oikeion)
accused (emempsato)
the not-loving (me erosin)

of
through this
badly deliberating (bouleuein)
about themselves (peri eauton)

// 234β

σὺ οὖν τῶν τε εἰρημένων μέμνησο

καὶ ἐκεῖνο ἐνθυμοῦ

ὅτι τοὺς μὲν ἐρῶντας οἱ φίλοι νουθετοῦσιν

ὡς ὄντος κακοῦ τοῦ ἐπιτηδεύματος

τοῖς δὲ μὴ ἐρῶσιν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τῶν οἰκείων ἐμέμψατο

ὡς διὰ τοῦτο κακῶς βουλευομένοις περὶ ἑαυτῶν

May 5, 2026 ∞

myth of sea urchins

oh protecting self of fire, oh siren song
of dragon scales; by glass, a flashing wheel,
honed steel, and feathers through the scapula;
so eager grows her guardian of tears.

so cells divide an urchin by its need
for spine, for swimmers heart, for art. cut us

in half, and each retains their whole of holes.
consistency is pluripotency in love.

so ocean breathes, with grave authority.
and armor makes, re-wakes itself; fossils
desire; marine in-vertebrates our queer
anthropocene; our deeper keys, in blastomere.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

and not those who
ceasing from desire (pauomenoi tes epi-thumias)
will seek a pretext (prophasin)
for hatred (echthra)

but those who
of ceased season (pausamenou tes horas)


will then display (epi-deiknumi)
excellence (arete)
of their own

// 234α

οὐδὲ οἵτινες παυόμενοι τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἔχθρας πρόφασιν ζητήσουσιν

ἀλλ᾽ οἳ παυσαμένου τῆς ὥρας

τότε τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν ἐπιδείξονται

//

(plz dont miss
kate & tori references)

🌖

May 4, 2026 ∞

don’t drop by

tonight; to see you makes me dangerous.
an ember sleeps; you hide yourself.
every soldier in uniform is a suicide.

oh, my friend, don’t drop the grenade, don’t drop
the quiet words. wake me from clay at dawn.
your shoulder lights our temporary weight.

there’s revolution in the research of
a snail; your fingerprint upon my eyelid.
every little life sets wings to wildfire.


//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

and not (to gratify or make well)
those coming quickly (spoudazein)
for a brief time (oligon chronon)

but those
consistently (homoios)
throughout all of life (dia pantos tou biou)
will-being friends (philois esomenois)

// 234α

οὐδὲ τοῖς ὀλίγον χρόνον σπουδάζουσιν

ἀλλὰ τοῖς ὁμοίως διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου φίλοις ἐσομένοις