By, Jack Joseph
Long bus rides seem boring
We have yet to learn the truth:
The only nap-time
Shooting stars above
Astronomers call out
“Get to the shelter”
Author Archives: sophisticatedsphinx
My words
by Jack Joseph
Sonder (n): the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own, populated by their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries, inside jokes, and stories. In addition, you play the part of a background character just as they do to you. Perhaps yours is the car next to theirs when sitting in traffic or it’s your lamp that lights a window across the street from their home. Maybe you’re the person that wrote and posted something that he or she read and enjoyed.
Words are pretty cool, but let’s start with the basics.
I’ve got a brain (I mean, we all do).
I’ve got a pen. And it’s got some ink.
Reflect
By Jack Joseph
For the “begin with ‘the two stood face to face’ and end with ‘in the end there was only one'” prompt. I’d say “enjoy,” but that’s not the point.
The two stood face to face. She was too young to understand thesignificance of the moment, but her parents knew and they beamed. Their little Emily, who had always seemed smaller than children her age had any right to be, was finally walking. As she took one more step towards the mirror and raised a hand up to her twin, her parents looked on with pride and joy. They knew tomorrow would always bring more happiness than yesterday had, and that they would finally have peace.
As the pencil marks on the doorframe got higher, Emily’s mother began to fade. Emily saw her once flushed and rosy face turned into a pale ghost of itself. They had to spend more and more time in the big white building with too much anonymous equipment and not enough smiles. Her father often seemed to spend more time in his thoughts than he did with Emily and her mother could only weakly brush the tears from Emily’s face. Continue reading
Life is meant to be Lived
By Jack Joseph
I needed to get this out of my head and onto the page, so that I would be free of the weighty burdens of work and pleasure.
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This is not for a prompt. This is not for any external reason. I am writing this for a selfish purpose. I am writing this for me.
I have come to the conclusion that one of the most insidious inventions of mankind is the calendar. Yes, it allows for long-term planning. Yes, it provides a definitive schedule so that we may structure our lives and partition out our time. Each and every one of us has been able to make long-term plans because of calendars. However, it puts a person into entirely the wrong mindset. Continue reading
Isolation: the only truth
By Jack Joseph
This is my response to the fear prompt. It’s meant to be from someone’s perspective that doesn’t realize that he or she is living in fear. Contains barely any mature language.
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I left as quickly as I could. I hadn’t said anything, luckily, but I could still feel all of their eyes on me. Why can’t they just let me suffer on my own? It’s bad enough as it is without them laughing behind my back. I know they do it. Even if I try to spend the period with my head down while I doodle in my note-book, their attention gravitates towards me. Oh, they’re subtle though. I rarely see them stare at me directly, but I know that they do it. Those clever assholes have had years to practice.
The walk home is blissful, even though I know I have homework, projects, presentations, finals, interviews, applications, tests, and quizzes all hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles. I finally had time to be away from those bastards and just breath (which, coincidentally enough, is what my biology presentation next Thursday is about — breathing, I mean). I didn’t need to worry about the cars passing by me on the sidewalk and what the drivers thought of me. Why should they? I’m nothing to them! I am a bystander in their lives. I play such an insignificant role that anyone could do it! The blink of an eye and I’m gone. Just like that. Never really needed to be there in the first place. God what a beautiful kind of life. No one peering into you, asking questions about what you think, who you look up to, or what kind of ice cream you like. Continue reading
el fin
by Jack Joseph
My response to the prompt “write from the perspective of someone who is dying/about to die.”
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Sometimes we live too long; only when the cancer of the body or the cancer of the mind takes charge can we finally see the light at the end of this twisting tunnel of suffering. Life is a thorn in the path, which once removed no longer inhibits the progress of that which never should have stopped. There is no need to fear moving on; I have seen preachers commit genocide and sinners earn glowing halos. It is the failing of man to think that our brother, cloaked in darkness, is our enemy. He is our only family, someone present for every downfall and every victory. For our entire miserable lives he holds our hand, silently guiding us towards a peaceful slumber. He provides the hope we need to move on, to strive for that which seems so far away. We should not pity the dead. We should pity the living, for it is they who must contend with the pain and destruction of life. Continue reading
Not a downfall
By Jack Joseph
This is a true story in response to the “danger” prompt. Though I didn’t know it at the time, it runs out that I had fractured my collarbone, but not nearly bad enough to do anything about it.
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It didn’t take long to realize my mistake. Obviously I jumped too far, and with too much force. Obviously I shouldn’t have gone for the one that was bound to break soon anyway.
But isn’t that the point?
Don’t I climb to be unsafe, to go someplace few others have been, to get that wonderful feeling as the branches move beneath me, yet I know that I am perfectly balanced, perfectly in tune with the giant organism that supports my weight dozens of feet off the ground?
Maybe I wasn’t careful enough. Going down has always required more thought and care than the ascension. Didn’t Sam get stuck in that redwood, years ago? But oaks are not redwoods. Their branches stay thick; their roots go deep. But maybe I shouldn’t have tried leaping from the powerful branch to the one hanging above me. Perhaps I should have climbed around it, but the opportunity was too perfect. The branch was right there, waiting to be leapt to and swung upon to reach the safety of the beam-like limb suspended just out of reach.
Destiny called, and as I felt my hands grasp the rough wood and a feeling of exultation washed over me, the truth broke in on my majestic flight and the ground rushed up to meet me. Continue reading
Definition of evil
By, Jack Joseph
I’m fairly certain you can figure out which prompt to written this is in response, but if not, this is for the “evil” prompt.
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What is evil? The Oxford English Dictionary (yes, I looked it up before writing this) defines evil as “morally depraved, bad, wicked, or vicious.” It’s a fine definition, but it lacks specificity about “morality.” I believe Kant has the right take on it, or at least comes close. The German philosopher sees evil as using other people as a means unto an end. One should see that each person has their own intentions and beliefs and that each person is an end in and of themselves, not a means to fulfill one’s own intent. Continue reading
Words 