Desire Paths

Open road

By Melissa Kirsch

After a blizzard in New York City, a pedestrian accustomed to crossing the street mid-block may find herself barricaded in, banks of plowed snow creating a fortress, forcing her to walk the length of the shoveled sidewalk to the crosswalk, as the urban planners intended. Follow the grid, same as everyone else, no shortcuts.

That is, unless someone has, mercifully, carved an incursion into the snow bank, creating a makeshift means of egress, a way out. These unofficial trails that permit deviation from the prescribed route are known as "desire paths." Desire paths (or, sometimes, "desire lines") show up after snowstorms, as my colleagues Anna Kodé and Amir Hamja documented this week, but you can find them anywhere humans have decided the official trail is too indirect: 

Those dirt trails that branch off paved walkways in parks, offering a shorter route from A to B, are desire paths, too. Has there ever been a more romantic name for a traffic pattern? . . .

The word desire has an ache in it. That's why its application to a trail deviating from a snowy sidewalk is so affecting — it's not just that I'd prefer to walk some other way, but I have a deep longing for another way. Imagine the planning commission meeting in which bureaucrats discuss desire paths in between more mundane-sounding plans for rezoning the waterfront and building a bus stop. Desire is so tender, so intimate, so individual. . . .

As the snow melts in the city and the physical desire paths go with it, I'm considering the simmering desire, mine and others', to make new, metaphorical paths, to cut lines through drifts that are walling us in, to create new ways out when the old ones no longer suffice.

From: The New York Times <nytdirect@nytimes.com>   (email)
Date: Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Subject: The Morning: Desire paths

Reinhold Niebuhr - Hope, Faith, Love & Forgiveness

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness."

~ Reinhold Niebuhr

(boldface added by blogger)

Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

 Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

Reinhold Niebuhr (2010). "The Irony of American History", p.63, University of Chicago Press

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

"Serenity Prayer". Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, www.beliefnet.com. 1951.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Grant me the patience with changes that take time, appreciation of all that I have, tolerance of those with different struggles, and the strength to get up and try again, one day at a time.

Reinhold Niebuhr

There was a time when I had all the answers. My real growth began when I discovered that the questions to which I had the answers were not the important questions.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness foreword (1944)

  

Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.

Reinhold Niebuhr

  

It's always wise to seek the truth in our opponents' error, and the error in our own truth.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Every experience proves that the real problem of our existence lies in the fact that we ought to love one another, but do not.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.

Reinhold Niebuhr

The stupidity of the average man will permit the oligarch, whether economic or political, to hide his real purposes from the scrutiny of his fellows and to withdraw his activities from effective control. Since it is impossible to count on enough moral goodwill among those who possess irresponsible power to sacrifice it for the good of the whole, it must be destroyed by coercive methods and these will always run the peril of introducing new forms of injustice in place of those abolished.

Reinhold Niebuhr (2013). "Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics", p.21, Westminster John Knox Press

Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Forgiveness is the final form of love.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Toleration of people who differ in convictions and habits requires a residual awareness of the complexity of truth and the possibility of opposing view having some light on one or the other facet of a many-sided truth.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer.

Reinhold Niebuhr, (2013). "Discerning the Signs of the Times - Sermons for Today and Tomorrow", p.72, Read Books Ltd

  

The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Rationalism belongs to the cool observer. But because of the stupidity of the average person, they follow not reason, but faith. This naïve faith requires necessary illusions and emotionally potent oversimplifications, which are provided by the myth maker to keep the ordinary person on course.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Since inequalities of privilege are greater than could possibly be defended rationally, the intelligence of privileged groups is usually applied to the task of inventing specious proofs for the theory that universal values spring from, and that general interests are served by, the special privileges which they hold.

Reinhold Niebuhr (2013). "Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics", p.117, Westminster John Knox Press

If you equate God's judgment with your judgment, you have a wrong religion.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Source: www.hrc.utexas.edu

  

My personal attitude toward atheists is the same attitude that I have toward Christians, and would be governed by a very orthodox text: "By their fruits shall ye know them." I wouldn't judge a man by the presuppositions of his life, but only by the fruits of his life. And the fruits - the relevant fruits - are, I'd say, a sense of charity, a sense of proportion, a sense of justice. And whether the man is an atheist or a Christian, I would judge him by his fruits, and I have therefore many agnostic friends.

Reinhold Niebuhr

"The Mike Wallace Interview". www.hrc.utexas.edu. April 27, 1958.

  

The chief source of man's inhumanity to man seems to be the tribal limits of his sense of obligation to other men.

Reinhold Niebuhr (2012). "Man's Nature and His Communities: Essays on the Dynamics and Enigmas of Man's Personal and Social Existence", p.84, Wipf and Stock Publishers

  

Life has no meaning except in terms of responsibility.

Reinhold Niebuhr (1974). "Justice and Mercy"

  

Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt. It is when we are unsure that we are doubly sure.

Reinhold Niebuhr

The cross symbolizes a cosmic as well as historic truth. Love conquers the world, but its victory is not an easy one.

Reinhold Niebuhr (2015). "Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic: A Library of America eBook Classic", p.91, Library of America

Love is the motive, but justice is the instrument.

Reinhold Niebuhr

"Grief is the price we pay for love​."

"Grief is the price we pay for love."

Queen Elizabeth II, addressing bereaved families following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Queen Elizabeth II on Religious Intolerance

quotes:

In her Christmas broadcast of 2004, the Queen addressed the theme of religious intolerance and spoke about her own faith in Christianity, including the important lessons that can be learned from the Good Samaritan parable. 

She said: "It is a timeless story of a victim of a mugging who was ignored by his own countrymen but helped by a foreigner - and a despised foreigner at that. The implication drawn by Jesus is clear. Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour. The need to look after a fellow human being is far more important than any cultural or religious differences."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/queen-elizabeth-ii-s-greatest-quotes-including-her-witty-joke-that-left-world-leaders-speechless/ar-AA1VvZlz  as of 2/5/2026

‘All It Is Is Pain’: The Olympian Testing the Limits of Endurance

 'All It Is Is Pain': The Olympian Testing the Limits of Endurance

Jessie Diggins has become the best-ever American cross-country skier because of what she pushes her body through.

By Reid Forgrave, Feb. 5, 2026, The New York Times Magazine

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/magazine/jessie-diggins-ski-winter-olympics-milan.html as of 2/5/2026

Quotes:

"She's one of the best at getting exhausted, and one of the best at continuing after she's exhausted."

Diggins discovered this superpower at 15, when as a freshman she was anchoring the final leg of a high school relay. Her teammates told her that she had to beat a particular skier from a rival high school who would be wearing a green race suit. . . . and Diggins was overwhelmed at seeing some 20 skiers wearing the same green race suit.

Pushing herself in a way she had never done before, she passed all 20 skiers from the rival team, then collapsed at the finish thinking she was going to die.

"Then, 30 seconds later, it was, Oh — I'm not going to die," Diggins recalls. "It was a huge lightbulb. This whole next level had been there the whole time, and I can access it if I am willing to push that hard. All it is is pain. It's not permanent damage. I want to know what my true potential is. I never want to wonder, What if I had just been a little tougher mentally?"

Improved Government?

 Improved Government?

"Chief Two Eagles," a government official began, "you have observed the white man for many generations, you have seen his wars and his products, you have seen all his progress, and all his problems."

The chief nodded.

The official continued, "Considering recent events, in your opinion, where has the white man gone wrong?"

The chief stared at the government official for over a minute, and then calmly replied, "When white man found this land, Indians were running it. No taxes. No debt. Plenty buffalo. Plenty beaver. Women did most of the work. Medicine man free. Indian men hunted and fished all the time." 

The chief smiled, and added quietly, "White man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."

The Goodness of God

Quote

"By the goodness of God we mean nowadays almost exclusively His lovingness; and in this we may be right. And by Love, in this context, most of us mean kindness—the desire to see others than the self happy; not happy in this way or in that, but just happy. What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, 'What does it matter so long as they are contented?' We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven—a senile benevolence who, as they say, 'liked to see young people enjoying themselves', and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, 'a good time was had by all'. Not many people, I admit, would formulate a theology in precisely those terms: but a conception not very different lurks at the back of many minds. I do not claim to be an exception: I should very much like to live in a universe which was governed on such lines. But since it is abundantly clear that I don't, and since I have reason to believe, nevertheless, that God is Love, I conclude that my conception of love needs correction."
—from The Problem of Pain"

― C.S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works

“everyone will have always been against this.”

On Oct 25th, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: "One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." This tweet was viewed over 10 million times. 

Playing Golf During a War

Bush's comment about war and golf go viral as Trump seen at Palm Beach club

Newsweek, story by Alice Gibbs 3/16/2026, 

quote:

A statement that former President George W. Bush made about playing golf during wartime has resurfaced online after being reshared on X by an account dedicated to archiving moments from his presidency. . . .

In the post shared on X, @TheBushArchive quoted Bush as saying that he stopped playing golf after the invasion of Iraq because he did not want “some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander‑in‑chief playing golf.”

Bush made the comments in a 2008 interview with Politico, in which he explained that he gave up the pastime following the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that killed several people, including the UN’s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. 

Bush said he was informed of the attack while he was playing golf in Texas and decided afterward that continuing to play during the war would send the wrong signal. He added that he felt he owed military families a sense of solidarity during the conflict.

Criticism grows around Trump’s golf outings. Beyond optics, the president’s golf trips have also drawn scrutiny over cost. A 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office report estimated that each presidential golf trip costs taxpayers approximately $1.4 million, factoring in travel, staffing and security expenses.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bush-s-comment-about-war-and-golf-go-viral-as-trump-seen-at-palm-beach-club/ar-AA1YKON9  as of 3/16/2026

Empathy on the M14 Bus

Empathy on the M14 Bus

When Quinton Miller’s M14 bus pulled up to a bus shelter in downtown Manhattan one recent morning, he said “Good morning!” to each passenger with a smile. As they exited, he told them to have a wonderful day.

Half the people didn’t respond, but that never bothers Mr. Miller, a bus operator for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for five years. “They might have had a bad day at work or school,” he told me. “They might be worried about someone.”

Mr. Miller manages the complex, nerve-jangling choreography of driving a city bus — which I saw as I joined him on his morning route — yet he still makes the extra effort to connect with his riders. Out of over 12,000 M.T.A. bus operators, the authority said he received the most appreciative comments from riders in 2024 and was in the top three last year.

How does he do it? He makes a “series of choices” to stay positive, he said, even when situations try him. If he’s on his break and it’s cold out, he lets riders wait inside the “nice warm bus” instead of at the bus stop. If he sees his usual airport workers running for the bus, he waits, because it will be 30 minutes until the next one.

His kindness works in both directions: Riders get to work on time, and Mr. Miller feels satisfaction for helping them. This squares with what studies have found. Empathy humanizes others — and it’s associated with higher levels of well-being.

“My philosophy is, you don’t want the job to change you,” Mr. Miller said. “You want to be able to change others on the job — by what you say and what you do.”

New York Times, Well email, "Well: Meet the human mood-lifters," March 5, 2026  (bold emphasis added by blogger)

Prince Philip gave Kate Middleton blunt warning about surviving royal life

Prince Philip gave Kate Middleton blunt warning about surviving royal life 

Duke of Edinburgh's 'golden rule' focused on avoiding celebrity status while representing monarchy 

By Stephanie Nolasco Fox News, September 2, 2025  (bold face added by blogger)

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/prince-philip-gave-kate-middleton-blunt-warning-surviving-royal-life

Hello! magazine recently revisited Gyles Brandreth's 2021 book, "Philip: The Final Portrait," which claimed the Duke of Edinburgh gave the future Princess of Wales his no-nonsense "golden rule" for making it as a senior member of the British royal family. 

"If you think the attention is on you personally, you'll end up in trouble," Philip told her, as quoted by the outlet. "The focus is on your role, what you do, what you support. It's not focused on you as an individual. You're not a celebrity. You represent the royal family." 

According to Brandreth, the late queen's husband told Kate that one crucial way to avoid feeling like a star was to "never look at the camera" when photographers were present. He stressed that Queen Elizabeth II never looked at the camera, but instead at the person she was speaking with. 

Brandreth noted that Philip, who supported his wife for more than seven decades, served as a mentor to the younger royals. He worried they might be consumed by fame, casting aside duty and service. Philip was reportedly "relieved" that his grandson Prince William, heir to the throne, had found a "level-headed girl" like Kate. 

"I have been on walkabouts with [the Princess of Wales]," said Brandreth. "She does not look at the camera. Whenever she is interviewed, Catherine talks about the matter at hand, never about herself." 

British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that Philip's advice continues to shape Kate's role as a beloved senior royal. "She was taught by the best," said Chard. "Prince Philip reminded her that she wasn't a celebrity. She represents the royal family. She needs to dedicate herself to a life of service, concentrate on the job at hand and never smile directly at the camera. 

"The Princess of Wales's deep humility and discretion, along with Philip's advice in dealing with life in the spotlight, has given her the strength to breeze through challenging media firestorms." British royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital it was easy for Kate to follow Philip's advice. "One of the many reasons Princess Catherine has followed his advice was due to the national respect she always garnered," Fordwich explained. "She also values tradition, service, as well as stability." 

"He implored her to always focus on the role, that of dedication and duty, not on herself," said Fordwich. "That's why she avoids seeking public attention for personal fame. He made it blatantly clear that royalty and celebrity are two completely different things. 

Philip's advice has helped her preserve the monarchy's respected public image, rendering her as one of the most level-headed, grounded, popular, revered and trusted members of the royal family." 

Royal experts previously said Kate was touched by her exchanges with Philip. Biographer Penny Junor told the U.K.'s Daily Mail that despite not having an aristocratic background, Kate mastered palace rules with ease. "Kate shines in her own light, but she knows her place in the royal family," Junor told the outlet. "I think Kate is a bit like Prince Philip, who has always supported Queen Elizabeth II." 

Kate and William are also said to be inspired by the longevity of Elizabeth and Philip's union, Vanity Fair reported. The couple were married for 73 years until Philip died in 2021 at age 99. Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022 at age 96. 

William and Kate are believed to want to set an example not only for their three young children but for the nation. "The late Queen Elizabeth made a huge success of her long life of service," said Chard. "Her beloved Philip was her constant strength and guide. Princess Catherine is happy to be part of the bigger picture, the glue of the royal family. She is still scrutinized by the public and photographers, yet she handles the spotlight with grace and sheer dedication to the royal family." 

"The Princess of Wales holds star power by shining in her own light," Chard added.

​“There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there’s never more than one.”

"There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer.
Then there's never more than one."

~ That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy

“Every time you make a choice you are turning . . . into something a little different"

"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature."

~ Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, Book III, Chapter 4, "Morality and Psychoanalysis", 1952.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

~ Dr. Seuss

The Three Times I Married My Wife - The New York Times

"I wasn't really married until I desperately wanted to walk out of my life and didn't."

"The Three Times I Married My Wife" - The New York Times
By Brent Chaim Spodek, Nov. 28, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/style/modern-love-the-three-times-i-married-my-wife.html 

The greatest threat to our planet

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

~ Jane Goodall

The 52 Best Breakup Lines (Said in Real Life) - The New York Times

"It's not me — it's 100% about you. Unless you turn into a different person, this will never work."
Tricia Cramblet, Seattle

"Mispronounce Eyjafjallajökull once more and we're done," my Icelandic boyfriend said.
That volcano had recently erupted.
Barbora Bukovska, London

"I couldn't leave you," he said, "so I did something awful so you would leave me."
After my partner of two years made sure I saw him in bed with another woman, I'd begged him to tell me why he had been so cruel.
Julie Melrose, Northampton, Mass.

"It's not you," I said. "It's not me. It's us."
Boyd Crow, Morro Bay, Calif.

"We can break up, or you can stop doing this. Either way, my life is going to get better."
I was fed up with her constant, last-minute cancellations.
Jeremy Lee, Phoenix

"The problem with us," he said, "is that we both need a wife."
Donna Herring, Hancock, Maine

"I never loved you," he said. "I loved the way you loved me."
Eleanor Hutchins, New York, N.Y.

"You care what people think, you care where you went to school and you like brands," he said. "I think I need to be with someone who cares more about the world than themselves."
Abbey Glover, San Francisco

"The 52 Best Breakup Lines (Said in Real Life)" - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/style/best-breakup-lines.html
By Miya Lee and Daniel Jones, Dec. 15, 2025

Poor Mexico

Porfirio Díaz, the Mexican dictator who was toppled in 1911: 

"Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States."

Tolstoy's relationship with Mohandas Gandhi

quote from Wikipedia as of Mar 4, 2016:

Mohandas Gandhi wrote in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Part II, Chapter 15) that this book "overwhelmed" him and "left an abiding impression." Gandhi listed Tolstoy's book, as well as John Ruskin's Unto This Last and the poet Shrimad Rajchandra (Raychandbhai), as the three most important modern influences in his life.[3] Reading this book opened up the mind of the world-famous Tolstoy to Gandhi, who was still a young protester living in South Africa at the time.

In 1908 Tolstoy wrote, and Gandhi read, A Letter to a Hindu,[4] which outlines the notion that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could the native Indian people overthrow the colonial British Empire. This idea ultimately came to fruition through Gandhi's organization of nationwide nonviolent strikes and protests during the years 1918–1947. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy seeking advice and permission to republish A Letter to a Hindu in his native language, Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until Tolstoy's death a year later in 1910. The letters concern practical and theological applications of nonviolence, as well as Gandhi's wishes for Tolstoy's health. Tolstoy's last letter was to Gandhi.[5]

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You as of Mar 4, 2016

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

 “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

~ Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), ranked among the world's top writers for historical novels such as War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Wisdom, by Dollie Radford, English poet

Wisdom

by Dollie Radford

HOW can I measure your sorrow,
How do I know
The weight of to-day and to-morrow,
Of days long ago,
The grief, and the burden to follow,
That speech may not show?
Deep in my heart is the measure,
Laid by the years,
To fathom, beneath all your pleasure,
The flood of your tears,
To mark all the desolate leisure
Your lonely heart fears.

https://www.best-poems.net/dollie-radford/wisdom.html

Sonnet 116: 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds...', by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 116: 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds...'

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~ William Shakespeare (1564-1616) 

Poet and playwright, considered the greatest dramatist of all time

Bluebird Symbolism and Spiritual Meaning, by SonomaBirding.com

The Bluebird is a uniquely attractive bird. Its feathers and coloration are gorgeous, while its song is melodious and pleasant to the ear. In the avian world, these birds might not be well recognized, but they have a strong and positive symbolism in the spiritual world. It has featured some important symbolism among many religious groups. . . .

The bluebird is a symbol of hope, love, and renewal and is also a part of many Native American legends. It symbolizes the essence of life and beauty. Dreaming of bluebirds often represents happiness, joy, fulfillment, hope, prosperity, and good luck. . . .

The bluebirds’ most significant symbolism is associated with their wings’ color; blue is symbolic of peace and contentment, and so are these birds. According to the Mystics, blue was the color of innocence, honesty, and purity.

Bluebirds are also symbolic of joy and happiness; their spirits firmly believe in spreading joy everywhere they go. Because the bluebirds have a melodious voice, they’re symbolic of music and passion. They have a positive spirit and keep the negative energies at bay.

Even in the harshest climates, when they have a scarcity of food, these birds still manage to sing cheerfully. It is a sign that you should never lose faith, even in your darkest hours. You must hold on to the belief that in the end, it will all be alright.

Bluebirds also stand for the inner child in all of us. They remind us that while the world might be a cruel place, you should never lose your kindness and innocence because these are the traits that make you a better person. . . .

https://www.sonomabirding.com/bluebird-symbolism/  as of 11/14/2025

Bluebird, by Charles Bukowski

Bluebird

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8509539-Bluebird-by-Charles-Bukowski 

This was published in Bukowski's book "The Last Night of the Earth Poems" circa 1992

Everything is waiting for you, by David Whyte

Everything is waiting for you
Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.

Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

https://allpoetry.com/poem/15379873-Everything-is-waiting-for-you-by-David-Whyte

"Never underestimate the ability of an enthusiast to screw things up."

"Never underestimate the ability of an enthusiast to screw things up."

~ GunnyMike, AP article comment