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the poplar
does not disrupt
it stands and grows
tall, fast and quiet
as others wish it to
then, as quick as it came
it passes to sawdust
and good green earth
silent and obedient
to the wild elements
that would do as they wish
without interuption

It has been said to me

By the swordsman

As i lay upon the ground

“Cover your wounds

Lest people see

That you bleed

And are not

As impervious

As you let on”

And so I learned the art

Of living while bandaged,

A brilliant disguise

To the knowing eyes

Of every passerby.

It’s not

What are you doing

It’s

Why are you doing

Why

Answer that.

This is what keeps you alive.

You have this plant

And you nurture it

Watch it grow

With pleasure

You gain

It gains

And this is good

Then one day

It turns its leaves away

It turns its roots away

Away from the sun

Away from the soil

Away from your face

And you do your best

You try your hardest

To bring it back

To keep it with you

Pouring water like tears

But no matter what

It just dies

And that’s life

Something changed

Nothing you could give

Was ever enough

In the end.

So as an unhealthily transparent individual I tend to be a part of alot of social media platforms and I have for many years. I have given up trying to figure out the science of the influencer and generating numbers etc. because I don’t post for those reasons. I post to get things out of me. It is why I write.

Still I know there are a few key factors that can lead to increased numbers one of which is having a narrow focus. I am a macro person…very wide number of interests, not that deep. Influencers tend to be more successful at cultivating followers by having a micro, narrow, very deep focus.

Aka – you’re not just the mushroom person, your the northeaster Oregan, 10,000 foot elevation, night time under a full moon, mushroom person. Very focused.

At any rate I have an account on Threads which I pay no attention to at all. It is populated automatically by posts from my Instagram feed.

To put this entire post into perspective here’s my currernt (as of today) social media footprint:

Facebook – 1,500 “friends”
Instagram – 720 followers
Threads – 152 followers
Youtube – 275 subscribers; Most popular clip has 190,000 views
WordPress – 86,000 views from 52,000 visitors

Yesterday I reposted the hat and scarf my wife knit me to Threads and various other social media accounts I have. What do I discover today but the post has gone mini-viral for some reason. As of the time I am typing this it has almost 14,000 views, 3,100 likes and 96 comments and climbing fairly quickly. I should also mention every single comment is positive.

Knitting. Who knew. Knitters, that’s who.

My beautiful and talented wife made me a hat to go with the scarf she knitted. Very happy with this.

I see patterns
in the wind and snow
i see patterns
everywhere i go
i see the things
others cannot see
the path of the monarch
the path of the bee
these things are what i see
and i see the ghosts
of ones not yet dead
leaving me days
i’d rather be blind
living in darkness
instead

he broods
beneath this green canopy
glowing with a southern sunlight
backlit and oblivious
to all of the goings on
that surround him daily
as a creature without agency
to whom things are done;
the world could fall apart
and he would continue
silent, stoic, and empty
waiting for whatever fate
is meant to come his way