General

In 1680, the French 17th-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal had his Penseés (Thoughts) published, and since he died in 1672, this was assembled posthumously.  It is a collection of some 800 to 1,000 notes and manuscript fragments on theology and philosophy, expressing his religious beliefs.  Pascal explored the contradictions of human nature in psychological, social, metaphysical and theological terms, while defining the human condition using three words: boredom, inconstancy and anxiety.  Mankind emerges from Pascal’s analysis as a wretched and desolate creature within an impersonal universe, but hope is still there as anyone can be transformed through faith in God’s grace.

In this work Pascal wrote, “The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.”  Pascal probably meant that truth and reason not only come from what we see and hear, but also from what we feel in our heart.  Since this was in French, it is difficult to know…

The undying wish
Beyond mind’s mortality
Unscratchable itch
When the inner child creates
In words, code, or deed
They seek companionship
That, which never leaves
Theirs to claim, at beck and call
For though they may notknow it
It is forever
That they make from love

Happy birthday to Colleen. I wrote the choka syllabic poem above for her and hers. As well as tankatuesday. She is my book-cover designer but she does much more than that and I appreciate her so much.

Also For Reena’s xploration challenge and Sadje’s whatdoyousee

Hot New! Blog tour Schedule

In case you missed it, I did a cover and blurb reveal in my last post HERE.

Broken Ties, the 2nd book in my debut fantasy trilogy, Realms of the Mist, will be live on May 17th 2023. So we’re going on tour soon, and I invite you…

I took yesterday off from blogging (in case you didn’t notice) and dedicated it, instead, to enjoying some alternative adventures with My Beloved Sandra.

I may be taking today off, too; we’ll see.

Meanwhile, I’m addressing today’s Writer’s Digest Prompt:  Write a “(Blank) Of The (Blank)” poem…

——[||]——

The Trimming Of His Sales

The cover of his latest book
has no picture, no promo, no preview.

The cover of his latest book is blank
like all of its several hundred pages.

The editors of his latest book
had to make some tough choices:

nothing before or after nothing?
six blank pages after the blankest page 

or only five? (It’s important to
let the reader rest their eyes.)

The language in his latest book
seems like it’s for adults only.

The biggest fans of his latest book
stare menacingly at its critics, dismayed.

—————[|||]—————
Writer’s Digest Poem-A-Day April
PAD 04.16.2023

Written for https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2023/04/13/reenas-xploration-challenge-276/

‘I’m stuck, what do I write next B Bot?’

‘I am not sure I understand the question.’

B Bot sat on the floor, next to his friend Stephen, his computer cells whirring. He would never understand a human. Writing, wasn’t that copying what you had read before. He read many things, could access the computer, other books. Why couldn’t his friend.

‘I have writer’s block.’

‘I cannot see anything blocking you. What do you want to write about?’

‘That’s it, I don’t know.’

‘Do you want to write a novel, poem or short story?’

‘Short story, it’s for my blog.’

‘What about writing about what you know, write about how we met. Your dad, the scientist, who made a robot friend for his son. So he wouldn’t be lonely any more. I would read that.’

‘B Bot, we met when I was two years old. He shook…

I decided to go with an image prompt again this week.

An additional push – you are free to use any AI tool to write your piece, though it is not a compulsion. If you are subscribed to Chatgpt, you may use to create anything you want.

➰➰➰

As we lean onto technology heavily

Gave up trying to think independently

Reach out for a smart device for help

Even simple sums are considered a chore

~*~

Chatbots to answer the hard questions

AI to help with finding definitions

What was once an opportunity to gain knowledge

Discovery has been relegated to the category of a chore

~*~

Multiple open tabs on your computer, confusing

Brain at war with the barrage of irrelevant information

What would bring a smile to the face or solace to the mind

Has technology become a crutch or a tool?

~*~

From young to old, all…

Man helped robot become man,
programmed it all, from plan to scan,
it forgot to emote,
caused to demote,
only to remain as a yes-man.

---

I sat to pen down humour,
humour put me down.

Poetry form :- ( Limerick and a two-liner)

Acknowledgements :- Written in response to Na Po Wri Mo Day 13 challenge where we are prompted to try our hand at writing a short poem (or a few, if you’re inspired) that follows the beats of a classic joke. Thank you Reena Saxena for hosting RxC #276 , the above photo is the prompt.

I told my robot Radion that I had to write a story and I asked for his help.  He possesses gender-specific features, so he identifies as a male and he doesn’t like to be called it.  Radion is very intelligent, and he is capable of speech, but his fingers are not suited for typing.  He asked me what my story was about, so I told him it was going to write about how a chatbot is able to make predictions that enable them to string words together in a meaningful way.  Radion thought that would make a very interesting topic and he said that he would do some research for me.  I told him that I was not interested in writing that seemed awkward, or repetitive, or inaccurate and that it had to seem like it came from a human.  I told Radion that I don’t expect the chatbot’s writing…

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #275

Picture prompt- #275

no one would have cared

if the world was made of gold

we crave anything

for a high price if it’s sold

———————————————————–

Golden nest and the golden egg
So very tempting for Mr.Rag
Let's elope with the all this gold
he proposed
No way, sir, she opposed
She said with sour laughter
Your plane is cheap and a disaster
Not everyone has a lust for gold 
Contrary to what you might have been told
I'm blissful with whatever I have
Futile is your attempt
to tempt me with gold
Buzz off and dare not chase me hereafter