Epigraph:
Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.
–Ezra Taft Benson (1899 – 1994)
An American sentence:
Self-proclaimed experts opine; meanwhile, I hardly understand myself.
What’s an ‘American Sentence’?
Allen Ginsberg, inventor of the American Sentence, felt that the haiku didn’t work as well in English. Ginsberg decided to remove the line structure of the haiku, maintaining the requirement of 17 syllables total. He felt that removing the line count freed the American Sentence up for the idiosyncrasies of English phonemes.
The requirements:
- Composed in one line;
- Syllabic, 17 syllables;
- Condensed, written with no unnecessary words or articles;
- Complete sentence or sentences;
- Includes a turn or enlightenment.
Yes! I wish people would start with understanding themselves first and save the rest of us from some clueless bullshit. 🙂
💙 Terveen 💙
exactly Andrew 😀
better to keep schtumm and be thought stupid than to open your mouth and – remove all doubt.
Silence is golden,and one cannot plumb the depths of the Wisdom of the silent.
❤ Andrew ❤
Hrrm. Leaves me feeling inferior for correcting Cray when she incorrectly attributed her errors to me.
I shall try to keep this mantra in mind!
😍 Leenda 😍
Noooice!! 🙂
🙏🏻 Joe 🙏🏻
Thank you David. 🙏🏻❤
🤎 Filipa 🤎
sameeeeeeeeeee!!😂 and mursposis pointed out correct!
💗 Kunjal 💗
Another great American sentence.
I am really digging this form ☺️
And it is the self aware man who knows what he doesn’t know!
Jewish proverb: Who is wise? He who learns from everyone.
And they do it loudly. (K)
I know!
a beautiful koan you have given yourself there, David 🙂
Hmn! I hadn’t thought of it as a koan, but I really like that – thank you!
❤
David
you’re very welcome 🙂
Barbara,please tell me what a Koan is, I am ignorant about these new literary gymnastics.
check out this video:
Video doesn’t work from the phone ,I’ll use the computer later.
🙂 Andrew Blair, sounds to me like you have given yourself one 🙂 I am equally ignorant on literary or any other kind of gymnastics. A koan describes the paradox of the world in one sentence. The Buddhists have a whole canon of it 😀 – here I aim to get them from the pedestal. Thanks for asking and have a good day.
Have a good day,too and thanks for informing me.
Do you refer to the words after the comma?