the Never-Ending Poem by the Poets of Everything

  We Shall Know our Vascularity The complexity of vascular networks varies across and within organisms to meet the different metabolic needs of the tissues § The bodybuilder wants his veins to be prominent so we know how lean she is how hard they worked out today this week, this year, this lifetime The sequoia draws water from the tips of its roots to the pores of its leaves transpiration osmosis cohesion-tension capillarity water becomes sap becomes water again ...

 Me:  are there other terms similar to umwelt, umgebung and innerwelt to be considered in thinking about these ideas? ChatGPT Yes, there are other terms that can be considered when thinking about these ideas and expanding our understanding of the interplay between self and the world. Here are a few additional concepts: Lebenswelt: This German term refers to the lifeworld or the world as experienced and interpreted by individuals. It encompasses the everyday experiences, beliefs, values, and social interactions that shape one's perception of reality. Lebenswelt emphasizes the subjective experience of individuals within their socio-cultural context. Sozialwelt: Translating to "social world" in English, Sozialwelt focuses on the social dimensions of human experience. It encompasses the relationships, institutions, norms, and dynamics within a given social context that shape one's sense of self and interaction with others. Eigenwelt: This term, rooted in German philosophy...

This is not a poem, nor is it written by a human... it is the output of GPT4 when I first asked it to write odes to A) Umwelt; B) Umgebung; C) Innerwelt and then to reflect on the paradoxes and dualities of self-other in that regard: Reflections on Self and Other: Embracing Paradoxes In the intricate tapestry of existence, a dance unfolds between the realms of self and other, where dualities and paradoxes intertwine. Within the realm of Umwelt, individual perceptions shape our understanding of the world. Each of us holds a unique lens through which we interpret our surroundings, yet within these boundaries, we feel an inherent yearning for connection with others. It is the paradox of embracing our own distinctiveness while recognizing the shared humanity that binds us. Umgebung, the stage upon which life plays out, encompasses diverse landscapes and environments. Mountains, rivers, cities, and forests create a multitude of Umgebungen, each offering a distinct backdrop for our individua...

Dancing the Innenwelt at the Umgebung Umwelten, Umwelten Wherefore art though, Umwelten? I am here, I am there, I am everywhere... I am, after all, all that there is   but for you, a tiny zen window into the multiverse Umwelt becomes Innenwelt your Umwelt, my Umgebung undt vice-versa   perched on hard chairs in an auditorium among thousands. A sea of gray hair, long yellowed teeth, bright eyes and bowed shuffles phones muted and hearing aids on high cybernetics insert themselves   We stare at the dull big screen, projecting the conversationalists below. We hear their amplified voices surrounded by speakers as tall as any of us   later, a line of people to meet the author maybe snag a signature sniff him take his hand in yours feel the heat, the texture is it firm? clammy?   the author wears a breathing mask as do you. We keep our microbiome to ourselves our umwelt is our ballroom Steve Smith Otowi, NM May 2023 Autho...

Curly Black Bit of Doggerel Little dog, little dog Curley Sue Malarkey   Wag, bite, run, chew, sleep   Little dog, little dog I can hardly see your eyes maul the cat, maul the cat   What do I know? Stupid Human!   March 2023 Otowi, NM

5 Road Poems (5 Aspirations) and a Song of Despair      a nod to Pablo Neruda Ode to the Open Road Open Road!  You call me Locked down for over a year Behind my mask Afraid to breathe others' breath     to touch what they had touched We traded the silver screen     for a big screen        or a small screen          or a tiny screen Now we go back the righteous windscreen     and roadsigns     Interstates     byways     flat horizons     rumble strips     diner coffee     local AM stations          storm warnings         piglets, quilt-scraps, and firewood              for trade     NPR everywhere         Amy and Terry and Ira and Christiana...

a tether uncoiling here taut there slack in déjà vu loops not pushed with will but drawn haphazard on walls through doors across the worn smooth floors of years in slippery umbilical time tying together beginning and end - Richard Krasin 2021

 Ode to an Ode Oh, Dearest Ode with clunky name, we use you. No matter our choices from pesky gnat to Grecian Urn, you do not block or mock our pure or snarky impulses to please. Why wait for funerals to laud? Extol odes upon the living, lift the truths and tiny lies with form and purpose to ease a subject’s desolate days.  You gave Neruda and Lorca a box to hold their love of Whitman. Wrapped  words shaped into sweet, sweaty bits of soil,  skin, and sky. On and on you share yourself. Ancient as kindness you are, old as  papyrus, yet alive, young and pleased with yourself. Mary Strong Jackson

An Ode to an Ode She is not a Limerick nor a Sonnet not Haiku nor Renga but ... she does a good Obituary or Tribute The Death of an Ode might begin: "She left an Ode size hole in my Universe"  So humble So everyday So common all rhythm no meter no rhyme Oh you wonderful ode you make me want  to sing! "Oh Doh de Oh Doh" "Ode Odey Ode Ode!" "dah dodey a doh!"

Oh Xaos     casting shadow on bright reason     boiling chaotic oceans     casting doubt on certain causation     roiling cauldrons of emotion Marauding and bedeviling     coiling and taunting         and stalking a thousand             thousand millennia of trial and error                 tooth and nail                 pick and scrape                 malice and mercy                 truth and deceit                 force and con...

  Oh Poetry how facile your written record churning and remixing words carving chimeric sentences from stodgy fact ignored by some enslaved to authenticity who enlist the uncorrupted pixel to certify the truth from fiction or so they think ...   Oh Photoshop delivering us from not quite realized perfection de blemishing the de facto showing us how it all should be replacing boring skies with blood red sunset removing wrinkles from the clothes and clothed disappearing those who no longer claim our favor walking us in swanky shoes so that our fat will fade away buying us that chichi bag so that our pimples disappear slathering after shave so that our macho abs will hypnotize you are so mischievous and clever conjuring the funny inappropriate mixing metaphors A Chimpanzee God of Wine The Duckling with the Pearl Earring Mona Lisa wearing Michael Jackson glasses and yet ... Oh Authenticity taunt me to peel back the veneer of Wordshopped worship of illusion confront the fear of impe...

  "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness This stanza was to be for you      a sunny affirmation to shine through foggy doubt but last night she climbed into my dreams to play      hide and seek with moony memory      tumble with my rhyme and meter      then chose to stay in quilts and pillows      leave me here to blush and fumble empty headed but she's still there just waiting to be led to daylight      to meet you and hand you my words She places words into my hand I fear clasping too hard, but if the boulders of memory tickle my palms, I may loosen letters letting them fall between crevices or into wells where women chant songs of enticement promising   the good luck of a copper penny wish with this closed palm of words, I choose a path to pass into the inescapable landscapes of l...