Israfel Sivad's Blog, page 7

Skynet and Zen: The Past, The Future, and The Terminator

“God, a person could go crazy thinking about this…” Sarah Connor says at the end of James Cameron’s film The Terminator in a recording she will eventually pass on to her unborn son, John. Sarah knows her son will grow into a man named John Connor simply because the film’s other main protagonist, Kyle Reese, has already informed her that this boy, who he himself never knew he was destined to be the father of, is the same man who sent Kyle back from the future to protect Sarah herself. For, as...

Skynet in Zen: The Past, The Future, and The Terminator

“God, a person could go crazy thinking about this…” Sarah Connor says at the end of James Cameron’s film The Terminator in a recording she will eventually pass on to her unborn son, John. Sarah knows her son will grow into a man named John Connor simply because the film’s other main protagonist, Kyle Reese, has already informed her that this boy, who he himself never knew he was destined to be the father of, is the same man who sent Kyle back from the future to protect Sarah herself. For, as...

My Untimely Meditations

X.

Hebrew is like a veil being rent asunder. I see the world backwards, from the other side of the page. Suddenly, I see English from the other side of the page as well.

Greek forces me to meditate on the sound and symbol as well as the process of thought: the order of words.

Chinese is a reflection on meaning.

French? How could something so similar be so different? Even to the point of sounds of familiar letters… even to the point of putting articles where my “native” tongue has none.

I don’...

The State of Nature and Non-Conformity

Commenting upon the state of contemporary affairs, one often recognizes two aspects among our current society. One of these is the speed at which society desires pleasure rather than repose among the beauty of nature. Another quickly discernible modern trait is the desire to conform that society presents to its youth and adults.

At the point where we’re at today, the beauties of the earth are quickly overlooked so instant pleasures can be achieved. We rip apart our forests to make room for “p...

The Sparrow’s Insight

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The Sparrow’s Insight
(From the novel: The Adversary’s Good News)
By Israfel Sivad

Somehow, a dead sparrow had found its way onto Christian Michael Anderson’s floor. He’d discovered it as he tore through his room frantically searching for a misplaced bag of weed. Like the fossilized remains of a miniature dinosaur imprinted on a dug-up sedimentary stone, the gnarled bird lay stiff with one leg wrenched straight, the other bent forwards at the knee. Its tiny talons were splayed in mimicry of...

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast
By Israfel Sivad

We can’t write this poem right now.
Don’t worry, we’ll come back to it.

We both know
language is meaningless.
That’s why I never say:
I love you.

I want to lay you down
on a bed of nails,
pinprick you in your soul,
watch you writhe and squirm.

After God unchained us,
we went straight to hell.
We had to fight the devil
in order to get our souls.

We’d been waiting
our whole lives for that.

I’ve still got a scar
from when you cut me.
How does it feel
to be...

April

April
By Israfel Sivad

…This city can talk to you
if you’re willing to listen.

How y’all doin…
My name is Lucifer:
condemned to walk the earth
as the second Cain.

April doesn’t mean shit;
I’m alive again.

I’m looking for my mother.
Her name is Madonna.
Have you seen her around?
I feel like makin love.

Roll myself a cigarette…
What I really need is a joint.
My belly’s twisted into knots –
growing pains.

I don’t know what the fuck happened here;
dead people keep on talking to me.
I gave away a...

There’s Something About Chaos…

Right before I lost my job in DC the last time I lived here, an old roommate of mine invited me to fly down to Honduras, where she was living at the time, to take two weeks to cross the border with her and travel through Nicaragua over the Christmas holiday. She and I had bonded one night while sitting out on our old porch, smoking joints as a summer rain drenched the city. That was before I’d gotten sober that time, and as we’d sat out there on the rotting couch, I’d told her a non-linear ve...

There’s Something about Chaos that Smells of Freedom

Right before I lost my job in DC the last time I lived here, an old roommate of mine invited me to fly down to Honduras, where she was living at the time, to take two weeks to cross the border with her and travel through Nicaragua over the Christmas holiday. She and I had bonded one night while sitting out on our old porch, smoking joints as a summer rain drenched the city. That was before I’d gotten sober that time, and as we’d sat out there on the rotting couch, I’d told her a non-linear ve...

Where the Wild Things Grow

Where the Wild Things Grow
By Israfel Sivad

There’s a garden in the middle of the city
where we planted a tree outside my window.
I had poetry boiling in my soul,
I needed a shot of rock n roll:

A vampiric lover who ain’t afraid of the cross…
Honey, I’m the living dead. What’s suffering to be afraid of?
I think I’ll take you to where the wild things grow.

Come here, sweet thing.
I want to suck your blood.
I need a belly full of loving.
I’m gonna feast on you.

Why don’t you slip on inside
by...