30 Things I Love Right Now: 01.18.19

(1) Diving (back) into the wreck of American (which is to say: global) politics. (2) “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri. (3) This interview with Jhumpa Lahiri: “What Am I Trying to Leave Behind?” via @lithub. (4) Asking that very question vis-a-vis #1 above. (5) Asking: what is temporary, what lasts, vis-a-vis #1 above and everything else in the world. (6) “The Real Prayers Are Not the Words, But the Attention that Comes First” by Mary Oliver. (7) Discovering. (8) Uncovering. (9) Recovering. (10) John Berger (still, always) who said, “The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich.” via @ilya_poet (11) Casablanca, its new (rekindled) resonance. (12) Bomb Cyclone — @BombCycloneZine — In particular… (13) …its current issue. (14) A day without a cell phone. (15) S[–]’s avocado face. And hands. And shirt. And hair… (16) More sweaters! (17) Empty manila folders, waiting to be filled. (18) Friday morning writing time. (19) Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line.” (20) Sonnet 18. (21) “Surprised by Joy” (22) “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (23) Ballads, generally. (24) And sonnets. (25) And odes. (26) Also (not gaols, or ghouls [please see #1 above]…) but goals. (27) Words. How weird they are. (28) And music. Which isn’t as weird as words (but is often made of them). (29) The inimitable @aliner, who was nice enough to conduct… (30) …this interview, in which I discuss my words, my weirdness, and (maybe) my music(s).