What to Read in the First Hours

cool, pleasantly soft gray skies
third day of gentle rains
after long heatwave and sun
not gloomy, rather meditative

I spent my first hour of the day, my quiet getting started sacred reading meditation hour, reading the Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. Fascinating, interesting reading. Historical documents, but also insights into thought processes, and poem process. Not everything has to be a finished essay, not everything a finished poem. It inspires me to maybe write a gentle poem or two, in the moment, after many months of no writing. I still refuse to call myself A Poet anymore, though; that contentious vicious neurotic insecurity world is no longer for me.

birdsong at dawn a riot
awakened me to visit bathroom
birdsong midmorning more subdued
a little more thought going into song

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This morning I reminded myself that I like reading in the morning, during that first hour of waking, when I often do my meditation, day-starting contemplation, reading. That it's more than okay to let the laptop just sit there till after reading for awhile, taking a shower, eating breakfast. Nothing online is so urgent that the world will come to an end if I don't get around to it on the instant of waking. One definition of addictive behavior is you can't stop it even if you wanted to. One reason I love going camping is to be off-the-grid for periods of time. I like hand-writing and drawing in the journal, when the nearest electricity, much less WiFi hookup, is tens of miles away. The refreshment of being disconnected, unhooked, slowed down, listening to the birds, ignoring the buzz drone of meaningless online chat and drama.