Author Archives: Jonathan Russell

Where being rational fails

I feel compassion for those who voted against equal rights in North Carolina. I know their vote was wrong and based on prejudice and faulty logic, but I still have compassion for them, because they rationally believed that they were doing the right thing. To many of us in metropolitan areas or with homosexual friends [...]

Posted in Rant, Short Subjects | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Let’s create something beautiful

Let’s create something beautiful Today is short, and tomorrow is shorter still Let’s take our inspiration That unlocks our imagination And gives us hope and comfort Let’s create something beautiful Because beauty is our goal And creativity is our gift We give ourselves to tomorrow We have vision to make it better Today, let’s create [...]

Posted in Poem | Leave a comment

The Dilemma

Should I write a haiku Ten minutes before midnight? Oh no, that’s cheating.

Posted in Poem | Leave a comment

Insubstantiate

The clouds mock my limited understanding of fluid dynamics Twisting vortices of smoky tendrils dancing on this windy day In my backyard in dramatic fashion the clouds tumble over my roof I swear they’re just overhead I could get on that ladder the clouds would envelope me and I would disappear I remember seeing shapes [...]

Posted in Poem | Leave a comment

Song XXIX

Fizzy pop soda Bubbly bottled brew Shaken and stressed Harassed and gassed With pressure built for two Rumbly dark cola Tension twisted too The cap stays on With the anger gone But the bottle’s bursted through There is no use no deposit no excuse for a bottle bursted through

Posted in Poem | Leave a comment

A month for poetry

October is my favorite month. It’s full of orange and decay and warm spice. We begin to hunker down and get ready to spend time with far-away relatives. It’s a month of poetry and bitter-sweet memories. To celebrate, I was thinking of writing a poem every day for the month. I tend to peter out [...]

Posted in Poem | Leave a comment

Value Added

The discovery of a possible diamond planet got me thinking. What is more valuable, a planet made of diamond or a planet full of wood? A planet made of gold or a planet made of molybdenum? A planet filled with jewels or a planet where we could grow rice? The answers, I think, are obvious. [...]

Posted in Short Subjects | Leave a comment

Minds are made for changing

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were watching Bones and the main character, a scientist, said something that stunned me. I have to paraphrase, but the gist, “I’m a scientist, I can’t just change my mind.” I cried out, when I heard it. Listen, scientists are people, too, and can be as [...]

Posted in Short Subjects | 1 Comment

The Flat Earth Society

When I look at the sun setting, I don’t think the sun is actually moving; although, from my point of reference it may look that way. But knowing that Earth revolves around the sun and that the Earth, itself, rotates, I’ve long-since conditioned my mind to reason that when I see the sun setting, I’m [...]

Posted in Essays, Rant | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Nothing but random

A yellow plastic tie shaped into a closed circle sits around the nose of ceramic Sylvester cat flower pot.

I have one superpower—incredible, random aim. Year ago, I threw a small rock across the Sunrise Highway Service Road and beaned my friend on the other side on the top of head. I wasn’t particularly aiming at him, and I was throwing the rock in a long arc. I was mocking him, as he was [...]

Posted in Silliness | 1 Comment