Overheard poetry book project, or: Book leaning casually against wall

I recently unearthed this book of poetry that I started making six years ago! The idea was to include "poems" that I overheard people say in conversation. Some of them were said by people close to me, and others by strangers. I think I'd like to finish it and make some copies, because it's always nice to share my creative projects.

"Poems" Various Authors, Previously Unpublished, 2010

Nobody is ridiculous or bad or disgusting, says Vonnegut

When his father accuses him of never writing a book with a villain in it, Slaughterhouse Five's narrator (who claims to be Kurt Vonnegut himself) attributes this to his college education, which taught him that "there was absolutely no difference between anybody" and that "nobody was ridiculous or bad or disgusting."


Nobody is ridiculous.

When Jennifer Lopez demands that her coffee be stirred counterclockwise, she is still a being whose thought processes and opinions are just as valid as anyone else's, even if others don't always understand them.

Though calling a person ridiculous isn't usually considered very mean, it seems to be refusing to see him/her as a whole person. This is dehumanization, which may be the root of hatred (or at least a prerequisite to hatred).


Nobody is bad.

When a man cuts his wife's nose and ears off to punish her for running away, he is still a being whose thought processes and opinions are just as valid as anyone else's, even though it can be best to interfere with destructive behavior. The Christian teaching "Hate the sin, not the sinner" comes to mind.


Nobody is disgusting.

When Abraham Alexander embezzles over $200,000 from CRF, a charity that helps people with cardiovascular disease, and spends most of it on dominatrix Lady Sage, he is still a being whose thought processes and opinions are just as valid as anyone else's.


"Kyle is not ridiculous or bad or disgusting."
KYLE ALSPACH

Conclusion

Removing these three characteristics from our interpretations of people urges us to see past hate and fear, which hopefully makes room for us to become more perceptive of the beauty of humanity as it exists in those around us.

Recent good sentences, etc.

I've been really into literature lately, so it seemed natural that I would write a book review, but I rarely finish books, and often don't have much confidence to assess them, especially immediately upon finishing them. So I've decided to post a bunch of excerpts from random things I've read recently.


Here are some things I like:


"O happy hepatitis! I've never known sickness -- or sorrow, or disaster, for that matter -- not to unfold, eventually, like a flower or a good memo. We're required only to keep looking."
Seymour -- An Introduction by J. D. Salinger

"at a civil but not quite relaxed dinner at an Italian restaurant, the two visionaries explained their ideas in their respective languages."
"Hell House in Brooklyn" from The New York Times

"An American near Billy wailed that he had excreted everything but his brains. Moments later he said, 'There they go, there they go.' He meant his brains. That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book."
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

"They do a fantastic job of creating these fears, these problems, condemning us for the fears, and then letting us know that they thankfully have the solution."
"Halloween and the Hell House" from The Everything Else Atheist 

"A very hairy man, youth, adolescent. The other kids in the family, not exclusively but especially the boys, the many pre-puberty boys we always seemed to have around the house, used to be fascinated by his wrists and hands. My brother Walt, at about eleven, had a routine of looking at Seymour's wrists and inviting him to take off his sweater. "Take off you're sweater, hey, Seymour. Go ahead, hey. It's warm in here." S. would beam back at him, shine back at him. He loved that kind of horseplay from any of the kids."
Seymour -- An Introduction by J. D. Salinger
Note: I love the use of the word 'inviting.'

"Interfaith gathering... talking back and forth about what all this means..."
I don't remember what this was from, maybe I overheard it in a conversation, but it was about an alternative to church, I think

“As nearly as possible in the spirit of Matthew Slinger, age one, urging a luncheon companion to accept a cool lima bean, I urge my editor, mentor and (heaven help him) closest friend, William Shawn, genius domus of The New Yorker, lover of the long shot, protector of the unprolific, defender of the hopelessly flamboyant, most unreasonably modest of born great artist-editors, to accept this pretty skimpy-looking book.”
(The dedication of) Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger





Also, I'm working on a collection of anonymous poems. It is a handwritten account of what I overhear people saying. It's the first endeavor of me and Kyle's publishing company. I'll post more when it's done!