Author Archives: John Swinburn

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes

Structured Thinking with a Bit of Flex

Posted on February 6, 2020 by John Swinburn

A tiny bit more structured introspective assessment, please. Nothing imbued with gravitas, though; let’s keep it light and airy, to the extent introspection makes that possible. Keep it flexible so it can bend the way my mind bends. Mind-bending. Does … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

The Question is a Serpent

Posted on February 5, 2020 by John Swinburn

Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life I ask myself the question over and over and over and over, hoping to one day find an answer: “Who am I, under the veneer?” It hasn’t even been a … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Ruminations | Leave a comment

The Capacity for Understanding

Posted on February 4, 2020 by John Swinburn

As I was reading some of my old blog posts, looking for a reason to cling to hope for humanity, I came upon the following words which were included in a longer sentence: …we must be capable of acknowledging and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideas, Intellect | Leave a comment

Cloaking Fashion in a Different Framework

Posted on February 3, 2020 by John Swinburn

I wonder why men’s capes and cloaks fell out of fashion? That question has plagued me (a slightly dramatic overstatement, perhaps) for some time. Aside from the drama of the question, though, it’s a reasonable question. Alas, I have no … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothes, Fashion | 1 Comment

In Lieu of More Poetry

Posted on February 2, 2020 by John Swinburn

My SleepNumber app tells me I was in bed for four hours and thirty-nine minutes last night; four hours and eight minutes of which were identified as “restful sleep.” The 4:08 figure compares unfavorably with my restful sleep average of … Continue reading →

Posted in More Thought Bubbles | Leave a comment

The Cost

Posted on February 2, 2020 by John Swinburn

Words left unspoken Thoughts never shared Love never given Hearts never bared Hurt not softly soothed Life like a cell Hate freely given Tears never fell Eyes lacking for sight Regret not felt Emptiness so cold Knees never knelt Heartaches … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

The Mouthfeel of Meat

Posted on February 1, 2020 by John Swinburn

The problem is not the flavor. The problem is the texture. I am confident I can achieve the flavor with relative ease. What I cannot imagine being able to do is replicate the texture to a sufficient degree to enable … Continue reading →

Posted in Food | Leave a comment

Shrapnel

Posted on February 1, 2020 by John Swinburn

The confetti from the explosion filled his chest. There was still room for his lungs and his heart and his liver and so forth, but the formerly roomy spaces were clogged with shrapnel. The wounds in his flesh healed over … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Writing | Leave a comment

Four in the Morning Thought Bubbles

Posted on January 31, 2020 by John Swinburn

Six-plus hours of fitful sleep is better than none. A dull, throbbing headache is better than intense, almost excruciating pain. So, my life experience has improved since I went to bed early, around 9:15 p.m. But it’s not up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Luck is a Happy Delusion

Posted on January 30, 2020 by John Swinburn

Many of the most impactful events of our lives are governed by happenstance. They are just accidents of time and circumstance that intersect at malleable moments. People with whom we become lifelong friends or lifelong enemies; our spouses; careers we … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship | Leave a comment

Along the Bloody Spectrum

Posted on January 29, 2020 by John Swinburn

I am an old infidel. A practicing heathen. A believer in knowledge and a follower of facts. Those truths notwithstanding, I am no longer the active antagonist toward religion I once was. There was a time I would have called … Continue reading →

Posted in Peace, Philosophy, Religion | Leave a comment

A Course in Catching Fish

Posted on January 28, 2020 by John Swinburn

My blog has long since become too voluminous for me to be able to determine whether I have already written about any given topic. In all probability, whatever the topic, I have. But my memory of having written about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 3 Comments

It’s Over

Posted on January 27, 2020 by John Swinburn

You wanted to tell her how much she meant to you, but you waited too late. You waited until she didn’t mean as much. You waited until her faults flooded your brain and drowned your good intentions. You put off … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Writing | 1 Comment

No More Pity

Posted on January 26, 2020 by John Swinburn

Stir-crazy. That term describes me lately. Even though I get out of the house fairly often, I’m going stir-crazy. I feel the need to break out of the constricting limits of whatever has me in its grip. I don’t know … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Different View

Posted on January 25, 2020 by John Swinburn

I wrote this on December 30, when I had decided to take a break from posting to my blog. I may eventually post many of the other things I wrote during that time of restraint. This is the sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Wherein I Abandon All I Ever Wanted

Posted on January 25, 2020 by John Swinburn

I herewith abandon my fantasies. My longings are impossible wishes—dreams so removed from reality they would be funny if they weren’t so painful. Pain, though, is an instructional tool. Pain leads us away from delusions and into reality that hosts … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tangelo Time

Posted on January 24, 2020 by John Swinburn

Pandæmonium. The capital of Hell, whether real or symbolic, the concept Pandæmonium expresses surpasses the strength of chaos by an order of magnitude. I write “order of magnitude” as if I fully understand the concept. I do not. While I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Running Slow

Posted on January 23, 2020 by John Swinburn

My computer has been running quite slow for the past twenty-four hours. The reasons for the slowdown are beyond my ability to know; I know only that the machine takes its time to perform every task given to it. Screen … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sleet and Sorcery and Feeding My Soul

Posted on January 22, 2020 by John Swinburn

The sound of sleet hitting windows is unique. Windblown pellets of fresh ice striking glass make a noise that seems to occupy a range of disquietude midway between a weak thud and a feeble, metallic scrape. When those same pieces … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Extinction

Posted on January 22, 2020 by John Swinburn

I wonder at what point I would finally break. What would it take for me to risk everything including my family, my friends, and my life to achieve freedom or democracy or whatever it is you might call an environment … Continue reading →

Posted in Anger, Democracy, Frustration, Government, Greed, Power, Rant | Leave a comment

Straining

Posted on January 21, 2020 by John Swinburn

I hear it often: “If a person doesn’t love himself, first, he can’t love others.” Frequently, that sentiment is followed by “And if he can’t love himself, no one else can love him, either.” If that’s true, a person who … Continue reading →

Posted in Love, Self-Loathing | 4 Comments

The Bad Poet

Posted on January 20, 2020 by John Swinburn

The bad poet mangles words and scorches meanings, bludgeoning beauty until it resembles a bloated corpse left in the desert sun for an entire season. The bad poet ruins ideas, polluting them with bias as thick as an atmosphere of … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

Habitually Strange

Posted on January 19, 2020 by John Swinburn

More than half of the month of January sped past without my knowledge or consent. Okay, I knew it was in the process of slinking along, but I am stunned to look back at the speed with which the last … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Swellage and Shrinkage

Posted on January 18, 2020 by John Swinburn

Arguments can be made, pro and con, about whether it’s best to get to know someone before or after you know their political persuasion. I understand and agree with both of them. On the one hand, I’d rather know early … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Empty Can

Posted on January 17, 2020 by John Swinburn

Instead of the routine follow-up with the oncologist yesterday, the visit turned into something a little different. After listening to my breathing—more like wheezing—she said she was concerned about that and my persistent cough. She prescribed an intense course of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments