when there is nothing left to burn you have to

❝ L’esprit de escalier ❞

(or l'esprit d'escalier) (staircase wit) is thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late. The phrase can be used to describe a riposte to an insult or any witty remark that comes to mind too late to be useful—after one has left the scene of the encounter. The phenomenon is usually accompanied by a feeling of regret at not having thought of it when it was most needed or suitable.

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April 2011

11 April 2011 @ 02:31 pm

(no subject)

come back
i don't understand where you've gone
my voice echoes too loudly against the walls
without a response for any other

come back
i don't understand why you've gone
is it a lack of smiles and laughter?

i could get better but

come back
there is nothing to measure
improvement or fault now

if you're not here to see it

come back
i'm sorry i didn't hear
your leaving out the door

what good is anything

come back
i can't stand my reflection
without you i'm just an empty container

Tags: art: made by me, art: poetry

Current Music: Laura Marling ❛ Alpha Shallows ❜ I Speak Because I Can

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31 January 2011 @ 09:20 am

m'aidez, this is no m'aidez

Long afterward, Oedipus, old and blinded, walked the

roads. He smelled a familiar smell. It was

the Sphinx. Oedipus said, “I want to ask one question.

Why didn’t I recognize my mother?” ”You gave the

wrong answer,” said the Sphinx. ”But that was what

made everything possible,” said Oedipus. ”No,” she said.

“When I asked, What walks on four legs in the morning,

two at noon, and three in the evening, you answered,

Man. You didn’t say anything about woman.”

“When you say Man,” said Oedipus, “you include women

too. Everyone knows that.” She said, “That’s what

you think.”

— Muriel Rukeyser