I found a new brand of pen in the drugstore and I’m on a trolley which distorts my handwriting although when it stops it is easier to write.
I don’t know what the next words will be or whether I will like any of this when I redo it later. I am grateful that some words come.
It occurred to me recently that we don’t–can’t–have complete explanations for anything including why I’m on this trolley and I am grateful for that as well.
MOVING PAST EACH STREET
WINTER HERE IS COOL AND WARM
PLOVERS EVER PLAY
Text: Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday. Kim Russell is hosting with the theme of handwriting.
Photo: “Writing on the Trolley”
News: I permitted Carly Stambaugh to use my poems as part of the data for her artificial intelligence project last October. She published her results last Friday. Three other poets were involved.
I love how you used your ride to write your haibun.. actually a bit connected to the paper on neural networks and poetry…. I feel safe yet 🙂
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Ah, penmanship! A lost art!
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Thankfully I walk a lot and can’t type on my phone very well or I would have lost the art. Thank you!
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Is a trolley similar to a tram, Frank? I’m fascinated by different transport systems in cities, but only use public transport occasionally when I visit London. I used to have a serious pen fetish but I’m all right now!
Thank you for sharing your handwriting, your new pen and your trolley ride.
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This trolley in Miami Beach is free transportation around the island. It is basically a bus, but since it is free more informal and crowded. It is also kind of quaint, something a tourist, like myself, would want to say I took at least a few times. There are buses for going further which we sometimes use as well. However, I mainly enjoy walking the beach paths and streets.
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I will check it out on the Internet!
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Thanks for sharing this, Frank. I love the idea that you are living the haibun, that we are connecting with you doing what you are writing about…
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I didn’t even revise this haibun much from what I wrote on the trolley. Thank you, Sarah!
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I love that your penmanship is not constrained by the ruled lines and you even manage to squeeze 2 lines into one!
I read Carly’s results – very interesting. She chose her poets wisely.
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I used to work in data engineering. Some called it artificial intelligence, but I don’t think these computers can become conscious since they are deterministic machines. They can be very helpful if programmed correctly. Thanks, Peter!
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Wonderful! You wrote your haibun on the trolley! I love how your writing spills across the page and you sneak an extra line in.
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I wanted to write enough and wasn’t sure I had but then ran out of something to say. Thanks, Toni!
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I enjoyed it! I have used the Quadrille to haibun. So the length doesn’t matter about the length. I enjoyed it a lot. 🙂
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oh! how I miss writing on paper. Excellent haibun. I feel connected to your writing and how I feel inspired to write a haibun myself based on your experience. 🙂
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Yes, give the haibun a try. It is basically prose with the haiku at the end. Thanks, Charlie!
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I’ll let you know when I do get around with experimenting with the Haibun poem form. 🙂 You welcome my friend.
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Now that’s a word with a different meaning. Here, a trolley is what I put my shopping into . What is it over there?
It’s good to see penmanship once again!
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It is an odd word for me as well. It means the same thing as “bus”, but they called it a “trolley” and so I did as well. Thanks, Vivian!
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😊
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Trolleys in Philadelphia ran on tracks through the city. I’m not sure how many remain. There are also buses and various trains. We put our shopping in a cart. 🙂
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Got it! Different words for different things😊
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🙂
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I still share the excitement of a new pen, and I marvel that your handwriting on the trolley is so legible. The haiku is wonderful too, Frank.
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I mainly wrote during the stops. I am glad you liked it, Beverly!
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If I had to commute and could ride public transportation, I would savor it as a moment for writing. I’m fascinated by the research project you engaged in. I want to see what she has to say…after I catch up with comments.
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At the moment I am a tourist. I figured I had to take this local bus at least once, but I always keep a paper notepad and pen with me even though I have a phone. I used to program in the language Carly used for her machine learning project which it one reason I found it interesting. Thanks, Victoria!
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Great write Frank!
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Thank you, Linda!
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My pleasure!
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I’m handwriting a couple pages of my personal journey every day. I wouldn’t write as well as you did on a trolly. Good job, Frank!
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As long as you are able to read it, that’s all that matters. Thanks you, Miriam!
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You’re welcome, Frank! Handwriting is something I decided to do this year. I hadn’t been doing it regularly for years.
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Googled trolley, so now understand. I used to scribble words on bus journeys to and from work and know how its motion skew-whiffs handwriting…
I do wonder why you were riding the trolley…
Anna :o]
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At the moment we are on vacation. The trolley is a tourist attraction here although I mostly get around by walking. I was on this bus just to say I rode it, but when tired and I’ve walked a long way, it is a nice convenience. Thanks, Anna!
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How fun to be participating in the haibun! I love new pens, as long as they write in purple ink.
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I haven’t seen too many pens with purple ink, but I am sure they are available. However, purple ink sounds like a nice change in pace from the black I usually find. Thank you, Sara!
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love how you wrote this especially!
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I’m glad you like the handwriting and haibun. Thank you, Vidyatiru!
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The poetry writing bot is certainly an interesting experiment. I do ponder on whether a bot/artificial intelligence will ever really comprehend/feel what it produces (as we humans do). Kevin
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I don’t think it is possible for a computer to comprehend, understand, what it writes. John Searle resolved those concerns decades ago (“Minds, Brains and Programs”), but we can still make use of this technology as it progresses. There are people who still believe in the computational theory of mind, but I am not one of them.
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I love buying new pens! And I hope you knew at least where to get off! Great write and haiku. I had to look up plovers. Never heard of one. I should have known it was a bird!
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I wasn’t going any place in particular and this free bus had a limited range. I could walk to any of the places it went. So I was safe. I first discovered the name “plover” a week ago. I looked up those tiny birds at the local library. I think I identified them correctly. Thanks, Mary!
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What a fun poem written on the trolley. I like how it is almost stream of consciousness. Enjoy your vacation! I haven’t been to Miami in many years. I had relatives who used to live there.
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We have gone here for the past four years for a couple weeks of vacation renting at AirBnBs, drinking Cuban coffee and walking the beaches. It is warmer than Chicago. Thanks, Merril!
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a lot of thoughts jostling around there Frank but some precious ones to be discovered once you alight the trolley and decipher the lines. Looked a lot like shorthand scribbles from a far. I felt a sort of stream of consciousness flow from your sitting and writing just soaking up the moment you were in, not distracted.
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It was a sort of stream of consciousness, just soaking in the moment. Thank you, Gina!
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Nice! I liked the way your uncertainty of words was echoed by your uncertainty of why you’re on the trolley. I think writing on a trolley would be interesting with various people and sounds around me.
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There was no reason for me to be on that trolley except to enjoy it. I was not going anywhere in particular. Thank you, Mish!
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Beautiful. Existential.
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Thank you!
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Nice pen in both ways/ The image threw me too and offered up some comedic images of you in a supermarket cart whizzing around the aisles whilst writing. Thanks for the laughs Frank.
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Thanks, Paul! I am not used to the word trolley either.
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Interesting.. as much as i Love
Nature.. WitHouT a Typewriter
And With Dysgraphia specific
to Chicken Scratch as such
Chances
are i would
have never
written
anything
that lasted of note
until someone was
smART enough WitH
Technology to make
Writing bytes and bits
of press the key or not
digit of
one
Symphony
of Letters next
Flow as Percussion
Becomes the 10 Finger Dance
SonG aGaiN For Natives with
Poor Handwriting Skills with
CoMinG tSuNami’s oF Words on ScreenS hehe..
As the BeaT GoeS on as the MeLody of the rhYthm beCoMes Dance
And
SonG
iN A NeW
WaY oF SpiRiT
ExPreSSinG HeART oF SoUL..
Oh gosh but not only that Photo
Streaming Visual Poetry too and so much more
with YouTube and other Multi-Media Poetry oF HeART too..
from head
to toe
TrUE
iN LiGHT
too.. i am so excited..
AnD mY HanDWriting Skills Still s88k..;)
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It looks like the ten-finger dance is what most of us do today. Thanks, Fred!
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Hehe..
True it
Takes much
Longer to
Accumulate
10 ThouSanD
HouRS of
A Moon
Walk
Dance
Verses
A 10 Finger
Digital
Word
Scroll around
18K hours
Of Type
And
i am
Still
Under
3K
Hours
Of
Dance
In the last
2617 Days
True
i am late
To the
Dance of
That too
But
Early
To the
Moon Dance too..
Seriously..
8800 Miles
OF Dance
Coming in
54 Months
Is 2200
Hours
OF Dance
At Average
Speed as
Measured
By GPS
Watch at
4 MPH..
OG.. it’s
Gonna take
Another
18
Years
To get
10K Total
Hours
For
A
Master
Of Dance..;)
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I didn’t realize you calculated this so precisely.
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I was intrigued that you also write on the move, Frank. I do this too and it seems to bring out some great poems.
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It is amazing when some idea for a post will pop into my mind. I’m often walking when that happens, but sometimes it is just as I get up in the morning and so I keep a notebook and pen handy then as well. Thanks, Robbie!
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Hey Frank you have an amazing blog and this poem is brilliant and was fun to read .
Do follow https://saishabloomdotcom.wordpress.com
She writes beautiful poems blogs about nature and philosophy and human emotions. Do read her blog and support her by following .🙂
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Thank you!
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