Q&A

Q: In my head, I kept screaming, "I cannot accept." What couldn't I accept?

A: Ask yourself.

Q: Let me see...the fact that I was screaming, "I cannot accept." That's what I couldn't accept.

A: Then which came first, your screaming or your not being able to accept the screaming?

Q: You are not allowed to ask any questions.

A: Yes, I am.

Q: No, you are not. You only provide the answers. So no questions, please.

A: Fine. I am flipping myself over and also get rid of my midriff. Wait a moment, please.

V: Hello. Now I can ask questions, can't I?

Q: Who are you?

V: Can't you see? I am an upside-down A with no midriff.

Q: What? It's not fair. An A is forever an A.

V: Not true. Sometimes, you've just got to flip yourself over, and change into something else. Not that you become a different person. Indeed, just the opposite. You flip and change so you can hold on to the things that are most important to you. And you never answered my question.

Q: I can't because I'm a Q. Not fair at all, not fair....

A: You know what? I'm going for a swim. When I come back, I expect to meet a Mr. O.

Q: Now you've insulted my tail!

A: Not at all, and you see you can't go on living just asking questions. You know that better than anyone else...splash.

Greenery

Ideas vanished on the ground like raindrops and still they rose, like clouds. Far in the distant parts of your mind, crows are cawing and small, flashing butterflies concretize the passing of time in second-flaps. Summer day, and I already long for the warmth of winter. Green things are everywhere, and I have noticed, even my fingers have turned a green color.

Giving Up

Mercury dreams of the day when

Giving up is no longer a sign of weakness, or indifference,

But becomes a defiant act, an act of determination and strength;

When giving up becomes a gesture of giving,

A sign of genuine generosity, an open heart

And up, up, up, the heart goes

The heart which has given up

Instead of down, it rises with what it has given up.

Such things are possible in the erratic stratosphere

Of the Mercurial paradise:

Like a bubble (a belch, a fart), a relief

And a statement.