Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

"Welcome to I Don't Know: Population--More Than a Few"

After traveling for decades
and imagining he was learning,
he came to the town
of I Don't Know. The

people there were too
chastened and bemused
to be more than humble.
Like him, they had enough

energy to express one,
at most two,
viewpoints per day,
and the custom

had become to follow
expressed opinions with
"That's just a guess" or
"But who cares what I think?"

Joking, of a kind,
was popular but always
rooted in absurdity,
not in superiority.

To the mechanic, he said,
"My car broke down. Can you
fix it?" She replied, "Don't know."
He said, "That is good news."


hans ostrom 2015



Monday, February 23, 2009

The Ambitionator









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The Ambitionator


Climb into the Ambitionator. Hear it
power up. Strap yourself in. Adjust
the goggles. On the screen, see your
dreams come true. Feel the force
of being in charge. Hear the acclaim.

Oops, time to power down. No,
I'm afraid it's just a ride. Yes,
you have to get out. No, you're
not anyone special. That's why
the ride feels so good. Yes,
you'd have to get in line again,
buy a ticket. If I were you, I'd
find a cafe, sit down, and be
obscure and you. The Ambitionator

is just a ride, my friend. You're
nobody in a carnival. I'm nobody
who works in one. This, my friend,
is the strangest ride of all, our lives.
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Copyright 2009 Hans Ostrom