"To A Mouse" by Robert Burns (read by Sir William "Billy" Connolly)

Nose to the Glass

Oh, the stories you tell yourself

about yourself. Constantly.
Certain scenes keep coming around
like mail delivery. You recall bad
behavior. It begs at once for
regrets and excuses, which,
combined like soda and vinegar,
merely fizz. You invent arcs

in your life, heroic ups and downs.
You list alleged achievements.
You indict, forgive, forget, fudge,
and, exhausted, give in to fatalism.

You keep this silly sense of Self
afloat like a raft on a slow river.
No, it's more like Self's just a
habit, like a mannequin in a
window you walk by compulsively
or stare at, nose to the glass.

hans ostrom

Andre Breton - Definition of Surrealism

"Fresh Cheese and Cream," by Robert Herrick

Duke Ellington and Stéphane Grappelli 1973

It May Be Called Here-And-Now

I'm always here--

in this body,
mortgaged to
this place called
Earth. My mind

pretends to
travel on its own
(what a dreamer),
riding off into
its lands of past,
its realms of fantasy,
its rages of ambition
and gripped greed.

It must of course
always return
(until the End, when
it will just go to Stop).

When it's wise,
Mind settles, it
and body in a still
embrace, a loose
duet
amidst the mystery
and flow of Now.

hans ostrom 2023

Bach: Goldberg Variations

Icicles leap off eaves,

land and dance
in geometric patterns.

Fractals fly in squadrons,
dropping musical notes
on plowed furrows.

Now toy soldiers march
across a bright stage &
a ballerina flutters

round them like a butterfly.
Oh, piano! You really will
do anything

the fingers, hands,
heart, head, ears,
and art ask of you.

hans ostrom 2023

The Forest Belongs to the Forest

Inside a cabin

surrounded by Sierra forest,
we watch creatures
outside look at and into
the cabin. Sauntering,

nibbling grass, a doe
and two fawns stare
at us through a window.

Same goes for pine
squirrels, who leap
from tree to tree;
and for ground squirrels,
with their white
collars and flea-bedeviled
fur. And Steller's jays,
corvids with deep blue
bodies and black heads
& wild-mad-laugh cackles.

And at evening, a bear,
chief executive of the woods,
walks past, sniffing, slobbering,
almost not bothering
to look toward us.

hans ostrom 2023

Sir Richard Burton on alcohol

How Queen Latifah Was Able To Trace Her History To the 1700s | Finding Y...

Louis CK - Good Will Hunting

Live From Daryl's House - "This Is It"

"Dive In," by Roger Illsley

 Roger and I decided to work on a reggae song. He did the heavy lifting. I just helped with some of the lyrics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeQw4b_9qy8