In the Vein of Whimsy

After chasing a phantom thread of dislocation,
It's safe to say that I needed a palate cleanser
Thus, it was in the vein of whimsy,
That I came to the claims adjuster

What with a surfeit of grim reality and daily grief
I needed a berth, soul insurance was my port of relief
The tale of the lost stories, I would write further chapters
Now that I had in mind the requisite political actors

Render unto Caesar and all that, to quote the son of man,
Thus I'm not one to begrudge humanity's tax collector
Moreover I pay my dues promptly, and keep current on all accounts
Treating any lingering debt as if it was a test of character

For my family's history is so replete with close encounters
That adversity has almost become a confidant or family member
The second cousin who acts as a companion when fortune calls
And stiffens the spine, giving support when regret is all

Internal displacement is the lot of exiled souls
Prone to leading liminal lives in the torrid zone
Maroons roaming the borderlands and interstitials
Strays that walk alone, consigned to internal exile

I crave connection, made, in this life, in the glue layer
My networks meshed with the irreverence of the soothsayer
Solace is to be found in the search for community
And lasting insight comes in the vein of whimsy

In the Vein of Whimsy, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note. (spotify version)

• I found my smile again by D'Angelo
• A tear to a smile by Roy Ayers
• Until a tear becomes a rose by Loose Ends
• I'm gonna laugh you right out of my life by Kenny Burrell
• Only a smile by Dennis Brown
• Laugh, Clown, Laugh by Abbey Lincoln
  The masks of civility that we wear.
• A tear and a smile by Meshell NdegeOcello
• I'm gonna laugh you right out of my life by Nancy Wilson
• Whimsy by Kyoga

See previously: The Economics of Whimsy and The Joy of Small Things.

Yours irreverently, chief toli monger

Consider this a coda to my covidious folktale: Soul Insurance

This note is part of a series: In a covidious time.

File under: humour, satire, culture, observation, folktale, storytelling, whimsy, pandemic, Social Living, Observers are worried, covidious, poetry, toli

Writing log. April 28, 2021