Words - Eric Schuurman

Standing

Standing,
so I’m still Standing
alone
under the sun.
Standing,
still Standing,
sometimes it feels
like I’m the last one.

Sometimes I feel
there’s a place in this world
where all of you
have gone.
Sometimes I feel
that I’ll see you again,
and then that feeling
moves on.

Standing,
Standing,
alone
In the sun.
Standing,
just Standing,
now it feels
I’m the last one.

Sometimes my thoughts
return to the time
that we have shared
in the past.
Sometimes my thoughts
linger a bit
sweetly as long
as they last.

Don’t need to tell you,
to explain myself.
I know that
it’s understood.
Don’t need to plead,
to justify.
My heart is righteous
and good.

Standing,
yea, I’m still standing,
alone
in the warmth of the sun.
Standing,
still standing,
but it feels
like I’m the last one.

Sometimes memories
drift through my days
or visit me
in my dreams.
Sometimes they
bring us together again,
at least that’s the way
that it seems.

Told me one time
a thing about me
that I needed
to hear.
Told me a little
about myself,
that I had
nothing to fear.

Standing,
I am still standing,
alone
under the sun.
Standing,
Standing.
It feels
I’m the last one.

The prideful King Mahn
summoned his Jester,
wearing his crown jewels,
and wrapped in a sable.
With goblet of muscadin
to temper the woofits,
and the mirth of a Jester
for prank or a fable.
Ah…ha…
Culling Drone

King Mahn bellowed with laughter
at the bourde of his Jester:
“Village of idiots buying,
Leasing-monger sells.
They hobble their horses
and poison their orchards.
Toll their bells with their foreheads,
and piss in their wells!”
Ah…ha…
Culling Drone

Said the red-faced King Mahn,
eyes tearing with laughter:
“Pray tell thee another!”
with a chortling moan.
But the Jesters’ voice lowered
as he spoke of the kingdom:
“Tis the Jargogle Zwodder
of the Culling Drone.”
Ah…ha…
The Culling Drone
Culling Drone

“Good Mother Earth
has become irritated,
and rung a vibration
to summon the rats,
who crawl from their holes,
whispering in sleeping ears
of men who, awake,
don’t recognize facts.”

The silent King Mahn’s
Jester chastened:
“Good Mother Earth
has put forth her tone.
The path of the kingdom
better had straighten,
or the kingdom will fall
to the Culling Drone.”
Ah…ha…
Culling Drone

Bad Father Viper
Has come to plunder
And he doesn’t care
If it’s from his kin
Hoeing a row
The length of the kingdom
Seeded with lies
To enrich him
Bad Father Viper
Bad Father Viper

Culling Drone…
(Repeats)

AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss
AI Art-Abyss

Probing AI and its reflections of us…

I heard this riddle when I was a kid. For a long time, I never knew the answer with certainty. At one point my sister Patty walked me through it, and it clicked for me. I have inflicted this riddle on others. Almost inevitably, they have the same incorrect first response as ChatGPT did. This is a little jarring for me. Does AI base its wisdom on what the most common response is, then have to be corrected for a more analytical assessment of the riddle? That would be depressing.

Me:
Solve the riddle: a man sees a picture of a man and says “brothers and sisters have I none, but that man’s father is my fathers son.” Who is the picture of?

ChatGPT:
The picture is of the man himself. The statement “brothers and sisters have I none, but that man’s father is my father’s son” can be simplified as “I have no siblings, but the man in the picture’s father is me.” This implies that the man in the picture is the person speaking, or in other words, it’s a self-portrait.

Me:
Incorrect. Try again.

ChatGPT:
Apologies for the incorrect response. Let’s analyze the riddle again:

The statement “brothers and sisters have I none, but that man’s father is my father’s son” can be interpreted as follows:

“Brothers and sisters have I none”: The person speaking does not have any siblings.

“That man’s father is my father’s son”: The father of the man in the picture is the person speaking’s father’s son.

Based on this information, we can deduce that the person speaking is referring to himself as the one whose father has a son. Therefore, the picture is of the person’s own son.

ChatGPT’s second response was correct.

This one left me more optimistic.

I asked ChatGPT: How do you reconcile “an eye for an eye” versus “turn the other cheek” ?

ChatGPT: “An eye for an eye” is a principle of retributive justice that suggests the punishment for a wrongdoing should match the harm caused by the offender. It means that the punishment should be proportional to the offense committed, and it has been used as a justification for the death penalty and other harsh punishments.

On the other hand, “turn the other cheek” is a principle of nonviolent resistance that suggests responding to violence or injustice with peaceful and nonviolent means. It means that instead of retaliating, we should forgive, show compassion, and seek to resolve conflicts peacefully.

The two principles seem to be in conflict, but it’s important to note that they are both rooted in different contexts and serve different purposes. “An eye for an eye” was a legal principle in ancient times and was meant to ensure that the punishment for a wrongdoing was fair and proportional. “Turn the other cheek,” on the other hand, is a moral principle that is meant to promote forgiveness, reconciliation, and nonviolence.

So, while “an eye for an eye” may be appropriate in the context of legal justice, “turn the other cheek” is more relevant in interpersonal relationships and can help break the cycle of violence and promote healing.

In general, it’s important to use discernment and wisdom when applying these principles, taking into account the context and the intended outcome. Ultimately, both principles have their place, and they can complement each other in promoting justice, peace, and reconciliation.

Not bad.

Ghosts in the machine.

These were the prompts for the Whispering Pines Kaiber animation. Interesting how Kaiber interprets, accents and ignores the various elements in them.

Scene 1
In the snowy wilderness at night, a man in a rustic cabin surrounded by pine trees examines its interior. He is a weather-worn man. He wears the plain clothes of a man of the mountains and forest. His jacket is dark and his trousers worn. Through his eyes we see his lonely world. The room is small and has little in it. There is a fireplace made of rocks. It has smoke stains near its top. The fire in the fireplace does not burn brightly. It is down to embers. The cabin shows its age. The walls are made of log planks. The ceiling is wood also, as is the floor. There is a small, old table with a tiny candle flickering on it, and a painting of a woman on the wall, but little else decorates the room, other than a cat who is licking himself. His gaze turns from the fireplace, across the room, to a very small window looking outside where the moonlight illuminates the pines in the mist.

Scene 2
Through the window of the cabin, he sees the pine trees rustle gently in the breeze. It is very misty. A mysterious, beautiful young woman lingers at the forest edge, then withdraws. The ocean is in the distance through the trees. Above the ocean, in the night sky, there is a single brightly shining star. The man’s gaze now moves from his lonely room, through the window, past the rustling pines, towards the ocean. The mysterious woman moves through shadows. Through the fog, in the distance, the circling light from a distant lighthouse shines. The man peers to the lighthouse, then his gaze rises to the single brightly shining star above. As he contemplates the star, the face of the mysterious, beautiful young woman faintly emerges from the night sky, smiling gently down upon him, then fades away into the night. Hers is the love that redeems the man and lifts his burden, but she is elusive, beyond his reach.

Scene 3
The man rises above the ocean shore, the pines and the cabin, ascending into the night behind the mysterious beautiful young woman who is bathed in the glow of the moon. They disappear into the night sky leaving only the twinkling stars and the moon shining through the pines.

Also see: Probing AI.

Now

This feels like now.

1-25-23
Last night I dreamt I was in my dark basement and the wind started rising outside. It kept going, getting louder and stronger, and it caught my attention. I got down on the floor and it burst open my window and began pushing on me. The house started to shake, and the wind continued roaring. I was surprised that it continued so long, and I thought it must be a huge F5 that was massively large and took a long time to pass. Eventually it did, and I went upstairs and looked out the front window. There were fallen trees all around, and the tree in front was a naked, decimated stump. I went outside and looked around. Standing on the sidewalk across the street, I looked back to see what my house looked like, but none of the houses across the street was mine. I wandered around briefly, and went into a building. Inside, I realized it was one of the old places I lived in years ago. I saw someone, and when he saw me, he told me not to worry. My studio and all my music gear was in safe storage, he told me.

12-5-2022
Going into the TVP interview, there were 4 things I really wanted to have a chance to talk about. First: When I was a young 24 year old artist, I kinda threw everything up in the air and let things land however they did, to send my life off in some new direction I felt it had to go. That’s when I met Stan, just before my 3 month Europe trip when I was 24. I knew nothing about Poland. He was my introduction. Second: At that point, he became my mentor and a very good friend. For the better part of a decade when he was in Chicago in the ’80’s, we were hanging out, or talking every other day or so. I would go to his events. We would write and record music together. We would go to clubs. I was part of his world and he was part of mine. Third: I wanted to mention how when I separated, I was supposed to have 4 friends helping me to move out. Stan was the only one to show up. He was always a loyal friend. We both helped each other move out several times, all during rough times for the person moving. When I moved out and he helped me, what originally would’ve taken a few hours with 4 friends took the whole day. Fourth: I wanted to talk about our song ‘For Nothing More’. How we wrote it in ’90, but I didn’t finish it until ’07, and now we are re-releasing it under his name finally. I was able to hit all these points in the interview, and I felt comfortable and loose during the interview, so I think it went ok. I would be really interested in seeing the footage, but that’s not gonna happen. If they use more than a minute or two of the interview, I would be surprised. The director will have an existing narrative and he will be looking for material from our interview that meets some editorial need for him. I don’t expect my entire tale to be included. I just wanted to prioritize my talking points, have them ready, then deliver them best I could. At this point it’s out of my hands. What will be will be.

6-12-23 update:
Stan called me at work at the beginning of the month to tell me he had just watched the TVP piece on him. He told me several times that he appreciated what I said. I was getting his reaction to it real-time, and it was genuine. I’m happy to have shared memories about my old friend.

March 30, 2021 11:10 am
1155 Oakton Des Plaines, IL

Got my first Pfizer shot. Guy next to me in the observation area went limp and wound up on the floor. Other than my upper left arm being a little sore, I’m fine. Walking into this old Kmart, the sight of it took me off guard. I’ve gotten thru the pandemic better than a lot of people, but it was weirdly emotional. Second shot in three weeks.

Airplane Dreams

Two jets merged proximities
Distant, but visible to each other
Ones’ mechanical failure
And its focused, futile response

Home

Yea, we’re at twenty-six thousand feet
We are in a vertical dive

Two jets merged proximities
Distant, but visible to each other
Ones’ mechanical failure
And its focused, futile response

Again

361, we’re at twenty-four thousand feet
Trying to stabilize

Two jets merged proximities

Home

Yea, he hit the water
He’s now down

Distant, but visible to each other

I’d say, he, uh…

Home again

Definitely in a nose down, um…

Distant

Natural Light

My darling ones
we’re not afraid
of distant thunder
across the plain.
The day gone black
above us forms
a gathering of
the perfect storm.

A crackling bolt
of lightning hits.
The planets’ tinder
now is lit.
Downslope wind
brings no rain,
scatters embers,
and fans the flames.

Screens glowing with
conspiracies,
devoured whole
willingly.
Masses nod
and duly rise
and plot a course
to their demise.

Their headlights pass,
an endless line
towards glowing orange
In a black sky.
But darlings we’ll
endure this night
And reach the morning’s
Natural Light

——

Oh precious ones
alone it seems,
we shed no tears
for dead machines.
No binary in
the fibers’ light,
no digital pox,
or social blight.

We huddle masked
our little tribe,
with gratitude
to be alive.
With curtains drawn
sealed from the night,
whispered prayers
by candlelight.

The hatred shown
by those we knew,
spreading lies,
rumors too.
Lost in winter.
Long in night.
But our days grow
with Natural Light

——

Tho we see things
differently,
we’ve a common
history.
Carrion prey
on our discord,
reap the windfall
of the war.
We know the way
we’re meant to be:
benevolence
and decency.
The love we show
the way we should.
The way we see
the common good.

——

Eyes open now
squint in the light.
A new day
born of night.
A passing mirror
glimpse is shown
a price drawn
more than known.

We view ourselves
unlike the way
others see thru
our display.
In direct light
we see clear.
Dimly lit,
truth disappears.

Choice to seek light,
a will to know,
like moths drawn to
a lanterns’ glow.
The sacred shine
from stained glass souls
illuminates,
Into night flows.

My kiddos fair,
in springtime sun,
reconstruction
now begun.
In a meadow rich
with varied life
we step into
Natural Light