Thursday, April 22, 2010

Advice

I’m not one to tell you when
to take it, or from whom, advice
being so specific to
its situation, recipient,
and giver, since the right
advice from the wrong person
or for the wrong reason is
just as right and the converse
just as harmful except when
it isn’t, really no advice
about advice can be said
to be universally applicable
since there is a universe
of moralities and another
of relationships but nevertheless
if I may offer one piece of
my own, it is the following:
Never take advice from a person
who tells you to be selfish.

3 comments:

  1. i saw Hair last night, and when Chryssie (who sings "Frank Mills") decided to skip the protest to wait for Frank Mills, the elderly woman behind me shouted SELFISH. Ha. Very odd moment. She seemed very offended at that, but didn't bat an eye when the whole cast took off their clothes.

    I love the structure of this--one rambling sentence leading up to, as Jordan aptly put it, an "Oh shit" moment of truth. Likewise, I think you're connecting the thoughts in the right order, at the right length.

    If you want to revise this--and i think you should--I would focus more on line and some of those textbook words like "converse" which goes nicely with "universe" but really takes me out of it--I think you need some more concrete language to tether this thought down.

    tha'sallfolks.

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  2. i don't know... i must have read this a billion times and i just can't get the 'oh shit' moment...

    i agree with eric about language. those latinate roots... man, wave of missing kinzie right there.

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