1. Daffodils

If a man were to approach another man and shoot him with no apparent motive, he would be swiftly executed. But when reason is allowed to persist, it justifies one’s inflictions on this earth. That is why a gallant man can trample daisies and daffodils as he prances across a pasture or why soldiers can trample poor insects as they rush towards their valiant ends. They are exercising their freedoms organically, or in such a way as to elicit little concern; who is one to stifle the gallant man’s enthusiasm or slow those soldiers’ last run if there is reasonable motive?

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2. Decorum 

When a man faces moral uncertainty, he often resorts to heel-to-toe strides. Sudden flourishes of the hands and sharp twists and turns around the room offer deceptive resolutions. But they are poor comforts, for the man gropes unsteadily in thick mental fog. Improbabilities arise. They are intently scrutinized and whisked off for acceptance. Any brace against depravity is welcome… That is the habit of a desperate thinker, however. Seasoned intellects know better. Much like a concierge at the Tremezzo, a proper man focuses on the little things: the sharpness of the tie, the chin’s elevation, the obedience of propriety. Such is the idealized frame of mind. 

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3. Disguise 

When one has a secret, it doesn’t just press his heart. The secret presses his perception of time. He has withheld information and is trying to repent. But time is of the essence. If he utters the secret too soon or too late, he will be reprimanded. And so, with quivering lips, he stares unceasingly at clocks and watches until he becomes their puppet. Strings painfully burst from his back and rise into the air, where invisible fingers whisk him breathlessly from one timepiece to the next. Everywhere in between, the burden of secrecy suppresses his spirit. No one can help unless the man blurts the secret out. By then, time has passed and his agreeability is called into question… 

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4. Detail

When peril is imminent, the body tenses. Incertitude creeps into the mind. Do I give up? Or do I muster myself and retaliate? Circumstances grow burdensome. Fleeting moments of hope mingle with despair.  You irrevocably seal yourself in psychological warfare as physical danger fast approaches. The situation parallels an Impressionist’s work. If you position your eyes mere centimeters from the paint, nose touching the canvas, you cannot make much sense of it. The hazy, muddled, smears of blue and red clash unevenly and without purpose. But as you gain distance, the murkiness forms shape, and you see a pale blue sea flushed at sunset.

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5. Dash 

When a man finds himself in the thralls of a moral difficulty, it is only natural for doubt to bleed into him. He experienced an unsavory event that made a martyr of his virtuosity. Now, never to be publicly crucified again, he blindly embraces the cruel order. After committing treacherous deeds, he approaches the pulpit, desperate to recant. Alas, the priest divines, he is morally compromised. Egads! In a raving dash to reclaim mental sanctity, the man enters a macabre phase: entirely dissatisfied with the living for corrupting his soul, he flings himself off St. Peter’s Basilica as War and Peace’s pages slip from his fingers.

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6. Diligence 

When a sailor washes ashore on an unmarked island, he is fatefully deemed a castaway. Now, temerity becomes his only course of action. How else could he survive, unless he is emboldened to? Naturally then, options must be weighed. He could choose to woefully examine his lot, idle about a forsaken beach where the sand burns his bottoms, and hope for rescue. Or, he could diligently observe the changing settings as they come to pass. The intensity of sunlight, the density of vegetation, the abundance of non-carnivorous species, the presence of carnivores [oh, the categorization], the topography itself! In the latter option, he must dispense of expectations and climb that great Mountain of Ambition if he is to survive. For what is more versatile, more honorable a thing, than mastering unfavorable circumstances, where rugged practicality battles the villainies of fate?!

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7. Desire

Consider a fatigued soul, rent by the toilings of a long day. Craving enjoyment, he locates two desk pins, ties them together, and behold, he spins one clockwise and the other counterclockwise. Neither pin gains an advance, for each has forces acting in the opposite direction. After some seconds, they falter in their trapeze and fall to the desk’s surface. Woefully scanning the result, the man’s little experiment confirms his own progression: moot. You see, when one idly manifests his boredom, in some capacity or the other, the manifestation will lead him in circles, like an indecent mutt chasing its own tail. Similarly, if one twirls a pencil between his fingers and gazes afar while he tries to stomach an intimidating problem, he does so through a desire to pass time; to hear the call for dinner or a letter from his woman. Nevertheless, the endeavor extends his boredom and he is left no better off.

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8. Delight

Some men shoe-horn diligence into their routines for the sake of self-preservation. They wouldn’t know what to do if they missed their yoga session or coffee meet-up! Others who aren’t concerned with such rigidity enjoy life at a more leisurely pace. Some events are certain, others vary.  Unsurprisingly, I prefer the latter. A healthy flexibility with time won’t thin one’s follicles but thicken one’s day with more delights! 

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9. Death

Death is a mighty skin-shiverer, a point where the finger assuredly ends its rub against a sentence, a finality. Merely uttering the word can compel the heart to acknowledge its mortality. And surely not, no? Consider: an estranged scientific notion on a fatal disease is shunned out of vanity, some years or decades pass, and it swiftly reappears. Whatever theoretical tantrums or chemical conundrums that hounded the intellectual community are empirically solved. And scientists, behooved, finally acknowledge the notion’s merits. This is life’s inevitable consequence, one that is patently hopeless to evade. But surely one mustn’t acknowledge death on its merits, for it has none; and unless one is keen on doing so, life and death are two ends of philosophical debate that must never overlap. One must present life and death as a predetermined start and an inevitable end, regardless of scientific probing of fatality, disease and the like!  

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10. Dust 

 Ponder a moment on the Great Depression. American workers fell from manageable livelihoods and modest bungalows into the grim lands of sick soil and musty crops. Gripped under cattle yokes, paupers who had never been without a bank cracked ploughs and dug desperately for the odd cent. Meanwhile, silver dollars and golden coins were rustled and robbed as virtue suffered under America’s feebling eyes. The rich sniffed the torrid winds of Wall Street and collectively prospered in their spoils while the lone man scrounged for tomorrow.

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11. Deduce

Aren’t humans so delightfully cautious and capricious when examining their lot? From absolving blame to careful accusation, the sane man wields his mind as Serge Koussevitzky flicks his baton at the Boston Symphony Orchestra marvelously. Each crevice is shaken open, every eave rattled as he scrambles around the Great School of Thought. Employing logical sensibility, drawing on empirical facts and keeping emotion at a low simmer, the man, in time, will firmly point to the issue and utter: ‘This is the blunder.” Or, if he fails in his scrutiny, the man might harness that dim classroom of Guilt and state: ‘Forgive me, I was wrong’ and diligently consign himself to the Reparation office. 

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12. Depth

When a conundrum arises, swift action must be taken. A captain for instance, heaves all proclivities overboard and begins tugging the ship’s halyards against a mighty tempest. As the ship careens in the rolling waves, he bursts into the bridge, fetches his log and writes down a plan. In crazed agitation, he eyes his moral directive. He must save the ship. Treasure?! Bah! Fine silk and jewels?! No matter! He swipes the plan off the table and shouts its contents across the ship’s quarters. It is smartly implemented. The storm grows distant. His lot is saved. Cries blister the humid air. ‘Here’s a fine captain. Hooray!’ Celebrations ensue… 

If this swashbuckling portrayal isn’t enough for you, consider a more sincere premise. When trials and tribulations consume the body, the mind must be ready to counter. Whether from one’s deepest convictions or shallowest whims, a philosophy must emerge. Either will establish a fundamental framework, a shrewd, instinctive system of cause and effect responsive to the little details and nuances that previously eluded us.