"Her blue eye was never lit up by the levity of the mind beneath. There was a melancholy charm about it which did not seem to arise from misfortune, but from some feeling within, that appeared to indicate a soul conscious of a brighter realm."

-The Vampyr, John William Polidori

I've forgotten everything about this short story/ novella. But I'll never forget these words. I suspect they mean little to other people but they mean the world to me. It's unhealthy how much I think of them.

Should have shared this joke last year. Damn!

I wanna learn animation just to animate my favorite poems. Tell me if y'all know free courses and softwares mnamn. Stress on "free".

I think the Grinch stole Christmas!

My mama's an artist. I could auction this off.

Serenity. Beauty. What's grindset to these? I don't want to be a fool and have unrealistic views of the world only for poverty to come and rearrange my priorities for me. I'm naive and sheltered. I never really lacked. Lord knows my folks could have used some wealth, preferrably generational wealth, when they were growing up. I've had my mild share of financial anxieties over the years but never for what I truly needed. I wonder if my parents realize this is the generational wealth they've created for me. The luxury to stargaze and notice sunsets, to take photos like this and be gentle with animals.

There are times I failed and fell but never face-first; I always slid gently down the length of their shoulders.

I think they do know this. They're quite arrogant about it, sometimes.😁 But I still gotta find a way to seamlessly slide my gratitude into a conversation.

Edit: I took the above pic. I'm really proud of it.☺️

And why not?👌

This is Spinal Tap (1984)💜

ልጅ እየነበርኩ
የዕድሜ እኩዮቼ ፥ ሲነርቱ ኳስ
እኔ ቁጭ ብዬ
እመኝ ነበረ ፥ በነገ እንድካስ

የወርቅ አንገትጌ ፥ የማንጠለጥል
ባልሆንም እንኳን ፥ የልጅ ቅምጥል
ሕልሜ ሸልሞኝ ፥ እንደ ዐሸን ክታብ
በቀን ስፈታ ፥ የሌቴን ትብታብ

ልቤን ሸሽጌያት ፥ በአዳፋ ሹራብ
ከእንጎቻ እኩል ፥ ውብ ሕይወት ስራብ
የተጣፋውን ፥ ሱሪ አጥልቄ
ከእኩዮቼም ባንስ ፥ ከሕይወት ልቄ

ሳረቅ የራሴን ፥ ባሕረ-ሀሳብ
ወዲያ ስገፋ ፥ ወደ`ዚህ ስሳብ
ጭኜ በላዬ ፥ የፈቃድ ቀንበር
እንደ እኩዮቼ ፥ አልሮጥም ነበር!

Naïve ነበርኩኝ ፥ ተስፋ `ሚያባባኝ
የሕይወት ስላቅ ፥ ገና ያልገባኝ
አሁን ግን አደግኩ ፥ ሻረ ልጅነት
ተስፋዬን ሸጬ ፥ ገዛሁኝ እውነት

ከዕድሜዬም ጋር ፥ ድካም ካበተ
ከፀጉሬ ቀድሞ ፥ ልቤ ሸበተ
እውነት አመመኝ ፥ ስስ ልቤ ወጋኝ
ሐቅ የሰበረው ፥ አለው ወይ ጠጋኝ?

ከእግዜሩ ብይን ፥ አይብራሬ ዕጣ
ከእናቴ ትግስት ፥ ካባቴ ቁጣ
ከማን ላድርገው ፥ ኩርፊያና ጸቤን?
ለማን ልክሰሰው ፥ ያ የልጅ ልቤን?

ስንቴ ቢሰበር ፥ ልብ ይወስናል?
ልክ እንደ ገላ ፥ ሕልም ይሴስናል?
ተስፋም እንደ ሰው ፥ ይወሰልታል?
ይመጣል ያሉት ፥ ውብ ነገ የታል?

በፊቷ ሳልቆም ፥ እንደ ሙሉ ሰው
የእናቴን ፀጉር ፥ ሽበት ሲወርሰው
በሚደጋገም ፥ የዘመን ግርሻ
አባቱ እንድሆን ፥ አባቴም ሲሻ
የከሸፈ ሕልም ፥ ተንተርሼ አደርኩ
ከነገዬ ላይ ፥ እምባ ተበደርኩ!

አሁን ጥል የለኝ ፥ አርፎ ከመኖር
ሞትም ቢመጣ ፥ እለዋለሁ "ኖር"
የኑሮን ልጓም ፥ አልወዘውዘው
ባልለቀው እንኳን ፥ አጥብቄ አልይዘው!

ነገን አልፈራው ፥ እንዳሻው ትላንት
ያለፈቃዴ ፥ ሆንኩኝ Nonchalant

ቀረብኩትም ስል ፥ ስለሚርቀኝ
አላሞካሸው ፥ ለሞት አልቀኝ
ጠማማ ዕድሌም ፥ ስለሚለግም
እኔ ከሕይወት ፥ ብዙ አልፈልግም!
፨ ፨ ፨

ሰላም!
ዮናታን ነኝ።

For the pas 4 years, I have been posting every now and then on my former channel — Home. "Former" is the keyword, lol. I literally built that channel from nothing. I was the only subscriber when I started, and the last time I checked, it had grown to over 1,200 subscribers.

Unfortunately, for some unexplainable telegram glitch, I lost my account —and with it, access to the channel and many unrecoverable files. Painful, right? But what can we do? As Kenenisa Bekele once said "አይዞሽ ገለቴ! አይዞሽ! አይዞሽ በቃ! ምን እናርግ በቃ? ምንም ማድረግ አይቻልም" — Yes, ምንም ማድረግ አይቻልም።

When it comes to me, life always got creative ways to take my things. And I always got creative ways to feel sad about it, lol.

After losing my Telegram account, my channel, and those files, I decided to give up and not try ever again. “እንኳንም ዘንቦብሽ…” እንዲል ሐበሻ። But as time passed, it slowly appeared to me that this loss might actually be a new beginning. So why not give it one more shot?

That’s how this channel was born again — and I decided to call it Homeizm. I’ll say more about the name later, but for now, my ego find it cool and deeply relatable. Don’t you?

I am going to share poetry, rants, essays, complaints, jokes, silence and many more. Subscribe and invite your friends, if only you find it worthy.

You can also reach me through the bot @Home_izm_bot to share me your comments, suggestions and thoughts.

Homeizm ይፋፋምብን!
✊🏼

My great great grandmother was a nun. She was well over a hundred years old when she converted religions. She was implored to convert back, then  shunned and pronounced an abomination to the family's legacy. Can you imagine the oldest matron of the clan falling to the መጤ heretics?! The priests wouldn't have it! They came home one day and demanded she return her ቆብ. Emahoy refused cause she bought it with however much money(she was a diva, you see). So one of the priests threatened she wouldn't find burial ground that would have her body.

The thing is, it wasn't a threat. It was a warning, perhaps a well-meaning one. Protestants scrambled for burial plots. It was actually a big issue of prayer. Legend says protestants died less frequently cause the Almighty knew they wouldn't find a place to lay the dead.

Why are we like this? Why do we insist on segregating one another even in death? How is my dead better than yours? I guess my body makes better dust than yours. I'm sure religious people from all creeds have answers ,but I don't think I'll buy any of them. 

I wonder who struggles for a burial plot today. Literally and figuratively. Who are we being cruel to in our righteous intolerance, our religious zeal? Who's biting their tongue out of fear rather than reverence?

I know some of our differences can't be reconciled but we can. And what better thing to reconcile us all than death?

So, as we go our separate ways: I to heaven, and you to hell, at least let our bodies rot together on Earth.