Quick Q’s

Merry Christmas, everybody! Thanks for glistening. See you in 2025.

This episode of Quick Questions Podcast is a survival guide to Trump 2.0.

There is nothing worse than accidentally hurting your pet. Than not being able to communicate that you're sorry.

Who are we to fight the alchemy? Fate, control, love, rebellion. It's all in today's special episode of quick q's. [email protected], next episode is our book club meeting :) thanks for glistenin

The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now... why? Oh. Because she just doesn't give a f*ck.

Listen for a first-listen review of Taylor Swift's jaw-dropping new album, TTP. Check back in on later episodes as we cycle through the remaining stages of grief.

Cover by zach ash , swiftie since 2006, tortured poet since midnights 1 AOTY.

The opposite of fear by Zach Ash

¿Cómo se siente el corazón de un hombre después de escalar una montaña?

¿Cómo se ven sus ojos cuando ve otra montaña todavía frente a él?

Hoy me llamaste y estabas sin aliento. no podias respirar.

Has escalado montañas.

Después de un tiempo estarás tan alto en el cielo que la montaña que escalaste solo hoy parecerá una pequeña hormiga negra.

La autoestima no es cómo te ves. Ni siquiera se trata de cómo te sientes. La autoestima es esa voz interior. No, esa no. Esa ruidosa. Que grita.

La autoestima es la voz tranquila. La que no habla con palabras. porque no es necesario. La autoestima es silenciosa y habla a través de la acción. Pequeños actos cada día. Pequeños esfuerzos. Paso a paso. El intento. Los errores. Los fracasos. Las sonrisas forzadas. Completar una serie de 7 en lugar de 10 en el gimnasio. Completando sólo cuatro. Tres dos…

Uno se pierde, pero vuelve a aparecer.

Pierdes el aliento pero lo recuperas yendo despacio y concentrándote. Escuchando tu cuerpo. tu corazón.

La autoestima es fallar hoy y fallar mejor mañana. La autoestima es la voz interior que habla sin darse nunca por vencida. El animal silencioso de tu cuerpo que te ha protegido, de alguna manera, hasta este mismo momento. Para seguir estando aquí. Para fracasar mejor que nunca. Para estar mejor que nunca. Para respirar más profundamente.

Cuando llegaste por primera vez a este país, sin palabras, tus ojos se tragaron la habitación. Tan grandes, brillantes, amplios y perdidos. Y asustados. Los ojos dicen lo que las palabras no pueden.

Ese primer día reconocí algo en ti y en tu hermano: una mirada familiar de estar perdido. La misma mirada de miedo que todavía veo a veces en el espejo. La mirada de No pertenecer. Sin lenguaje y sin voz.

Ni siquiera puede pedir permiso para ir al baño.

Cada día desde ese momento cuando llegaste a este pais sin palabras, te has vuelto más concentrado y responsable y has creado tus propios talentos y has desarrollado tus propias fortalezas.

¿Cuál es la mirada en los ojos de un hombre después de haber escalado una montaña?

¿Qué tan fuerte es su corazón cuando ve otra montana delante de él?

¿Cómo respira cuando el pasado significa mirar hacia abajo y no puedes. mirar. abajo.

Nubes. El pasado ya está cubierto de nubes. No verías nada más que una extensión blanca si miraras hacia abajo.

Una extensión blanca enloquecedora y opresiva. Una pizarra en blanco. Libertad.

Desde ese primer momento cuando llegaste a este pais sin palabras, cada día te has vuelto más centrado y responsable, y has creado tus propios talentos y has construido tus propias fortalezas. ¿Cómo haces eso? Algo dentro de ti te mantiene subiendo montañas diariamente. Quizás es esa voz la que guía tus acciones y te saca de la cama. A la escuela. Trabajar. Al tren. al bus. A otro conjunto de puertas cerradas. Otro par de ojos cerrados. puerta cerrada tras puerta cerrada hasta… una que se abre. La voz callada, que de alguna manera escuchas y que, de alguna manera, te guía a dar el paso que tienes delante sin importar el desafío.

La voz callada que te mantiene siempre firme. Siendo tú mismo y comunicando tus necesidades y sentimientos en lugar de luchar contra tus sentimientos. La autoestima es la voz interior que te guía a pedir ayuda. La voz que, de alguna manera, cada vez, incluso en los peores momentos, te ayuda a aprender algo. La autoestima es el deseo que muere cada día un millón de veces pero es el deseo ardiente de sobrevivir lo que estás experimentando para ser mejor. Fracasar mejor.

La autoestima no es cómo te ves ni cómo te sientes. La autoestima es como tu ves.

Azul. Azul penetrante, indescriptible. Te deja sin aliento.

Ayer reconocí esa misma mirada de miedo, la mirada que vi por primera vez hace dos años cuando llegaste a este país sin palabras, solo ojos.

Esta vez me llamaste y hablaste una lengua hermosa, elegante e incisiva que me comunicó perfectamente quién eres y cómo afrontas los desafíos.

Cómo puedes escalar montañas más empinadas. Tu poder de autoexpresión, otro lenguaje en sí mismo, uno que a las personas les lleva vidas y vidas aprender, es un regalo, de la naturaleza, desde algún lugar en el aire azul silencioso sobre la extensión de nubes blancas. Tan silencioso que casi duele. Silencio penetrante.

¿Cómo suena el corazón de un hombre?

¿Cuál es la mirada en sus ojos?

Déjalo fluir, como la voz interior que guía el río exactamente hacia dónde debe ir. Cada vez. Como la voz callada que, de alguna manera, guía a personas como tú y como yo a escalar montañas.

¿cualquiera podría decirte que te rindas, que te quedes quieto o que empieces a bajar para descansar.

Cualquiera podría decirte que cambies de dirección.

¿Qué le dice el corazón de un hombre después de haber escalado otra montaña?

Cuando tengo miedo, sé 4 cosas.

El amor propio te guia hacia arriba, a escalar montañas. Te trajo aquí, a este momento.

La montaña ha estado dentro todo este tiempo.

How does a man's heart feel after he's climbed a mountain?

How do his eyes look when he sees another mountain still in front of him?

Today you called me over and you were out of breath.

You have climbed mountains.

After a while you will be so high in the sky that the mountain you climbed today will look like a tiny black ant.

Self-esteem is not how you look. It's not even how you feel. Self-esteem is that inner voice. No, not that one. That loud one. Self-esteem is the quiet voice. The one that does not speak with words. It doesn't have to. Self-esteem is silent and speaks through action. Small acts every day. Small efforts. Small steps. The trying. The mistakes. The failures. The forced smiles. Completing a set of 7 instead of 10 on the last rep in the gym. Completing only four. Three…two…

Losing but showing up again.

Losing breath but finding it by going slow and focusing. Listening to your body.

Self esteem is failing today, and failing better tomorrow. Self esteem is the inner voice that speaks through never giving up. The silent animal of your body that has protected you, somehow, to this very moment. To still being here. And to failing better than ever. To being better than ever. To breathing deeper.

When you first arrived to this country, without words, I saw your eyes swallow up the room. So big and bright and wide and lost. And scared. The eyes speak what words cannot. I recognized something in you and your brother that first day - a familiar look of being lost. The same look of fear I still see in the mirror sometimes. Not belonging. No language, and no voice. Unable even to ask to go to the bathroom. Each day since that moment, you have become more focused and accountable and have created your own talents and built your own strengths.

What is the look in a man's eyes after he has climbed a mountain?

How loud is his heart when he sees yet another before him?

How does he breathe when the past means looking down and you can't. look. down.

Clouds. The past is covered in clouds by now. You'd see nothing but an expanse of white if you looked down.

A maddening, oppressive expanse of white. A blank slate. Freedom.

Each day since, you have become more focused and accountable, and have created your own talents and built your own strengths. How did you do that? Something inside you kept you going up the daily mountains. Maybe it was that voice that guided your actions and got you out of bed. To school. To work. To the train. To another set of closing doors. Another set of closing eyes. To closing door after closing door until…one that opened. The voice you somehow listened to and that, somehow, guided you to take the step in front of you no matter the challenge. To always stand your ground. By being yourself and communicating your needs and feelings instead of fighting your feelings. Self-esteem is the inner voice that guides you to ask for help. The voice that, somehow, every time, even in the worst moments, helps you learn something. Self-esteem is the desire that dies every day a million times but is the burning desire to survive what you are going through and be better. Fail better.

Self-esteem is not how you look, or feel. Self-esteem is how you see.

Blue. Piercing, indescribable blue. Takes your breath away.

I recognized that same look of fear yesterday, the look I first saw two years ago.

This time, you called me over and spoke beautiful, elegant, incisive English that communicated to me perfectly who you are and how you face challenges. How you can and will climb steeper mountains. Your English is an accomplishment, so congratulations on that. Your power of self expression, another language in and of itself, one that takes people lifetimes and lifetimes to learn, is a gift - from nature - from somewhere in the silent air above the expanse of white clouds. So silent it almost hurts. Piercing.

How does a man's heart sound?

Let it flow, like the voice inside that guides the river exactly where it needs to go. Every time. Like the voice that, somehow, guides people like you and me up mountains.

Anyone could you tell you to give up or stay put or start heading down the mountain to rest. Anyone could tell you to change direction.

What does a man's heart tell him after he's climbed another mountain?

When I feel scared, I know 4 things.

Self-love got you up mountains. It got you here, to this moment. The mountain has been inside all along.

Tolerated: Delicate Illicit Invisible

"The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived/Fortnight"

By Zach Ash

Vestment 1 DENIAL

Dear reader

if you find x on the map

I already am 1

Reading with your eyes closed in the city️

Wifebeater

Isn't it just so Pretty

Yeah you picked me

for your top shelf

They got me down bad

Sitting by myself

Night prose in your night clothes and you're with me now ️

I sit and read you ️

I sit and need you

To see me

pathologically

Idiotically

Vestment 2 DEPRESSION

Red wine spill-in

all on your top shelf

I'm drowning in-it

Tears for you

all on myself

I wait by the door ‍♀️

You leave me in your wake ️

Where all the poets go to lie ✍️ (Emily Dickinson)

cliffside pools of ink, my own mistakes ️

Your dirty little chore ️

Your dinner dishes gleam

in the kitchen

My wishes scream

And glisten…

Vestment 3 BARGAINING

Your dirty little chore

polish me til I gleam, but listen

If it's all… in your bed tell me how

Cause it's all in my head, right now …

Vestment 4 DEPRESSION

I wait by the door ‍♀️

Your dirty little chore ️

Your dinner dishes gleam

in the kitchen

My wishes scream

Do ya miss me? ️

Vestment 5 BARGAINING

But if I've got it wrong somehow

And the bed's not how you made it

I'll be waiting for you, to find out ‍♀️

You don't have to, tolerate it

Vestment 6 ANGER

Put your weight on me and use it

Believe me, you could do it

Wore this braid for you to use it (evermore braid)

Ooooh these tattoos r like u

Unnecessary

Temporary

Ooooh these tattoos

Stuck like glue in my skin

Stuck like you

Hold me down where you lie

You are what the night's for

Hold me down where I cry ❤️‍

Remember what you fight for ️

Vestment 7 BARGAINING

It's all in my head right now ☁️

But if I've got it wrong

Show me how ️ ⛓️

Vestment 8 ACCEPTANCE

Off you go for a fortnight

Your sword a form of sorcery

I wait alone but it's alright

Said you'd come back to me

I wait alone in porch light️

Turns out there's no difference

Between Delicate illicit

And being tolerated ️

All is fair in love and poetry

Your sword a form of sorcery

Said you'd come back to me

When you win, innocent

Your lips my idea of forgery ‍♀️

Guilty as sin (adam and eve)

No I don't want your kid

Don't want your baby

Who are these hypnotic hands that made me? ️

Dear reader ✍️

I sit and listen

Reading with your eyes closed ☁️

It gleams and glistens

Dear reader

If you find X on the map

Yeah you know the street

i already am 1

It's already undone

I'm already long gone

In the car you sat casually

No, you don't read

This is what I imagine/hope "Florida!!!" will sound like when THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT by Taylor Swiftdrops 4/19. Sound off in the comments or email us at [email protected] to collaborate or join our book club, 2books1club.