Epigrams

Richard Krause imagines he has the freedom to explore any subject, hoping for those instances when the words fall right to produce something lasting. Nothing, he imagines, is off limits, and least of all his own vulnerabilities.

A collection of his epigrams called Optical Biases was published by EyeCorner Press in Denmark. A second collection, Eye Exams, has been published by Propertius Press.  Each collection has over 800 epigrams. Seventy of his epigrams have been published by Fraglit.com and another seventy have been translated into Italian at aforisticamente@wordpress.com, an international website for aphorists. He is one of eleven Americans represented along with Charles Simic, Alfred Corn, James Guida, Yahia Lababidi, and James Richardson. He also has two unpublished collections of epigrams, the most recent titled Corrective Lenses has over 800 and his first untitled collection has almost 400. 

The fear of falling in love with yourself is that you will displace no one.

                                                                            *

The first indication of a shallow grave is the dirt already underneath our fingernails.

                                                                            *

When you get old enough youth is beauty.

                                                                            *

The people that we are tired of we usually sleep with.

                                                                            *

The whole idea of losing ground to each other rarely addresses the issue of limited topsoil.

                                                                            *

The smell of your underarms is mildly stimulating.  If you could somehow forget yourself                                                    you know you could be your own lover.

                                                                            *

The cheetah has such a small head that you can’t for a moment entertain the notion that he                                                       has swindled everyone else out of speed.

                                                                            *

People who are head over heels in love with themselves really should be astronauts to  experience                                      their own weightlessness.

                                                                            *

It is impossible not to see people’s contempt for you as a sign of their intelligence.

                                                                            *

When you make people think, is it any different than making them walk, run, or jump? Doesn’t it in                                   the end have the indignity of any forced exercise?

                                                                            *

The person who sticks up for anything provides the wood for his own burning at the stake.

                                                                            *

Appearance is everything, given the uncertainty of who we are.

                                                                            *

Justice is not blind so much as vengeful, jealous, and full of more retribution than the normal                                          person could ever dream of.  Little wonder we’ve made it into a system.

                                                                            *

Could it be that we are the only true strangers that we will meet in our lifetime, and everyone                                            else has the familiarity of not being us?

                                                                            *

If you think people are out to get you, they already have.