The Cup in Hand: A Balancing Act of Poems

By Zai Xiaz

The Cup in Hand is a series of poems and interjecting thoughts conveying the varying perspectives of love and hate as well as their blends. Life is a continuous balancing act of these polar emotions. Why can't one be full of love and stagnate in its glory? Why can't one steam and boil in lifelong hatred? There is frivolity in having to balance the emotions--to even keeping the negative ones at hand. But just as darkness brings value to light, hate and its sub-emotions bring value to love and its sub-emotions. The purpose of this book is to help guide one's cup to the fountain of love. What will you fill your cup with?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Oct 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666754445

Zai Xiaz

Zai Xiaz was born on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1989. He raduated from Virginia Tech in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. The Cup in Hand is his first work of literature.

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The Cup in Hand

A Balancing Act of Poems

Zai Xiaz

The Cup in Hand

A Balancing Act of Poems

Copyright ©

2022

Zachary Sylvester. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

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8

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97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-5442-1

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-5443-8

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-5444-5

09/28/22

Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Part One: Eyes Opened

Thought I

Apparent

Thought II

Molecruel

Thought III

WaveZ

Part Two: The First Drop

Thought IV

Vociferous

Thought V

Mindsome

Thought VI

-the deadliest contagion-

Part Three: Hate’s Domination

Thought VII

The Wise Guise

Thought VIII

The Evil Genie

The Drowning Pool

Part Four: Middle Ground

Thought IX

Blinded Fate

Thought X

Breeching

LoHatVe (Lo-Hat-Vay)

Part Five: Singularity

Thought XI

Dream Girl

Our Freedom Cage

Forged

Part Six: The Getting Up

Thought XII

The Eternal Epiphany

Thought XIII

The Bigot Tree

Thought XIV

Above

Part Seven: As the Sun Sets

Thought XV

Dam of Reality

Fantastic Fabric

Thought XVI

Nine Out of Twelve

Afterword

Appendix: Mania Collection

Envy Us

Remedial

Is it?

Our Vehicle

Physics Broken

Force Not Farce

Her Fact

Sinceless

Twin Hearts

Her Name (Our Nature)

When Wings Crawl

Upon Opening

To Hollie, Sam, Tate, and Landon

Special thanks to the copyeditor: Victoria Lane

Introduction

What is love? That question sometimes takes a lifetime for one to answer fully. So far in my life, I have been able to summarize it as a culmination of positive emotions wrapped into one heart-striking (non-cerebral) feeling. One way to define it is that it is the opposite of hate. Hate is an ill will negatively impacting our thoughts and actions. Conversely, love can be described as a healthy will positively impacting our thoughts and actions. Simple? Not exactly. These two foundations for emotions, love and hate, are intrinsically complicated because they are the poles of complex human emotions. Love and hate need to be broken down and observed from various perspectives.

There are nine distinct types of love according to the ancient Greeks:

1.Philia: platonically affectionate love or deep-friendship love

2.Pragma: enduring love

3.Eros: romantic love

4.Ludus: playful love

5.Storge: familiar love or parent-child-dynamic love

6.Philautia: self-love

7.Agape: selfless love

8.Mania: obsessive love

9.Xenia: guest love or hospitality

Philia is the baseline of the nine loves. It is the love that develops with a sibling, a similar-aged relative, i.e., a cousin, or through early relationships such as friends at school.

Pragma is present with long-lasting love, such as a marriage or life-long best friend. It is a deeply embedded love that grows with ourselves and the relationship.

Eros is a physical love harvested as a sexual affection as opposed to philia’s mental affection. It is fueled by hedonistic urges.

Ludus is the I’m-falling-for-them love. It is shown through flirtation and is the usual precursor to eros and intimate relations. Ludus is what