Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

January 16, 2022

Today:Is it REALLY Spring?? - To Fall Like a Drop of Rain...


WOW!!! You Should Hear The Birds Today!

They think it's Spring... Maybe it is... Maybe their feelings are sharper... Maybe my vision is clouded by technology and my fingers and toes more numbed by cold...

Mid January in Quebec...
Clear, Sunny and COLD!
Wind Chill minus 35 C last night...
Up from minus 40 the night before...
Tomorrow's forecast... a major winter storm...
BUT...
The air is FULL of bird song and chatter
As though it were Spring...
Can they sense what I can't???
Maybe... 

This Post's Flavor(s):  poetry,puzzle,beginning/ending,

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November 12, 2016

Today: Is it Swiss Chard or is it Beet? - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain

A Small Wonder:


My favorite chard...
Bright, jewel-like, fuchsia stems
Brilliant, dark, emerald/lime green leaves
Added a splash of vibrant color
To my summers' meals...
Come autumn, it
Grew a root like a beet...
I ate it...
Tasted like beet...
Two days later, I'm still alive and well...
I guess it was edible...





This Post's Flavor(s):  poetry, gardening, food, puzzle, human, small, process


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April 12, 2016

Today:A look at Change - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

Today - Change:


A couple of my friends have written recently with news of a parent's death....  This has set me thinking about  change, belonging and of course separation.... 

Although change often looks and feels like....

Bird In The Midst of  Change - Art by Sylvia Kay
 - Art by Sylvia Kay

Perhaps it can be (and maybe is????) more like....

Autumn - Art by Sylvia Kay
 - Art by Sylvia Kay



Autumn...

The fall of death...
Spring  - Art by Sylvia Kay
 - Art by Sylvia Kay











Spring...

Re-birth of new life...







 And In Between.... With Charon on the River Styx....
  


In Between - Art by Sylvia Kay
-Art by Sylvia Kay
Falling Scarlet
Through a Moon Drenched Mist...

I wonder...

How Will I Be...
Where I Land...


This Post's Flavor(s):  art, poetry, beginning/ending, creativity, human, process

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March 11, 2016

Today: Letting Go & Walking Away... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain.

A Couple of Poems...

FOR THE BIG MEN IN MY LIFE... 


Where it's been HARDEST for me to 

let go... 

This was originally posted in March 2016, but was updated at the very end of November 2021...
 
TO:    ME ETC....

The first name initials are all there... out of chronological order... but strangely making a different kind of sense...

          Although I didn't always tell you in words
          And perhaps my actions were unclear...
          I used to like you...
          Liked you VERY MUCH!!!
          Even thought I loved...
          Thought I could recognize love...
          Thought I knew what it was...
          But now...
          After all these years...
          Turns out...
          Liking is irrelevant...
          And what I liked
          Maybe not in you at all...
          And love....
          Well love's
          A stranger now...

As of the middle of November 2021,  24 years have passed since I first started working to "let go" of the man whose initial comes first... Even after all these years of working HARD to "let him go"... NOT because I wanted to, but because it felt necessary, required and "right"... I've still had trouble, sometimes A LOT of trouble because it felt like something important was missing...  It has, though, gotten increasingly clear that our journeys no longer mesh well and that it's better for me to learn how to travel alone... and this realization has helped me A LOT!  I definitely feel I have more to learn from a solo journey!  Nonetheless, even after ALL the years and ALL the HARD work I've still had trouble...  sometimes... with no connection at all to this man. I DO want to try this solo journey, so I DON'T want to just replace him with another, but I still feel like I'd have been happy with a little here... with him. No connection at all has been VERY uncomfortable... a sad undercurrent I've just had to live with... However, as time goes on I notice I'm missing less and less...  and in fact, now at last, just as I begin December 2021, I feel finally free from this "missing" that has haunted me for so long!  As a result, I'm hopeful that I HAVE managed, at long last, to turn this VERY difficult and challenging corner of my life's path! However, after working SO hard for SO long to walk away from him, I'm definitely stronger and find I'm more and more able to do the "right feeling" things even when they're VERY hard or difficult to do...  This has been a GREAT gift!  Better than anything I could possibly have done with him!!!


Apparently it takes a VERY long time to "let go" of  a STRONG connection like this one... especially when it has felt "good"...  I find it's the things which have felt or which I've thought were "good" or "beautiful" which are the HARDEST to drop... especially when I've never gone in the direction I'm headed in now, so I don't know... Maybe I won't like this new exploration... Maybe it won't feel SO "good"... Maybe...  The "maybe's", questions and doubts often bind me tight to a feature of my past... Perhaps being "now" would be easier if I could just "let it go"... but then too... the longer I've hung on, the more I've understood... By feeling, examining and understanding each tiny thread which has bound me to this man, I've loosened the ties one by one... then by re-connecting each one, inside, to my own parts and faces I've tied me together instead...  so I'm more whole... more whole than I EVER could have been if I hadn't worked for so long understanding and re-attaching each tiny thread! The me I've become isn't wanted there anymore either... Knowing I no longer suit him... also helps me to "let go" and "move on"... and I've needed this help too... because even after more than 20 years... sometimes... sometimes I still missed... still missed something that was... something which used to be there...  with him... missed a "something" which I also found to a lesser degree with the man whose initial comes next...  but then, I DO like the "me" I've become SO MUCH better than the "me" I used to be... and I live with ME every moment of every day and ALL night too, NOT just sometimes...

The poem below... was written, but never delivered, a few years ago to C... However, it does apply, in a way, to these others as well...  Although I definitely valued two of them most as friends, I did still want to play a kind of similar "couple/sexual" game with each of them... It was the only game I knew how to play...  the only way I knew to express and work with the kinds of STRONG feelings I had...  However, LIFE's plans have, in the end, clearly included only separate paths in all cases.  I've had to adjust to comply... I discovered it's FAR easier to lose the men and the sexual part of my being as well as all of the ideas and behavioral patterns attached to these than it is to lose my connection to LIFE! 

To  C: ....

          How have we become so old?
          Me 60 and you almost 70...
          Wasn't it only an hour ago
          I'd only just turned 26 and you were 34?
          But I wanted to play "house" then
          And I don't anymore...

I used to think the "couple" game was the only game in town...but I've discovered it is NOT!!!  I've found a new game now and am exploring different things...  

Sitting with all I've written here, I know I REALLY wanted just to give each of these men something they TRULY needed... something each of their souls required... I don't know if I've done this... understand I'll probably never know... However, each of them, each in their own way, HAS given me what I TRULY needed... some piece, or more usually, pieces of my life's puzzle on which to work... Consequently, I'm hoping I've somehow managed to give each of them a similar gift... 


This Post's Flavor(s) :  poetry,  puzzle, human, process 
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February 16, 2016

Today: The "Small" Building... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

A "Poem": The Strength & Power in "small"...  

                                            
                                             Snow.... 
                                     Flakes..... Floating...... 
                         Delicate..... Unique.... Feathers.... 
                                   Falling .....
                                                       Soft..... 
                                   Silent...... 
                        Wafting.....            Drifting...... 
                 Building...........                 Mountains............ 

This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, small, process
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July 30, 2015

Today: Crickets & Thunder... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

A Poem: Summer Sounds... 


On a background of chirping crickets
I wonder if they ever tire...
Intermittently a cicada's buzzing whine
Pierces the air...
While thunder rumbles in the distance...
Sounds of summer...


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, small 



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July 11, 2015

Today: A HOT Summer's Day... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

 A "HOT" Poem & Some Music: 


The air
Hot and
Pregnant with rain
Beneath a hazy sun...
Sparrows
Twitter tales in the pines...
Daisies delicately nod 
Agreement...


The day's steamy, sultry flavor is complemented by Didier Malherbe & Loy Ehrlich's album, "An Ambient Voyage to North Africa" (available from hmvdigital.ca).  I listen, while chopping and freezing some fresh vegetables I bought at the farmer's market this morning.  A typical summer Saturday....



This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, music, small, human
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June 28, 2015

Today: Alone with Feelings... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

 ALONE & A Poem Sort of... 


This morning...
Just me,
Alone 
With nothing to do...

A cool, 
Misty, grey Sunday...

Some slow, bluesy jazz   
On the melancholy side...

Feeling... 
Not happy
Not sad    
But simply content...

A momentary resting place 
In  
The eye of the storm   
Of  
Life's roller-coaster ride...



This Post's Flavor(s):  poetry, music, human, small, process
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June 11, 2015

Today: The Changes That Happen... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

 Changing Circumstances: 


Baby grackles first flight...
The sun sets on an empty nest
Tonight 
Cats on the prowl...
Parents in a flutter....


Earlier today I found a male, ruby-throated hummingbird dead beside my garden.  I buried him next to the lovage...  I've been close, within a foot, but I've never actually touched a hummingbird before.... Such beautiful iridescent, olive-green plumage... the red at his throat only visible when the feathers fanned... He was SO tiny and light-weight... SO fragile and delicate.... his beak such a wonder... but with a broken neck, he won't fly more.... Sad to cover such intricate, delicacy with heavy, black earth.... 



This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, difficulty/pleasure, beginning/ending, human, small, process

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May 26, 2015

Today: Stopping & Savoring... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

I Stop & Listen, then Write to Savor... 


Yesterday...
For the first time in more than fifty years

For a long time
I stood
Just listening...
To a soft rain falling
Enjoying its music
Feeling gratitude...

Sad to have waited so long
To do just this...

This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, music, difficulty/pleasure, human, small 
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May 11, 2015

Today: Quiet... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

In the Stillness... 


In the darkness
Of night's fall...
When birds and people
Cease their chatter...
One can hear
The quiet songs
Of frogs and crickets...


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, small

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May 6, 2015

Today: A Spring Day... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...


Spring Arrives... 



Time...
Some warm sun
A little refreshing rain
Magically, suddenly
Surrounding hillsides emerge
Enveloped in a hazy mist
Of pale green and rose...
Filling the air with a genuine
Spring-fresh scent...



As in my April 21st post (here); again I see a "dark, shadowy" side, where "tree work" is done invisibly and within; which, when the time is ripe...suddenly and magically, becomes a visible reality in the outer world...


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, small, process
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April 30, 2015

Today: Bird Song... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...


A Beginning & An Ending...


Each evening


Just before night falls,
In the silent darkness,
A solitary robin chirps...
The final notes
Of a day's bird song.


Each morning


With the first, faint glimmers of returning light,
In the silent darkness,
A solitary robin sings...
The first notes
Of a day's choral symphony of bird song.


SPRING!


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, music, beginning/ending
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April 21, 2015

Today: Sun & Shadow... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

Light & Dark - Sun & Shadow... 


This morning - The Sunny Side:


What magic!
A plant...
Who sprouts forth
With fresh, new growth
From the ashes of
Last year's dried, dead leaves...


This afternoon - The Shadow Side:

I face the reality that in the outside world I inhabit, this wonderful, feeling magic only happens sometimes... Sometimes things stop unexpectedly, mid-stream and die... sometimes things are still born... sometimes they look oh SO full of promise, but ARE empty or dead...

Sometimes... Sometimes I don't feel happy or wonderful... sometimes I feel tired, sad or frightened...
Sometimes...


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, gardening, human, small, process

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April 11, 2015

Today: Winds of Change - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...-


Change...  stepping into the unknown... 



All night long
The winds of change
Rattled my windows
And howled through the pine boughs
This morning...
After a late start
I begin an unplanned day...


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, human, small, process

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April 6, 2015

Today: Spring Takes Its Time... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...


Spring's - A Process: 


Jack Frost is back...
With more delicate art work 
For my windows...
I work on my table top
While
Wondering which plants
To start for my garden...





This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, gardening, beginning/ending, process
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March 30, 2015

Today: Winter's End - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...

Snow... Again... 

Snow falls again...
End of March
With winter's icy grip 
Still strong and vigorous...
I appreciate one more day 
Of slow, quiet, solitude
Winter's pace...


This Post's Flavor(s): poetry

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March 19, 2015

Today: The Man Next Door... - To Fall Like A Drop Of Rain...


 There's A Piece Missing now... 

An ambulance rests next door...
Change hits hard,
Abruptly and unannounced...
Rippling outward...
I listen to music and fix my blog...
Today, minus 15
Tomorrow, they say Spring begins...

Although I don't remember ever even saying "good day" to the man who lived next door; because my kitchen window looks out over his pet store/dwelling, I frequently viewed him as he lived his life and ran his business....  I liked the simple genuineness I saw... In spite of it being a business as well as a home, what was done didn't seem to be done for show or to draw attention, but seemed to come instead from heart...  As a result his sudden death affected me deeply....  In response to this I wrote another more emotional poem....



Ode to the Man Next Door

From unseen realms
Change...
Heedlessly crashing, splashing,
Into earth born space...
Rippling in endless
Waves of shock...
Tearing, ripping, punching
Destroying what seemed to work...
Leaving
Gaping, empty, black holes,
Where life did pulse before...
Filling slowly...
With fresh, new colors...
All naught but pawns
In some unknown, larger game...


An Update:

In the early morning hours of June 19/2020 the whole building burnt to the ground.  It was a VERY large building so the fire was MASSIVE and I watched from my kitchen window only a few feet away...  It felt a VERY tiny bit safer after the fire department arrived...  but I  still felt very precariously positioned for several hours... I've included the written statement I gave the police below...

Shortly after 2:00AM I woke from a half asleep state to the sound of a small explosion and a flash of light. At first I thought distant thunder, but the sound and the light were simultaneous and the thunder wasn’t loud enough to be as close as that. Furthermore, there was no following “thunder”. The light was also orange and not white like lightening... Even half asleep I realized something wasn’t adding up. I got up and looked out the window. Clear skies, but crackling noises, like a camp fire and an orange glow... This seemed to originate from something on the north side of my building and my bedroom has only a west facing window, so I decided to go into the kitchen which has a north facing window to investigate further... I’d already made the adjustment from thunder and lightening to fire... but I was expecting something small... What greeted me was HUGE! The whole building across the road was on FIRE! It had clearly started at the back, but it had already almost completely consumed the back of the building and was rapidly moving to the front... I called 911 and reported it. I was asked if there was anyone in the building. It was possible, but the owners didn’t seem to be there often, so I didn’t know... It turned out there were no people, but thinking about it afterward I know nothing could have been done for anyone who might have been there in any case, because no-one could possibly have been there and still have been alive by the time I first saw the fire. It was already just too HUGE! I was told the fire department would be notified immediately, so I sat at my kitchen window, watching and waiting... Although it seemed like a long time before the fire department arrived. I think it was only about 10 or maybe 15 minutes, which was fast considering that I understand many of the firefighters are volunteers... I thought then that the noise I had heard was probably something caving in at the back of the building which had given the fire more air and more room. However, a police man later informed me that there had in fact been an explosion which send debris out 20 meters... So that was probably what I’d heard upon waking. I was terrified it would spread. Everything is VERY dry with the VERY hot weather and lack of rain and there were trees close. I was particularly concerned about two large pine trees close to the building. If they caught fire it could be VERY dangerous. My concern was quite justified...the needles on half of the pine tree closest to the fire are now scorched and brown and a couple of its branches have also been clearly burned. I was also concerned about my building. Although it is across a road there’s probably only about 80 feet separating the two buildings. I’m guessing the fire to have been at least 100, maybe 150 feet high, maybe even more; sparks were flying and it was HOT... I could feel its heat strongly from my look out at my kitchen window... However, thankfully there was little wind and the firefighters managed to keep the fire contained. Even the abandoned shed or barn at the back of the building looks to have been untouched by fire. The police wanted me to evacuate my building, but I didn't budge...  I sat glued to my kitchen window straight through until a little after 7:00 AM. A backhoe was brought in for the final 1 to 2 hours that I watched. At first it worked only at the front of the building... but it later moved more to the back and did some work there too... Again I was concerned. As the fire had clearly started at the back, this was an area that needed to be left as untouched as possible, for the cause to be determined. Looking at the pile of charred rubble, determining a cause, seemed to my untrained eye, like it would be an impossible task, even if everything was left quite undisturbed...
 
I’ve felt a big connection to this building across the road, since I first moved into my current apartment at the beginning of November 2003. I’m almost always “at home” and mostly in the kitchen... so the kitchen window is the one I look out of most often. I don’t intentionally look out to keep track of anything or anyone, but I glance out frequently and I notice what is there... This building across the road was for sale when I arrived and I was told it had already been for sale for quite some time. While I’ve been here it has mostly been for sale and I was told it was uninhabitable from the beginning of 2006 until the “Pet Store people” bought it. I know they began working on it and moving in in the Spring and I think the year would have been about 2009, but I’m not really sure of the exact year now. I was relieved when they came. They re-shingled the roof and I watched as they fixed up the obvious things which needed repair or attention in and around the building. I watched them un-gird the large pine tree at the side, plant shrubs and flowers, bring in a fountain and put benches around; providing places where people could sit. They clearly looked after the building and the yard. The lawn was mowed and the shrubs and flowers watered regularly. It seemed like a good fit. The building seemed cared for and happy with its inhabitants and the “pet store people” seemed happy to be there too. Deliveries of stock came at regular times and I watched people come to buy food and supplies as well as pets. It never looked like a “booming” business, but there was a steady constant stream of people who came. I never knew the “pet store people’s” names and only remember speaking to them briefly on two occasions, but I enjoyed watching them live their lives and run their business... and was VERY happy for the building! However, after only about 1 ½ years the woman died and around 8:00 AM on the morning of Mar. 19, 2015 the man followed her and the building was again put up for sale... I know the current owners started moving in during the winter... I think it was at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017, but it might have been the following year... At first I thought it would be like it had been with the “pet store people”, as it seemed these people were also going to both live in and run a business from this building... but that never happened. A sign was installed which said they sold furniture and later hair dressing was added and when they first moved in, I saw many things being brought which I assumed were what they intended to sell. However, there was never any “grand” opening... Whatever “opening” they had I missed seeing completely. No-one seemed to come to buy and I didn’t see deliveries of “stock” either. The yard was left to look after itself and the owners were seldom in evidence... Unlike the “pet store people” I don’t know what they look like or what kind of car they drive nor much of anything else... The people who live beside me on Rue Principale told me they bought things there and she had her hair done there, so I’m sure there were some clients, but I didn’t see them, so there were never very many. It seemed to be a strange kind of business... so I wasn’t surprised when the building was again put up for sale about 1 ½ years after the “furniture store people” bought it... It was still for sale when it burned. I’m reminded of how often life takes us in unexpected directions and what we think will happen doesn’t or does but doesn’t suit... and that what does happen can look and/or feel quite “strange” which requires some adjustment...sometimes it’s A LOT of adjustment...

The residual feelings, I have now, as I look at the mass of charred rubble and huge crater that was once a building are very similar to the ones I had when the man died...  It feels to me like the building died of a broken heart after the loss of these "pet store" people...





This Post's Flavor(s): poetry, beginning/ending, human
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