A simple thought on cemeteries.

A simple thought on cemeteries.

cemetery countryside cross garden
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monument” 4/26/18

I don’t very much like cemeteries

we speak of it so blithely

buried or cremated?

both surely dead

 

a stone, granite, masonry

a statue, monument, a house

a box encasing

so those alive might see

a place you surely will not be


person uses pen on book
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shall I reveal my gallows humor ?  because I am alive I can not really offend those that are dead, I once saw a balloon that had drifted onto a tomb, it said “get well soon”

 

 

 


playing music musician classic
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goin’ obvious with tunes tonight… well, not the album version at least….

Led Zeppelin (plant and page reunion 1994) – Gallow’s Pole

so call me old, call me an old man, but I still know good tunes, and I certainly listen to heavier stuff (on average) than you 🙂 like Carcass, Cathedral, Napalm Death, Entombed, maybe one day I will post all my top insane metal tunes since I have been listening to crazy stuff going back 30 years… I know ya’all don’t get it.. but I am not just a valley, or a mountain, or a tempest, or a gentle breeze, I’m me… all of it.

and I had to post the date I wrote that poem.  Why?  the wool… I will never pull the wool, because I will be honest with you at all times, sure, it is easy to doubt… but how many poetry blogs do you see with the dates attached as mine… of course it could be OCD… or just honesty, that is not up to me, it is to you – reading this, and I trust you, with that.

summer loses some bite.

summer loses some bite.

recommended listening : jinsang – confessions (it was what I was listening too, well, besides nature, some chill beats for a chill day…)

blur car city downtown
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“thoughts from my porch” – 8.24.2018

so I thought I might sit awhile in this night, I much usually prefer the setting sun (for obvious reasons), so another heat wave passed, and is truly like a wave, this swath of grappling, stifling heat creeps over the entire state, or coast, and bakes, for a little while of time all amplified by the mighty all-encompassing grip of our tiny lenses, but not tonight, the temperature has dropped to her knees, perhaps dipping twenty or more degrees, still – the chorus of insects is in midsummer’s form, loud, not raucous, all the clicks and songs of the chorus we know and can almost sing along (were we just crickets among the thickets), the mosquitoes are not quite biting as night’s before (was it something I ate, or are they just being polite?) cars are just two still beams gliding up the street, I can not tell who they are, just cars, vague vehicles of light, two beams and a set of reds on the back, a train calls in the distance, imagine that, such an ancient beast, how so far advanced we are although we are not, after all we still measure in horsepower, I observe some cars, with their manners, seem like they are looking for something, someone, certainly not me, no one has come looking in quite some time, what is there to see anyway? the same, just the same, maybe I need a break… no. maybe I need TO break – all this, all this familiarity I wear like a cloak, this safety, this hiding, all easier said, especially in my head – and with this pen, is it such the sweet addiction of fear that is holding the key from turning or just something simpler, the ravaging comfort of complacency? from the outside, this must seem like prime real estate, but on the inside, looking out, I can see the walls for what they aren’t, so, if I can see it, why not just change, rearrange, start over – ah, but that is just the thing, that requires a first step, in an unknown direction, and then another – and a destination, and of course here I am, sitting, thinking, instead, instead of…

moving.

Lion.

Lion.

fish aquarium thailand royalty free
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lion” 5/21/18

I am a lion of the sea

slicing through reeds of water

with gallant speed

hunting without respite

upon the deepest blue

flick of tail

gnash of teeth

prey beneath

last moment upon them

they can not fathom

 

I am a lion of the sea

I’m on the prowl

searching the lengths and depths

of the aqua savanna


abstract black and white blur book
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notes… why a lion on this day?  Simply, it is the end of the sign, the cusp onto the next one, why would I care? because this day is mine… silly.  This is one of those poems I just loved immediately when I wrote it, there was instant gratification, visceral reaction, I can not begin to explain it as I am… well, actually doing here with these searching words, these prodding thoughts, into the depths of what drives me to write, it is hard to explain something that was always in the room, always there, sometimes I managed to put it away in some corner (for whatever reason over the years) but lately it has been the shining chandelier lighting all things, my lens, my view master to inform my etch-a-sketch (and yes I owned both those toys as a child)…


wood black and white music musician
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music… as you may have noticed, unless you are new (welcome), my musical appetite is all over the map, I am always looking for something new and exciting (whether I missed the boat on it or not), and genre does not color my ears in response to new stuff.. or old stuff… I think of music like emotions, I want, ok, I demand the full gamut, the full run… because what the hell… we aren’t just puppies and unicorns.. or fire and death.. or simple beings period…  oh, so after all that ranting… check this out, sure, I don’t speak the language (maybe I should given my last name heritage)… but… listen…

Faun – Federkleid

seduction…

seduction…

green leafed plant on drinking glass with ice and water
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you have me, on the rocks” 8/4/2018

the ice melts, so suddenly

your eyes melt me, so subtlety

your voice, a symphony

the words – no matter

composed

of such sweet notes

the nectar of honey bees

the sound hones

the buzz slides across my lobes

revelrie

dance me in a daze

and I look lock gaze

the fierce fire

of your eyes

burns me alive


notes… is there a person, that one, that can just melt you with their eyes?  put you under that spell?  that you just connect?   I guess I should consider myself lucky that I did have that once for some years, and perhaps look forward to it again should fate shine her little light onto my tiny patch I’ve carved out of the universe’s darkness whole, I can only hope because the alternative is definitely not of hope.  I posted a word with “middle english” origins because… some of my favorite works are of the time. Specifically I am referencing two things Heloise and Abelard and also Alexander Pope (I won’t say he is a hero of mine, who knows such things, but an inspiration ? and a fantastic poet ?  yep).  Note the last line of Pope’s poem (sheer brilliance imo):

Such if there be, who love so long, so well,
Let him our sad, our tender story tell;
The well-sung woes will soothe my pensive ghost;
He best can paint them who can feel them most.

music… yeah, I am big on the music, I am so….  currently obsessed with Anna Murphy, so this song fits…

Anna Murphy “Lovelornia”

her vocals are transcendent, it really makes you believe as an artist that talent is out there stalking and taking down prey (for all of us to consume)… all for us to enjoy, so go out there and look for it… additionally I am always looking for new music, so if ya got something ! tell me dammit!  I only have so many hours of so many days to search on my own, while I am a great excavator a little help is always appreciated my friends ! Be well all!

Sun shower…

Sun shower…

blur bokeh colors dark
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Such a cool thing, drove through one today, and reminded me I wrote something last month, I raced through my notes and found the thing, I don’t have much to say tonight, I worked around 14 hours so… I’m beat but determined to post every day this month.. why?   This is the lion’s month, the pinnacle, the heat, the roar, lions and kings… and well, me.  We are a prideful bunch, even at work I have a pride… one, she is fierce, a summer lion, unbalanced early in the month, her claws are rarely hidden in her paws… the other? she is the cowardly lion, afraid of sharp things, quiet and repetitive… and then there is me, on the cusp, the end, the very last day, more balanced but still… a lion.


trees and grass field under cloudy sky during daytime
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sun shower” 7.5.2018

out from the sunlight

came the pouring rain

a sun shower

a sure sign of summer

and then

a black cloud regatta

patched to and from the horizon

racing to an unseen end

 

against the backdrop of sky

crimson fire

orange glow

pink bellies

forever for a moment

this one,

petals of flowers

blossomed across the sky

birthed in the heat of this early july

the racers sail on by.


Musical piece or peace… ?

Tiamat – Do You Dream of Me

obscurity is my domain, do you wish to join me ?

Fire, when we were.

Fire, when we were.

man and woman about to kiss each other
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our fire” 4/16/18

glen miller orchestra sounds fill the room

mind seduced ‘in the mood

I picture us dancing

I could see it in your eyes

the world could feel our fire

every room lit full of envy

singed by the heat

radiating like a star

from our desire

as we passed by…

I remember, our fire

 

is that the crackle

of rain on the window

or the aged voice

of this old recording

I remember…

our fire


notes… this is very personal on many levels…  although I listen to what ‘some’ would call horrendous/awful music or cookie monster stuff (death metal) but at an early age I was exposed to Big Band era tunes, specifically by my father who used to take us (me and my slightly older brother) to work with him running his provision route back in the day through central New Jersey. We would ride in his truck picking up the meats from the processing plants (ie slaughterhouses essentially) and deliver them to pubs, strip clubs and restaurants…. sort of the seedy side of life when you see a pub in daylight, I remember the musty smells, the sort of… wood gasping out the wounds of the night, sunlight hitting places it shouldn’t dare (much like a vampire’s lair)… it was all so surreal, and in neighborhoods that are now destitute unfortunately,  but always we would be rolling down the road in that big yellow truck  marked “Freddy Kay” (my last name is so easy to screw up my parents would always abbreviate it to make it easy for the rest of the world), just that big yellow truck rumbling down the road, so loud and creaky,  making every bump known and holding on to the rails on turns (for dear life), so distinct, all the smells and sounds, and then there was the radio…

Make believe ballroom time

I had no idea about the music, but it was so… confident, so composed (and had that vintage feel because you could hear the flaws in the recordings).  I loved it.  And now it is just such a reminder of my father and our time together.  You know that time in your life when you think your parents (or one of them) is a super hero ? This was that time.  We were delivering these huge boxes of goods to all these places, sure, I knew my way around a hand truck but a huge cut of raw brisket? not so much. I was a small kid, an undeveloped kid… I was always in the “lower 10%” in terms of growth, and that freaks out parents, but as it turns out, I was normal in the end (well, at least growth wise, everything else is still up for debate).

So, this poem is more about my love for Mirsa, whom I left a long time ago now, everything was just easy with her, it just made sense, but sometimes things just don’t work, I am sure we are both to blame but I really hold myself responsible right or not, I visited her after I left… a couple of times (she lives way far away from me, literally 1000 miles)… and we still had “it”.. the chemistry, I guess that is the worst part, people could smell the connection on us even after a few years of being apart they thought we were together when I visited, that is the crux of this poem, we exchanged emails recently (april) and that was the spark for me to start this journey into blogging and sharing myself with you, anyone who reads this, it reminded me of life, of happiness, of love… it was so easy with her, and the world noticed and I failed her, or we failed each other… but I gained back something I had lost a long time ago.. a passion for life… even if I wish it was with her I have to bring forth that verve… and who knows, someday, maybe my love and I can be together again, I don’t think so, but at least I have some hope for the future, and what more can I ask… but hope, and love… and faith in the same.

Not posting

Not posting

I thought about not posting tonight.. I am pretty tired,  I tallied my hours at work and I am about at 74 for the work week… and I am on call tomorrow from 11-10. Not complaining… just explaining, but inspiration does not rest… and really neither should I, I have to live it all because that is all I have (or any of us)… it seems weird to think about it that way but… that is the reality, I am trying to be the better me, the me I know is in there but I can’t say I am succeeding… I wonder about so many things, especially when I see documentaries about all these amazing places (like my last post)… am I meant to just be stuck here in the US due to circumstance ? but yet… I lead a comfy life compared to millions so does that make me greedy that I want the means to explore the nooks and crannies of this amazing planet ? (and yet not even having explored all the wonders of my own state, let alone country or my great Canadian friends to the north or our friends to the south in Mexico?) I suppose this is all rambling… but I wrote something tonight, on my exercise bike, which is annoying hopping off and on, I was watching more Ireland stuff and the words as such… came to me as they do…


“the song” 8.12.2018

might I come to know
the song of birdsong
filling the hills and valleys
all the warm season long
might I learn their politics
theories
and secrets
surely they have tales to tell
of wind
of wing
grazing on trails and tracts
some travel far and wide
yet while others are humble local guides
might I come
to know their tongue
speak the language
the song as sung
might I come to know
the song of birdsong
and take to the air
dare to listen closer more
to the notes
the composition
the hidden meaning
natural symphony
unfolding, informing
transforming
take flight
become
a part
of the ever living
listen to – the birdsong


music… Toad the Wet Sprocket – Is It For Me / Nightingale Song (live)

You know a band is good when a live clip is what kills… Toad is criminally underrated in the scheme of things imo.

Sabre-tooth.

Sabre-tooth.

human skull with white background
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extinction” 6.3.18

I am the last sabre-tooth

in a human mind

I survived

the great collide

yucatan

and so far survived,

the rise of man


notes… a mix of metaphor and some science thrown in for good measure, in a way I am juxtaposing the great extinction of the dinosaurs against the coming extinction… well, of us? or everything else?  something to think about…  (although I know the earth will be fine, she will silently outlive us all.. rise and fall… maybe even another whole genus of hominids (or talking upright donkeys with wings – pegassus ?) will rise after we are wiped out by ourselves or something else)


da’ music… I am going to go softball and toss an obvious one here…

Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction

pretty light fare even for them … and for me… but I don’t always need to listen to songs that blister my brain with blast beats… well, at least part of the time it seems.

we all have tried (admit it).

we all have tried (admit it).

white and yellow chicks on pebble covered ground
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little birds” 6.23.2018

little birds

outside my car

they seem afraid

how do they know me

I toss them bits of bread

in an effort

to show I am a friend

I don’t think they buy it

but I had to try


notes… we all have tried to lure the birds, some are cautious, some are courageous, we pretend to think they understand us… but they are just trying to survive… how different  are we… who is tossing us crumbs ?

also.. this is me being kind of haiku-ish in mode but not form.  Total kudos to those who like the constraint, I’m not wired that way.


and for no reason… just posting one of the most underrated songs of the “grunge” (ugh that hurts me to type…) age.

Helmet – Unsung

empowerment, truth.

empowerment, truth.

afterglow avian backlit birds
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huntress” 6.28.2018

diamonds like daggers

adorn around her form-

she scans the room

prodding, invading

with a mask of guile

throwing around

intoxicating smiles

they do not stand a chance

unwittingly lining up

to be picked up

like fruit from a tree

to which to whet her appetite

to which delight

and all in the while

they pretend

they have some measure

of control

when there is no doubt

she has it all

not even a game

not even remotely fair

just a moment

before she springs

her snare

and suffocates

the coils wrap

she takes the air

and all she wants

she simply, casually – takes.


Notes… am I past the swoon of a beautiful woman?  sure, I could try and be cool smooth internet guy and lie that I have not been led by my eyes (or something else residing lower).  But as you get older (hopefully) wiser… you realize (hopefully) that there is beauty in so many places other than obvious pleasing visions.  Beauty is nice, it is a lovely component but it certainly does not mean a person is better… and it is all relative. Which would you rather have .. beauty or happiness ?


Music.. I can’t even put into words, how much I love this…  Tori, she is just brilliant… and live a revelation…

Tori Amos – Upside Down (live)

Still gives me the chills after all these years.  true art my friends.