‘chill and cold takes pace eyes span the frozen lake life still finds a place’
one of my usual haunts (not too far from my office)… Franklin Lakes Reservoir, Franklin Lakes NJ
I uploaded a couple of short videos to my Youtube account as well. Even in the frozen lock of winter the swans still gather, this particular pair must be used to humans (feeding them I suppose) as they drifted toward me immediately as I approached, then I backed off a little, no need to fall into the icy water, granted I wanted to get some “cooler” shots but the idea of even crashing into the ice a little was enough to keep me just far enough from the shore, I did walk out onto the boat launch (which is eerie hearing all the creaking and cracking) but those particular photos wound up sucking… oh well. There is always tomorrow, well, until there isn’t one, so with that in mind I am trying to do more and exit my safe space life, the blog helps, it makes me want to venture out a bit more, I am sure I will never be Evel K or Survivorman or maybe not even the chocolate rain guy, but I will certainly be…. me.
Thoughts, pairs of eyes, your time, this time is always appreciated, so I bow and exit stage left for tonight.
‘walk upon a pond came across a pair of swans as in summer calm’
there is a calming in the falling snow, not a blizzard, just what you would order online, on cue, if you could, small flakes that barely leave a mark, just gracing the branches with a hint of white glisten, a calming, as if weaving a slow blanket across the land, all these pieces somehow in silent cooperation, no wind has come to ruin this show, no biting cold to chase these eyes inside to burrow in a blanket, so I may just stand here under a street light, watching the crystals cascade, like slow motion frozen captures of rain, holding out a hand to catch a glimpse, how this snow brings back rushes of memory, sledding, snowballs, snowmen, and cocoa, the worldly melts away as I observe this little truth, a smile emerges, mostly inside, with warmth, sometimes there is perfection in things, this is one of those nights, here under the street light, just being a figure in this slice, all the while around the floating down, there is calming in – this falling snow, I close my eyes and try to commit this to dream so I may recall this again.
a gentle snow falls the calming snow does slow pause this frozen moment
notes… I consider this part of my porch series, as I was engaged in the mundane, taking out the garbage but I was thrust into a snow globe, a nice one without so much shaking, I was consumed by how calm and beautiful tonight was, just a simple thing, maybe we forget, I am trying to stop and admire the world I am alive in.
so, the wave has begun
the first domino has fallen
a generation has come
to begin an end.
I have seen the wave coming
off on the horizon
everything seems so far off
in the inevitable ocean
but so soon crashing upon the shore
this is the way of things
for we are mere pillars
rock fashioned of sand
drawn down and back into the surf
from which we once rose
in and out the flow
just life
for us to suppose
and follow, as if we have a choice
but we pretend
to have some modicum of control
ever looking at the horizon
and the coming waves
as they come for me
surely, some day
might I be aware
and enjoy the warm rays
bright bouquets to grace the peaks
one more time
upon the waves
that carry my soul away
to some other place
I hope
to some other place
I pray
notes… as I stated in an earlier post, I have been spared death more than most, but that will not be so anymore, and I sense it, I hope I have the strength to relent it and continue on, in the pattern of such things it becomes difficult to reconcile self worth, or more plainly my life’s worth upon this earth, there is no accomplishment any of us can make that will satisfy my view of the world, so I just have to fall back on faith, and fate, and the two combined will be my future, I know what that is but do I accept it ? do I quit? or do I fight and meet the same outcome? these are the thoughts that cross my mind. There is so much to life, so much, that needs to be the focus but I must admit, I struggle.
notes… a good amount to unpack here, if you don’t want my explanations and thought levels stop reading… ok, now just you and me left talking, this is based on the danse macabre, a movement, well, a thought that became a movement back in the 1400s that spanned well over a couple of hundred years, the catharsis or the pinnacle thought being that we are all going to die, true enough, but it embodied modesty with theme, from a child to a king there is no escape from the ultimate end so why not party on dudes ! well.. maybe more elegant than that… the whole “pope” line is based on art of the day which typically showed the five figures I describe, note I use “a” and “the” in spots, “the child” is both a reference to literally children and also jesus christ (“the” child), the fifth member of the party is the laborer hence my plowman’s line (another biblical reference as well), I also am using double meaning in “plot” and “lot” in the following lines, ‘memento mori’ in latin is “remember you must die”, pretty much the rallying cry of the danse macabre movement, and the last line is my play on “the night is young” and also “the good die young” (revelers), the night has been there all along, and with that I bid you a good night, or a good day, this poem came to me and made me full with muse, that nimble minx, thank you my dear… for this.
music… going deep doom metal here… no death vocals, just the grinding forward sound of life, the constant sound, this song sums it up with sweeping piano and languished guitars…
I must admit I have been fascinated for a long time about the possibility of life out there, you know, the great vast out there, surely larger than us, our planet is literally a speck of dust, sure, we don’t like to think about it that way, but we can not all be ostriches about the whole thing, I ponder this topic in my mind, all the time, when I am buzzing about as a normal citizen my mind is trying the rubik’s of the universe out, so I am drawn to SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence), our chances of finding others is slim because of the size of the universe (we will need some luck, but luck is what made the earth … the earth if you look at all the factors involved), we have been sending out signals to the stars via radio and TV transmissions for roughly 100 years now… imagine a million years from now that some civilization receives our signal, it will happen, but will we still be around ? there is more heady stuff to consider as well because of the sheer distance between stars, for example it may take 100 years for a signal to reach an amenable target, if their technology is like ours (not likely) it may take 100 years to receive an answer, and in that 100 years back so much will happen, furthermore imagine if some advanced society detected us in the 1700’s and sent a signal, we did not have the capability to respond, so our efforts might be the same, we truly have to pass through the eye of the needle at this point in our evolution to find another civilization out in the universe, i will probably not see it in my lifetime, but there is hope, humans are clever little beings, and I believe in their ability. thusly that brings me to this composition:
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
“echoes of the universe” 12.5.2018
voices from a distant star
a signal, or false alarm
or arrived to late
as civilizations fall,
our ears as dishes we turn to the sky
to the outer, to the beyond the space of our earth
notes… life is all about perspective. As I have said in the past I do not write haiku (nothing against ya my haiku brothers and sisters) but this was haiku ‘feel’ to me (I have read tons of haiku books personally, I particularly like the death poem genre (jeez that sounds morbid, let me go paint my nails black…)
This song brings a tear to my eye, I must confess, and what does it matter now, when did it ever matter, how we put stock in what others think, the older I get the more I think… about how wrong I have been, and do not want to be going forward, all we can do is learn. be well anyone who reads this, and thanks.
I took the photos what feels like ages ago (here), the words came to me yesterday, well, 2 days ago now that feels like yesterday in my real time. this park is so odd, it is right on a major road with tons of traffic everyday, feet away, a little enclave hidden in plain sight, so strange.
my line of work is so nuts this time of year (12 hour days every day 6 days), i had an install tonight in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, the area has gotten so much nicer just in my short time with my company (15 years), you would think driving home (at this late hour) would be a breeze but of course there was construction in Staten Island and also on the GSP (sigh…), I can’t win sometimes.
I wrote these in the same day, different themes, different emotions, ah, screw it, here they are….
“sitting, looking at a tree I planted, now fall” 11.10.2018
the slanted rays of the day reveal
as they pass through
radiant red of my japanese maple’s palms
also reveals
the fissures and cracks
the spectrum
of the collaboration
of this celebration
of death
Photo by Acharaporn Kamornboonyarush on Pexels.com
“daylight savings” 11.10.2018
trying to find that clock
the one with the extra hour
to steal an hour back
the only time that will allow reclamation
anymore than just this spare hour
or the mind will know the trick
notes… my lovely japanese maple is a fraud actually, it is some hybrid, I found out quite by accident, the first winter after the planting we were hit with a vicious storm, to the point where it broke the young tree in half, where as there was once these deep purple leaves of a weeping bow short tree, after the break (I was glad it was not a death blow) an offshoot grew – taller, and with deep crimson fingers, that was many years ago, but it is a great juxtaposition against my native tall maples in my front yard these days, hard to tell when it is really fall until I see this maple wane in the weight of the coming winter, and it is in direct view when I sit on the steps of my porch, obscuring my view with so much rose colored leaf glasses, so that is what I was observing, as I have said, this is haiku to me (feel, not style).
on #2… sort of folly, a bit of my Twain streak, but also a realization I had, those times we look at clocks and are fooled by those with the incorrect time (as “incorrect” as that can be – does time really care that we peg lines on it?). We pine for that extra minute in the morning etc. I wonder if this current stock of youngin’s is as dependent on clocks – sure they look at their phones every 4.29 seconds… but for the clock ? and watches are mere decoration these days? I wonder what cartier would think… but anyway, I thought it would be fun to illuminate our silly dance with times and clocks… if it succeeds, maybe not. who am I but to share my thoughts, with you.
thanks as always, I am trying to stay in thanks as a state rather than a reaction, this is truly a great world even with all the problems. to me, to contemplate all the factors that had to happen in the universe just to make this dumb post is just an amazing overwhelming thing… keeping that in perspective… that is another thing.
music… so relaxing ambient (older but relevant imo)
Surely this is a time to unwind, one of the big American holidays leading (and perhaps the actual door) to winter, christmas and what not around the corner (do I need to be PC and mention every single holiday? nah, not me.), since the weekend is the time to relax, curl up on the couch and watch some TV (like a parade no one really cares about but we watch anyway), I like to post some simply digested pieces (get it, turkey day humor), maybe even just one line thoughts, or orphans as it were… so without further delay (I know, you must be waiting with such baited breath)…
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
5/16/18
robins and rabbits
do not seem to mind
each-other’s company
on this little patch of mine
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com
5/18/18
can you feel the sky breaking
cracking at the dawn
I can no longer hide my disgrace
within the passing storm
Photo by Dhyamis Kleber on Pexels.com
5/20/18
your eyes
are the only ones
I have ever
truly, looked into
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
5/22/18
to know her
is a song,
stanzas upon my heart.
for eternity
I knew, right from the start.
these notes
they spare my soul
from the looming dark.
6/6/18
humanity, these days
souls on a billboard
on a road to nowhere
Photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com on Pexels.com
6/14/18
sunlight
moonlight
fraternal twins;
sunlight bathes
illuminates
light of day;
moonlight owns
the night
in the phases;
the rise on tides
waxes and wane and disappear
crimson high, chasing the dawn of genesis light
eternal dance
partners three
notes… just on the last one, by partners three I was referencing the earth, moon and sun which is what the universe was for those just a few or so hundred years ago, kind of a play on perspective and science (and poor Galileo) , I thought about referring to all celestial movement but since I was being local (in a solar system sense) I thought this was the way to go. although most of these poems are dated 6 months back (their birth), I did alter them here and there today… maybe I am getting better at that ? I don’t know, I can only post and hope it connects with you, the reader. And in this time of thanks, well… thanks. I am not one to fish for compliments, it may sound arrogant but I don’t care (if you know me in the ‘real’ world as especially my coworkers can attest), I do not do things for others behest, I do them to do them, to do the right thing, which is not always rewarding in the outward sense, but fulfillment should be an inner strength, something that feeds your soul at some level, not some exercise in how many likes I can generate, would that be nice? I am a realist, and not a bullshit artist, so yeah, sure I look at the likes, but that is exactly the hook I have to avoid… to enjoy the process, it is almost like dangling a shiny thing in front of the real prize, the real prize being real praise and admiration without prostrating myself in front of strangers behind a keyboard (ahem, you, reading this)… in summation I give thanks to whatever is out there, to you, to anyone I connect with, we are here in a blink and it seems that time has gone so fast, maybe I can share my value with my posts and enlighten just a few folks, isn’t that better than most ?
music… when I am contemplative I tend to go ambient (or classical), today I bend ambient…
Shades of My Garden 