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Saturday, July 13, 2019

Who Knows?

I searched and I searched outside in the blue
for people, places and things I knew to be true,
ever truer than my heart, my feet and my head 
’til, spinning in circles, and dizzy with dread 
I stumbled. I fell on the sofa to cry. 
Sitting up with frown, I then wondered why. 
Why couldn’t I just be a bright shining star 
when I’d tried so hard to be just what they are?

What? 

What they are? 

Who are they to determine what things I should do? 

Who am I to decide they know what to do? 

So I stood and I swayed as the dizziness passed 
then, standing still slowly, I felt different at last. 
Not the ‘different’ that feels like a stranger or other, 
but a different explorer for a search like no other. 
No searching outside in people, places and things, 
but a searching inside to find treasures that sing
of knowledge and wisdom and questions galore.
So off to the library, bookstores and more,
I found people, places and things to restore
the balance that patiently waited for me
to discover more truth in this vast human sea.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

Author's note: Edited April 08, 2024

Friday, July 12, 2019

Strawberries, Blackberries and Cheese

Bits and pieces
Here and there
Putter a bit and
Read a bit more.
Set a direction
Map out a course
A mile just a piece 
of the journey we’re on
So stop to eat
or revel in sights  ~
bits and pieces of value
for any old trip!

“Writing is like sewing together what I call 
these ‘buttons, these bits and pieces.”
~ Sandra Cisneros

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Chitter Chatter

Theories abound about 
The reasons for,
The details about,
Whys, wherefores and what ifs
The questions posed

Researchers peer into corners and crevices
to find answers to questions 
that may be age old or
possibly never thought of
except by those researchers

Theories abound when
all that data comes out 
in the newspaper
from a well coifed talking head,
on wildly prolific social media,
or casual social chitter and chatter.

Questions abound leaving us 
wondering how to respond ~
What’s it to me?
How should I include it in my life?
Will it even affect me?

Theories continue bounding
through space and time even when
we go home for supper,
read the newspaper,
listen to newscasts or
check our social media sites.

Theories abound when 
there are humans with opinions
believing what we believe without
knowing that we need to know more
about the facts for our own lives.

Theories, a-bounding like 
fields of rabbits unchecked,
allowed to roam freely,
only provides more rabbits
until we care for one at home.

“ ….the specious meditations, speculations, and theories of mankind 
are but a kind of insanity, only there is no one to stand by and observe it.”
~ Francis Bacon,  Novum Organum

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Blossom Time

Naive beliefs woven through us from the mirage of childhood, shift and change with time and life.

Despite any fears or insecurities,
   when our feet stand firm,
   our hearts feel calm, 
   our minds expand
we can shed these naive beliefs that protected and kept us warm.

There is a danger: 
A creeping cynicism may
shrink wrap a good heart and a curious mind.

“It is well for the heart to be naive and for the mind not to be.”
~ Anatole France

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Pie



Energy focused on 
Sensational sensations
Magnificent medals
Amazing adventures
       ~ feels like a delicious pie     
     in the sky

Energy focused on 
Commitment to learning more
Confident knowledge of self
Curiosity for more exploration
      ~ feels like a butterfly in the palm of my hand.

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
~ Lloyd Alexander, American author (1924 - 2007)

Monday, July 8, 2019

Wind Break








Mercurial moods challenge commitment as the wind 
challenges branches and trees
to remain upright and strong.





“The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.” 
~ Joan Didion

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Movie Review - 'Yesterday' directed by Danny Boyle, written by Richard Curtis

Tenacity clings to the things we love the most passionately. In an intriguing manner, Yesterday directed by Danny Boyle portrays what can happen when the music of our adolescent years is forgotten ~ in this case, the music of The Beatles. Jack Malik, played by Hemish Patel is a failing musician who struggles to write his own songs. He works part time in a box store. He really wants to be a musician so left his career as a teacher to focus on his music. His manager, roadie, driver and long time friend, Ellie Appleton, played by Lily James has encouraged him to follow that dream. She helps Jack as much as she can while working full time as a teacher and trying to get him gigs that will push him to the top. One night, when Jack is riding his bicycle home, all the lights of cars, streets, and buildings across the globe went out for 16 seconds. Jack is hit by a bus. When he wakes up, in hospital, he recalls a song phrase ~ ‘will you still need me, will you still feed me when I’m sixty four'. Ellie’s only question was 'why sixty four'? After getting out of hospital and with his friends he plays and sings Yesterday. None of them have ever heard of it or have heard of The Beatles. Jack continues to be confronted by these monstrous music knowledge gaps! Even his own record collection and Google fails to locate any reference to The Beatles. In a tenacious effort to keep this legacy alive and to share it with his friends, he begins ‘writing’ all of the songs that he has committed to memory. He stumbles over most of them but especially ‘Eleanor Rigby’. Ed Sheeran, played by himself, hears him and, because of his great talent, asks him to open his next tour. Ed Sheeran’s music manager, Debra Hammer, played by Kate McKinnon, recognizes the potential profit of Jack's talent - if he follows her directions. Jack’s dreams take off. 

I’ll have to leave you there to see this beautiful, funny and charming movie for yourselves. There is a poignant and happy ending with Jack singing and playing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. A must see movie for those of us around when the Beatles came on the scene ~ and definitely for everyone of any age to experience this wonderful music. To follow Jack’s story is to follow the Beatles in a fresh new way.

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. 
A dream you dream together is reality.”
~ John Lennon

Directed by Danny Boyle
Written by Richard Curtis

Cast (Partial)

Himesh Patel - Jack Malik
Karma Sood - young Jack Malik
Lily James - Ellie Appleton
Jaimie Kollmer - young Ellie (as Jamie Louise Kollmer)
Alexander Arnold - Gavin
Meera Syal - Sheila Malik (Jack’s mother)
Sanjeev Bhaskar - Jed Malik (Jack’s father)
Harry Michell - Nick - Jack and Ellie’s friend (one of)
Joel Fry - Rocky (roadie)
Ed Sheeran - Ed Sheeran
Kate McKinnon - Debra Hammer (U.S. manager)
Justin Edwards - Leo (Russian Stranger)
Sarah Lancashire - Liz (Liverpool Stranger)
Robert Carlyle - John Lennon (uncredited)