*
I went on this path one day – off the straight and narrow way
looking to find the unknown - unafraid to be alone
a skip in my stride - my smile a mile wide
passion perspiring inside.
.
Suddenly! There’s a shadow - beside my own.
“It can’t be so!” No one came with me, I know.
Nobody else wished to go.
Who could it be then? How shall I begin?
Where did it happen and when?
~ Putting music to words, and words to pictures ~
*****
Once upon a time
in a land close to home,
when I was young and free
to wish — to dream and roam,
I came upon a girl
who took me by the hand,
and led me to a love
I’d yet to understand.
*
She swept my heart away
with one swipe of her broom,
then bade me follow her
to a cherished inner room.
Her innocence was wild,
my soul was not yet tame,
our hopes were altogether,
her wants and mine — the same.
We mingled nervously,
unsure of where to start,
the space between us closed
to the beat of her heart.
She looked me in the eyes,
and brought us to a kiss.
As one, we learned to know
the feel of utter bliss.
The ensuing moments flew,
though for us, Time stood still.
The magic in the room
played a tune to fit the bill.
We danced the dance of love,
we gave ourselves away.
The gain — well worth the pain
of what we lost that day.
*****
*
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens,
but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one that has opened for us.”
Helen Keller
* *
~
Uncle Tree
There is no Door Of Happiness.
Happiness is an ethereal thing that freely comes and goes.
It enters without knocking, and exits without saying goodbye.
If anything,
we are the doors that swing both ways
and come unhinged in
THE END.
Happiness and Sorrow remain our daily visitors.
***
*
On the southern edge of Bedlam, back in 1869, stood a tall old oak tree. Its fame and glory stemmed from the fact that it had been host to a multitude of hangings. Conveniently located, it lived and grew beside the road that ran to the river. This highly prominent tree was used with regularity by enforcers of the law who wished to see justice carried out to its fullest measure. The town’s large graveyard lay just beyond the tree, which only helped increase the oak’s popularity. Having a cemetery nearby quickened the entire procedure, for little time need be wasted between the drop and the burial.
*
We have found ourselves in the middle of the way
on a curiously narrow fairy tale road
A flat and streamlined point that reaches far and wide
over mountains of tribulations
through valleys of peace and repose
and across the carefree canyons that naturally divide
forever moving forward and backward
~ simultaneously ~
chock-full of energizing potential
a nowhere place of neutrality
where Spirit regathers its
well-spent constituents
of truth and holiness
we have character
we be family
we are
*
Going
going, going on
on to a place
that doesn’t imply off
*
Photograph by Kirstie Watson
*
Is it more worth one’s while
to live a life worth writing about, or
to write about a life that is worth the living?
*
Is it more worth one’s while
to act out a scene worth painting, or
to paint a picture that is worth a view or two?
*
Is it more worth one’s while
to take the time deemed necessary to dream up a fairy tale, or
to live a life worth earning the good luck it takes
to live out a fairy tale dream?
*
*
One touches One twice
Pushed and pulled close together
Again and again
*
Photograph courtesy of Kirstie Watson
*
Two days after the worst disaster in the history of the offshore drilling industry, a high-ranking executive of the company at fault decided he needed a day off. Like most of his cohorts, Joe Petrol wasn’t about to accept any personal responsibility for the accident. “These things happen,” was the ongoing phrase of the week. Indeed, the heat in the kitchen was becoming unbearable, so to speak, and since he couldn’t stand it, he got out, as did many of his partners who suddenly discovered they had personal matters that needed attending to.
Joe loved being entertained, especially after a few pressure-filled days at the office. “Detach, get distracted, and disengage your mind,” was his favorite motto to follow in times like these. In regards to what exactly he wished to do that day, Joe had a number of choices. After all, he was a wealthy man by anyone’s standards. Joe thought about it for a while before choosing to go to the zoo. He hadn’t been there in years, and it had recently been renovated. A change of scenery would do him good, or so he figured. Just thinking about it lightened him up, and made him feel young again.
Dressed in casual attire, Joe left home in hope of an uneventful day. He drove to the zoo, and easily found a place to park his gold Mercedes. After he stepped out of the car, his stomach let out a low growl. As luck would have it, a hot dog vendor stood nearby. The bearded man behind the stand was an old long-haired hippie wearing a brightly colored tie dyed shirt. Joe went and bought a hot foot-long, and tipped the man a dollar. The vendor grinned, and offered him a free cup of Kool-Aid in return. Since Joe was in the mood to feel like a kid again, and since he did need something to drink, he happily obliged, took the cup and thanked the man. Little did Joe know that the vendor was on a secret mission to enlighten the community one person at a time. That’s why he’d made the Kool-Aid electric. Joe was not experienced, in Hendrix’s sense of the term. Joe’s lust for money had helped him make it through the peace-loving 60′s basically unscathed. That was all about to change.
