The contrast at the Six-to-Sunset concert last night was stunning. The littlest ones were in the moment; joyfully dancing, twirling, and chasing each other to the music. Meanwhile, many of their parents, big brothers and sisters were totally checked out from their surroundings; numbly bumping into one another, as they stared at their mobile phones, searching for imaginary creatures.
It was like a scene from some dystopian science-fiction movie – I can’t imagine Ray Bradbury coming up with a bleaker contrast.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Birds
We so love and admire birds;
their grace and beauty – their freedom.
their grace and beauty – their freedom.
We wish to be like them – to be near them.
We have no wings to join them,
so we bring them to us.
so we bring them to us.
We set them in a gilded cage
near a window,
and as they gaze out –
we listen to their beautiful songs
of the sky, the trees,
and freedom.
near a window,
and as they gaze out –
we listen to their beautiful songs
of the sky, the trees,
and freedom.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Rain-Words
Rain-Words
The Inuit are said to have
a dozen words for snow.
Each describes a picture of
the sky, a mountain up above,
or quiet valley blanket down below.
In our valley, we don’t see much snow –
or mountains – or the sky.
Our winters – quiet, gray and dull,
but poignant, and so beautiful
that every passing cloud can’t help
but open up and cry.
And for these tears we have a few
expressions on our list.
It can shower, sprinkle, rain,
or pour - like cats and dogs
who beg our door
for shelter from the drizzle, spit, and mist.
Intermittent, only partly clear –
the meanings we ascribe.
But these rain-words, we all understand –
we denizens of sodden land;
as snow-words speak to members of that
bundled northern tribe.
Each year we say we’ll leave this place
of scant, infrequent sunshine.
We’ll scrape the moss from ‘tween our toes,
and go where only cactus grows,
and everything is warm … and dry … and fine.
But with the spring, the sun returns
(or with the summer, maybe).
Our hearts rise up to greet it, like a daisy.
In its heat we get forgetful and so lazy,
that we can’t imagine why
we’d ever want to leave our valley.
a dozen words for snow.
Each describes a picture of
the sky, a mountain up above,
or quiet valley blanket down below.
In our valley, we don’t see much snow –
or mountains – or the sky.
Our winters – quiet, gray and dull,
but poignant, and so beautiful
that every passing cloud can’t help
but open up and cry.
And for these tears we have a few
expressions on our list.
It can shower, sprinkle, rain,
or pour - like cats and dogs
who beg our door
for shelter from the drizzle, spit, and mist.
Intermittent, only partly clear –
the meanings we ascribe.
But these rain-words, we all understand –
we denizens of sodden land;
as snow-words speak to members of that
bundled northern tribe.
Each year we say we’ll leave this place
of scant, infrequent sunshine.
We’ll scrape the moss from ‘tween our toes,
and go where only cactus grows,
and everything is warm … and dry … and fine.
But with the spring, the sun returns
(or with the summer, maybe).
Our hearts rise up to greet it, like a daisy.
In its heat we get forgetful and so lazy,
that we can’t imagine why
we’d ever want to leave our valley.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Pieces of My Heart
If you have loved many, do not say, ‘My heart lay in pieces along the path of my life.’
Rather say, ‘my heart has been nourished at many tables; it has been warmed and sheltered in those homes, and has drunk deeply from the wells there.’
Consider not just what you left at these tables, but also what you brought away. An open heart will heal, and the warm memories of past feasts will continue to fulfill and nourish you through your lifetime.
Rather say, ‘my heart has been nourished at many tables; it has been warmed and sheltered in those homes, and has drunk deeply from the wells there.’
Consider not just what you left at these tables, but also what you brought away. An open heart will heal, and the warm memories of past feasts will continue to fulfill and nourish you through your lifetime.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Beer Goggles
The greatest danger from so-called ‘beer goggles’ isn’t the imagined improvement we see in those around us on the dance floor.
It's the improvement we see in the mirror, as the image of ourselves passed through the goggles twice.
It's the improvement we see in the mirror, as the image of ourselves passed through the goggles twice.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Summer Rain
The lightest, sweetest summer rain
descends from silver linings,
falling softly upon the shoulders
of those who seek the brilliant shadows below.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Father's Day
I love this song, and remember it each Father’s Day. Maybe because I was a teenager when I first
heard it, I still hear it from the son’s perspective. But the Father’s words also ring all too
clearly now in my heart, urging patience to one who feels only urgency, ‘… Take
your time, think a lot; think of everything you’ve got. For you will still be here tomorrow, but your
dreams may not.’
No matter how hard parents and children try to reach across
the generational divide, it does not disappear.
Our experiences intersect, but do not fully overlap; sometimes our love is
the only touchstone spanning a divide we are not allowed to cross.
To borrow from Kahlil Gibran, in his chapter On Children,
from The Prophet:
“…
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
…”
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
…”
Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing fathers I know!
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