Boys, Work and War

I’ve known this man since I was a kid. It’s a great blog and has some very good things to say. John is a wonderful storyteller.

john allen's avatarazuldelmar2kr

I never saw my father work. Well, I saw him DO some work, but never at the place called Work. He left the house at 6AM to go to work, and was rarely home before 6PM. He went to Work. What the hell does that mean? Work was a place to me. Until I was 10, I had no idea where it was. He had something to do with making jet engines at General Electric in Cincinnati. It was the 1950’s when I first became aware that you have to go to a place called Work in order to make money to eat. You see, that’s about the time I learned that money doesn’t grow on trees. You have to go to Work to get some.

I grew up with a sense of entitlement, but I don’t like to admit it. I went to school, went out to play, and…

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Imagination

The freeway is the ocean,
the stars are just as high,
but fewer.
I am tired, but can still pretend
what is real
is somewhere near,
not a lifetime away.
My imagination
saves me again.

I5inPortlandNight

Portland-Super-Moon

 

(top: en.wikipedia.org; bottom: lovethesepics.com)

Posted in Home, Oregon, Portland, Slice of Life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Haiku–Moonful Reminder

Big moon: full of light;
lets us know the sun still burns;
a comforting thought.

MoonFeature

moon road

 

(top: thespiritscience.net; bottom: hdw.eweb4.com)

Posted in Gratitude, Haiku, Moon, Night, Poem, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Haiku–Red Squirrel

Little red squirrel,
dainty, but talking loud trash
to the dog below.

squirrel exulting

squirrel dog

 

(squirrel: mirror.co.uk; dog: flickr.com)

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Haiku–Bird Morning

Screet, screet, dut-dut-dut;
yoodle oot, yoodle oot, oot;
the birds awaken.

junco singing

junco-singing-2

 

(top: youtube.com; bottom: wildernessdweller.ca)

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Haiku–“We’re all mad here.”

A Cheshire Cat moon
smiling in the western sky;
my evening brightens.

moon crescent

crescent moon2

(top: shadowness.com; bottom: panoramio.com)

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Haiku–Adobe Words

Dusty adobe words
make a wall I am building,
keeping out the wind.

Old-Adobe-Wall

adobe home

 

(wall: featurepics.com; home: pinterest.com)

 

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Little Mind

My little mind seeks its way
among large things in a vastness
it cannot comprehend.
I am glad it keeps going,
past questions without answers,
being stubborn that way,
in blind faith, on some
kind of mission, believing there is
something to discover, maybe
out there between those bright stars.
Maybe they’re not stars at all,
maybe they’re electrons.
Scale has always been confusing.

Like the time I ran up
that cliff at Salt Creek:
the acid I’d taken
helped me forget it
was something I could not do.
A friend went with me.
He, too, had forgotten.
We sat up there on a
small shelf, joking we’d
have to come down to
get down to be down.
Thankfully, we forgot again,
skidded the sheer face,
and wandered the beach, seeking
the other side of morning, somewhere
between electrons and stars.

stars eye

sun

(eye: collections.ucolick.org; sun: phys.org)

Posted in Beach, Consciousness, Gratitude, memory, Poem, Quantum flash | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mother

Strangers hover over your swollen belly:
Was there a window? Were smiles real?
The clock ticks in your heart.
Your hands caress your abdomen,
already saying goodbye.
You give me to the air,
knowing enough to understand
the coming of winter on
this first day of spring.

adoption giving

Adoption2

 

(top: rappler.com; bottom: mjhsbnn.com) 

Posted in family, Gratitude, Humans, Kids, Poem | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Thankful

For: the rustle of warm bedclothes;
the distant dark noise of the ocean;
a coyote yip in the night;
the sigh of a lover satisfied;
an adversary’s sudden pause;
a shared laugh;
electric light to write by;
books that seize my heart;
a child without need;
the gasp of a friend’s insight;
a dog’s warm tongue;
the edge of sleep;
a list of these things with no end.

doghat

laughing ladies

(dog: lapdogcreations.com; laughter: pinterest.com)

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