I don’t write in a journal everyday, but I have accumulated many entries over the past 50+ years beginning in 1966. Some items evolved into longer works. Among the leftovers little pieces survived. I thought a collection of these with a piece culled from the same date in a past year would make an interesting yearbook. The consistencies and inconsistencies of mind, skipping back and forth across time, provide varied perspectives. It is difficult to remember the context of the past we’ve lived; we also make suppositions about times that predate ourselves.

The few alterations from original drafts were to improve clarity. The worst of my work is not included. There remains enough mediocrity and immaturity to make me feel humble and you feel smart. There are also moments of accidental insight and incidental humor.

Author Stephen Crane referred to his little pieces as pills…apparently they were small and somewhat hard to swallow, but good for you.


Comments Welcome!

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Reclining Lady of Six-Eighty (6)

 

August 31

 

   Reclining Lady of Six-Eighty  (6)*

In the time of the old nations

people knew the pantheistic landscape

The beings of hills and stream were seen

the scope of each domain was understood

 

The movement of the day and year played

against the patience of oak or rock

and the great beings issued powers

that moved the sky and earth

 

The obvious was not to be ignored

Phenomenal relationships were perceived

The truest were as direct as cold breath

blown by North Wind through the canyon

 

Now folklore is impractical and vague

We see more subtle seismic implications

when she awakens to stir in her bed

and runs her fingers through her hair

 

*From a series written from 1998-2001 (I was 53-56)

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