Walk Softly Live Gently

I dredged up another oldie for this week’s Poetry Thursday prompt: ‘Rivers’

That day we floated down the brownish river

in a makeshift ship, a construction site derelict

stolen in the half light of dusk.

We were maybe twelve in wet blue jeans and tee shirts

rolled at the sleeves according to local custom

in those placid fifties.

The tainted shallow water was no hindrance that warm August day;

to us it was just cool in the heat.

The tall dark bridge seen through the downstream haze

looked imposing from where we sat. Its high shadowed arches

rising ominously to the clouds.

Our progress slowed in the shallows by dragging the old mortar box

over the mud and rocks, stopping occasionally to chase the Crayfish

from their hiding places that summer on the river called “Bronx”.

Looking ahead now to that bridge, fearing to go under it

lest some strange thing come from the shadows

of its tall arches looming ahead, so close now portending doom.

Yet we push on slowly, determined to make memories

of our young fear not realizing we would never make it that far.

1993-2006

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He thought, I love you.
She said aloud, as if she heard
the words; I love you too.
He then knew
Yes. We are one.

For more haiku, tanka and other interesting poetic forms check out” One Deep Breath

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The tall tree’s branch, thicker
Than my torso, hung horizontally
Moving in the breeze as if
Waving at me.

I admit to heeding the call as
The thick rope tied to the branch
Beckoned, knotted at the bottom like
A huge wart.

I could run from where I stood
And have a modest swing or
Grabbing the knot I could climb
The outcropped rock and launch
Myself into the universe.

Dangling thrill that it was tethered
Still to the branch hanging on
Precariously lest I experience the
Awkward spill of a short flight
To the ground.

RonRusso 2004

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He stared out at the ocean and said, “Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view.”
And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. That’s all. Words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. When I do what he said, I am never disappointed.
— Anna Quindlen in A Short Guide to a Happy Life

To Practice This Thought: Take time to really see what is right in front of you.

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On Toscanini’s eightieth birthday, someone asked his son, Walter, what his father considered his most important achievement. The reply was, “For him there can be no such thing. Whatever he happens to be doing at the moment is the biggest thing in his life — whether it is conducting a symphony or peeling an orange.”

To Practice This Thought: Stop whatever you are doing and remember that it is the biggest thing in your life. Then return to it.

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This is not a literal dialog between two people exactly, rather it is about a dialog that took place a few years ago. I offer this for Poetry Thursday readers and all others who may find an interest.

When We Met

We spoke of those times of our foolishness

not without a hint of nostalgia,

of the feel of it coursing through our blood.

We spoke of it as if it were a good thing

to speak of, to remind ourselves of that

pain, that glory of sorts, that anguish of youth.

It was a miracle actually, we could speak at all,

as if it were just a simple story diluted with time

like a liquid ferment that changes colors like Fall.

The miracle was in the speaking,

in the braggadocio, the casual way with death

that denies the real and smells like a tomb.

We sweat in those times, now in absentia.

We were lost in the circles, those

circles of redundancy, an endless

loop that comes back to haunt us

recalling the time we stopped on the loop

and couldn’t remember how we got there,

so we got high and jumped back in to take

the turn ever lower on the spiral, to

the bottom at the end of the line of the times.

We won’t speak of it again….

The pain of its memory felt too good.

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When I awaken

The universe opens

When the lotus blooms

More haiku here at One Deep Breath

“YOUR EXPERIENCE OF LIFE

ISN’T BASED ON YOUR LIFE, IT’S BASED ON

WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO.”

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In order to arrive at what you do not know

It must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.

In order to possess what you do not possess

You must go by the way of dispossession.

In order to arrive at what you are not

You must go through the way in which you are not.

And what you do not know is the only thing you know

And what you own is what you do not own

And where you are is where you are not.

The Spirituality of Imperfection.

T.S. Elliot described this spiritual path of the via negativia in “East Coker”]

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Location, location, location….

My favorite shot from our trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Blowing Rock, NC

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Ok. I’m addicted to theme changes. I couldn’t resist this one. Somewhat lighter than the other. Hey, if ya’ll hate it I can always switch back. Just thought I’d give it a try. Now if I can get all that content from 3 columns into 2, hmmm…….

(I just realized that the new theme I just mentioned doesn’t show up well in Internet Explorer. So I’m back to the old one for now. If you couldn’t find me, I apologize. I’ll try to fix it soon.)

Update: Sorry, my mistake. I changed some things in the sidebar and put something in the wrong place and screwed up Internet Explorer. Interestingly, it didn’t bother the Firefox browser! Microsoft strikes again. Anyway it should work fine now.

Nature is nurture

Sunlight birthing our wholeness

warming us all

Let your light so shine

Nurturing glow abundant

Filling the whole earth

More haiku here at One Deep Breath

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…this place:

This is a small part of a larger area. It is the place where significant healing happened for me after the divorce ended 24 years of marriage. I did a great deal of writing here. It was the start of a new found love of poetry and writing in general.

It was also the start of a new life of love a few years later when I asked my best friend to marry me.

We are now about to celebrate our 11th year together next month. It is also the place I want my ashes to be scattered, to be allowed to flow down the mountain to the ocean a couple of hundred miles east of this sopt.

This is my most cherished inspiration.

Poetry Thursdays random prompt prompted this:

Elixir of life

promise of eternity

marrow of false hopes

(elixir of life – a hypothetical substance believed to maintain life indefinitely; once sought by alchemists)

For this weeks haiku prompt (Sleep) at “One Deep Breath”
I am also using these two poems (first a tanka, the other a haiku) for Poetry Thursday

Sleep is where we live

Most of our waking hours

Unencumbered by light

By the work of thought

It’s time to wake up!

If we sleep the sleep

Of the enlightened ones

Is the world still here?

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