I need, for my own peace of mind,
to stop noticing with such determination
at least some of the unfairness out there
It’s unfair
It’s there
Get used to it
I need, for my own peace of mind,
to stop noticing with such determination
at least some of the unfairness out there
It’s unfair
It’s there
Get used to it
Lot of ipse dixit
goin’ on round the world
and I’m gettin’ a little weary
of hearing all the spins and spurious platitudes
that pose as reason and empathy
Oh happy day
We are about to be spun around into a better
frame of mind
as soon as everybody sticks it
to this crazy ipse dixit
Posted in Commentary, Daily Prompt, Riffs of Retirement, Thinking out loud, thoughts
Tagged Commentary, funny?, Thoughts, Writing Prompts
So I got this stone-paper notebook
because a hundred notebooks
are just not enough
and I like it
If it’s not worth doing badly,
Is it worth it at all?
Must one avoid it
If one must/might fall?
My choice is to jump in
In spite of the risk…
…of not being perfect
…or of slipping a disc
What I am seeking is unclear to me;
It slides silently…
…sideways…
…and just out of reach
Posted in Life, Photograph, pingbacks, Poems, Poetry of sorts, thoughts
Tagged funny?, Poems, Poetry, Random, Thoughts, Writing Prompts
In light of the darkness of recent events
I am feeling befuddled
And mixed up and tense
I’ve grown tired of the pickets
on this particular fence
Too much manipulation
Too much pretense
Some days I achieve empathy
Would I rather be dense?
Ah, well, life is so good when I look up and around
…and maybe the news can be simply turned down.
Posted in Commentary, Life, Poems, Poetry of sorts, Ruminating, Thinking out loud, thoughts
Tagged Commentary, Opinion, Poetry, Thoughts
Now we speak of
“your truth”
“her truth”
“his truth”
“my truth”
Have we lost all affection for
THE truth or even SOME truth?
“All I want is the truth,
Just give me some truth”
said John Lennon
Would we call that crazy today; and under-hyped?
What with people being labeled, pigeon-holed and stereotyped
Divided into categories, declaring how done wrong we all are………………………………………with a tinge of glee,
While creating new stereotypes for the opposition — how can this be?
Announcing how we must fight, fight, fight
in order to create utopia before the breaking news tonight.
in the name of progress and sanctimonious concern
What are we playing at? What can we learn?
I hear the call to accept everyone’s truth; do not judge,
(while judging so harshly, refusing to budge)
and in the same breath condemn an alternate view
because only subjective reasoning is held to be true
Will we throw away commonsense and common ground
for political gain and power unbound?
Will we turn our backs on the freedom we desired?
It kinda makes me sick
Truth is…. it makes me tired
Posted in Commentary, Poetry of sorts, Thought, thoughts, Today, wondering and pondering
Tagged Commentary, Thoughts
Imagine managing life
with a lightness of spirit
Imagine noticing how much I worry
and then moving on to actually noticing all the things around me and getting on with living!
It seems like a way to be more relaxed maybe even less
focused on what is going wrong or what could go wrong
The world is always, has always and may always be amazing and wonderful and at the same time: an utter mess; before I arrived, while I’m here and after I leave……..so perhaps my obligation to the world is to be an enthusiastic participant.
The principle of moral proximity rings true to me. I can be concerned without being responsible for all the stuff all over the world.
I can’t fix it all and make everyone be kind. Period. On certain days, I can barely manage me!
Here are Kevin DeYoung & Greg Gilbert on this concept:
Moral proximity refers to how connected we are to someone by virtue of familiarity, kinship, space, or time…. The closer the moral proximity, the greater the moral obligation…. [This principle] reminds us that we can’t possibly be the same kind of good neighbor to everyone in the world, nor must we. Supporting AIDS relief in Africa is a wonderful thing to do, but a failure to do so does not automatically make a church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a gospel-less, selfish church. But if that same church did nothing to help their people when the river flooded in 2008, then they do not understand the love of Christ. Moral proximity should not make us more cavalier to the poor. But it should free us from unnecessary guilt and make us more caring toward those who count on us most.
Posted in Ruminating, Thinking out loud, thoughts, wondering and pondering
My daughter is 41 years old!!!
Which, by my calculations,
makes me a touch older,
truth be told.
It seems unlikely….and yet…there it is —
I am in a new age category, and gee whiz
though I feel grateful as I write this text
because I like seeing what will happen next
I’m also kind of a ‘fraidy cat
so I peek around the corner to see where I’m at
and although nothing is ever quite crystal clear
it turns out I’m standing, still standing right here
in the middle
of the beginning
of the rest of my life
A good place to be
Probably
Posted in Life, Poetry of sorts, RETIREMENT, Thinking out loud, thoughts, wondering and pondering
Tagged Poem, Poetry Maybe, Thoughts
Today I wonder if I will ever just relax
I wake up in the morning feeling tired
Go to bed feeling the same way.
I ain’t nuthin’ but tired. Yeah, I’m just tired and bored with myself. Hey there baby I could use. just a little help
Wait, I just lapsed into a Bruce Springsteen song.
Meanwhile, I dreamed I had to maneuver through lot of obstacles to get somewhere — rocky stuff and hills that a person could easily fall off of and I seem to have made it through; but what was the point? I do not know.
Maybe it was that you can make it through the things you see as trouble.
You are strong. It’s not that the obstacles won’t be there. It’s that you will handle it.
Maybe it was a psychic thing — a few months after that dream, I broke my wrist on Mount Vesuvius! And I handled it! Coincidence? Non lo so.
I wonder if retiring in the winter was such a good idea as a little cabin fever is creeping in. Maybe it’s okay, though. It is definitely a time to lay low and relax a bit….and a time to recuperate from a cold. And maybe more importantly, a time to recuperate from the somewhat unnecessary scramble to wrap things up at work while preparing things for the transition from me to my replacement; all of which was actually stressful and difficult. I allowed other people’s poor planning to become my problem. I won’t miss facing that particular situation.
I wonder if I learned anything from that experience. I feel a certain disappointment that my recommendations went unheeded…would have been a smoother transition, I do believe. Ah, well…..it is what it is and they are what they are and I am what I am.
I wonder if I will pursue a part-time job in this retirement phase. Ah, honey, I do not know.
I wonder if I will get started now with more “arty” pursuits. I received a gift certificate for the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts …. so I can take a class sooner or later. Meanwhile, time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future….which means spring is on the way and that is a good thing to anticipate.
I wonder if I will be okay, be okay, be okay. I say it could happen!
(“So many things I wonder.” — part of a song from Mixed Nuts movie)
Posted in RETIREMENT, Ruminating, thoughts, wondering and pondering
Tagged Random, Self-indulgent, Thoughts
Foreword
I’m just not in love with forewords to books.
I want to read the book itself not what someone I don’t even know thinks about it.
This might mean I’m not intellectual enough. But sometimes having someone dissect a work of art just seems condescending as if I won’t get it just by the author’s words. Might be insulting to the writer in a way.
If it needs a foreword, is it because the writer didn’t make things clear in the book?
I might like an “afterword” especially if I don’t feel like finishing a book that I’m not wild about and I want a summary of it. Or if it’s so great I want to have a conversation about it–even a remote one.
Sometimes I’ll read the foreword after i read the book–if it draws me in. I usually try reading the foreword up to the point I become exasperated. That tends to happen if it’s a long ordeal: write your own damn book why doncha’ ?
That’s my two cents!
Anyway…. I wonder what other people think about forewords? Helpful? What do you say, other people?
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Posted in Commentary, Daily Prompt, NaPoWriMo, pingbacks, RETIREMENT RIFFS, Riffs of Retirement, Ruminating, Thinking out loud, Thought, thoughts, wondering and pondering
Tagged Commentary, Opinion, RETIREMENT RIFFS, Self-indulgent, Thoughts