SIXTH WEEK TUESDAY: DAY OF CELEBRATING DEPARTED MERCHANT OF FRIENDS

This on the morning of the afternoon of the “sending away” of a truly humble community friend:

                        I.

     OH, NO! MORNING

PAIN IN THE CRACK

           OF THE JOINT

PARTS THE WATERS FOR

          PASSAGE INTO THE

HILL COUNTRY OF

         MORNING’S AMBITIONS

POACHING ON THAT LAST

         DREAM BEFORE AWAKENINGS

THAT REMIND OF TINY JOYS

         GAINED THROUGH THE

COLDPRESS OF PAIN

                 

                        II.     

LESSONS FROM LITTLE DOG

LITTLE DOG, LITTLE DOG:

           WHERE DOES YOUR NOSE

LEAD YOU TO PROVE

            YOUR TASK?

LITTLE DOG, LITTLE DOG,

            WE KNOW IT IS YOUR

SELF-ASSIGNED WORK

             TO SNIFF OUT THE

TRAIL OF INVADERS,

             VILLAINS, CREATURE FRIENDS,

DIGESTIFS IN THE LEAVES.

             LITTLE DOG, LET ME LEARN

LITTLE DOG, LITTLE DOG:

            COME BACK TO TEACH ME

THE SECRET YOU LEARNED ON

            FIRST WHIFF AT SUNRISE;

TEACH ME TO FOLLOW MY NOSE

           TIED TO MY HEART

BEFORE MY WRINKLED-BROW GAZE

           OF DOUBT–

TEACH ME, LITTLE DOG,

           TO JUST FOLLOW

This during the funeral service, seated with good friends:

 

           DEPARTED MERCHANT OF FRIENDS

SUDDENLY, A GLIMPSE OF

           THAT PARALLEL UNIVERSE

SHOWN OVER THE ROBED SPEAKER,

           DOWN BETWEEN THE HEADS

OF THE HUMBLE AND THE HAUGHTY,

           FLOATING OVER GLITCHES IN THE

AV SYSTEM, BATHING ALL

             IN A PROMISE.

My friend being laid to rest after two years of health struggles, two and one-half years younger than myself (who jog-walked three miles that morning), reminds me of how truly priceless the quality of humility is in friendships.

This departed one exemplified that quality with one and all, blessing us with his helpfulnees, honesty, and gentle humility.  May we all be so gifted in our friendships.

 

                             

FOURTH WEEK FRIDAY: GETTING OUT OF THE STARTING GATE AFTER HIDING IN THE BARN

Bad juju, officers eat last, clarion call (to whatever cause you have the greatest passion for in your life), Indians use cellphones to plug holes in governance, electric cars (see the Columbia in 1904, The Oracle of Hope, Freese walking home:

Such are my inspirations today to follow through from  the recent encouragement I have received from replies to my posts at http://whisperingtrees.wordpress.com, comments on my posts here, and encounters with the old guys in the rocking chairs at my local feed-and-seed store.

What about:

BAD JUJU:  a great way to describe the “gut feeling” you receive on your internal early warning system

OFFICERS EAT LAST:  an inimitable military principle that should be followed on Wall Street and by yours truly following on the much-sought humility mentioned in yesterday’s post here

CLARION CALL:  that inner voice that WILL NOT LET YOU GIVE UP on your deepest-held passions, beliefs, loves

INDIAN USE CELLPHONES TO PLUG HOLES IN GOVERNANCE:  a South Asian village way of putting into action “Yes, We Can”

ELECTRIC CARS:  The electric Columbia was the best-selling U.S. car in 1904:  we need to emulate this travel mode preference again by 2014!

FREESE WALKING HOME IN ST. LOUIS:  this was the first time he says his team ever met him at homebase:  all of us need our “team” to meet us!

 

The message here?  YES, WE CAN!  YES, I CAN!

PLEASE HELP ME AND HELP EACH OTHER BE THE “ME” AS A WRITER I HEAR THE CLARION CALL FOR ANEW!  LET US PLUG HOLES IN OUR CREATIVE GOVERNANCES!

(cont’d tomorrow!)

 

FOURTH WEEK THURSDAY: RESTED, NOT CURED

Yes, the rest from pressing myself to write higher and higher wordcount posts definitely helped.  However, I am not cured.  Yes, I am a ham but not cured.  I’m just hanging out in the smokehouse of all my loosely connected brainstorms, twisting over that final blast of the curing fire of editing discipline!!  However, I am a softer ham, a less pungent ham, a less singeing-of-the-pscyhic-nose-hairs ham than two days ago.  Here are some ways I have accomplished this better-hamness:

1)  Reading outloud the lines before stopping for the day;

2)  Meditating for about one minute between each coupld of stanzas;

3)  Resisting urge to call friend to read poetry post online (after too-hasty posting!);

4) Walking, skipping, jumping, twirling, lying down, kneeling, etc. as called for by any given line metrics;

5) Whisper-chanting the lines.

Also, taking more time to participate more thoughtfully in my favorite blogs (see twitter.com@granbee for links) before beginning writing and taking time to visit briefly with a few “significant others” or new friends has definitely grounded me much better.  I need to stop being such a “know-it-all” and consult more with others, not just bounce off them.  Humility contributes to inner peace, which frees up a lot of mental/emotional/spiritual capacity for creative work.  May the Force be with me!

Now, I will take a deep breath and tackle some delayed contact with links found at http://writeitsideways.com, such as exploring the 31 days of writing challenge seen on yesterday’s post, found here: http://betterwritinghabits.com/index/

P.S.  The honesty and humility found at http://hahousewife.wordpress.com really helped me today!

Will be posting soon about emitting sparks to light up social justice fires in my near vicinity!