Traveling through backroads
Heading to Lockhart
Dusty winter fields
Empty but alive
Power lines overhead
The sunny sky above
And in your head
And in the car as well
All is well
When the sky is clear
But a cloudy sky laments
The ghostly absence
And you are unsure
You believe in ghosts
Even though they haunt
The ones you love.
Suddenly the rain
Comes down
And the windshield is cloudy
And the sky turns gray
And the day
Seems over
The celebration abruptly ended
When the raven failed to fly
And I
Shut down the engines
Waiting for the storm to end
The rainfall slows
The drops grow soft
And slowly rewarm
The extinguished heart
The sky reopens
And joy floods the room
And the gloom
Falls away.
Didn't catch the nameWell, not true
Caught ... and released
Alas who was that unmasked
Soul
Who thinks I know
At least the name?
That name is the key
To being recognized
Not just Bub or Miss or worse
But then it hit me
Some of us hear at different speeds
And so Go slow
Is not too hard to ask
Not an admission of guilt
Not a handicap
Most, maybe some hear
At different brain speeds
Their listening is enhanced
Not just by concentration
Though concentration matters
Yet some who hardly seem present
Remember every word and gesture
We all run at different speeds
We are not carbon copies
We adjust as best we can
To intertwine our lives with others
And that is a great portion
Of our human journey
Just as we adjust our hearts
To the wind and the smells
And yes the creepy crawlies
As we leave our cages
And reconnect with Home
The Earth that brings us food
And air and water and joy,
And so (rather than be rude)
We admit
We consider each person we meet
Worthy
We want to write their names
In our Book of Life
And pray ours in theirs
As if we were in a scavenger hunt
To find as many others
And so we stop and say
Hey
I want to know enough
To always remember you
In that shared adventure
That uniquely curated scene
In our long-play lives
So that when we meet again
Our joys will hold our hearts
And we can live in peace.
Did I catch your name?
Wanna?
The 911 call brings the EMTs
They rush into battle
For the fleeting lives
Wounds, damaged organs
Even restarting hearts and lungs.
The massive attention needed
Is for the moment yet
To ambulance junkies
It is an everyday 24/7 high.
TV shows are like that.
Magic happens in 39 minutes
Credits and intros included
Gotta pay those bills.
Actors aren't cheap.
So too those who rush in
To revive the lonely
To breathe life into dying souls
Create massive energy fields
As virtue is pumped
To rekindle the faded embers
And at that moment
The one in need
Is the VIP of your whole world.
The urgent gets the headlines
Well deserved and grateful
The important though
Is often overlooked
Mundane
Boring
At least to the speculators
Those who see from the outside
Those whose perspective
Ignores the glue
That the important provides.
Being there in time of need
Bringing that word of faith
To an unstable friend
The little things few notice
Often done in secret
Without fanfare
Things that, not done, might create
The headlines the urgent
Find as their reward.
The urgent is important
Yet the need to remain
Important
Even when ignored
Is always urgent
Though we only realize
Just how much
When the one in ten
Says thanks.
Yesterday was mybirthday
There was nocelebration
No party, not even aphone call
Which is not to saythat no one cared
But no one dared
To create an event
But then
There is no home forthe homeless
And while there is aroof and a bed
A home is more thanthat
A home is a center oflove
And love lost and notregained
Leaves one on thefringe.
To be sure there arefriends
Still around, stillcaring
And there are many joys
Almost nightly
But in the morning
I rise to an empty room
And the gloom
Pushes me into the car
To travel afar
In search of
Someone
Somewhere
Anywhere
That love can be shared
And breakfast made
And memories and dreams
And hope.
I would love to go home
But I don’t know wherehome is
Anymore.
Sounds like a toddlers cup
Or a married hippie lady
But we're not supposed
To use that old binary code.
Tall pines, tons of rain
Southern food galore
Black-eyed peas please
Rooting for rutabagas
And yams not sweet taters
Cos flavor and texture matter.
You can drive from Natchez
To Nashville on a 2-lane road
Without a Trace of a red light
Or even a motel
Unless you need gas
Or food
Or conversation
But that's the rub.
Faces without names
Order please, keep that mask on
Keep your distance
Intimacy might be deadly
But casual chat is safe
Or so it seems.
Life is on SloMo
Even the mail
Takes a week or so
But that's everywhere now
And we wait
For the Apocalypse
Or maybe a newer song
But no cigarettes
And no sex
No touching at all
No sharing even a lighter
You might die
Or so we are told.
The stories are real
But it all seems surreal
As if universal cryogenics
Is our only hope.
Was Rip vW a pioneer
Or a prophet?
Meanwhile
Ol' Man River
Keeps on rollin'
The deer and the alligators play
And we all are living
In a virtual reality
Except for those
Who aren't.
You started out hot
Played some early roles
Bright star of the fam
Sorta
Little professor
Sportscaster
Freak
Friend to the famous
Father
Fathead
High energy editor
Broadcaster
Husband
Dad
Collaborator
Catalyst
Creator
The list goes on.
And as your real life ended
The role that mattered most
You became the lordly host.
Lots of roles opened up
Travels with Bernie's boy
Chicago Cancun
Venice Beach Napa Oakland
Memphis New Orleans
Even the Atlantic beaches.
And the wisdom flowed
And you rode
All the way to the top
Your name again In the papers
And then the rapers
Brought their rapiers
And sliced and diced
And took everyone away.
Now there is nothing
Or so it seems
The good roles are gone
The joy extinguished
Death awaits but
Not of the body
That's a given
Its the sadness of the soul
That says
You won't be missed
Not really.
Are there no more roles to play?
Is there no more today?
Has despair become
The highest emotion left?
In these dark days
We must find ways
To keep alive the flame
To gather around the Name
Tend our flocks
Wind our clocks
And build an army of songs
And stories to remind us
We are all people
We are all essential
Our gifts remain.
The Voice says quietly
"Well done"
And what says it better
Than the mighty Atlantic
Watching the waves flirt
With the sky
As the sun fades away
(No ocean sunsets here).
Sometimes the smallest things
The most mundane
The least glamorous
Make the most difference
Make lives last longer
Make human bonds stronger
And even those dainty things
Are part of the great adventure
The discovery of infinities
Identities we never imagined were ours
How to comprehend
Events unfolding severing ties
Strange goodbyes
Joyful Hellos
New players on the stage
We are living in an age
Of endless tomorrows
Yet focused on todays
Because today is in our hands
To build or quietly watch
The stars and clouds
And even the waves.
And as I remember
One adventuress told me
Always remember holds the key
While never forget blurs your focus
The words of the Teacher
Before Abe was, I AM
Reveal an equal truth
Before our todays, WE ARE
Grafted into infinity
And with that knowledge
We truly can heal the sick
Give sight to the blind
As we wash each other's feet
Or just clean their house
Or whatever our energy can supply
To turn a watery broth
Into a hearty soup
And after bowls are emptied
And bellies are filled
We look up and say
Well Done.
You didn't know
Whether to laugh or cry
Leaving looms
But tonight breathes
And in our tribe
No one leaves
Without a party.
We celebrate life
Each day a brand new
Adventure
Like Fifty First Dates
Not Groundhog Day
The videotape in your head
Is enough
You know your yesterdays
But you don't
Live in them.
And everyone you meet
As your minds and hearts
Sync up
Has a puzzle piece
You might recognize
If you remember why
"Two ears, one mouth."
You know your heart
Has its plan
Your head has
Objections
You gotta You wanna
But is anything fixed
In place or time?
And eternity is both
Timeless and instant
Which is why
Leaving
Is just another step
Toward saying
Hello again.
Midnight in the country
The rain hits the roof
The tin reverberates
The staccato sound ofthe raindrops
Falls upon my head
And through my ears
Into my soul.
Rain makes us whole.
Brings the water oflife
Refreshes all livingbeings.
Brings sometimesrainbows
If you are in the rightplace
You might get even atriple arc.
Magical runs and slideson the grass
Or (barring lightning)into the water
At the beach or on thelake
But not at the pool
You might slip andslide
KAPUT!
The rain washes awaythe past
The detritus of ourlives
Thirsty new lifeemerges, grows
And shows
Its gratitude (not anattitude)
By blossoming andblooming
As we sometimes stopand watch
In amazement
At the skill of theartistry
That has whittled yourrougher self
Into a warming calmingbeauty.
Rain falls
And we arise.
The Flyboys sang
Of an artificial energy
That left them high
And dry.
The FDA and NIH once lauded
Artificial sweeteners
And downplayed
Their side effects
Just as their owners do today.
7-Elevens and their clones
Stock their chill cabinets
With Monsters and Bulls
To augment coffee's natural highs
As drivers cruise
On double speed.
Plastic surgeons promise
Paradise
As they nip and tuck
But often
Their advertising campaigns
Yield unhealthy results.
So too artificial "friendships"
Open us up to calamities
We never knew existed
Where lives get twisted
And hearts broken
As words never spoken
Enjoin our souls
To the true nature
Of betrayal.
And yet we all too often
Want the sugar high
That fades
Even degrades
While the pure and natural
Seems mundane,
Insane.
I mean, how dare we
Walk through dark valleys
Looking for the guiding light?
Trust in a promise too good
To be politically true?
If only we can believe,
We are destined to receive
The daily signposts
Placed by some hole-y ghost
That lead us to a life so new.
Take us out of the black
And into the blue.
With thanks to Darwin from 2149 the Aftermath.
Busy little town on theriverbank
Lotsa people out onFriday night
Willie and the boys arewailing
Songs from years goneby
With lots of brasstracks
And the svelte sisters
Who struggle to makeends meet
Know this town won’tlet them down
Are beaming ear to ear
As each new set ofpatrons appear
Bottles and brewsflowing
Sliders, slices, andsweets
And the specialties ofthe house
The citizens and guests
Puffing out theirchests
And for some, cigars
And bragging rights.
Good company at ourtable
Good seats for the show
And that full moon
Make this night thebest.
Why must I
Continue
Living alone
Apart
Exiled
From loved ones
Whose love died.
Is it pride
Or politics
Or perception
That old is bad
No not really
Just that tomorrow
Will always be there
And though time is
A mirage
Doors do close
Thar cannot be
Reopened.
How sad
That our futures
Are missing
The relevant past
As we ignore our Fathers
And mothers
But this is nothing new.
Worse may be
The public show
For the credits
Or the cash
Bought with bitterness
Swallowed
Souring stomachs
With the bile
Of resentment.
We clear our arteries
But clog our hearts
And cloud our minds
With imaginary
Grievances
Over trivial pursuits
That rob our lives
Of meaning.
And yet the truth is found
The prodigal reunion
But that story
Is unfinished
The joy
Diminished
Until brothers
Remember
Their love
Matters more than
Their way.
We used to think in words.
Writing was our passion.
Aeschylus, Shakespeare,
TS Eliot, Voltaire
And even Zane Grey
We sang in words
From chanting to the Beatles
We argued in words
Does anyone still know
Lincoln and Douglas?
We fought in words,
We cheated and stole
Twisting language
In print or face to face.
We even used words
As a covenant to trust.
Then some were entranced
By the movie romance
And soon we wanted
Our own lives
To be just like the movies.
Today though
Our children live in
Images
Subliminal
Or in your face.
The image, the app face,
No need for thought
Nor even dreams
No plans or schemes
You do just as your
Memes, mimic and mock
Those they know
Are their enemy.
Eight hours a day
For 12, 15, even 18 years
And those best programmed
Get another 4, 6, or 8.
One voice one image
One message:
Good or Bad
Us or Them
Pro [gressive] or
Con [servative]
No need for argument
No need for words
No need for love
No need for life outside
No.
Putting on too much weight
Is like
Putting on too much world.
To find out just how much
You get on the scales.
People who want to know
Actually read the numbers
And avoid that second dessert
Or that late-night pizza
The scales keep you honest
And on the proper path
Only if you read the numbers
And do the right things.
Ah, but the scales of God
Are different
Belshazzar found out
The hard way
The writing on the wall
Said Daniel the Prophet
You have been weighed ...
And found wanting.
His day did not end well.
But our story is not about
Falling short
“Discern the spirits”
Said the Apostle
And walk by Spirit
And you will know
By the trail of LIFE
And so tonight
It was a Gristmill dinner
And two ladies in front of me
Waiting in line to wait longer
It was Two Ton Tuesday
And they were out to dance
While I
Was headed to the Speakeasy
To meet friends who sing
Songs they wrote
[Or sometimes interpreted}
And so we parted ways
Or so it seemed.
Long hours later
KD and Marshall and I
Were headed out to refresh
Our energy and wisdom
When
All of a sudden
There they were
And we stopped to talk
About the music we had heard
And some of us had played
And next we knew
Twenty minutes had passed by
And I
Was stunned to know
[As they were both from
Adam Schatz’ Washington State]
That of all things
They loved the musicians
Who had graced my home
Been my friends for years
And I thought
The scales of God.
Music by --
Marshall Anderson (211) Marshall Anderson - 'Marigold Bloom' (Official Video) - YouTube
Bill Whitbeck (211) RIP Levon! Bill Whitbeck - Man Behind the Drums - YouTube
Kassy D [Daniel] (211) Enough by Kassy D - YouTube [retitled as Jack's Song]
Keith Michael Kallina (211) Keith Michael Kallina - Can’t Take It With You (Live Acoustic Original Song) - YouTube
Landlady [Adam Schatz] (211) LANDLADY- Washington State Is Important @ PIANOS - YouTube
Two Tons of Steel (211) Two Tons of Steel - Not That Lucky - YouTube
Acoustic Minds (211) Acoustic Minds - Undertow - YouTube
La Fonda (211) La Fonda - Time (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube
I thought at first
It was just me
Getting old
And I am of course
But No.
I am busier at work
With exciting projects
Daily.
I still ramble about
From town to town
In search of
Community
And I am blessed
With family and friends.
I cook, clean, entertain
Myself
And I would still
Entertain others
If only they
Would come out and play.
Was it COVID
Or video games
Or just the malaise
From a world turned ugly?
The climate fear
The war that robs our treasury
The hatred spurred by
The struggle for power
The censorship
The deplatforming
The name calling
All and more isolate
Separate
Inculcate us
With a sense of NO.
No I cannot be your friend
No, gas and everything
Cost so much.
So we have forgotten
The simple joys
Of just hanging
Crafting our own days
With that reckless abandon
That joie de vive
That our podworld
Cannot
Will not
Must not
Let happen.
Gone are the days
Of shelling peas
And butter beans
And shucking corn
And playing cards
And quilting together.
Gone even are the memories
Of 'the good times we had'
The raspberries strawberries
The cheap [good] wines
The little gatherings
That celebrated our need
For one another.
And our thankfulness
For those with whom
We could share
Life's simple pleasures
That made it possible
To endure the heartache
The suffering
The diseases the deaths
The inevitable time
When some of us
Are no longer around.
Perhaps
Economic collapse
The end of hope
The fulfillment
Of the media's dark tomorrows
Will lead us back
To interdependence
To true friends
No matter their opinions
Their pronouns politics pods.
Or maybe such revolutionary thought
Will displease the powerful
And turn freedom of assembly
Into a criminal act.
The intolerant demand
That others tolerate
Their abuses
The tolerant soon become
Slaves
If they allow intolerants
A different code
A different mode of behavior
Than "Do unto Others"
Or "Be Excellent."
For unchecked abuse
Creates monsters
Those who mutilate
The young and old alike
Those who force feed drugs
They do not take themselves
Those who prey on
Other people's children
All the while saying
"It's good for them."
But once the intolerant
Gain power
The only way to restore equity
The only way out of hell
Is to make intolerance
Untouchable
And the only ones who can
Are the intolerant themselves.
The risk however
Is that once made gauche
They retain sufficient power
To like Samson
Bring the walls down
On friend and foe alike.
Sodom was intolerant
Arrogant, insistent
And even Lot's wife succumbed
In its utter destruction.
Babel too was intolerant
Of any who did not speak
The praise of its majesty
And like the naked prince
Its fall was immediate
And Earth scattering.
Yet Noah tolerated
All the laughter and mockery
Until the rains came
And like the little red hen
Fed only those who had believed
And earned the golden ticket.
Intolerance is an affront
As it by nature breaks
The Golden Rule
As if there were no authority
Big and strong enough
To pull the plug and the rug
To champion the meek
Make strong the weak
And remove the blight
With the writing on the wall
Or Herod's worms.
Yet be not one
To fight the intolerant fire
With dragon's breath
Of your own
For by so doing
You have joined them.
The blameless leave judgment
To the judge.
Have I said enough?
Have I done enough?
Is my book complete?
Yet I sense
There are more chapters to write
More adventures to live and share
More days
And more ways
To bring Life to lives.
The inadequacies
The lacks
The quacks who promise
Yet do not deliver
The emptiness of loneliness
That brings me to surrender
To find the path through weakness
That reveals real strength
And changes outcomes
Without misdirecting glory.
The story
Has to be told
By the ones delivered
Not by the agent of deliverance
Who is merely playing the role
Cast by the Director
And produced by the Ghost.
The Host
Not the invited guest
Must be the focus of the Plus 1.
And there's the fun
The joy comes
From the introduction
That brings explosions
Of creative energy
That reveal the Life
That rekindle stars
Long blurred or dimmed
And the Lamplighter's aide
Basks in the plethora of stars
He has watched turn bright
And so did I ask
Are all the stars relit?
Are all the lives made new?
Surely there is more to do.
Whaddya do when
The desire of your heart
Is far away
And does not even know
You had a vision
Because she will only know
When she receives the same
Message.
If that is to come at all.
For the heart must be won
Before the word is spoken.
"Love the one you're with,"
said the Still man from NOLA.
But what is love?
Not possession, domination
And abandonment
Of body or soul .. or both.
"Love is gentle, love is kind"
Love is never being blind
But aware with care to share
The ups, downs, and easy rides
To stand beside whatever betide
To hear the heartbeat
An echo of your own.
And so you ask
How great a task
How many days
But then you gaze in the mirror
And though you are nearer
You're still in training
Or rather being molded
And given the tools
That only fools
Would fail to see
We're an absolute must
Before one could trust
That you had what it took
To write in down in the Book
And the other as well
Had to grow for a spell
To ever believe
There was no need to grieve
And there's air to be breathed
And a life full of giving
From the love you'd receive.
Dedicated to Susan Flanakin [07-27-79 -- 05-22-02]
Out of your darkness
I called you into My light.
Now you are the light of the world
As you reflect and show forth Me.
You may well be unable to see
Because My light in you is bright
And you may look out and not know
From your vision where you should step.
But take heart,and heed My voice.
And hold my hand
And I will direct your paths.
And you shall walk in My light.
By My words in your heart.
Yet not by your own sight,
Or your own wisdom...
That you might know that I AM the Lord
And that you might hear
How others follow you to see Me.
Trust then not in your own vision or understanding.
Just Follow Me.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
dflanakin@gmail.com