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A Christmas Carol
I wrote this on a Christmas road trip to Death Valley. I’ve done Christmas three times at Death Valley and each was special. A peak experience of family togetherness and the sheer wonder of all that Death Valley has to offer.
I wrote this one in my head and I’m not sure if I’ve ever gotten it down in writing. I had been doing career and politics and hadn’t written a thing in years. My life was full and creative so I didn’t miss not writing. I did miss not taking a goodly amount of time for contemplation and self-reflection. I had been used to an hour or so in the morning and an hour or so in the evening reflecting and planning.
But that had all gotten burned away when I became hyper busy and a more organized and disciplined version of myself. My reflections were strategic and purposeful and less about me then I was used to.
On the trip though I quickly felt away and dropped all the day to day stuff I’d been wrestling with and was present. I’d been thinking about a Christmas Carol but might have started this one as a song of gratitude and then grabbed the Carol theme.
Anyway, here it is:
Thank you for looking after fools and drunks
I’ve always tried to do the same
I’ve been doing it since I was a very young man
And I first heard the story why Jesus came.
And Jesus was born in a manger
Born to give hope to the poor
That we all stand equal under the sight of God
And to the kingdom of heaven there is a door,
And to the kingdom of heaven there is a door.
And Jesus spoke of the mustard seed
And fed all who came fish and bread
He taught the common people in parables
He made the wine when his friends were wed,
When Lazarus died he raised the dead.
Jesus walked and talked the way of love
It was the reason that he came
And he told us to raise up disciples
More humble servants to do the same,
More humble servants to do the same.
And Jesus was born in a manger
Come to give hope to the poor
That we all stand equal under the sight of God
And to the kingdom of heaven there is a door,
And to be he kingdom of heaven there is a door.
A Paean for Ganesh
I have a handful of poems I’ve written over the past several years I need to get up here. I think this one might be the latest. I’m still reacquainting myself with WordPress and exploring its functionality on my phone and tablet. I hope to get back to blogging regular and having more photos, audio, links to media and the like. Just archiving my existent material will be a project. And of course it competes with all my other projects and responsibilities and my general commitment to keeping some slack in my life.
Anyway, I like this piece. I feel like I wrote it in the spring of 2016 which was an interesting time. I was struggling with Council and career and added a relationship which was a lot to balance and a bit more than I could manage as gracefully as I would have liked. There was a bit of madness to the whole thing and my filter went down completely. I tried to just be wiser and kinder instead of bringing it back. Although I didn’t quite pull it off out of that time a lot of good arose including, I hope, this piece.
A Paean to Ganesh in Gratitude for Blessings Already Received
An Elephant Never Forgets
An Elephant never forgets
When he is all alone
And often left at home
An elephant never forgets…
That elephants were made to live in love
Oh elephants were made to live in love
In a tribe I can’t describe
On a plane I can’t explain
Oh elephants were made to live in love…
Because elephants have strong moms
Oh elephants have strong moms
A matriarch to lead, caress, defend and feed
The little ones who came,
The sick, the old, the lame
Because elephants have strong moms!
So that elephants are made to live in love
Oh elephants were made to live in love
In a tribe I can’t describe
On a plane I can’t explain
Oh elephants were made to live in love….
Untitled
At the bottom is an unfinished fragment I found in drafts. I didn’t note the date but it feels like early in my political career. When I had a career and Council life was really crazy. I can’t believe I did it for 4 years. I knew I probably couldn’t handle it when I decided to run but thought it was probably worth it even I could only get in and make a few votes. It’s manageable now but I’ve just been weary of it since Uncle Mike got sick. Caregiving just sucked the joy out of it and it attenuated me to the abuse you have to take to serve well.
I sleep well again, working less. Not tonight. On Council nights I like to nap and drink coffee late. We were out by 9:30 and with the time change it felt like 8:30 but I’m still wired and restless. Not unlike this fragment. I might see what else I have lurking in drafts.
Well here it is:
After laying in bed for an hour or two and not being able to sleep I realize I am not going to. Might as well start the day. I haven’t had a chance to blog, the pace has been not only frenetic, but constant.
All Saints Day
Greetings constant reader. I hope you are well. It’s been a good All Saints Day here on Leslie Lane. I’ve been cleaning and organizing my room. Three years of filing and decluttering about done. I have a large furniture thing with drawers and a top where I pile my this and that’s, scrapbook clippings and ephemera and things to be filed. It’s about done and put in organized boxes that will fit under my bed.
I started the project to find Aldous Huxley’s “Island”, which I thought was lost in the pile and I couldn’t come up with it after 2 deep dives. After I cleared the suspected pile I found it on my bookshelf. I remembered stumbling across it and throwing it on the shelf so it wouldn’t get lost in the pile. The travails of hoarders. Glad to have it done nonetheless.
I also fenced my strawberries. I wrote this post to include photos but I need to do some things first apparently. It was a beautiful day much appreciated after the Halloween snow.
I hope you feel loved and have a warm place in your heart for your honored dead like I do. Look for some poetry and more multimedia as I look to do more stuff in this space.
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