What would I do with the time I spend adding to this collection of poems, notes, and drawings if I were to stop doing so? The first answer that comes to mind is, More of what I already do when I am not doing this. But I think a more inspiring answer would be, Find out. Or maybe even, Find out, and then, do not record it as I usually […]
My sixty-fifth birthday. As much as I love the instrument, I do not play the mandolin. But I can still sing in the key of the place I am in. May 20, 2021 . [ 1109 ]
Adults, intent on fences, wishing their backyards were bigger. Children, on swings and trampolines, as light and free as birds. May 16, 2021 . All of Us I climb the corner pine, my cousin ahead on the branch above. It’s our birthday month. Higher and higher. Needles and bark. When we come down, we’re sixty-five. Some say age. I say luck. We run a race. We hide. We throw clods. […]
There’s not one thing in this wide world that’s shunned by life or overlooked — no blade of grass, no grain of sand, no rock or shell, no ocean wave, no gull, no tree, no sun, no moon, no snail. Each, in its given way and time, trembles and is known; each sways and nods and bows; each is part of a timeless dance, even in its temporary death and […]
I went to war for a dewdrop. The first battle was opening the door. By then it was noon, and the dew’d been consumed by the roar. May 13, 2021 . Storm and Demand When you predict or expect the worst, you are sure to help bring it about. Repeat the pattern, and your negative outlook becomes a habit; ultimately, the habit becomes an excuse to remain the same, and […]
Meaning where there is none, fat as a ripened plum. random note, 2011 . The Comedy of Errors 1. Shakespeare, an early play. 2. The idea that we can improve or fix this vast and perfect universe, or make use of it on our own chosen terms. (See Farce.) May 12, 2021 . [ 1104 ]
the watchman’s lantern sunlight on a heron’s bill across the river . [ 1102 ]
To live a simple life, I need not give up my possessions. I need only give up the idea that there is a me who possesses them, or who is, or who can be, possessed by them. Then they are what they are and nothing more; they are no longer possessions; they can be discarded or kept accordingly, for their utility, their inspired craftsmanship, their energy, their beauty, their form, […]
It’s our very good fortune that every window of this house looks out on lush green growth: the maples, pine, and cedar; the birches and firs; the garden, vine, apricot, and blueberry; the juniper and the dense, tall arborvitae; the fig, the lilacs, the rhododendrons; the ferns, moss, grass, and volunteer oak and hazelnut seedlings; and in the distance, the trees of the neighborhood. Each view changes from hour to […]
There are only three hundred sixty-five days in a year, yet that short time is enough for the passing of four miraculous seasons. Each day is one of significant change, and though it holds reminders of those just passed, and promise of those to come, it is in itself unique and profoundly alone, ready to be welcomed, loved, appreciated, noticed — and then . . . and then, it is […]
William Michaelian 