another

©Micheal Cordiez

after many hours of mindless riding, watching the lights and hearing the sounds of the world that surrounds me, i finally arrive home.  to the city that keeps me, not necessarily my actual bed that i own.  how does one get so attached to a place?  when do you know that its actually where you belong?  what is it that i'm so in love with? or is it merely fleeing that which doesn't fit, yet again... a pattern.  perhaps.

go with what fits.  happy will follow.
thanks for the advice. i need it.

say good bye, say hello.  so much can be done in a day.

Life is Beautiful

© David LeBeck

when one day seems the same as the next based on the lack of originality, mostly in my work, partly in the lack of self challenge, what do you do?  you meet someone who has a much more interesting story than you and go for a swim.

what do you say to a man who has seen and done it all?  who has spent the entirety of his memorable life with his one true love.  the first date was skipped.  he met her at age 13, she was 12 and at that first glance he knew.  under the old oak tree, they held hands, had their first kiss and decided there was nothing else to search for.  renewing my faith that love at first sight is still a viable option.

fifty years later, against all odds and norms of society, they are still happily married. blissfully sharing the rest of their eternity.  sharing stories, creating memories and perpetuating a life well lived.  together.

we chat about music and photography.  he teaches me about people almost forgotten and i listen intently to my nonchalant storyteller.  this knowledgeable zeida (yiddish for grandfather) exclaims other terminology that i may never have otherwise heard.  when you listen, you just may learn something.

i finish my night with another watch of 'Life is Beautiful' by the forever fantastic Roberto Benigini.  a movie personally connected to DG, his story is endlessly fascinating and i cant wait to hear more.  thanks for the reminder.

'you sleep now.  dream sweet dreams.  maybe we are both dreaming.  maybe this is all a dream, and in the morning Mommy will wake us up with milk and cookies'

one day life will be that simple...

incidental interaction

©Zoe Wiseman

he made me a drink as i gladly accepted and went up to my room to read and wonder, wander the pages, searching for the spot in my mind where nothing but the words are allowed.  the stories of the mishaps flooding the headlines creep in, mixed with the voice of my beloved music man with the power to make the world disappear.  he sings to me regardless of my dedication to the focus at hand.  voice enveloping my mind and diving in to my soul.  


"every time you get a drink
and every time you go to sleep
are those dreams inside your head
is there sunlight on your bed"

the one man i can crave without remorse, the one that i have no desire to actually have.  i hear you reading and know you're watching in the silence of your darkness, that place where she can sit beside you and hold your hand and make you forget that you already forgot who you are.  it's terrible love, when the waves of monotony become habitual.  here we are again.  same damn circle.  excuse me sir, this is my exit.  time to get off.   you already missed your turn...

neglected

© Michael Cordiez- Rossland, BC

learning new things about new people has become the most enjoyable part of my day.  listening to those seemingly innate conversations between him and her about this that they dare not say louder than that.  the education of the little one who seems to be in complete control of all that surrounds her.  she wants one, so just give it to her.  round and round the circle fly the cars that used to be so grounded.  faster as they spin off track to the collision course of the imagination that leads to the place in the beginning.  back where they began to see that it really never mattered.  there's no place i'd rather be.  you know.  that place called...

skip, hop, jumping to the next thing that's on the agenda.  the never ending list of to-do.  growing anxiety ridden piece of paper with the chewed off edges.  you finished that one, didn't you?  i thought i knew the answer to the last question but than i realized that the words that i thought were in order no longer made sense. and that damn knot is back again, the one that crashed the last car.  speed bump. road kill.  off to seek the magic man.  he has all the answers, even to those that have yet to be asked.
what do you want to know?

consequences

© Candace Smith

losing myself in the world of a 4 year old, i bounce on the trampoline mindlessly.  giggling and forgetting about life, reality, responsibility... until he asks me to show him a trick.  my mind freezes as i feverishly try to come up with something that would interest this little man, that he may never have seen before, that i can still pull off without the fear of adulthood in the way.

i've never been one to be afraid, never hesitate when asked to jump out of a plane or off a cliff into the ocean 50 feet below or hang from a tree that could be my last.  all of these things i've volunteered for actually.  yet this moment when i bounce closer to the ground than any tree i've climbed, with memories of backflips and impressive acrobatics that would wow any 4 year old, i'm stunted.  i'm caught in my own self doubt, in my own hesitation, in the place in my brain where i'm no longer invincible.

that place where tinkerbell's fairy dust wears off and i plummet to the earth below.  oh tink, why'd you have to let me go?

sense of consequence...

some of us have it.  some of us skip that part of adulthood and just continue life as if nothing else matters.  this is all there is, so why think past right now?  for every action there is a reaction and its not always pleasant.  that's why we have health insurance.  that's why we say 'I'm sorry'.  that's why we think before we jump.  right?

so, i showed him my best back flip (from the starting position of on my knees) and he was impressed.  it doesn't take much when nothing but the little things matter.

forgotten

© Doug Doyle

lost stuffed teddy bear found on highway side
wonder who would leave him behind
cruising with the yellow birds 
listening to the singing praises as they preach
perched on the sil of this here window-
washer watching
what they whisper loudly, telling all his secrets 
and leaving the lost lover where he lies, under his starry night

Alice feel asleep again as she thought she watched the second hand
drifting off to merry dreamland 
'Just don't change a thing', she thinks, 
as her ring changes from blue to pink

the sleepy field mouse looks strangely like that rat
those beady eyes glow in the dark as dreams change to 
nightmarish...


Pause. Rewind.

the erasure begins to unwind 
the faceless hands 
of times twisted sense of mind.  

go back to sleep young thing.  it was nothing more than a bad dream.