Monthly Archives: December 2020

Jeff Flesch 8:00 pm on December 31, 2020
Tags: , begin, , , new year, , ,   

New Year

Photo by ERROR 420 📷 on Unsplash

2020 saw lots
Of havoc,

Who new,
At the start,
There be a pandemic

Of the scope
And scale, we’ve
Now seen,

Phew, don’t ever
Forget to breathe,

And, as we get ready
To turn the clock,
Let’s remember,

The New Year
Begins with a shock
To our senses, yet

It’s also chock full
Of potential,

Where we can create
All the meaning-
Fullness

That, we’ve been
Lacking, in a year

Of solitude
And reclusion, no,
Not because anyone
Wanted to,

We stayed at home,
To bear the brunt
Of a virus
That was out

For blood,

And, thus, we
Learn to live,
And love again,

My friend, so

Take a moment
To reflect, on all
The loss and sorrow,

Yet, also contemplate,
The joy and hope
You borrowed from
Deep within,

And, carry that forward
To 2021, which
Is set to begin

And, as we move
Towards 12:00 am on
January 1st,

Let’s hold hands,
And pray for a planet
With people

That are not cursed, no,
Rather, they are
Well-versed

In a new, and
Grand
Resilient (re)birth

Happy New Year, everyone.

#poetry, #begin, #life, #love, #new-year, #pandemic, #poem, #poems

Jeff Flesch 8:00 am on December 31, 2020
Tags: , , , , , , ,   

Sky

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

I look up,
And wonder
Why, for it’s

Always You
In the sky,

Your

Stars burn
Bright, like dew
Drops in the mist

Of all that’s
Forgotten,
And remembered

For it’s both
On which
We are dependent

Even in times
Where Your clouds
Are playing hide
And seek,

With me,

It’s always You
That I can and
Do see,

Written in the
Language of love
And compassion

For all
Of us, here,
Awaiting Your
Passionate embrace

Like a star kissed
Gaze upon
Our face

Tenderly calling
Us home, into
Your arms, full of
Grace

#poetry, #life, #love, #nature, #poem, #sky, #stars, #wonder

Jeff Flesch 11:57 am on December 30, 2020
Tags: , , , givingthanks, , , , , , thanks   

Faith

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

Comes
In many forms,
A product of a life
Lived

Sometimes,
It comes and goes
Just like a storm

In the sky

Even as we try
To hold to it tight
With all our might

Faith,

Is something
That is always there
Even when covered
Up,

And we begin to pretend
That it matters not

Deep down
We know

The truth of the matter,

Is that
Faith is what’s
Guided us

From the start

It’s interesting
To ponder
In later
Life

Especially when
You once believed
Your faith was gone

Left on a train,
Now alone in the rain

Without notice, yet
Even in that simple
Verse, is the seed of
One’s faith

Belief

In something
More,

And, when
The rain does pour?

Remember, your
Faith is not forgotten
You, my friend,
Even when

You try your hardest
To run again

Your faith
Is there, so then?

Simply lookup,
Give thanks,
And say,
Amen

#poetry, #belief, #faith, #givingthanks, #grateful, #life, #love, #poem, #poems, #thanks

Jeff Flesch 2:49 pm on December 29, 2020
Tags: , dad, , , , , , , , , , ,   

Loss

Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash

Happens
To us all
Even when
We’d rather

Forestall

The pain, and
Grief
From coming

Close

At heart, we hold
Those dear,
And, when there’s

A suddenance
To the loss,
We fall backward
And out of

Cadence

With our normal
Rhythm
Of life, not because
We’re made of strife

Rather, because
We’re a part of this
Very life,
Which contains

Both,
Misery and joy,
And, yes, we do
Employ them both, and

It’s okay to feel them

As needed,
Even prescriptive
When hidden

And, now I’m

At your hospital bed,
Awaiting your return

Hoping and praying

That it’s not
Your turn, yet
Knowing it’s likely

As we can see
The signs
Written
Upon

The wall of your life,

Nay, our life,
Together

Because, yes, we
Were friends, and
Strangers in some ways

Until the very end

And in coping
I try to understand
Why it happened

So fast, and am
Reminded it’s
Not mine to pretend

To know
The answers
My friend

I called you
My dad,
And, did until
The end

With that last
Kiss upon you
Forehead,
I rendered the loss

Of my father, and
Dearest friend

#poetry, #dad, #emotions, #greif, #heart, #joy, #life, #loss, #love, #misery, #pain, #poem, #poems

Jeff Flesch 7:19 pm on December 28, 2020
Tags: , , companion, dog, , , , , wdys#62   

Companion

Image credit; Rhaúl V. Alva @ Unsplash

There you are,
All decked out,
Ready as always

For the festivities

Set out,
And all about
Us

As we travel, you,
And I,

Toward another year,
But, first,

Christmas is here,
And we’ll celebrate
Together,
No matter the weather,

Because
You’re always there,
My friend,
On which I can rely

Even when
I’m not feeling
All that well,

And I sigh

In frustration, you
Come, and check
On me,

Nuzzling your head
Against my hand,
Waiting

For the mood

To change from
Bad to good,

And what
do you know?

The mood shifts,
Because you are swift
In your ways,
Knowing just what’s

Needed
To change the tide

It’s always the same
With you and I,

Let’s just say it’s so,

You’re my companion
My hero, best friend
And champion

In response to the WDYS #62 prompt from Keep it Alive, by Sadje.

#poetry, #animals, #companion, #dog, #life, #love, #poem, #poems, #wdys62

Jeff Flesch 11:57 am on December 28, 2020
Tags: , carefree, , foreveryoung, , , play, , ,   

Play

Photo by Chester Ho on Unsplash

Times
At play, gone by
Without a whisper

Of an oft remembered
Whimper,

As we long
For the days
Of play
When we were

Carefree and
At once

Unafraid

Of all
That surrounded
Us

In touch with
Our true selves
Without
The baggage

That comes with age

Yet,
We can remove
What’s in our parcel
And let go

Of those unneeded

Scruples, and mis
Understandings
Made along the way, and

Create a day
Where we are light,
With delight,
And

Able to revel
In the play
Of life
With

Fancy,

Just like when
We were little

Running,
And jumping,
Not a care in the world

For we didn’t know
About cares

Why would
We dare?

When you are young
You are focused
On creating
Beauty

With every finger
Touched

By Presence

And, guess what?

You can play
That way
Today

Even with
The age, which

Is upon
Our collective face

For inside,
You are still
Young, my friend

So take the day
And play
Away

#poetry, #carefree, #childhood, #foreveryoung, #life, #love, #play, #poem, #poems, #presence

Jeff Flesch 6:52 pm on December 27, 2020
Tags: , , , , , , holidays, , , newyear, , , , , , ,   

A Blogger’s Diary 12/27/20: On Writing, Goal-Setting, Systems, and the Holidays

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Well, this past week, I had an insight about writing. An insight that was derived from some of the blogs I follow. Yes, some of you, so thank you. The insight? Sure.

Namely, to write and schedule posts in advance. I’ve not done something like this on a regular basis, yet I can definitely see the utility, especially when during normal work times, of which this particular time period is not. So?

Well, I’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s take a look at this week’s writing. Here we go.

Writing

  1. The Framed Window
  2. Focus
  3. Joy
  4. The Sunshine Blogger Award
  5. Swing
  6. Christmas Day
  7. Friends
  8. Flow

Yep, lots of poetry. Fun. And, this week? Sure.

As I was writing about above, I already have two posts scheduled for next weekend. An article on leadership, and one on vulnerability. It’s nice to have those written and scheduled, which will allow me to get back to work on the leadership series, the reflection series, and the social construction series next week. Excited.

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash

Goal-Setting

I’m present to goal-setting today, as I’ve created a new vision for some of my upcoming engagement on LinkedIn, and have set new goals within that vision. Of course, I’ve also created priorities that are connected to both the long-term, and short-term goals.

If goal-setting is something you’d like to learn more about, you can learn more about how I think about goal-setting in this article, Create A Vision For Your Future Self in 5 Minutes.

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

Systems

And, when you have goals that live within your vision, whether that is personal or professional, you need a system to put it into. I’ve written a couple articles about creating systems, and will share my LinkedIn system with you here.

Venngage

There we go. That was fun. I do love venngage. Anyway, here we can see the department priorities, and then one way that I will take action next quarter to create more engagement through LinkedIn (LI). You will see there are some blog series listed, which are not actually a reality yet, however, that’s how goal-setting works.

First you create the vision, then the objectives, then the priorities, and then? Well, you get to work. I am excited about the opportunity to discuss the new series with you in the future.

Okay, let’s turn to holidays, shall we? Good. Here we go.

Photo by Andreas Dress on Unsplash

The Holidays

Wow, what a lovely time of year. I do love the holiday, as I’ve written about before. It’s more the time of year, when we are heading into deeper winter, and I can start to see the spring not far off.

Well, it’s still a ways off at this point, however, in the Pac Northwest, the days start to get noticeably longer in January. And, I do love longer days, and the possibility of more sun as we head towards March.

Though, we had a gorgeously sunny day today. Beautiful.

Though I didn’t travel this holiday, we did Zoom calls, like lots of people, and that was nice. I also spent time with my oldest son, playing frisbee golf in the rain and cold, yet it was so nice to spend time with him. We made a sweet potato and butternut squash chili, and had dark chocolate cranberry bread for dessert.

Yes, of course I made the bread from scratch! I love to cook and bake, which I don’t know that I’ve written about before. Anyway, the bread was delicious.

Alright, that’s all for this entry.

As we approach the New Year, I want to wish you all the best in the coming week, and in the coming year. I am so excited about this next year. Seriously. I am excited to continue to create and write, and continue to engage with your beautiful creations.

Stay healthy and well, and enjoy your week.

#poetry, #bloggers-diary, #blogging, #business, #diary, #goal-setting, #holidays, #leadership, #linkedin, #newyear, #objectives, #poem, #priorities, #systems, #videos, #vision, #writing

Jeff Flesch 9:36 am on December 27, 2020
Tags: , , , , , ,   

Flow

Photo by Mark Basarab on Unsplash

Comes and goes
A memory of a moment
When time stood still, and
Each step looked the same

As the one before,

Moving from the inside,
Guided by a light that burns
Bright
And never shies away

From the turmoil of this life

For, it’s inside the turmoil
Of life that coexists
A beauty
Beyond comprehension

In fact, language becomes
Hard to manage, yet it’s not
The description that matters

It’s the experience of life,
Each step, one and then the next,
Which catches our fancy,
Staying focused then

Is imperative, as is the connection
Within, which guides the way
As we continue to play
Each scene out

To the end, remembering
All the while, they
Are all connected, just as
We are protected

Even when fear arises

We must continue to
Play our tune, and have faith
In that impulsion, which we
All know, and

May call
Life’s flow

#poetry, #experience, #flow, #life, #love, #poem, #poems

Jeff Flesch 12:51 pm on December 26, 2020
Tags: , , , , , ,   

Friends

Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

I saw you
That first time
From across
The playground,

Though there were
So many people around,

You
Sure did stand out

They called me shy
Back then,
So as our eyes met,
I turned on my heel

In fret

Of the unknown, which
You conjured
In, my, then
Burgeoning

Imagination

And, the anticipation
Of our first real
Meeting, which
Filled me

With so many
Strange
And never
Felt before feelings

Of mystery

Inside my own
Young history

And, when you did
Approach?

I started for the door,
And you captured
My hand, and
Said, don’t

Be afraid, your
Safe with me
In the shade, of

Our first encounter
And, oh, what a joy
I did feel,
As my heart sped,

And then so did
My head

With thoughts of fancy,
And love
At first sight,
You were such a delight-

-ful being, grace and
Composure, a rock on
My shoulder, countenance
And magic

All rolled into one

For I did shelter in your
Embrace,
For many a year,
Through storms and triumphs,

All given with such grace
And composure
Even through
The most

Difficult

Exposure
To pain,

You were always
At my side, rain or
Shine,

I never did fear
You would slide away
Or hide, come what may

Why?

Because you were
The first,
For all the rest
Were measured against,

My true love,
And first real friend

#poetry, #friends, #life, #love, #poem, #poems, #writing

Jeff Flesch 8:00 am on December 25, 2020
Tags: , , , , , , ,   

Christmas Day

Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

Like no other
The preparation
Made good, the day
Is finally here,

My dear,

Weeks of anticipation,
Bringing us to this,
The final moment, and

Oh, what frustration
And melancholy
Did I once feel

For most of the duration
Of this last round of
Preparation

No matter, the weeks
Of turmoil, counting each
Paper link in the chain,
Red, and green,

Yes, they did alternate

Each
With the unwritten name,
Of a day
In the month

Unlike yours, of course
Which is, and
Forever will be
The most hallowed of all

The twenty-fifth

And though we may not
Have always had a lot
There was always
Something hidden

Under the tree,
At that one spot, which
Became a memory
Of a mostly unspoken

Love, shared between
Four people, yes,
With their own turmoil
In the air, yet

The love did see
Through the trying
Times, and even, in a way
Brought us closer

At once beyond repair
And wholy complete in
This life-long love affair

A paradox?

I think not, more like
A life lived at both extremes
As we continue to dream
About all of our cares

And desires for a
Brighter world,
Beyond the pain,
And suffering

We can all bear

And on this 25th?

At once,
Please take care
And remember,
You are loved

By many, my dear

Merry Christmas, everyone.

#poetry, #anticipation, #christmas, #life, #love, #poem, #poems, #writing