Poetry and Prose by #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, Co-Author of #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and Jan/Feb 2022 Spillwords Press Author of the Month
Well, as you all know, this past week, I traveled to Los Angeles (LA) to see my family. First time in an airport and on an airplane in over 15 months. It was, well, amazing.
I flew out of the Eugene airport, which is a small airport about 45 miles south of Corvallis, where I live, and is super easy to fly out of and into. The airport was not crowded at all. In fact, it was super slow, and the plane was only about half full. However….
Upon landing in Los Angeles, that all changed. LAX was super busy. In fact, when I finally made it to the rental car company, there were about 30 people ahead of me in line.
Now, I had two meetings that afternoon, yes, working while on my trip, so after waiting in the line for about 25 minutes, I chose to call an Uber and cancel my reservation. Was a good idea, as the line didn’t move much as I waited for the Uber driver.
It was great to see my mom, sisters, and nieces and nephews. Here are a couple things we did, while I was in LA.
Griffith Observatory and Hollywood
In the hills of LA there is the Griffith Observatory, which looks out over the city. Beautiful. Though the Observatory wasn’t open, you could walk around the grounds and take in all of the views. Here are some pics from our time at the Observatory, and our drive through Hollywood.
A High School Graduation
It was wonderful to see my niece graduate High School on my trip. I was surprised to see so many people, and, well, not surprised. It was a lovely ceremony. Here are some pics of the graduation.
After graduation, we went to the Lazy Dog restaurant, which I had never been to. The food was excellent, and the service was outstanding.
Seal Beach and Taco Surf
On my last day in LA, we took my niece and nephew to the beach in Seal Beach. It was a lovely day, sunny, yet cool. The beach was not overcrowded, and the water was, well, rather cold, yet felt lovely. Here are some pics of the beach.
After spending some time at the beach, we went to a local restaurant I loved to patronize when I was living in LA and working in Seal Beach, Taco Surf; and then stopped in a local bakery, Sweet Jill’s, delicious. Excellent food.
Utmost Feelings, Coming Soon!
About two months ago now, I learned that Astha, of Writing feels good, passed away. I learned of this very sad news from our dear friend Cindy, of Unique Times. Cindy’s post talked about Astha’s Anthology that was being carried forward by Navin, of Navin’s Poetry.
I immediately visited Navin’s blog, and left a message. Navin responded very quickly, and asked for a poem, and said he would speak with the publishers, True Dreamster, about the possibility of making a late addition.
I was astonished and honored when they accepted the poem I shared with Navin. I am so honored to be a part of the beautiful Utmost FeelingsAnthology. The Anthology is full of wonderfully inspirational poets, and is a beautiful tribute to Astha.
Thanks again, to Navin, True Dreamster, and all of the poets in Astha’s Anthology, Utmost Feelings.
Please visit the True Dreamster Instagram page, when you have a moment, and share the news about Utmost Feelings. Thank you.
Here are all of the co-authors of Astha’s Anthology, Utmost Feelings.
I love to walk, to walk among the trails I find in my mind, they often remind me of the trails I find, when out in the forest entering into a blissful state of love combined.
I always wonder, is there anything more pulchritudinous than mother nature?
I keep walking deep into the unending route, I feel an unspoken warmth from the dark tall trees underneath.
Little I go on ahead bracing breeze kisses my face, as a chilled emotion rushes into my heart.
I stand still and enjoy the trees embrace.
Get to hear soothing sounds, pondering, if the sea is somewhere around.
Ambled with a bit of excitement I walked ahead; admired the waves play, little I came closer, saw the setting sun bidding me goodbye.
As I revel in the landscape, and fiery sky one last time, it occurs to me to rub my eyes, and prepare for a lullaby.
Sung softly and sweetly, by the trees surrounded, as they shift and swing in the breeze, and deep down, I feel something move, and within a smile parts my face as I revel in all that’s known today.
I am honored to share this collaboration between Soni, of Soni’s thoughts, and myself. Soni also drew the art, which was another of the amazing gifts Soni created for those that placed in the top 8 (of a host of amazingly talented and inspirational writers) of Soni’s Writing Contest. A lovely collaboration, and a wonderfully inspirational friend, is Soni.
Full of curiosity, and hope, which bespoke a quadril of smoke
in their eyes,
as they look up, considering a host of possibilities,
which some may deem a masterstroke, and others?
A practical joke.
As I pondered this week’s WDYS #85 prompt from Keep it Alive, by Sadje, I reflected upon our family cat, Whiskers, who still resides with my ex-wife.
I did not have a cat growing up, so when we got Whiskers, I remember watching as she continuously scaled the (un)scalable, thus, masterstroke, and also devoured, well, food, that was not part of her diet.
For example, Whiskers once ate some left over pizza that had been left out. I found this out on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night by stumbling across the completely empty storage bag, thus, practical joke.
Magical density perplexes the mind, and all of it’s fantastical notions of worldly subsistence, arriving one after another, in a wonderfully elaborate alien formation.
Cloaking to be concealed, striving to imitate the chameleon that no mishape be revealed.
All creatures hunger for a home, Chimera hungers too, yet doomed to roam a lonely existence within those that know the difference, between the magic in the unseen, while others remained concealed and perplexed by the fantasy roamed ruth.
A being not of here nor there, with segments that do not arrange, a miscellaneous kit.
Everytime it tries, as best it may, to camouflage an offending section, knowing that if seen in the light of day, the result prophesied to be rejection.
Ah, the detection that do insue, yet, there is another way, while you pray and look through your dismay, remember the light is yours to behold, while you hold tight to the known.
Authentically embodies his maker’s creation sown, grandly observing from the creatures monumental thrown; chanting in the kingdom of obscure overlapping dimensional zones.
The crack in the pane splinters in the solitude of its existence, and withdrawn reminiscence.
One becomes another, a fellow sees a brother, and as one moves west, the other moves east, in search of sameness, and a lot of relational discreteness.
Joined and separated by fragments of time, we are nonetheless intertwined, and in need of the same pastimes;
where we watch, and stop the heart from bleeding, and instead, take shelter in an awareness of all that pleasure,
of mind.
We Divine
as we are shown, the reality of all that’s here, my dear, know that you’re not alone now, and never have been, contemplation sincere.
Beauty exists in a vacuum of space and time, and is all around us, beckoning us on a heart’s journey toward fulfillment of all that’s sublime.
Purpose and destiny, bundled up with tender loving care, and sealed with a kiss from all those we’ve touched
and shared
moments with, like these.
Just reading or writing a little before we drift off to sleep, and dream dreams of a land so deep and rich, we’ve wondered where it’s been while we were out in search of all that bliss.
Right here, right now, present to humanity within, and all those family, friends and kin.
Have you ever felt a ripple in time; or experienced time slow down enough, it’s as if this moment and the next are imbued with a singularity of all of our collective beingness?
Walking, pondering, and reflecting upon life’s mysteries, I’m at once, called forth toward a challenge, and a promise, given to me when I was younger, and a whole lot bolder.
And, as time spills through my hands, I watch as it moves toward the earth, being called to the place of its birth.
And, in this moment, time becomes something altogether extraordinary, birds sing louder, the sky opens up, and there is a shower, of tears that pour down, drenching me to my very core.
And, as the tears fall from the sky, there’s no need to wonder why I feel this deep connection to all of life’s manifestations.
Now,
as time slows down, more, and more, I smile bigger than ever before.
Sitting in this stillness, I breathe in and out, and witness the birth of a new moment, where time ripples outward, and throughout, every person, place, and thing, and I begin to believe.
This past week, I’ve been writing quite a bit, yet, as you may have noticed, my blogging schedule has changed. Yep, it was intentional. A few weeks ago, I mentioned slowing down. Little did I know at that time, the writing would keep pouring out of me, yet, I am pleased with developing a new schedule.
My goal is to post about 5 or 6 times a week, with a couple days off mixed in. We will see how it goes.
Oh, and it’s time to travel. Wait, what? Yep, it’s time. I leave for Los Angeles tomorrow morning. Wow. I am very excited to see my mom, sisters, and nieces and nephews, and, of course, to be in LA. More on that in a moment.
First, let’s take a look at some writing that occurred this week.
Writing and Reflecting
The poem Night’s End was first inspired from a WDYS prompt, from Keep it Alive, by Sadje, yet, as I reflected on the poem’s beginning, I had another insight for the prompt, which ended up being the poem My Years. It happens like that sometimes.
Anyway, the poem Nights End then, was a reflection on the trials that we all face, and the knowledge that these tests are a part of the experience of being a human being on this planet. I firmly believe that they are given to us to help us learn. Learn more about all of our shared human beingness. Beautiful.
The poem The Moment’s Prose was a reflection upon how fleeting each moment we have with each other truly is. However, when we are present to this fact, we cherish and relish each of these moments. This was not always the case for me, thus, in this poem, I was reflecting upon the entirety of the concept of love lossed.
I was also very honored and humbled at being placed in the top 8 of Soni’s Writing Contest this past week. I am so grateful to Soni for facilitating such a lovely writing contest, and am so honored to be selected alongside all of the talented writers. Congratulations to all of the writers that joined Soni’s contest. You are all inspirational and amazing.
If you’ve not visited Soni’s blog, please do. Soni’s site is inspirational, motivational, and hyper-creative.
Traveling to Portland and Los Angeles
Well, as you may recall, I visited Justin in Portland last weekend, and it was a lovely trip. We enjoyed a lovely hike, visited and talked about a book we are reading together, had some wonderful food, and generally just enjoyed each other’s company.
Here are a couple pics from the trip.
And, yep, next week, tomorrow, in fact, I’ll be boarding an airplane for Los Angeles, for the first time in over 15 months. I am both anxious and very excited. As you may recall, my father passed away about 6 months prior to the pandemic, so seeing my mom will be wonderful.
I’ve no definite plans, will need to work a little while I am there, yet will get to the beach, for sure, and do some shopping, places I cannot access here, and then? Visit and love my family.
Alright, that’s all for this week, my dear friends.
Wings take flight, as I am reminded of my first introduction to a kite.
The motion of the tether, whipping this way and that, it’s as if the kite had a mind of its own, free from distraction, and refraction.
The sun shining forth in all its glory, and the wind motioning us forward towards all that’s allegory.
As it rises in the deep blue sky, we wonder why our soul lifts up so high, yet also sits tight in the knowing, as there’s no need to really try.
The kite, now higher and higher, lifted on the spirits of human connection, we reflect upon the day’s excursion, and the merriment we feel at the ease and simplicity of this day’s profusion.
Deep love and satisfaction, joy, and kindness, all given forth from a piece of twine and threads woven with tender loving care, and devotion.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 