Layers of dust
In the attic
Of a mind
Multiple puzzles started
To be finished at
Another time
Stored away projects
Boxed up photos
Without context
One eyed dolls and trophies
Silenced by what
Is trending next
Books unread
Neatly displayed
As intellects hover
Hard to judge correctly
Without view
Of the cover
Influenced by mirrors
Smoke swirls just
Out of sight
What seems clear as day
Is often
Dark as night
Just inside the fog
As the dawn begins to clear
A low growl is rumbling
Just outside the range to hear
Around the bend of the path
The underbrush grows fierce
The growl no longer far
It’s pitch behind to pierce
To travel into fear
Is a step to sometimes take
To live in it seems foolish
Old habits hard to break
My wife received a package this morning.
It was to the right address.
But,
Labeled with her maiden name, which she changed when we married 1000 years ago.
Inside the box from the company that decides what the color brown can do for you was-
A retail value of $1500 virtual reality headset device thingie.
I told her that I have enough issues with actual reality to be venturing into not reality.
She didn’t order it….
It just virtually showed up.
She’s gonna do some emails and phone calls and try to figure things out.
I don’t want the virtual mail police to come knocking on the headset lenses to take us to virtual jail for an obvious mistake.
I have enough problems with the dream police that live inside of my head…
Live inside of my head!
Dropped into the cauldron
Of jealousy and greed
A dash of he said she said
For the bitterness of lost needs
Stir in some doubt
With found things never bought
Toss in some memories
Of things thought forgot
Serve up in a dish
In ice is best cold
When emotions turn sour
Appetites are uncontrolled
From the deoxygenating highs
To the claustrophobic lows
The search for a balanced self
Involves an unwinding
Of the coil of truths
Meshed with a slinkie of Pinocchios
The marionette staged
For the world to see
Is but an illusion of the puppeteer
That controls the strings
Art imitates life
Just based on the real thing
To live the life
Factually
Is more than just the beauty
Of the flower
It involves the pollination
Of the bee
That’s always willing
To sting.
When all is still
Up and down
Reveals no change
——image by good2begone ——
A Father and son walked out of the corner store and head towards the busy downtown shopping district. As the pedestrian sign flashed
DONT
WALK
in bright red letters. The pair stopped to wait for the sign to change. The Father takes his sons hand in his and looked down at him and smiled.
The son looked up at his Father, smiled back and anxiously said,
“Daddy, are we going to do Black Friday?”
“Is that what today is? Hmmm…I hadn’t thought about it….”
“Awww. Come on. It’s always the Friday before Christmas. How could you not think about it? I have been thinking about it since…like…..last year!”
WALK
“Let’s get to steppin’ champ. We got a lot of ground to cover.”
“K, Dad…we got to move it move it.”
The Father shakes his head and grins as they travel across the street. After getting back onto the sidewalk, he lifts his son up from behind and places him on his shoulders.
“I don’t want to lose you in the crowds, so up top you go.” The Father states.
“Birds eye view Caw Caw” the child replies with a giggle.
It is late in the afternoon and still throngs of people are pushing and shoving to get in and out of the downtown department stores.
The Father looks up at his son and asks,
“You want to go into the sports or toy store to look around? Christmas is coming you know….”
“Nah…too crowded. Maybe some other time…….People are using more bad words than they did last year…aren’t they supposed to be happy? I mean jeez Santa’s listening….he’s got spies you know.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I can’t cover your ears and make my way through at the same time. We will be home soon.”
The son starts bouncing up and down on his Father’s shoulders and chanting,
“Black Friday Black Friday Today is the day it’s Black Friday!”
(Random shoppers and pedestrians look at he child like he is a loon while thinking- Black Friday was weeks ago, it was a disaster. What the hell is he so happy about?)
“Settle down, Cochise. We’re going, we’re going.”
It takes them :45 minutes to get to the other side of the shopping district. The Father lets out a sigh of relief. They made it through the crowd without too much of a struggle. For the final 5 blocks to their small apartment he takes his son off his shoulders to walk the rest of the way.
They walk inside the door to the apartment building and make their way up the steps to their second floor, 1 bedroom home.
The Father places the key in the lock and turns it to open the door. The son anxiously blurts out,
“Is it time….can I get it set up?”
The Father opens the door and says,
“Yeah, it’s time. Go do your thing, call me when you are ready.”
“AWESOME!!”
The son scurries past his Father and darts into the kitchen area and begins moving things around. After about 10 minutes he shouts,
“I’M READY, DAD!”
And turns out the lights.
From the darkness of the hallway, the Father emerges with one lit candle lighting the way. He places it in the center of the garage sale bought kitchen table and sits down on one of the metal fold out chairs. His son sits across from him, propped up on his elbows on one of the other metal chairs…..grinning ear to ear.
“Can I deal to make sure you don’t cheat?”
“You calling me a cheater?….yes you can deal.” The Father replies as he passes the deck of brand new cards, which he bought at the corner store, over to his son.
The son does his best shuffle (which strangely resembles 52 card pickup), and then deals 7 cards to each to his Father and himself.
He picks up his cards, makes his best poker face in the candlelight, and looks at his Father and says,
“You got any 3’s?”
The Father squints and makes his best mean look and replies,
“Go fish, partner.”
Before he fetches cards from the deck, the son looks at his Father and plainly says,
“Thanks Dad. Black Friday is the best day of the year.”
_________
Christmas.
To me, it’s about the gift OF family and the joy of being together.
It’s not about the gifts FOR family.
Toys break.
Clothes fade and wear out.
Electronics get dusty.
Batteries are almost never included.
But something as simple as a game of “go fish” by candlelight, is a gift that creates memories that last well beyond the sales from Black Friday to the day of Santa.
Make your own “go fish” holiday tradition this year.
All that is needed is an imagination, and a sincere willingness to spend TIME with the ones who mean the most to you.
Spend often.
Batteries not necessary.
I read a lot of throwback Thursday stuff today…..
So I guess this is my contribution. I wrote it 9 years ago.
The season is upon us!
The elegance of sound
When the pitch is just right
The allure of fragrance
In the heat of the night
An apparition of beauty
Within the soul of the beholder
The sensitivity of curves
Makes the pulse race faster
The flavor of sweet sin
From a passionate kiss
The aura of senses is heightened
Lust has found it’s genesis
Between a rock and a hard place
Like blood from a stone
Needle in a haystack
Lost but not alone
Time may heal
Scars remain
Always strive for change
When love is in vain
Strangely enough, I found myself with some free time last weekend.
And what does good2begone do when he has free time?
CHAINSAW CHAINSAW CHAINSAW
I had a driftwood log that had been sitting around until I figured out what to do with it.
I figured I would just chainsaw it up to see what I had.
What I ended up with was 3 small slab pieces of various sizes.
I decided to make a bench.
Why?…cuz why not.
I wanted to make it so I had one to use for when I practice guitar and play stuff for the grandkids.
I sanded it to get the chainsaw marks out.
Drilled 3 holes through the bottom about an inch into the wood to glue the legs.
Then, crested a frame around the top and bottom for strength and to keep it from wobbling.
Then polyurethane on top.
Here is how it turned out.
It an interesting cut of wood to say the least. It has valleys and caverns and different deformities throughout that nature took care of for me.
The more I looked it I tried to figure out what it resembled….
Then it hit me…
It looks quite similar to the continent of South America
Anyhow, there it is.
I’ve got 2 more small slabs to work with….
I’ll let my imagination get to work on those and we will see what happens 😉
Good2begone 