Poetry Friday - Allen Ginsberg

Five A.M.


Elan that lifts me above the clouds
into pure space, timeless, yea eternal
Breath transmuted into words
Transmuted back to breath
in one hundred two hundred years
nearly Immortal, Sappho's 26 centuries
of cadenced breathing -- beyond time, clocks, empires, bodies, cars,
chariots, rocket ships skyscrapers, Nation empires
brass walls, polished marble, Inca Artwork
of the mind -- but where's it come from?
Inspiration? The muses drawing breath for you? God?
Nah, don't believe it, you'll get entangled in Heaven or Hell --
Guilt power, that makes the heart beat wake all night
flooding mind with space, echoing through future cities, Megalopolis or
Cretan village, Zeus' birth cave Lassithi Plains -- Otsego County
farmhouse, Kansas front porch?
Buddha's a help, promises ordinary mind no nirvana --
coffee, alcohol, cocaine, mushrooms, marijuana, laughing gas?
Nope, too heavy for this lightness lifts the brain into blue sky
at May dawn when birds start singing on East 12th street --
Where does it come from, where does it go forever?

By Allen Ginsberg

Many Blessings for the Summer Solstice

Poetry Friday

Every Friday I thought I would start posting a poem.
If anyone has anything they would like to share please feel free to send it to me.

Today is one of my favorites.



A Noiseless Patient Spider. by Walt Whitman

A NOISELESS, patient spider,
I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form’d—till the ductile anchor hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.

Sports and Violence

Last night my sister told me that there was a riot in Vancouver, Canada after the Boston Bruins defeated the Canuks in The Stanley Cup final.

First off, I will never understand the violence that can erupt during or after a sports game. Yes, it is about competition. Everyone wants to win, but most importantly it is about sportsmanship and respect.

What was even more disgusting were the photographs that captured the participants of the riot. Some even smiling and recording the mayhem on their cell phones.
It is a sport! And even though it is usually a handful that can turn the beauty of a sporting event ugly, it is nauseating when the line of too much testosterone has been crossed.

A Poem for Friday

Hug O'War
from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974)

I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

By Shel Silverstein

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Maybe someday?

Quote of the day

"Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth."
— Rumi

So long old friend...

It is always difficult when you see the signs of old age take hold of a beloved pet and even worse when you know the inevitable end is near.
My sister’s cat Memnoch lived a wonderful long life. But as with all life, it must come to an end.
So on last Friday, my sister and I said goodbye to Memnoch as he took his last breath on earth.
Now he can really terrorize the neighborhood, eat roasted chicken and run free in the fields of cat Nirvana. He will be greatly missed.