Poem: The Day Before Thanksgiving

The Day Before Thanksgiving

Your grandfather was buried the day before Thanksgiving,
a cold, rainy November day,
numb-grey as you left the church
for the graveyard

that would hold his body,
but not his soul,
not his memory or the essence
of his life,

where you remember not this day,
but summer evenings fishing
on the mill pond, a silence of understanding,
and more, acceptance

that drenched your heart
with warmth that no November rain,
no death, no grave
can contain.

============

My grandfather really was buried the day before Thanksgiving, maybe 15 years or so ago. Rather than a time of sadness, it has made Thanksgiving more special, almost like a day set aside to remember his life, and his influence on mine. The picture is of he and my two sisters when they were quite small. You can click on it for a larger version.

Tom

Poem: Gypsy Dancing in the Office

Gypsy Dancing in the Office

You sit in your suit and tie,
a familiar calmness to your stance
as the day's chaos swirls
like a cruel summer's storm, while

inside you the wild drums
of gypsy song beats,
and your closed eyes put aside the madness
with dance, wonderful dance,

and in your mind you see
the swirl of emerald green skirts
and graceful arms asway with rhythm

and all who see you wonder
at the gentle smile you wear
in the face of peril.

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The picture was taken at a Rennaisance Faire a couple of years ago. You can click on it for a larger version.

Tom

Quote of the Week: November 17

"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit." - Benjamin Jewett.

Since 1991 I have put a quote of the week on the end of my e-mails. People often ask me if I can pull up a particular quote and I almost always can't. So I decided to begin posting them here on my blog so they can be found again, should anyone want them. To review all my quotes, click on the "quotes" tag at the bottom right and they should all come up.

The picture is from WTVI, in Charlotte, NC. WTVI was the first all HDTV PBS station in the United States. It is typical of the TV work I get to design and do, along with a lot of great engineers, project managers and installers who do the "real" work. I am blessed with an extraordinary staff these days, people who do great work and make me look good, because they are so good at what they do, and I am very grateful, so this quote really jumped out at me. You can click on the picture for a larger version.

Tom

Poem: In the High Ridges

In the High Ridges

You drive along the ridges,
surrounded by high oaks that dwarf
your ancient red truck,
ripe with November's last color,

aware that this is only a respite,
a day of sun wedged
between two long weeks of rain,
a time not to lament the gray horizons

behind and ahead,
but to savor God's gift
of now.

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The picture was taken a couple of weeks ago along the Blue Ridge Parkway south of Roanoke, Virginia. You can click on it to get a larger view, and if you do, you'll see my ancient red truck mentioned in the poem.

Tom

Poem: Flame's Edge

Flame's Edge

In November, the days shorten
and dark comes early
as you pile the last bit of brush
on the pyre.

For over a year you have toiled,
clearing the landscape
of it's historic debris,
thirty years of wreckage,
fallen oaks, their roots rotten and exposed
for the lies of their strength;
twisted limbs wrested by winds
and tossed to the ground;
flotsam like litter,
so much

that at first there was no landscape to be seen,
only the destruction of decades,
and in this turmoil, you began,

without plans or any end in mind, but
simply because you could not bear
the brokeness that lay everywhere in your sight,
and so,
you started.

And now, months and months later,
it all stands here,
tall and reaching skyward,
the pyre,
flaming towards the moon,
your own version of hell burning
as you stand
at the edge of the flames
watching the ashes form, knowing
that in the morning,
planting can at last,
begin.

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The picture was taken at the same small group gathering I wrote about in my "Fire Art" entry a few days ago. I actually wrote the poem in a chinese restaurant, early in the evening before I went to the bonfires, using the idea of the fires to build a poem around. You can click on the picture to get a larger version.

Tom

Quote of the Week: November 9th

"May your joys be as deep as the ocean, and your sorrows as shallow as it's foam." - W. M. Clark, S. J.

Since 1991 I have put a quote of the week on the end of my e-mails. People often ask me if I can pull up a particular quote and I almost always can't. So I decided to begin posting them here on my blog so they can be found again, should anyone want them. To review all my quotes, click on the "quotes" tag at the bottom right and they should all come up.

The picture is of Munich, Germany, from a trip a few years ago. Travel is one of my great joys, no matter where it takes me. You can click on the image for a larger view.

Tom

Photography: Fire Art

Last night my small group from church met on the church property. We had been clearing brush and trees and there were four large piles of logs, brush and sticks, which we set ablaze with diesel fuel. People brought their families and there were marshmallows, lots of conversation, and just a wonderful impromptu fellowship by the blaze of four bonfires.

I took my camera, and while I got some good pictures of the gathering, some were blurred because I did not use a tripod to stabilize the shots. In some cases however, that was good, because I got a whole series of found art (or fire art) shots, that were actually more interesting than the "good" pictures.

That's the way creativity works sometimes. You set out to do X, fail miserably and end up with something entirely different, and better!

You can click on the pictures for a larger view.

Tom

Information: 10 Ways to be Happier

Who doesn't want to be happier? This article condenses some good advice and thoughts and is a nice boost, whether you are unhappy, or happy and just want to be happier!

Tom

PS - the picture was taken at the Lord Botetourt High School football field, at sunset. Sunsets are one of God's gifts that often make me happy.

Poem: Peace

Peace

It comes from within,
not bought, or done, or accomplished,
but in stillness,
in that place where there is nothing to prove,
nothing needed,
where it is enough to take to heart
the truest words of God:
I Am.

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Since 2006 Bloggers around the world have all written their entries around the idea of peace under the banner of Blog Blast for Peace. I have taken part since that first blog blast. If you are interested in reading others and learning more, go here.

Tom

Poem: The Changing of Time

The Changing of Time

You changed the clocks at midnight,
bringing the light to mornings again,
leaving you new time
to lay in bed at dawn
and listen

to the few straggler birds
who have not begun the exodus south,
their lone voices not exactly cheerful,
but defiant of the November cold,
while you lay warm

under generational quilts,
savoring the luxury
of another hour,
imaging the power to turn back time,

to years, even decades, to relive your mistakes,
not to change them,
for they are part of your soul,
but to live them with awareness
of their importance,
with a defiant smile,

knowing as you did not know then,
that the world would go on,
and that the mistakes,
while painful,
are never fatal.

===============

This poem began as a writing exercise. I got to thinking about writing a poem about daylight savings time (since we changed this past weekend), and this is what popped out.

The picture is from Fincastle Vinyards. Unlike most of the pictures I put up here, which often try to tie in the poem and the picture, this one has nothing to do with anything. I just liked the image. You can click on it to a larger view.

Tom

Thoughts

Regular readers know that more often than not, I publish poetry here, using it to help express feelings and thoughts. Very often, I use scenes and images from nature or gardens to illustrate those feelings. So I when I walk though the woods, or dig in my little flower beds, or capture some image on my camera, I am often both seeing the image, and thinking of what it touches and what it makes me think about and what feelings are flowing as a result of what I am seeing and experiencing.

But sometimes the beauty of what is around me just leaves me just so appreciative and overcome by the gift of that beauty, that I don't think about anything else at all. Yesterday was one of those days.

November 1st and a sunny day with temperatures around 70. The mountains here in Virginia are near their peak, vibrant with fall color. I drove up to Paint Bank, through mountainous Craig Country with the top down on the car, just surrounded by color, and spent the afternoon there, simply soaking it all in. No thinking, just getting lost in it all.


These pictures are from yesterday. You can click on them for a larger version.

Tom

Poem: The Nature of Light

The Nature of Light

You were not made to live in these anonymous places
in the midst of the bland faces that stand in long lines
waiting for grey food and more and more of the same.

No.

You were made, each hair on your head,
for a life unique and sparkling
by a God who loves every tender cell
of his precious creation,

who wants you to to glisten in his light,
and find peace in a power not your own,
but his.

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The picture is from a garden in Mystic, CT, after a rain. You can click on it for a larger version.

Tom