I’ve been told that I’m built like a fencepost Kind of wiry A few knobs here and there A knot or two for character I make a pretty good fence Good at keeping things inside Not letting things out But now my shadow seems leaner Not quite as tall in the morning sun The soil around my feet eroding Drying out isn’t all it’s cracked up to be Staying straight ain’t easy The herd is getting restless And the barbed wire on my back is tearing me up inside.
In April one seldom feels cheerful; Dry stones, sun and dust make me fearful; Clairvoyantes distress me, Commuters depress me– Met Stetson and gave him an earful.
II
She sat on a mighty fine chair, Sparks flew as she tidied her hair; She asks many questions, I make few suggestions– Bad as Albert and Lil–what a pair!
III
The Thames runs, bones rattle, rats creep; Tiresias fancies a peep– A typist is laid, A record is played– Wei la la. After this it gets deep.
IV
A Phoenician named Phlebas forgot About birds and his business–the lot, Which is no surprise, Since he’d met his demise And been left in the ocean to rot.
V
No water. Dry rocks and dry throats, Then thunder, a shower of quotes From the Sanskrit and Dante. Da. Damyata. Shantih. I hope you’ll make sense of the notes.
— Wendy Cope
(The author was inspired by T. S. Eliot’s, The Waste Land.)
“Earth, Sky and Tumacácori” — Photo Artistry by kenne
A priestly man
once traveled
the desert southwest mounted a horse armed only with love a force without
a presidio of soldiers connecting with people
of many tribes building adobe missions each opened to the morning sun located within walking distance understanding the desert paradox.
Like Cinderella’s
glass slipper only one shoe
had the right fit.
In life’s early years it took time searching for the right fit — trying on many different shoes before the music brought us together.
I
slipped into you tying you
to my body – knowing
only you could get so close.
We
have walked many miles not always in step but at the start of each day you were there.
You
supported each step through the good times when we danced together and the bad times when the music stopped.
Over the years I knew
where we were going you knew
where we had been
as our souls have now worn thin — broken
held together by twin only now expressing the secret face of our enter selves.
Having been seduced by a lover’s
darkest kiss no longer laced together — merely to be left behind in the window
of yesterdays kissed only by tomorrow’s sun.
“That’s Super Stuff!” “Make Stuff” “I Love Free Stuff” “The Good Stuff” “My Stuff” “Stuff in My Life” “Stuff That Works”
“The Right Stuff”
“How’s Your Stuff?”
There are so many variations on the use of the word stuff. This last May we attended the last “Ken and Mary’s Blues Project” house concert in Porter, Texas. Before the music started, Kenneth Harris told the story of how the Project came about from his listening to Sunday blues on Houston’s KPFT. One Sunday he was listening to Nuri Nuri’s Blues Brunch.
“. . . he [Nuri] was interviewing this guy, and they played some of his stuff, and I called Nuri on the phone, and I said Nuri do you know anybody in the Houston area that can do that type of stuff, and he told me you meet me at Billy Blue’s like next Saturday night.”
Long story short, Kenneth found that stuff in the form of the Moe Hansum Band.
As I listen to Kenneth’s story I couldn’t help but think of Guy Clark’s “Stuff that Works.”
Stuff that works, stuff that holds up The kind of stuff you don’ hang on the wall Stuff that’ real, stuff you feel The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall
Continuing on this theme of “Stuff,” in the 1970’s there was a jazz-funk band called “Stuff.” The members were Gordon Edwards (bass), Richard Tee (keyboards), Eric Gale (guitar), Cornell Dupree (guitar), Chris Parker (drums), and later Steve Gadd (drums).
There is good stuff and not so good stuff, because of what we do with our stuff. We have too much stuff. Earth’s beauty is being scarred by the stuff we throw away daily. As someone who spends a lot of time outdoors admiring nature’s beauty, I see stuff on our trails, hanging in trees, blowing in the wind, in our lakes and streams.
In December of 2007, a short documentary was released. The documentary was critical of excessive consumerism and promotes sustainability, which has gone from a movie to a movement over the last ten years — a Community of more than a million changemakers worldwide, working to build a more healthy and just planet. This land is our land! You can join the movement.
“Earth, Sky and Tumacácori” — Photo Artistry by kenne
San José de Tumacácori Mission Church Ruins — Image by kenne
Window of Yesterdays — Computer Painting by kenne
Kenneth Harris (May 20, 2017) — Image by kenne
Hiker — Computer Painting by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 