Fencepost — Image by kenne
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.
Waste Land — Image by kenne
The Waste Land: Five Limericks
— Wendy Cope
(The author was inspired by T. S. Eliot’s, The Waste Land.)
After the Santa Cruz River Flood Waters Went Down (November 2012)– Image by kenne
— kenne
“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.
— kenne
San José de Tumacácori Mission Church Ruins — Image by kenne
Window of Yesterdays — Computer Painting by kenne
Our Window Of Yesterdays
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.
kenne
Kenneth Harris (May 20, 2017) — Image by kenne
“Stuff.”
One of my favorite words is stuff.
“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.
Hiker — Computer Painting by kenne
— kenne
Old Western Bunk House
Off the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historical Trail
near the Santa Cruz River.
— Computer Art by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 