The most we can do is to write — intelligently, creatively, evocatively — about what it is like living in the world at this time. — Oliver Sacks
A house that offers sanctuary, that embraces family and friends alike with comfort and warmth, becomes a refuge from the world outside—a truly peaceful home and haven that soothes the senses and refreshes the spirit. — Ann Rooney Heuer I believe this body is my sacred space. Wherever I am, it is a place of refuge …
One of the activities I engage in everyday when possible is a walk along the Tomebamba River near my home in Cuenca, Ecuador. During this walking meditation my mind wonders along with that of the river. I love the sound of water. When the river is high, it blocks out the sounds of the city …
Continue reading "Rollo Del Tomebamba XXI — Beauty In Death"
"You write a lot about 'Love'," a friend recently commented. "I do," was my response. "Why?" "I write about love because it is what I am, what I am learning, and what I want to understand more of before I leave this world." And then, in the style of Almitra, the High Priest of Orphalese, …
I wanted to sing like Johnny Hartman, paint like Picasso, dance like Mikhail Baryshnikov, and write like Camus, but I did not. I was not given at birth their unique talent to do those things. It might have been their genes or a gift from the gods. I do not know. I know what I …
Books conversation breakfast in bed a rainy Sunday morning following an enchanted Saturday night— Please reply.
In this very breath that we take now lies the secret that all great masters try to tell us. —Peter Matthiessen There was no movement away from the sorrow in any direction. It was an uninvited guest taking refuge in my home, lingering like a fat cat sprawled out in the morning sun. What could …
It's been a while since I had a meeting with myself. I don't understand why a meeting with me is so difficult to schedule. I'm easy to find. We see each other every day when we look into the mirror. We have the same amount of time as everyone else. I make all the entries …
…for good or evil, we are a single people: the more we become conscious of this, the less difficult and long will be humanity’s progress toward justice and peace. Primo Levi (July 31, 1919 – April 11, 1987) My 72nd and 73rd birthdays were spent in lockdown which meant no celebrations with friends or family …
Continue reading "A Writer’s Diary – After Lockdowns – What?"
Stanley Kunitz is one of my favorite poets. He was seventy three years young when he wrote his poem The Layers. He died in 2006 at the age of one hundred and one years. The poem itself is a masterpiece of storytelling about transformations and because of his mastery of the art, it needs no …
Flooding In Europe Fish Dying From The Red Tide In Florida Forest Fires In Oregon Drought In California Everywhere People Still Dying From CoVid-19 Because They Can Billionaires Go Into Space What is going on is going on with this world? The doomsayers should be having a celebration but they are all running for the …
Sometime during the late ninety's I read the Biography of William Blake (1757-1827) by Peter Ackroyd. Prior to this, my only connection to Blake was in college where I read his Songs of Innocence and Experience. I saw Blake as a visionary, poet, and gifted artist who chose to be detached from the affairs of …
It's time to write about freedom! I shied from this topic for a long time because it was not something I had experienced in this body before. I believed as Antoine de Saint-Exupery that freedom was "of the mind" because that was the only experience of freedom I have had. There is not an adequate …
It’s all very strange. You can be walking along, not thinking of anything in particular. Suddenly you’re reminded of a lost love. Charlie Brown (Charles Shultz) If you had not died when you did,so many things could have been shared.As it turns out I became a librarian.I had some love affairs butnever fell deeply in …
The lowest depth of misery is the loss of a loved one. It was the only time I ever considered suicide as a viable option to life. It was not in my thinking an attempt to join with Kathleen in her realm as energy, but in truth, I was uncertain if I could go on …
It has been over twenty years since I wrote the poem Stand Undiminished. It started out as a dream, was shared with the community where I lived, and is a poem I learn from every day of my life. Its words are powerful and its intention felt. The poem blames no one but some feel …
We believe all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings . because of the color of their skin. The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand - without rancor or hatred - how this happened, but it …
Growing Old When, halting in front of it, I look at the reflection which is in the depths of my clear mirror. It gives me the impression of meeting an unknown old gentle man. — Hitomaro The biggest problem with growing older in my physical body is that in my mind I am still in …
Who are we, if not measured by our impact on others? That’s who we are! We’re not who we say we are, we’re not who we want to be — we are the sum of the influence and impact that we have, in our lives, on others. — Neil deGrasse Tyson Life is a continuum, …
I watched a film a while back named "13 Assassins." During the closing scene, the dying father and leader of the group of thirteen says to his son, "Live your life." These are powerful words particularly when coming from a dying father to a son who was trained as a samurai but never totally embraced …
I was not born a writer. I write because I am a lover of words. I like to breathe life and meaning into these symbols of thought. I want to lift the word from the mind or page, give it air to make a sound, then shape and mold it into meaning. I write because …
To be full of strength and vigor one moment and virtually helpless the next, in the pink and pride of health one moment and a cripple the next, with all one’s powers and faculties one moment and without them the next – such a change, such suddenness, is difficult to comprehend, and the mind casts …
Continue reading "I Am Not Me Anymore, At Least I’m Not The Same Me I Was"
The other day I was thinking about memories, why they occur, their frequency and triggers. I was walking along the river under my own contemplative spell when I was suddenly hit with a memory of a lost love. The trigger was the back of the woman’s head in front of me. She had the same …
I woke up early this morning because the roosters were roostering more and louder than normal. As I do every morning, I looked out my window to see if the mountaintops were clear. This is usually a good indictor of what the weather will be like for the day. This is the place I love …
I am an Aries in Western astrology. A triple fire sign with sun in Aries, moon in Leo, and rising sign in Sagittarius. There is very little earth and no water in my chart, mostly fire and air. Therefore there are no conflicting elements. In Chinese astrology, I am the Rat. A creature who enjoys being …
“You are the responsible one,” my mother would tell me when I would wine about having to reheat dinner for my brother and father when she left for work. “I know you will do it,” she would say. The responsibility of being responsible started early for me. I was eight years old. When mom and …
The only thing I know for sure, absolutely without question, is that one day my physical body will cease to exist. I will die. It is a fate that awaits all living organisms at some point no matter how long science may extend our life span. It is one of only two traits common to …
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do …
It was my pride that I was taken in as an equal, in spirit as well as in fact. From then on, everything was beautiful, and the voyage promised to be a happy one. John Griffith (Jack) London (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916) From the earliest recollection of my childhood I wanted to …
If our leaders seek to conceal the truth, or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom…When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth even on what may seem the most …
Continue reading "A Writer’s Diary — The Big Lie And The War Against Truth"
The time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time. — Bertrand Russell Time is all I have but I can not claim ownership because I do not know when it will run out. Remember Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz? The wicked witch gave her until the sand completely ran out of the hour glass to …
Today is my mother’s birthday. If she were still alive, she would be ninety-five years old. I also discovered another one of my favorite people, Kahlil Gibran, was born on this day in 1883. So today is his one hundred thirty eighth birthday. These two individuals born only forty-three years apart filled my life with …
Continue reading "A Writer’s Diary — A Sad Day For The United States"
It was November 30, 2014 and I was making a final survey of my luggage and cottage to see if there was one more thing I had to pack before leaving Savusavu, Fiji. I was leaving so much behind. Being here for almost four years and having to leave every four months for immigration requirements …
Tonight is Christmas Eve. The cat is curled up at the foot of the bed, the gas fireplace heats the room and I have just climbed into bed. As a child and during my early adulthood, my Christmas Eves were spent doing all those last minute tasks before the big day. I only remember bits …
If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation. —Jiddu Krishnamurti
When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses... We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. — John F. Kennedy
...If one looks long enough at almost anything, looks with absolute attention at a flower, a stone, the bark of a tree, grass, snow, a cloud, something like revelation takes place. — May Sarton
The truest philosophy, is not to long for anything in particular, but to accept everything as it comes, and find out the reason of it coming. — Marie Corelli
The most we can do is to write — intelligently, creatively, evocatively — about what it is like living in the world at this time. — Oliver Sacks
