Mark Is Musing

BEST FOR US - Friday May 21, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 4C/39F, a few (but no dark ones) clouds, strong chilly Rockies wind. Rockies. No sightings of critters or handlers.  Chilled cheeks, remind me we don’t inhabit earth, it inhabits us, decides when we’ll be warm, or chilled, when we’ll have weather, or paradise. Gusta didn’t care, she loves wind rippling her coat.

 

Chinese, or pizza – we order it up, have it delivered to our door, but that will not sustain us long, or well.  If you stay close to home, as I will, consider the contrast between ‘ordering in’ vis-à-vis shopping a farmers market for locally produced delicacies, a place where our discerning taste can greet new flavor. Savor it, because full life cannot be had like take-out food; life, taste, flavor, nutrients – real kind, can’t be delivered or ordered like fast-food, we have to go out and find it, bring it home and cook something that stirs more than our taste buds and immediate appetite.

 

I cannot imagine standing still, anywhere, when, just down-the-road so much satisfaction waits.  This long weekend, enjoy your small break. Listen for indicators, hear the message when/where it sounds, make paths and tasks clearer; now, each day/week puts more of them behind you, road ahead will get smoother, be less cluttered.

 

I need to step back, take a ‘high-road’ lofty all encompassed view as if from reconnaissance plane, well removed from street view; from up there life’s overview of collective ‘we’, societal norms, generalities.  We don’t live up there, but down here, walk among neighbors, rub shoulders with wide-eyed kids of all ages and grown-up sad-story types too. 

 

‘The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.’ – Marcel Pagnol

 

All of us, yes, all of us, are connected. Read a paper, listen to news - all connected to common threads/threats, disasters, consequences, environment and peace/war/prosperity opportunities.  Consider then, if you agree, are we are ALL connected in other ways too?

 

Grabbing low hanging fruit experiences of life is expedient, serves its purpose - but then, unsatisfied still, all the richest fruit seems just as far from our grasp. There’s no substitute for climbing the best tree in the orchard, in search of choosing the really delicious over the  simply OK, passing on ‘much fruit, easiest to pick’ in favor of ‘best for us’. Juicy-est fruit lives on high-up skinny frail branches – risky hard work to find - worth the search, worth the climb, worth waiting for.

 

Today, every day, much good news - a little sad too; life brings incredible visitors - sad to see them go, to see what really is, and it's difference from what 'might have been'.  Our habitat – beyond confines of dwellings or offices – beset recently by disasters of natural (but they seem un-natural), man-made kind (thank you BP), and human (one person at a time) kind. Getting it slightly wrong and seeing consequences stands out much more than getting it slightly right on things that don’t matter so much.

 

Are we not just as importantly in league with our fellow citizens for so many personal causes and effects, an off-hand or off-putting remark, unfair-ness of what we do or feel – in that our actions impact many - often more than we know, more profoundly than we can imagine.  Now, have a ‘best rest I ever had’ weekend - take your short break, breath deep and enjoy the satisfaction of how much you have accomplished. 

 

~~~

COURSE WORK - link to archive poetry project archive

 

Even on cloudy days,

dark clouds can be lifted,

shifted, blown aside or

blown over, over there,

there where we were,

before there were no

clouds; clouds of different

lighter type, kind that

cover less, less than needed,

more than wanted –

wanted, as such a driving

range or driving force

of course and course it is,

so rough too that is, is rough,

it is but the rough is then

some smoother way, a more

fair way for playing, the fair

way in the fairway - demands

far less from us, tests us less,

than hitting from the deep

rough tough stuff, where

golf best imitates life,

where there is life, there is

strife and a stroke, but it is

just a stroke, where we find

that sometimes we play in our

minds all day, without visiting

a course of course but it seems

like work just the same.

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,352

 

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

May 20 Comments

 

May 20 – QUITE A FIND – I had to laugh at the chastising of you for your eternal search for "The One"...actually I find this to be a very entertaining aspect of your musings.  You are so multi-dimensional that I wonder if you might better consider altering your concept of "The One" to "The Several"? Bernard Slade's play "Same Time, Next Year" chronicled two lovers,  each married with kids/other life, yet together one weekend for each of 30+ years...interesting concept ("Brain Candy")? SY Honolulu, HI

 

May 20 – QUITE A FIND – Glasses, SJ, Calgary, AB

 

May 20 – QUITE A FIND – Good morning Mark.  Nice little read. Have a wonderful day, MM, Arlington Heights, IL

 

May 20 – QUITE A FIND – Good Morning Mark, It is easy to dwell on 'the missing part' of your life.  I believe a well balanced life is shared with someone else.  I also believe that when you aren't really looking that person will be revealed to you.  For you it might be hard not to pursue it as you do everything else in your life, but most things don't involve your heart and feelings like a relationship does.  Cultivate your friends, enjoy group activities and life might surprise you with a gift.  SR, Calgary, AB

May 20 – QUITE A FIND – Lots of change to the outside and clear forward motion on the inside.  Your musings sound like your world is fine. She will show up soon. Keep your eyes open, FO, Kaunakakai, HI

 

May 20 – QUITE A FIND – Mark, I thought you would enjoy this piece Day Trading with Anni: A Day Trader's Passions about Trading and Life ...Anni is a very interesting person and relates trading to life. Trading is a very interesting hobby and in trading there are terms that do relate so much to life and when you incorporate all these trading concepts we traders study.. "support, resistance, consolidation, momentum, strength of the trends, intuition, time decay". You have the entire rainbow of what we call "Life"!! , SY, Honolulu, HI

 

May 20 – DAILY THOUGHT - My daughter hooked me up. Really find these inspiring, intriguing thought provoking. Your eloquent expression of my thoughts are greatly appreciated, as the words don't come quite as easily for me. Today’s is great!, WK, New Glasgow, NS

QUITE A FIND - Thursday May 20, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 9C/48F, some light clouds, fog on the river, houses slept next to car lined streets - until Gusta noticed a rabbit innocuously hopping behind one of those parked machines – so she pursued friendship at high speed.

 

Innocuous – not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility, inoffensive.  That’s my calendar’s ‘word of the day’ today.  It got me thinking, about things, people, and ideas that are supposed to be harmless.  In each of our daily lives, are we in charge of deciding, are we about doing or just innocuous followers-along?

 

Easy. Convenient really, to imagine most events and personalities as just that – harmless, ineffectual moments that never matter – of no consequence to the direction, purpose or value of life.  Imagine- if that would be true - life would have so little value, flavor and pleasure to offer.  I don’t think so. I don’t think Segovia’s protégé Greeninger would either; if you can’t smile waking up to classical guitar music, then you should crawl back into bed for more sleep, but first - take some Jim Greeninger with your coffee, he’s quite a find.

 

Someone noticed, questioned – chastised me too - seems lately my columns (perhaps too many), focused they are, too much perhaps, on dating-world woes, search of new, improved, superior, extraordinary, mind-blowing, heart-expanding delicious woman / partner for my life – who could, in addition to enormous list of attributes, who might want me too.  Though I’ve quite possibly crossed paths with her somewhere, somehow, already - search continues far, wide, day, night, I’ll not rest till I’ve met the best.  In time she will be revealed to me; quite a find, she’ll be, but defined, she’ll be not.

 

"In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities." Janos Arnay

 

From my Oct. 24/09 column: Understanding what we want (you, me, us), and how we go about getting it, is something that interests me both in terms of understanding others - and in understanding myself. And, to look out to sea, to see life, to see ourselves, to stand on a beach bathed in tears is probably more about joy than pain, more about open heart than open mind.

 

There could never, ever, be anything innocuous about that.

 

~~~

MIDNIGHT LONG PAST - link to archive poetry project archive

 

to night, I toast you, tonight

to help me now, show me how

to get me, through this time

to be alone with me, right here

to be no more afraid of it,

to be as that smudged edge

to dark then connects here

to light, no bright noon fight

to find dead centre of it,

to night’s nexus point of it

to make revelations, then,

to deepest darkness when

to saddle up courage then,

to ride on dream’s dark horses,

to run across a grassy field over

to rock strewn mountain valley

to gobble down what flows before

to be there after, as before,

to eruptions watched when desire,

to shed starlight on deepest fear,

to free us then from this darkness

to sleep through these nights

to dream without despairing

to wake to illuminated facts

to scare them, day’s brightness

to much of it, too much of it

to arrive in the morning, spent,

to today, I toast you too.

 

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,376

 

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

May 19 Comments

 

May 19 – BOLD TYPE –  No column yet?  What's up? Good morning, MM, Arlington Heights, IL

May 19 – BOLD TYPE – Love the read.  Have a wonderful day, SB, Calgary, AB   May 19 – BOLD TYPE – I did read your musing this morning and you whipped off TWO subjects that yelled at me.  Don't know whether the "men can't be trusted" piece by your friend is serious but, if so, it might make a great Companion piece to something I'm thinking of writing, "Trust Yourself".  Darn, I guess one would cancel the other.  Please "trust yourself" to research intelligently about global warming.  Like everything in life, there's easy.  Straight past easy, if you don't bend to the left, is truth.  I'm no expert on this subject, past what most of the public has been advised.  A very brilliant and renowned scientist suggested I think about it.  I first found this site, which I recommend.  I was told that the guys who really know can't fight the machine that wants "global warming" accepted.  Lots to read.  I started with Global Warming A Convenient Lie , VJP, DeWinton,AB

 

May 18 – IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT WE DO NEXT/ Not Broken, just Bent, I am a day behind, but your column for today is not posted, so here are my comments from yesterday. I have a friend - she is really sick.  She is extremely self-centered  and only knows how to be a victim.  Sometimes I want to shake her  until her teeth rattle.  Her mother was arriving for a visit and she  kept saying, "I want her to fix me."  Wouldn't this statement drive most healthy, balanced people nuts?  Well, I decided to do something  differently yesterday and, I don't know if it was because of your  column or if this instinct is just part of who I am today.  I  responded with love - I told her I was making her a turkey meatloaf  (something she had been asking me to do for awhile) and would bring it  over so that she and her mom could enjoy it.  She was so surprised and  said, "You'd do this?" I suggested that instead of expecting something  from her mother, to just focus on this time to celebrate her.  To love  her.  I told her I know she loves her mom, but suggested she show her  that she loves her - to lessen her worry.  And, then I told her I  loved her.  I guess I was treating her with kindness and what she may  be capable of becoming. Later, my friend, JK, Kailua, HI

BOLD TYPE - Wednesday May 19, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 12C/54F, overcast now; our walk was very early, 2:30 I think, when a moonless hazy sky blanketed us with spectacular stars - takes my breath away, in a pleasant way – walking the planet, wondering what I’ll see of it, or recognize.

 

Interesting day/night, last twenty-four hours – much has come my way in terms of interesting people, fresh ideas, energy for a project – I’m running a better race at a slower pace, better fuelled + calls, notes and pictures too, from spectacular old friends, surprising new ones; some ideas tossed out, spirits pushed up, possibilities lifted, king-sized ideas . . . like Pooh, so many, so much - I don’t know what to do.

 

Someone sent me a note: ‘I look forward to more than an adventurous trip or beautiful city in knowing that I have so much in common with someone, that I feel bliss that only being with a soul-mate would bring. I've not quite experienced that.’

 

And a friend wrote a piece titled: ‘you can’t trust a man’

 

A day of contrasts – night of reflection, morning for words and actions. I'm not radical hype, no Kerouac type; just another guy type, maybe too much a bold type, an ‘on some road’ type, hopefully toward paradise - but late at night, my dreams are large, my means are humble, my motives self serving . . . my future will be determined by little things which make big turns of events; my life has many chapters yet to be written. Somewhere, out there, there is someone who might be in none of them - or, in all of them. I’ve connected recently with several new friends, mostly far away ones, some near ones, some clear ones, some not so dear ones.

 

An unusual time. Speaking of which, I saw a very disturbing interview yesterday, Bill McKibbon pitching his new book ‘eaarth’ on global warming.  His points, should be taken literally, like headlines and those who protest the actions/inactions of so many governments, corporations and ordinary folks who don’t understand the enormous size of their footprint, shouldn’t they? I am a neophyte in understanding the mesosphere or David Keith’s solution for it, but I think we should think about it.  We all, every one of us, are in this game. Front page bold type screams it every day.

 

‘When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.’ – Viktor Frankl

 

Having a way with words is nice, but having a way with ideas – much richer, more rare, more worthwhile – the kind that build paths to those stars, or maybe just doing a better job right here, better fuelled, better to live under that heat lamp we call sun. Hmmm.

 

~~~

GULF OF OIL - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

Can’t lose my engine, can’t run out of fuel.

 

Less concerned about this norm than I am about

many a morn, when life won’t look at all the same.

 

When, from down this road I look back, it stares

right at me from mirrors showing many fewer choices

to make, no place to go, nowhere to run, or hide.

 

Bleakness soon, when, with nothing left of our spirit,

when despair overcomes us, numbs us, to this news,

our lives soon misshaped - like our planet, no sound-byte

relief, our planet is suffering, without much meaning.

 

The world’s appetite won’t wait, already too late,

no one can fix that what’s already wrecked, because

now we only get to watch the depth of this oil shaped

predicament, see it take hold, as if to mold, for us

to know some sad bad achievement - never a triumph.

 

Waking up, it’s too rough to remember what it was, that

which I went to bed trying so very hard to solve or forget; 

getting up is so easy, compared to when there was virtually

nothing to regret - but I know why, you see we try, to make

best of it all, though for all the rest of us, the world might be

broke, while there is hope, so we can’t let it be; the end.

 

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,400

 

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

May 18 Comments

 

May 18 - IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT WE DO NEXT – Sounds like you are enjoying the game and that’s good or why would you play it? JW-Calgary/Cochrane

 

May 18 - IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT WE DO NEXT - Thanks, still smiling.  Loved the Ted Talk…and will pass it on to daughter and son-in-affection. Off to Banff, GB, Canmore, AB

 

 

IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT WE DO NEXT - Tuesday May 18, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 8C/46F, cloudy, calm, another warm day taking shape; Gusta enjoyed the duck squadron that lifted off the lagoon as we approached - quiet disturbed by red-winged black birds, far off freeway humming, a perfect start to a day of change, a day for blue-sky thinking, returning to the gym after too long an absence.

 

I don’t believe in me because of any reason, or person, or reasoning, but I know that believing in myself – whether or not it is reasonable to do so – is the primary reason anyone might ever believe in me, value my work or derive any value from anything I do.

 

I am a fan of Goethe; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, left so much wisdom behind. Here are a few of his quotes that will fire up my day. Perhaps yours too:

 

‘You don’t have to travel around the world to understand that the sky is blue everywhere.’

 

‘Our senses don’t deceive us: our judgment does.’

 

‘If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.’

 

‘If you treat an individual … as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.’

 

The age of reason has arrived. Has it not?   Reason, or rather the reason for reason, is returning to my life – not this week or day, but ‘recently’ would best describe it.  Doing things which are reasonable, avoiding situations which are unreasonable, steering clear of people who are un-reasonable . . the choices we make when we think, plan, figure things out, weigh alternatives, consider alternatives so rationally.  But what about irrational?  And, what about emotional; is there some fault line in life where these meet?

 

It arrives, somewhere between puberty and old-age.  I think it arrived for me at eleven.

 

Which would be fine, if I’d only stayed in the age of reason - - I’d have far fewer problems or challenges in life. I strayed far from the main path, adventuring, wandering – exploring, but leaving so much of the reason behind.  If, and of course I can’t; but if I could go back and do it over again, I’d have put more reason in my backpack for the trip through life.

 

[To everyone, and in particular to women readers, there is a great piece (4:22) on Ted.com which explains better than anything I’ve seen, how to deal with man (or men) as told in 1972 by my hero, the late Viktor Frankl.  Men, you might find that, if you substitute ‘woman’ each time he refers to ‘man,  you might find some value too]

 

Reason is not about belief or feeling, it is not about trust; no more than it might be about disbelief, about un-feeling or not trusting.

 

Reason is about figuring out things which stand before us to figure out - whether that is how to survive, or how to thrive, to rise up after a fall, to rebuild following a disaster; or, to just start fresh without any need (or the time) to invest in fixing things which are gone, broken beyond repair or left behind.

 

Are we not expending the very life within us?  Shouldn’t it be really important, you know, the things we spend our time doing?  Isn’t It is all about what we do next, what we do now, who we let into our lives, how we inhale life, how we exhale everything we need to purge?  Sometimes we need a purpose, sometimes we need no reason at all.

 

Whatever I chose or believed yesterday, or forty years ago, or last month – has so little relevance now, because the most important thing in life, from this moment forward has nothing to do with a past I cannot change in any way; what matters most is right now - and, all that matters is what I do next, driven by what I do now.

 

It should hold then, that what I should be most proud of, is that which I just did. How about you? How committed were you to what you just did, to what you are doing right now?  This is my reasoning.

 

~~~

NOT BROKEN, JUST BENT - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

In begging, for what I want,

or just wishing silently,

seeking to bend others

to my way of thinking –

or that has, for the most part,

been my way, but lately I have

moved past neutral’s

mid-point, to new mode

of letting someone,

anyone, or everyone,

bend me to their way,

their thinking, to push me back

with their belief system

and – I hope, good naturedly

poke them too, prod them,

banter with them; the result,

my hope, will be better

understanding of what

I’ll allow to be bent,

and what I won’t, not

bent like a pipe but

more as a willow would

lean in the wind.

 

~~~

Mark Kolke

322,424

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

May 17 Comments

 

May 17 - RISKY EITHER WAY –  Did you write this for everyone?  Sounds like our own private conversation.  Quandary, yes, risky, who knows?  We don't have to make any decisions this minute or even this week, however I am asking myself, just because he's far, does that mean I should pass on this?  What if?  And then there's what if what?  I don't even know what that means.  Your poem today is amazing, really like you took my words and put them into song.   I have 2 sisters, 1 I love the other not so much.  The not so much one lost one of her friends this weekend, she hung herself.  This should change my sister's life but I'm not sure she is willing to be anything other than she is, however back to her friend, I wish she would have known about you and your column.  She had many difficulties with depression and I don't think anything could really help her but if only she knew there are so many people out there all looking for answers and so many tools and written words to help along the way, but she obviously was in too much pain.  I hope she has found peace even though the people she left behind will never be the same again.  I am on the other hand happy that I have gotten to know you, I look forward to your column everyday, I like to read it several times and then think about it before responding to you.  It seems to get better everyday.  I find it interesting that you can put  these thoughts in our minds on a daily basis.  You are my morning coffee, MM, Arlington Heights, IL

 

May 17 - RISKY EITHER WAY – I slept well. I got up and did my morning routine. I turned on my computer to find a major glitch -  I am problem solving and worrying and trying to repair damage.  I am also considering, hesitating a bit, thinking. Embarking is stepping out past comfort, taking another risk, gathering energy.  I still have questions, but they will be revealed in time, I hope. Now is the probationary period of working together, being together, observing daily life and experiences for ourselves.  And then I read your morning musing and realize you are grappling with the same things... Weird, GB, Canmore, AB

 

May 17 - RISKY EITHER WAY – THAT KIND - The unavailable kind!  I have questioned why I choose men that are not  available and the answer lies with me.  I am not available.  There is a piece of me that needs to be authentic and not someone I think you want me to be.  And if we become we, then it is meant to be.  The only problem, if the men kind have some barrier up, then I find myself not being that authentic me, trying to figure out is this "not the one"  after all.  How sad, because maybe if we had both come to this meeting  open to the possibility, then maybe what seems impossible will be. So, just for today, I'll be authentic and open to the possibility -  without looking!, JK, Kailua, HI

 

May 17 - RISKY EITHER WAY – Nothing ventured, nothing gained, brother.  There will always be something to gain even if it is through a loss.  We must look deep to find it sometimes. Don't let the distant, foggy mountains fog your brain...don't let the cacophony of ducks and geese, crickets and birds distract you.  Why not adapt, once in a while, to an "Oh, what the hell" philosophy? Your writings of late remind me of a Portuguese Poet, Fernando Pessoa.  His poem, entitled "Scaffolding", seems to have traveled the road that you may find familiar.  It is about how he built a house with the use of a scaffold....the plans and intentions to actually build a life.  "The time I have dreamed, how many years it was of my life!  Ah, how much of my past was only the illusive life of an imaginary future!"  My favorite part of the poem is: "I have wasted everything I did not have, I am much older than my years.  The illusion which has kept me going, was Queen only on stage, she undressed and her kingdom came to an end."  In light of current reality and through humility, the Queen, in the end, decapitates herself.  What use is a head...even a good one?. LP, Wailuku, HI

 

May 17 - RISKY EITHER WAY – Perhaps Garth Brooks said it best in "The Dance" http://vodpod.com/watch/359654-garth-brooks-the-dance , KK, Calgary, AB

 

RISKY EITHER WAY - Monday May 17, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 9C/48F, mostly clear, haze over mountains, cacophony of ducks and geese, small birds and crickets down by the lagoon where Gusta seemed to be leading, but she had the scent of a bulldog drawing her further (or maybe it was the bulldog’s handler?), making sharp turns on our spectacular trek this morning.

 

Week start Monday – opposite end of weekend bookends; sweet conversation filled, relaxing, idea and personality exploring; my own mostly, testing, notions – reviewing again, quandary, which is greater: risk of knowing, or risk of not knowing?

 

Anything really; step that I (or we) contemplate, door I/we open, person I/we meet, place I/we go, conversation I/we start - when I/we truly open that door, letting self be known to another, I/we really don’t know if I/we are starting the best adventure life has to offer, it’s worst nightmare or some other random experience I/we will not remember long.

 

Which will it be?  On other side of next stage of our rag-tag lives, what will I/we be saying:

 

it is what it is(was), it is what it can be, and was no more to be, for me and thee, it is(was) risky to go forward, but perhaps riskier not to, it is(was) just a beginning, or maybe an end to the beginning - risky either way; and, maybe we should just start at the beginning.

 

Again, which is greater: risk of knowing, or risk of not knowing?  How many times have we (or I) posed these questions to ourselves, to our partners, to our good friends? 

 

These ideas, like looking at people moving inside a long glass cylinder – in the middle, making it difficult to tell, as an observer, if they are advancing or retreating, so near and yet so far away. There is no way to know if these ant-like creatures are wise, unwise, lost or found, refugees or pioneers – no way to know if those specimens are you, or me – no way to know if I am the watched, or a watcher.

 

~~~

THAT KIND - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

There has been much discussion, of late

with some of my friends, the women kind,

who speculate about the behavior

of their friends, the men kind,

the ones whom they date kind, 

when they find themselves bemused,

confused, flummoxed and amazed by

those messages, of the sent kind,

by actions or inactions, lacking in

commitment, of any real kind,

when someone promised or in the least

implied it, because it seems they were

trying to be kind, they just simply are not

the available kind – to which I respond,

with an observation that many of those friends,

the men kind, are consciously taking steps,

and making moves to ensure there is some

immovable barrier between them, keeping

them apart, defense mechanism of sorts,

like policies, of an insurance kind, on which

their time spent is a premium of simply

the upkeep kind, maintenance of an image,

a persona and their election, of the

choice kind, to keep that policy renewed

and in force, of course.

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,448

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

May 16 Comments

 

May 16 – SOME THINGS – Mark, awesome weekend Musings, poetry extremely thought provoking, music well chosen – may I say yet again “well done!”?  Had to come to my office to answer the demands of some VIPs – have to say it is much easier commenting on your Musing columns with full size keyboard rather than a Blackberry.  L’angle-du-trois- c’est difficile - painful as someone always gets hurt, usually the one hurting the other two hurts the most. JW-Cochrane/Calgary, AB

 

SOME THINGS - Sunday May 16, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

[note about music/video links – I find on Saturday and Sunday mornings I have time, and perhaps my readers do to, to listen to some music. I choose pieces I like that connect, in some way, to the subject matter or to my mood… hope you like them]

 

Morning walk: 7C/45F, another very warm day unfolding; Gusta and I traversed the playing fields (with ball diamonds under construction) to the east of us for a change – the turf is really shaping up in preparation for skinned-knees and grass-stained clothes for soccer moms and baseball dads to contend with, empty sky . . . open mind, time for thinking about some things.

 

Some things start.

 

Some things can alter my mood, pump me up. Some things are a dual duel in the morning; ideas and people compete for my attention, and I for theirs.  Stretching and learning happens, thinking is no substitute for listening.

 

Some things are for taking, not randomness but calculated chance taking – is no more or less fallible than, I suspect, thinking through every permutation before arriving at an actionable decision.  Disaster, or the times of our life?

 

Some things appear to be the best laid plans (did I write that correctly?).  Plans, ideas, wishes, hopes – are just that - don’t always work out – the better answer most often is, they worked out ‘different’ or ‘in unexpected ways’ …. and, once in a blue moon, ‘better’.

 

Some things leave us to believe nothing works according to plan - pong for instance, began the video game world – the sad reminder is that I can’t play it any better today than I could a hundred years ago when it first came out!

 

Something is on my mind; like Ray Charles and Georgia , something about understanding where I am, where I am going – going alone, or going with someone, going toward someone, or going away from them.  It is hard to tell whether what I want is right here, or if it’s time to get out on the road again.

 

Some things come to an end.  When we explore, venture – then retreat, are we going after something that was never real – an illusion of something that can never be, or are we falling just short of something fantastic because we weren’t quite prepared for taking chances . . . or even a single chance?  There are so many ways, your way, my way, some other way.

 

Some things, we find by looking hard for them, and some we find by accident . . . so try, taking one more chance, one more time.

 

Some things float in, and out, like voices of the wind.

 

Some things end, and as they end, something new begins.

 

~~~

UNSPOKEN - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

When we try to work the angles,

we find new angles, different tangents,

or alternative views, there are few

more skewed yet entertaining than

the eventual, perpetual and debilitating

triangle; try-any-angle you wish, the

angle-du-tri is not one for you –

unless you desire conflict,

between heart and mind,

between yours and mine,

to say nothing of the other one,

you know, that unspoken of one

when that third person is there

in the room, someone who turns

everything around no matter

which angle you try.

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,472

 

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

May 15 Comments

 

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS – SOME FINE DAY - Thank you Mark .I feel pretty special and I enjoyed Carole King playing and singing it.I was dancing around the room singing Karaoke style.....good thing my windows were closed I am sure the magpies that have built there nest in a tree about 10 feet from the house would have packed up and left town.(Then again it might have saved me being attacked when I leave my front door once their young are present!) LOL Normally I can sing however I brutalized the song with a voice that is still suffering from a cold. OHHHH well I did have fun and intend to repeat my actions when the server decides they have done enough maintenance on their sight. I can hardly wait to hear the other tunes you chose to go along with your thought provoking words!! , PE, Calgary, AB

 

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS - Thought I'd share one I was listening to this morning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmbUNF1Q4R8&a=EdD5Bmxfc-k&playnext_from=ML that I thought, as a shoe man, you might appreciate :)  CK, Beaumont, AB

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS - OK ...I think I am worn out by playing all the renditions of "ONE FINE DAY" that was on youtube. LOL  I enjoyed your song selections immensely...the only one I didn't recognize was tenderness. It made doing household chores a whole lot easier!!! Thanks Mark, PE, Calgary, AB

 

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS - Wonderful selections of music links and amazing photos within "Coldplay's Clocks".. thank you for sharing. Am sure you've heard Plato's quote "Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything"...that is what makes your weekend musings with music special to me.  Also, yesterday you shared your thoughts about  "Unplanned spontaneous wanderings best well orchestrated guided tours", and I just had to share the most spontaneous act of many in my life.   My sweetie/soul-mate/lover/roommate had just gotten the news that his cancer had spread to his bones which was certainly not good news.  We had been together nearly 14 years and he had always wanted me to marry him...but it just did not seem important to me.  The next morning when we woke up, I asked him if he wanted to get married, and 3 hours later the knot was tied. He shared with me later that this day was the "Happiest Day of His Life." The next month he gave me a Valentine's Day card "To My Wife" and he was so proud. That one spontaneous act gave him so much peace and sincere happiness for those last 5 months of his life. It made a difference in his life...and it made me happy to make HIM happier as he faced the most difficult months of his remaining life.    It was just a "Piece of Paper" but to him, it was so much more. I share this because it might give thought to another reader who shares those circumstances of mine. SY, Honolulu, HI

 

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS -I agree, I also want about the things I've always wanted; my basic needs tended to, good health with hardly any discomforts, and pleasure. But above all, I want my raison d'etre and to fulfill it, EG, Calgary, AB

 

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS - Your column today, serious and wonderful, very true, MM, Arlington Heights, IL

 

May 15 – THERE ARE SIGNS - You often quote Anais Nin.  So, last night my friend Rita and I were shopping at Ala Moana Center for retail therapy until all shops were closed except Barnes & Noble.  We went into the book store and I said I wanted to see what books of hers they had on the shelf.  There were several.  I picked up Delta of Venus:  Erotica.  I opened a page and read one paragraph about this women having an orgasm.  OMG.  There was only one copy of this book and we ended up splitting the cost of it and Rita took it home first.  I took home the "Gut Flush Plan," not exactly the kind of ending I wanted.  So, I googled Anais Nin when I got home and read some of her quotes.  I cut and pasted a bunch and sent them to Rita.  I'll forward a copy to you.  Of course, I had already read a number of them from your column.  Thank you for introducing her to me (and now Rita).  Have a great weekend!, JK, Kailua, HI

THERE ARE SIGNS - Saturday May 15, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

[note about music/video links – I find on Saturday and Sunday mornings I have time, and perhaps my readers do to, to listen to some music. I choose pieces I like that connect, in some way, to the subject matter or to my mood… hope you like them]

 

 

Morning walk: 9C/48F, fresh from an overnight shower, sun is shining, concrete and landscape workers making noise attracted Gusta’s attention – there is only one way to describe this start - it’s going to be one fine day.

 

People come and go in our lives; the people don’t change - their roles do.  From student to friend, to teacher or from acquaintance to friend to love to friend again; or from neighbor to stranger to old friend; these people come and go in our lives wearing countless masks, endless roles . . and yet they are the same.

 

When people touch me - doesn’t seem to matter which season or what reason; doesn’t seem to matter, summer or fall, touching matters most of all. When I was younger I wanted more, less easily satisfied then - and, older now, with weary body (and sometimes bleary vision), I find I still want same things I’ve always wanted, with the tri-fecta of intensity, sparkling raucous fun and a serene sense of belonging - less like a hand fitting in a tight driving glove than like a pair of comfy warm mittens.  These are not signs of getting older as much as signs of getting wiser or, as someone implied recently, of tenderness (but maybe that was a comment on the steak?).

 

Because trees bear fruit, we pick what is there, knowing there will be times when picking will not be good, or strength to reach up or climb the ladder will have left us and faded from our bones. Still, we should pick fruit we like for right reasons - rather than picking fruit just because it is fruit and tasty. Or, maybe we just need someone to stand by us, steadying the ladder for us.

 

Nothing is easy; not an easy (or any other kind) chair or some easy way – easier and easiest are all relative terms describing lesser degrees of difficulty.  On ski slopes, there are signs – like traffic lights – to warn of degree of difficulty, but notwithstanding the warnings, we try the tougher routes anyway, especially late in the day when we have less energy, less resilience, less strength in our lower back or wobbly knee.

 

Is it summer sunshine on a May day, or winter sunbeam, that makes me happy?  The sun shines in, waking occurs – the light touches me just about the same . . . and nothing seems as easy as it might have been, waking without clocks – only streams of light to wake us.

 

People are who they are, not who they appear to be – often a barely discernable difference; or, it can be blaring trumpet contrast. Not knowing the difference can rob us of an opportunity for being ready – for any experience – is about having an open mind, unfettered by a lifetime of experiences that color the expectation.

 

I’m not easy – nor easy to be with or easy to please; not difficult, just not easy.  My life is right here; it doesn’t live on some beach or in mountain shadows, at a lake, or on the other side of town – it’s all coming back to me now.

 

 

~~~

SLEEPING - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

No getting around it, sleeping

is remedy for all that ails us

except the kind of sleeping we

don’t wake up from; but it must

be confusing for people learning

this language when they hear

of sleeping with someone or

about sleeping around which

must be confusing because

there is, in those cases, no

sleeping happening at all – except

afterward, when nodding off

and dozing are rather

inherently found

except, of course, for those who

missed it all while they were

sleeping.

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,496

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

May 14 Comments

 

May 14 – ROAD TRIP – Before I take a step today, I decided to look at when I took a step yesterday.  It may sound minor, but yesterday I changed my mind, I changed my plans for the evening.  Doesn't sound like a big deal and, I know there are no big deals today if I have the "right perspective on life," but it was uncomfortable.  I know why it is hard to change my mind, to tell someone no, "I will not be joining you tonight."  The reason is I am a people pleaser.  It's deep rooted and translates into self esteem problems.  Okay, all the years of therapy and other introspective work tells me "why," but doing something different was uncomfortable.  I practiced what I would say in front of another friend and decided to leave out all of the rationalizations.  Okay, here goes - and, I made the call.  No big deal.  It was so freeing.  And, I had a perfectly lovely evening.  Let's see what step of change I take today! Thank you for your suggestion to help keep me on this path of wonderment, JK, Kailua, HI

 

May 14 – ROAD TRIP - Hello  Great reading for the day. It is my ooldest son's birth day.  He turns 30 wow..., SB, Calgary, AB

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May 14 – ROAD TRIP - Am better at leaping into the void as I get older and more fearless, which in my case means less fear rather than without fear. I am not entirely sure what the fear surrounds, few of us are even though we put the things in there, but I keep hacking away at its boundaries, reclaiming ‘my own real estate’ (Estate: specifically the derivation from Old French estat (French: état) with one of the definitions being ‘condition’.  So….reclaiming ‘my own real condition’?!) As I grow up, I more actively seek those little diversions from predictability for their fun, adventure and advantage. I’ve not been entirely predictable at any time in my life, but I am less so now.  Sometimes ‘age’ brings ‘courage’, sometimes it brings ‘rage’, I prefer the first.   Loved your ‘Road Leads’, well done!  JW-Calgary/ Cochrane, AB

 

 May 14 – ROAD TRIP - Given your love of words and ideas, I thought you would truly enjoy this. So simple and yet so brilliant.  This is only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant.   Make sure you read as well as listen...forward and backward.  Lost Generation  , VJP, DeWinton, AB

 

ROAD TRIP - Friday May 14, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 7C/45F, warming trend continues (sunny with showery end predicted), light breeze, a ‘still white’ rabbit browsing a backyard caught Gusta’s attention, while the view of the mountains bathed in sunshine lifted my sprits, stirred memories and energized these key-strokes.

 

Leap of faith, easy to understand in theory, but  closer aligned with leaping off buildings in hope flying skill will develop before we land - huge stretch heads, to say nothing about speed of the fall, or where a road trip takes us. Remember the road doesn’t go anywhere, it’s just a road.  The travel, journey, experience is deep in our belly, non-drug induced mind-altering hallucinogenic of thought where we are testing ourselves – obstacles on our path, impediments to leaping, challenging ourselves to take little steps, testing our comfort level on little things without major consequences – is somewhere between worthy character analysis and brain candy . .

 

‘How did I get here, to this place?’ deserves complex reply; when I look back at unlikely paths, richness in it, experiences – by-product side trips from comfort-norm.

 

Why, then, is it difficult to muster the courage to do the little diversions from predictability?  There seems to be, in most of us, strong desire to hold safety-lines, wear life-jackets – but they anchor us, as would constant hand-wrings for orchestra conductors.  As his/her hands must be free to gesticulate, minds need to be free for similar reasons.

 

‘There was a law of life, so cruel and so just, that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.’ – Norman Mailer

 

‘And the day comes when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.’ – Anais Nin

 

Whether we follow the wisdom of Nin and Mailer, or year for Kerouac or Cervantes-like wisdom, there rests – and I mean RESTS – deep within us, a yearning for stepping out from our normal comfortable track, not in rebellion, but in exploration of the possible.

 

Some people, most actually, will go through this day making no changes in their lives whatever; they won’t change their mind, their perspective, their actions, their plans, their ‘anything’.  Are you going to be in that group?

 

Or, will you take a step?  To, take a chance?  Will you, truly?  Don’t overwhelm yourself with many changes, just try one.  One.

 

One only, that’s all it takes; you will be on your way down the slippery slope we guard against, the slippery slope called a free-fall into something unusual where we don’t have a foot on the brake, a hand on the wheel or a safety switch.

 

All we have is our mind, wandering a bit, in search of new experience – with risk, of course, but with opportunity far beyond that of Nin’s rose bud.  Go meditate on that, then leap, get on the road – go where vague ideas lead.

 

Unplanned spontaneous wanderings best well orchestrated guided tours;  feeling of being naked and barefooted in the midst of the entire world (of course we are), is easier to grasp if we think of it as a trusting notion - really, one of trusting we are in good hands, that someone will hold us, in the palm of their hand, not drop us or abandon us – ever – so this trusting we do, trusting universe as much as anyone individual, trusting ourselves as the best guardians of our preciousness . .

 

~~~

ROAD LEADS - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

The road leads, again,

from where it starts

to where we arrive

without going

anywhere itself

because it rests there,

between ditches,

cowardly yellow spine

plain, for all to see,

for that road leads

somewhere but

never follows,

never ends

except when

it turns around,

again, homeward

bound again

because the road

never leaves

home, it arrives

but never leaves,

it just lays there,

not moving – never

the traveler, always

there, just the road.

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,520

 

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

 

May 13 Comments

 

May 13 – LET THE WIND BLOW – Hi  I have been under the weather, but enjoying the daily thoughts. Thanks and Enjoy the day. Regards, SB, Calgary, AB

 

May 13 – LET THE WIND BLOW -  Howdy cowboy! Nice content in your latest musings, and some meaty comments from the readers. Is the gal who appears lately from Hawaii a "woman of interest", or just a reader? , SW, Coeur d'Alene, ID

 

May 13 – LET THE WIND BLOW - You did it again Mark, Your column has made me see Thursday in a whole new light. We are conditioned to recognize Wednesdays as "Hump" day half way through our work week. But having Thursday as a day to deal with the "leftovers" from last week  makes sense to me. It makes way for a weekend you can look forward too.  Personally all through my life I have told myself that if there is something I want to know or accomplish I can do it. Most times I have and for the few times for one reason or another it didn't work out I chalked it up to a learning experience.  Believe it or not I just am getting going this morning. I have had my shower , made a cup of tea and read your column. I had a pretty rough evening and night with this microbe. Hope today is better. One thing for sure it makes you appreciate being healthy the majority of the time. Have a good one, PE, Calgary, AB

 

May 13 – LET THE WIND BLOW - Loved your column today, put a smile on my face, had to come home and read it again, MM, Arlington Heights, IL

 

LET THE WIND BLOW - Thursday May 13, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 7C/45F, ahh . . a warm one, finally; breezy sunny happy morning; Gusta had three dog neighbor encounters, the lap dog wearing the lamp-shade type collar confused both but made entertaining canine theatre for me.

 

Spectacular start - may you wake up with an extra ounce of bounce in your step, may your soft parts and hard parts all mesh beautifully today, may your troubles only show up in your rear-view mirror, may your windshield be bug-free and let the wind blow in your hair.

 

Not how it looks from where you are? 

 

Try adjusting your view.

 

Circumstances are circumstantial – not proof of anything, not guiding anything, not determining anything really, just a snapshot of a few isolated facts at a moment in time.

 

But circumstances, ones we see every day, all around us – often block all other things we might see. And, given we can’t control much, sometimes we think we really cannot do much to influence events, people or how the day goes.  That can change, Follow these instructions/thoughts and let me know if your today is different:

 

Ask yourself, not – ‘who will I be?’ or ‘who will you be?’ but rather, what will this day be?

 

Between Wednesday and Friday – perfect day - early enough in the week to start something new, but not so late I can’t finish it this week.  Early week leftovers from last week are cleared, new things underway, a calm day before the weekend approaches.  

 

Today fits.  Like a snug glove or sleek jacket, it fits.  So, what to do about it?

 

Try this. Reach out – to someone, to anyone – you know very well, someone who hasn’t heard from you in a while, someone who might just need or deserve to be lifted up this morning, someone who might not share your fresh and spectacular notion of how a Thursday should feel, someone who deserves the richness of your kindness, someone who deserves your unending respect and support, someone who has given you much but received so little from you in return.  You have someone in your life like that, right?

 

I do.  We all do.  Today can be complicated – or brilliantly simple. What kind of Thursday do you want to have?  Who will you be?

 

Now, can you do something for me, will you please?

 

Consider this:  in all things you know, and in all things you don’t know – that collectively they fall into two groups; ‘the possible’ and the ‘not possible’.

 

Is it then worth considering, that, most things in your ‘not possible’ grouping, really are in the wrong group?

 

~~~

ALL OVER IT - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

As I believe this, or that,

my feet feel the wet cement of it,

but if I believe none of it

then I am soft sponge too,

soaking-up all, every drop,

so when all is squeezed

out of me, there will again be

a man, sponge-ready, to be filled up

again with it all,

the juicy squishy taste of it

as I am - barely wounded by life,

not walking dead yet,

brushed against it, again today,

much like yesterday,

only ‘accidental’,

reminded I can only

speak with authority about things

I understand and, on this day,

when I feel I understand nothing,

I have nothing to say which

anyone would value,

other than to know,  

in nothing-ness,

there exists a lesson - to be

united in a cause, or a feeling that

does not take pause

or send us reeling

is to make time

in our brain, for nonsense,

in knowing the taste of life,

knowing its flavor crossed our tongue

as we taste and lick it,

try to eat it, ice-cream cone-like

or, as we are prone to

photo it, display it,

push it through the line

to show up over there

on someone’s screen now,

on their mind now

like the sponge now,

empty again, but with

lingering flavor in it,

on it, all over it.

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,544

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

May 12 Comments

 

May 12 – LIFE, SELF GUIDED TOUR  - When I read your words today (and other days), I think of a person dear in my life.  Rita!  Lovely Rita.  She has all of the qualities you write about:  strong, confident, assertive, funny, passionate, discerning, intelligent, compassionate, wise.  Discernment is one word that stands out.  She knows who she is and chooses who she spends her time with.  There have been times when she has chosen not to spend time with me.  I needed to take responsibility for my part in the rift and be patient knowing that if we were meant to be, it would be.  The two times we have been derailed in our tracks, one was major and the other over minor things, were very painful for me.  I wanted to fix what was wrong and go back to talking to her every morning.  Sharing what was on my mind, listening to her, planning our next "partner in crime" outing.  I practiced patience, made my amends and we are back into daily contact, but it's different today because of the derailment.  I do not take our friendship for granted.  I treat it like a precious gift - because she is. , JK, Kailua, HI

 

May 12 – LIFE, SELF GUIDED TOUR  - Thank you so much for sending your column to me. Wow ,you have a unique way of expressing yourself. I admit I read it over more than once. I also read yesterdays column.......interesting!!   When I was in Toronto for a conference I went a day early. Thirty four years ago I met a couple who became dear friends. I hadn't seen my friend Lela for about four years and her husband for 10years. She met me at the airport and from that point on we didn't skip a beat. I have to admit there are only a few in my life that I can truly say this scenario takes place. It is a very rewarding experience. Hope your day is a happy one, PE, Calgary, AB

 

LIFE, SELF GUIDED TOUR - Wednesday May 12, 2010

today’s Musing  written and published from Cranston in south- east  Calgary, near the Bow River valley

 

Morning walk: 1C/34F, clear calm, mountains invite, jagged white capped rip-saw look against powder blue morn; Gusta’s nose distracted by whiffs of lap dog . . . but not long.

 

At beginning - those who spring and observe us as babies launched from safe resting place, have so much to teach; they see us arrive as 9 month journeys end, 90 yr+ one begins, like checking into a ‘clothing optional’ resort for a process of being nurtured for a while, then embarking on life of complete freedom (so we tell ourselves) to direct life, our way.

 

Sure - but we don’t, for the most part, direct much of anything. 

 

Some do, don’t they?   We look at them and see: strong, confident, assertive, funny, passionate, discerning, intelligent, compassionate, wise . . and say ‘I want to be like that!’ … as if there is such a person, such a way of being.  There is, of course, but these qualities (or any other Webster dictionary subset you select) are bit-parts of someone’s being – symptoms really, of what is deeper, worn into shapes called persona, experiences, indelible memories of joys and fears, triumphs and tears . . bright spots and dark place.

 

Earth’s a self-righting ship – over countless billions of years, before humans showed up a few moments ago with big brains and trauma drama tendencies; billions of cycles of four seasons, warming and cooling, ice-ages shaped landscapes and buried critter die-offs - fossil records of an encyclopedia we’ve scarcely cracked.

 

Instead of spelunking for lessons of the ages, we are so bent on ‘pace of change cope’ that we miss seeing worth in life, people and history’s lessons. If you could, just once, take yourself back to a moment in your life (or history) – when you could change one thing, would it change the course of your history, history of the world), would it change you?

 

What would it be?

 

We can’t un-do, fix it, right tipped boats or restore derailed trains of thought to anything remotely resembling original tracks.  Pathways confront, prompt questions, far too swiftly for comfort. Which route to take? Impatiently, rushed, rather than waiting to see which path chooses us, which begs our time, attention . . .

 

That’s interesting.  What looks like an ideal, package worth catching - part substance, part hologram image – is real, with intangible elements.  We arrive – at our next stage, page or destination - nothing to prepare, nothing to bring . . . just show up.

 

Morning mail (smiles), dangling conversation ruminations, left-over from yesterday’s meetings and appointments (my dad got a great check-up at the cardiac clinic) – pondering ‘what’s next?’ - which chances to jump at, which ones to run from, which ones to watch play out on life’s big-screen, speaking of which; I am a tad groggy – fell asleep last night watching Charlie Rose’s fascinating interview with Norris Church Mailer (Norman Mailer’s widow) about her new book ‘A Ticket To The Circus’ … dozed off (I think I can catch it again this afternoon). Stories of writers and messy lives fascinate me. I wonder why?

 

Regret nothing.

 

Apologize less.

 

Dream more.

 

Have vague idea of which parts of a canvas the brush-strokes of life will paint.

 

I know this – life’s opportunities have never been more available, tasty, tangible and waiting – welcome mat laid out for me.

 

My life is a self-guided tour. I’ve taken off - destination planned, route uncertain, time not much of a factor; I’ll get where I am going when I get there.  Right now, I’m here, now, ready, waiting – but not hesitating.

 

~~~

LEGS COIL UP - link to archive – The Poetry Project

 

The trail thoughts take,

from image or sound,

conversation to conversation,

crook-pathed journey of flitty ideas

and flirty notions to produce

deep understanding – or to obscure it,

completely smother it, with banter

spread, like thick butter to mess-over

cracks and holes between hurt

and fearful, while legs coil up,

springs to launch us over crevices

of uncertainty and gorges

between dreams – no comfortable pew

at this show of life, hang on,

remember anything, everything,

as if we were young again,

fearing life less, again.

 

~~~

 

Mark Kolke

322,568

 

 

RESPONSES/COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME; send to: dailycolumn@markkolke.com

 

 

May 11 Comments

 

May 11 – SUDDENLY, THERE THEY ARE  - Your thoughts and feelings and losses and experiences this week, compacted into this small slice of your life may leave you profoundly changed, they may open you up to someone who, as you say, will become important to you.  Life is so very short.  What if there is no time to be picky, what if we should grab and enjoy love and pleasure as it comes our way?  I hope your new friend becomes  someone important, exciting, and delicious in your life.  I want that for you.  I too miss our conversations, Mark, but in a way, this time may serve to more fully open you up to the new possibilities of this Edmonton or the next Calgary or the future Wailea.  It is so difficult to be open to new when you are still filled with the one from before. FO, Kaunakakai, HI

 

May 11 – SUDDENLY, THERE THEY ARE  - Morning,nice column today, little more upbeat.  Raining here again today, ugly........ I think we are new friends, what do you think? MM, Arlington Heights, IL

 

May 11 – SUDDENLY, THERE THEY ARE  - G'morn Mark.. The sun shines & it warms up.. maybe golf season is truly here..  We may have missed the "WOW" factor between us, but still feel there was a connection - "friend" "bud" .. I will be hiding my internet dating profile, to explore a connection made.. with the help of your wisdom, insight & writing skills.. bill me? :)  Retired my crystal ball years ago, damn thing never worked.. so rely on guts & brain, to see where this goes.. The reason some people come into our lives.. the things that may you go Hhhmm.. Trust that all is well with you, you look forward to Maui soon.. maybe with a lovely seat-mate.. Warm wishes Mark, JS, Ponoka, AB

 

May 11 – SUDDENLY, THERE THEY ARE  - Every so true! Why not up the chances? I couldn’t agree with you more! The more people you speak with and a share a moment, the greater your chances of finding a person who may ultimately impact your life in a presently inconceivable way.  What can we do? Just what you did! Say the words out loud and it gets heard. And that person tells another person …… and that persons tells another person and another .. and so on and so on  …… and so on ! Regards, LAR, Winnipeg, MB

 

May 11 – SUDDENLY, THERE THEY ARE  - Question:  Have you even met anyone for the first time that felt like he/she was already your good friend, like you’d known that person for eons -not seconds - of time?  The conversation clicks; the ideas flow easily, quickly as if each stimulates the next in the other; the laughter is spontaneous and free; and the time spent together is energizing – so much so that you both wish it to continue.  And it does continue, without thought, without effort, with respect, even as each may choose the road that could take he/she in separate directions for a while or forever.  Each time you reconnect, the feeling is still there, still fresh, still ripe for more exploration and sharing.  If you don’t ever reconnect, you’ve still given each other a gift.  Not a gift you can point to and say, this is it... this is the gift.  For however long you’ve spent together, you’ve given each other the gift of acceptance without conditions, without analysis (unless your name is Mark Kolke, that is – but I’m smiling as I type that; so don’t run off offended, okay?).  JW-Calgary/Cochrane, AB