Fun Caption

It's automatic... I see an image and my mind starts contriving the message in it... its 'caption.' So, I am going to begin, today, sharing some of my favorites with you. I do hope that you too will enjoy them.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ALL OF MY GRAND PLANS ?


Image: Katy Lowe, a contributing viewer of BBC

I Remember

Today is designated “Memorial Day” in the USA.

And, lest any of my compatriots from what we not-so-fondly remember as the “Viet Nam Era” think that the fears; the pain; the Brotherhood; the confusion, disillusionments, Camaraderie, uncertainties, or anguish of those days have been somehow forgotten.

Please know that… On this (as on many other) days… I remember ! “Semper Fi”


IMAGES: Collage of Me, USMC (1964-1970)

The Morning After

And then... there's the Morning After... when the sea of emotion spawned by the familiar face, the rediscovered greeting card, the soul-stirring song recedes back to its place of beginning... and I am left with the barren sands of... Now.

But, we ask, would I have it any other way? Would I prefer a becalmed pond of still and dormant sameness for the purpose of avoiding the swing of life's emotional pendulum? "Never!" I heartily declare. For to be denied the thrill, the zest, the flavour of that sumptuous moment of relived feeling and sensation would be a fate that robs living of its peaks, its spices, its 'rush.' And that bland existence would scarcely be worth the lifting of awakening eyelids in the morning. No, My Friend, please give me those rare and isolated instances of passionate awareness and intimacy with my deepest of recollections. For those treats and favors carry me through many a day devoid of any inspiration.

And, that you may be able to identify with, and share in the balance of life's ebb and flow with me... I give you this follow-up to yesterday's special gift. For, as I have oft promised you, we are, indeed, in this living business... together.


IMAGE through the talents and courtesy of Jon Sullivan, PDPhoto.org

Not Alone

I am convinced that I am not alone. I feel some measure of certainty that you too have isolated moments of recollection brought on by the appearance of a familiar face. It seems somehow not out of the ordinary for me to experience renewed emotion when I uncover an old greeting card saved for its particular place in the annals of my life’s passage. Perhaps you have some set-aside memorabilia that you can just see or touch to unleash anew that still-fresh awareness of something worthy of cherishing.

But we… you and I… seldom speak of these things. Hence, we have no easy, comfortable, and usual vocabulary for inclusion of these aspects of ourselves in our present living. I am writing today to (in some small measure) remedy that oversight. For, My Dear Friend, I am presently living in the midst of a very real and tangible awareness of all of the sensations appreciated in a romance and passion of many years ago. I do not know Life's purpose in today's delightful gift. But, Dear Friend, I can candidly tell you that it is a wonderful experience. So, I share it with you.

It began with an image seen as a “thumb-nail” photo on the periphery of a page on an online dating site. The eyes were Her’s. The shape and proportion of features of the face were Her’s. The over-all effect of facial expression was just as familiar as yesterday, though it has been well over seventeen years since we last saw each other. This person's stated location was within a few miles of where I addressed the last letter that I posted to Her.

I was overwhelmed with emotion! At a complete loss as to how to react, I sent an absurdly obtuse message to the person on the Site… which she deleted, after reading. I find myself, still today, not knowing how to respond to the surge of powers loosened by this glimpse of an anonymous “Someone” who has awakened all of the circuitry of energies generated by the very thought of Her.

Then, as I opened the small archive of saved mementoes and correspondences, I uncovered the greeting card with the “Happy Anniversary” message (the image created by Renoir that accompanies this message is the image on that card.) And, again, the intensity of my feelings is heightened with Her words spoken on that card back in 1989. And I am further aware that, as of April 8 of 2008, it will be twenty years since we first met… And I am as much in love with her at this very moment as I was then or at any point after then.

It is a comfortable, Peaceful, Undemanding, Non-threatening, Accepting, Forgiving, Funny, Silly, Giddy, Deep, Profound, and Gentle Love. It requires nothing other than itself. It is complete in every way. It could in no way be improved upon (though Her presence would be a wonderful enhancement!) And I am abundantly grateful for this Love’s place in the totality of my Being.

All of the aforesaid ideas, thoughts, and impressions were visited upon me during the pre-dawn hours of this morning that found me making my newspaper deliveries. And… yes… I did have a moment of self-doubt as to the wisdom, maturity, prudence, and rational rightness of such thinking. And right on cue! At that very moment… Life responded with a beautiful and timely reply in the form of the playing of one of Our favorite and most poignant songs… played on the one still-functioning speaker of my van’s radio. I listened, sang, smiled, and celebrated it as it played… then turned the radio off lest the spell be broken. I share with you now (for your very own revisiting of your treasured moments and memories), the words to “Endless Love.”

Endless Love - Lionel Richie and Diana Ross

My Love… there's only you in my life…
The only thing that's right.

My First Love… you're every breath that I take…
You're every step I make.

And I… I want to share all my love with you…
No one else will do.

And your eyes… they tell me how much you care…
Oh, yes… you will always be… My Endless Love.

Two hearts… two hearts that beat as one…
Our lives have just begun.

Forever… I'll hold you close in my arms…
I can't resist your charms.

And love… I'll be a fool for you, I'm sure…
You know I don't mind.

'Cause you… you mean the world to me…
Oh, I… know I found… in you… My Endless Love.

And love… I'll be that fool for you…
I'm sure you know I don't mind.

And yes… you'll be the only one…
'Cause no one can deny…This love I have inside…
And I'll give it all to you… my love… My Endless Love.

Terry-Cloth Robe

Your intention was to compliment…
by telling me that you remembered.

Then you revealed that your recollection was
initiated by your experiencing the same with Another.

In this, I found neither compliment nor pleasure.
All that I knew was a sense of loss.

There was no joy in my knowing that what was once held
as a singular Treasure…
Is reduced, by your valuation… to meaninglessness.

For That which had been cherished as rare and precious…
Is now tossed into a jar of accumulated trinkets.

John-Michael
(24 May 2007)

The Right Light

Our beauty

is often not

to be found

in our details…










But is evident

to all who

see us in

the right light.











IMAGES: (upper) Carl Portman, (lower) Mike Thompson, BBC Viewers

Ultimate Blossom

Mine is an unyielding quest for an elusive state…
An unquenchable thirst for a nectar whose sample has been but a drop…
Yet that addictive drop provided the validation of Possibility…
The possibility of knowing life’s ultimate blossom.

It is in the center of that blossom that I must ultimately reside…
Encased in delicate petals of exquisite hue…
Permeated with a fragrance that beckons and invites…
Cradled by a touch whose presence is only a suggestion of touch.

The flower of her adoration…
The bloom of her desire…
The potential of her possibility…
All invite me to seek that next opportunity to discover her.


John-Michael
11 May 2007

Fleeting Moment

It was but for a fleeting moment…
I greeted You… You responded with an invitation “to talk.”

I reflected my delight in your invitation…
You were charmed by my delight.

I was captivated by your charm… and said so…
You were overwhelmed by my captivation… and willingness to speak it.

I made myself available…
You saw no future possibilities.

You voiced withdrawal… and deleted me…
I acquiesced… and deleted You.

The meeting virtual… the responses emotional…
The effects unnatural.

From Here to There… and back again…
All in a fleeting moment


John-Michael
09 May 2007

Loving Now

Fell asleep sitting under the oak tree... nice breeze, low 60's, fed a whole loaf of bread to a variety of birds and squirrels after pruning trees and shrubs. Had the last beer, propped up the throbbing hip and knee, and blissfully drifted off. Then awoke, and came in to write:

Loving Now

Is there any other way to love you…
Save to love you as I know you right now?

Can I enjoy you beyond the limits of this circumstance…
Is there some other dimension that we can experience one another in?

Will the confines of this aspect always be the definition of our knowledge…
Or will not each succeeding moment bring with it some fresh description?

Hence, it seems to me… Now is the time to love…
In this here and present.

Within the confines of this combination of elements,
I find myself loving you.

Without question of, interest in, or concern about…
The setting that awaits my next opportunity... to love you still.

John-Michael
(08 May 2007)



IMAGE: Grant Taylor

It's Intimacy !

“It’s intimacy!”

“What?”

“Intimacy!… that’s what you found in the chance encounter with the stranger in the office.” I offered. “You and he connected in a personal, immediate, and un-cluttered, spontaneous intimacy which, obviously, you both had a very ready yearning for.”

Then… silence… and tears… and a complete shift in the dynamic of our meeting. We were no longer sharing in the “magic” of the recounting of a mystical and wondrous happening. Now we were suddenly immersed in a reality moment.

“That is what We had… what drew Us to each other… what I have missed and wanted back, but didn’t know the name of until right now. And now, now that you have identified the element of my yearning, I want back what We had… with Him… not someone else.”

And for the first time in my own personal conscious awareness, I, My Dear Reader, was confronted (by that source known to the ages as “Muse”, or “Still Small Voice”) with the tangible character of Intimacy. Not something that is done… neither activity nor planned exercise, but a state of BEing. For, don’t you see, we can only BE intimate, intimacy is not something “done.” Intimacy is a state of being that creates its own ecosystem. There is an environment that lives… colours that vibrate… life forms that flourish in a state of intimacy that would wither and cease to exist outside of those elements that are particular to intimacy.

So, today, in this moment of your consideration, I ask that you sweep aside all of the detritus of life’s “Doing Stuff” and make a place for Being intimate. First with yourself… “Know Thyself”… honor thyself… respect thyself… be intimate and allow an awareness of your true yearnings. Then permit a barrier-free state of intimacy to happen with a trusted “Other.”


IMAGE: Courtesy of R&K4everloved, The Lens Flare

Your Song

How long has it been since your soul was so full and overflowing that you simply had to sing? Yesterday? This morning? Last year? Never!? Well, for me, it was this morning. And Why? Why, because of the touch (though from miles away) of another, of course!

And this is how it has been for me for as long as I can remember. When I am stirred, I sing. I recall my daughter declaring “You are depressed! Whenever you are depressed, you sing.” And I thought, at the time… and again, now… how very sad that she has only experienced and observed my singing in a setting that spawns depression. How unfortunate that she was not with me in the isolated moments when I was given cause to sing for joy. If only she could know the exuberance of my song when I was first presented with what has become my soul’s theme song. I recall, quite vividly, opening the envelope and finding within, the three-by-five index card with the lyrics typed as an expression of the feelings of the presenter. How I did sing that song… over and over… that day, and for many days to follow!

And, again, as I went about my work this morning, I found myself singing that very song. Freely and with complete abandon, I styled, modified, varied, and adjusted the tempo, key, even some lyrics, to my immediate taste. And, with unabashed gusto, I sang out my challenge to the early-morning chorus of birds. “Stand aside boys… you have competition this morning! And I sang.”

So, the question arises… What is, or would be (if you were so inclined) your soul’s theme song? What melody would carry your spirit in a comfortable representation of your spirit’s fondest emotion? What lyrics would translate the message of your heart into the atmosphere? And when will you be singing it next? And what are you doing… right now… to bring that to pass? All worthy considerations as you and I share in that song made famous by the New Christy Minstrels in 1964, and was given to me on that little index card that, over the course of many years, became worn to the point of disintegration. Here are the words to “Today”… as I bid you the very best of your Today.

Today
Words & Music by Randy Sparks
Recorded by New Christy Minstrels, 1964 (#17); From the movie "Advance to the Rear"

Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine,

I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine;

A million tomorrows shall all pass away

Ere I forget all the joy that is mine today.


I'll be a dandy and I'll be a rover,

You'll know who I am by the song that I sing.

I'll feast at your table, I'll sleep in your clover,

Who cares what tomorrow may bring.


Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine

I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine;

A million tomorrows shall all pass away

Ere I forget all the joy that is mine today.



I can't be contented with yesterday's glories,

I can't live on promises winter to spring.

Today is my moment and now is my story --

I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing.


Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine,

I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine;

A million tomorrows shall all pass away

Ere I forget all the joy that is mine Today.





IMAGES: (Rose Vine) Univ. of Chicago; (Strawberries) Christine's Pies; (Wine) Earth's Best E Books; (Feast) National Maritime Museum; (Clover) Roundrock Journal