Obsessive

So many of us fall in and out of love that you would think there’s no room for it to become an obsession. Yet the literature [and by that I mean films] is chock a block full of stories in which love has led us astray.

Movies depict fools so deeply enthralled that they can’t help but do evil. All in the name of love.

They just aren’t able to walk away.

Statistics suggest that staying in love is a 50 50 proposition. So why can’t these movie heroes move on and back off?

For instance, James Stewart’s Johnny Ferguson is so smitten by Kim Novak’s Madeleine even before they meet or speak that it’s clear he’s a goner. His Vertigo isn’t the condition that will get him in trouble.

A beautiful woman got the best of him. He’s obsessed.

Zumba!

The Zumba song is rhyming
Mariposo with peligroso and
Other fine Spanish sounds
The dangerous butterfly is
What catches my ear and 
Flutters in my heart. How is
There peril in the butterfly's
Flight. Is it just random rhyme?
Is it meaningful when Zumba
Associates a butterfly with
Danger? The rhythms stick
In my head but march so 
Much faster than I can catch
Them. Like the path of a
Butterfly, quick and pretty
But elusive and mercurial. 
Do the meanings matter?
Time to admit just how
Little I really understand 
Maybe the foreign is the
Beauty and the allure to
Which we sway and sweat

For the sake

Let us say, for the
Sake of argument,
That there is some
Thing over which
We disagree, some
Fact or figure that
Stands in the way 
Of our courtesy, our
Accord. That there
Is something which
Will lead us to rise
In opposition and 
Force us into a fight.

Let us acknowledge
That when we disagree
We do so bitterly and
With daggers drawn.
Let us say, for the sske
Of peace, that no 
Battle shall be fought
Tonight, not between
Us, old friends. Let us
Say, for the sake of
Argument, that some
Rows are not worthy.

Let us argue for the 
Sake of exceeding self-
Importance that the
Fracas stands in the
Way of tranquilty and
Trips its path. Self-
Esteem loses every
Brawl when self-respect
Is checked and check-
Mated at the gate. Let
Us argue for the sake
Of argument that you
Can be wrong while 
I can be right or maybe
You and I can both 
Tread the same road.

Let us say, for the 
Sake of argument,
That no cross words
Need cross our paths.
Let us argue for quiet
And avoid the clash.
It is only inevitable if
We insist on ego, parade
Confrontations, provoke.
Let us say, for the sake
Of argument, that we
Have no quarrel and
Curry no dispute. Let us
Say, we do not differ. 
Matters immaterial do
Not lead to clinched 
Fists and swords at
Play. Let us say, for
Our sakes, end it now.

Let us say, for the
Sake of argument,
That we have no
Quarrel. We can 
Agree, for the sake
Of argument, that
We will not. Argue,
That is. Tell me if
You disagree, for
The sake of our 
Accord. We won't
Let a fact or figure
Alter our courtesy
Or provoke us to
Anger and disagree-
Ment. Let us say

Grateful

There is fulfillment 
To be found in simple
Acceptance of the
Good in our lives

I, for instance, am 
Grateful for the sun
Skimming over the
River to my east

The view as I approach 
Fills my heart and mind
With gratitude for the
Benevolence of beauty

On a rainy day that
Same river roils as
If playfully with drops
From prospering clouds

There, too, is a beauty
Unexpected and austere
In watching rain fall, soft,
First gently and quietly, or

With increasing assurance,
As the skies turn colder
And showers turn harder
The river accepting the 

Onslaught, me sheltering
To watch with gratitude 
That there still is weather
This lovely to enjoy, to behold

Childhood

Maria was my best friend when we were in elementary school.

Gratitude is a pleasurable
Sensation like a party thrown
In your honor. It sets confetti
Off in your heart, sweetens
Life’s little setbacks, sometimes
Even its big ones, so you move
With a sprightlier step toward
New goals with a new attitude.
Grateful for whatever you have
And for what you used to know.

My best friend when we were girls in Queens went to a Catholic school. We would meet in the afternoons at my house so I could take the dog for his walk.

This walking the German shepherd was more like a tug of war. The dog always won the pull.

Maria would come to my house even though the inaptly-named Chippy would growl at her. She was a very sweet girl.

One day she came in crying because the nuns had assured her I was destined for hell. The Church was still taking this position vis a vis Jewish folk so it wasn’t my atheist beliefs driving me there.

Religion is as unreliable an indicator of our life’s course as anything serendipitous that crosses our paths.

That’s not to say that I am now expecting a place in heaven. At the least, I cannot acknowledge the existence of either destination.

It does mean that I feel firmly ensconced in a righteous life. I am grateful for my imperfections as well as for my moral virtues.

Snowfell

High, white hills once fluffy

Hardened overnight, their soft 
Flakes turned spiky and 
Crystalline, on the ground
There are icy surprises underfoot
That gentle snowfall turns
Treacherous as it lays in
Wait the next day, and sometimes 
For days after, going from 
Pristine, clean to city grey

Tough times

An understatement

It has been a notoriously rough year for all of us. Some have suffered more fiercely than others, but everyone has felt some pain. As it turns out, plague years are no picnic, no ride on the sand. Not even for the more fortunate amongst us.

Suffering is graded on a curve during this pandemic. If you are merely housebound and isolated but still have an income, a place to stay, and immediate family in your pod, you are among the lucky. If you are struggling with loss of job, home and family, you are among America’s most afflicted. If you also have had health issues, whether or not due to COVID-19, and lost loved ones to the virus, you truly are enduring the worst.

It may not have been inevitable, all the losses and heartbreak. Much of the devastation could have been averted had we had decent and responsible leadership. Our country should have responded to the threat of the coronavirus with measures, protocols and plans to limit the damage the virus would cause. 332, 000 American deaths could have been averted. We have lost 1/10 of our fellow citizens to a virus that can be slowed and controlled if we all wear masks, avoid crowds, distance ourselves at least by 6 feet one from another, wash our hands.

We have lost 1/10 of our population to COVID-19 because our leaders refused to heed scientists. Specifically, 45 has been most irresponsible in handling the crisis. He has let it spin out of control.

He is a failed leader, a deeply flawed person, and a vindictive SOB.

His parting salvo to his citizenry is to deny those most in need of some financial respite and to do what he can to continue to impoverish the once rich land he was hired to lead to continued prosperity and success.

Thanks to him, and his enablers in the GOP, we face greater challenges in the coming year. Challenges and difficulties that might have been mitigated by proper leadership.

v

Mornin’

Sunrise is an eye opening event around here.

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A Rosy Tomorrow

Last night at dusk, the clouds were not fluffy

Like pillows or billowing, they extended

Out, like a magic carpet, their crimson tones

Augering a good tomorrow, or as my mother

Often quoted “Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera”

The ribbons of clouds rolled out over the skyline,

Played around the towering buildings in our view

Streaked with the rosy hue of optimism, and hope

When?

My time is reality-bound

His is more a flight of fancy

Yesterday, 2 weeks ago, meld

There is no this morning,

Just a sense that it happened

Long enough ago to worry

That something was missed

My time is grounded, tethered

To the rhythms of the clock

His lives in his imagination

It slips from night to day,

Sometimes unnoticed, sometimes

Just elusive enough to unsettle

Time passing, a cause for concern