Second Chance Dance: Rotation No.25,550

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Rotation No.25,550

Great men want the four seas. I’ve only
wanted old age to come unnoticed like

This . My family together in one place,
kids and grandkids looking after each

other still, I linger out mornings over
koto and wine, the wine-jar never dry.

My clothes a shambles, exhausting every
joy, I sleep late now, and nod off early.

Why live like all those fine men, hearts
stuffed with fire and ice to the end,

their hundred-year return to the grave
nothing but an empty path of ambition?

Old – P. Simon

https://youtu.be/tKsjty-yT6U

The Human race walked the earth for 2.7 million
We estimate the universe to be 13-14 billion
When all those numbers tumble into your imagination
Consider that the lord has been here before creation
God is old
We're not old
God is old
He made the mold
Take your clothes off
Adama and Eve
- Old, P. Simon

"As a white candle in a sacred place, so is the beauty of an aged face."

- Joseph Campbell

_______________________________________________________

Rotation 25,550

That day that was once only realized in dreams

Of poet musings and in the songs of sojourning desperadoes

Had provided evidence of finally being born.

Three score and ten years in the making

That recent almost never-ending cold dark night

Slowly faded into yesterday.

Bright red bead burning sanctified glow

Calmly and deliberately peaked

Over the endless sea’s horizon.

The third rock’s rotation prevailing again.

Picaresque hero shaded that unknown glow from blinding his eyes.

Seeing in the light would need to be relearned.

His voice too yearned to be recovered and heard.

They say that some winters are longer than others.

Some say that wandering forty years in the desert

Before accidentally discovering paradise

Is really no big deal.

Many lost pilgrims never get to reach the River Jordan.

Words of the quiet one repeated

Like the song of a wind chime breaking the silence

By the breath of God.

“The only real purpose is to discover God…

The answer is really how to find peace of mind.

That’s what we are really here for. “

Aging weathered worn wayfaring vessel

From the arduous constant journey slows the pace of passage.

Yet the spirit that set sail in the first place had slowly

Come to Ulysses’ realization.

The chartered mission never had the intention to be known

For battles won or by the size and number of beasts conquered

Or by the bounty of worldly treasure owned.

The fortune of the adventure to date

Was that the desire for possessions

Never completely possessed him.

“So far so good”

- JF Sobecki

_________________________________________________________________

My Back Pages – B. Dylan

https://youtu.be/OZwncQfvaKk

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth,"rip down all hate,"I screamed
Lies that life is black and white spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers foundation deep, somehow
Ah, I was so much older than I'm younger than that now.
- My Back Pages, B. Dylan

Old Friends/Bookends

https://youtu.be/snVOxz6fjbA

Can you imagine us

Years from today

Sharing a park bench quietly?

How terribly strange

To be seventy

- Old Friends/Bookends , P. Simon

EVERYTHING IS WAITING FOR YOU

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

-- David Whyte
©2003 Many Rivers Press

I Worried

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers

flow in the right direction, will the earth turn

as it was taught, and if not how shall

I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,

can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows

can do it and I am, well,

hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,

am I going to get rheumatism,

lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

And gave it up. And took my old body

and went out into the morning,

and sang.

- Mary Oliver

Oftentimes there are those who can articulate through poems and songs precisely what has been rumbling on within ( Please watch all four parts)

George Harrison’s Last Interview p 1

https://youtu.be/50LfH0I879g

George Harrison’s Last Interview p 2

https://youtu.be/cZYozQfn8a0

George Harrison’s Last Interview p 3

https://youtu.be/dxmG0R9S2Qg

George Harrison’s Last Interview p 4

https://youtu.be/fdSb4zddOzo

amdg

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New Blog - Rain and Rivers Revisited: A Journey of a Lost Weekend

Well you may recall I have been working on a piece of fiction for a while now. It is still a work in progress. However, I decided

to release drafts of the first few episodes ( chapters.) Much of the work is completed but I am always cutting and editing.

http://rainandriversrevisited.blogspot.com/

It is difficult to release just pieces at a time as they are created as independent episodes they are also all parts of a larger piece (and picture .) I could share more but I am curious to read or hear your feedback.

I want to thank those friends and supporters who have already provided feedback ...and of course all the folks who have been following my Second Chance Dance Blog ( by the way that will continue.)

The material in the Blog is all copyrighted and cannot be reproduced in any form. Though, I welcome you to share the link and this blog with others .So please when you have a few minutes take a read and let me know what you think. I expect to be posting a series of subsequent episodes shortly.

Thanks....

News of Death

(This is for Coach)

Last night they came with news of death
not knowing what I would say.
I wanted to say,"The green wind is running through the fields making the grass lie flat."
I wanted to say,"The apple blossom flakes like ash covering the orchard wall."
I wanted to say,"the fish float belly up in the slow stream,stepping stones to the dead."

They asked if I would sleep that night,
I said I did not know.
For this loss I could not speak,the tongue lay idle in a great darkness,the heart was strangely open,the moon had gone,and it was then when I said, "He is no longer here"
that the night put its arms around me
and all the white stars turned bitter with grief.
- David Whyte

What Work is

We stand in the rain in a long line

waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.

You know what work is--if you're

old enough to read this you know what

work is, although you may not do it.

Forget you. This is about waiting,

shifting from one foot to another.

Feeling the light rain falling like mist

into your hair, blurring your vision

until you think you see your own brother

ahead of you, maybe ten places.

You rub your glasses with your fingers,

and of course it's someone else's brother,

narrower across the shoulders than

yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin

that does not hide the stubbornness,

the sad refusal to give in to

rain, to the hours wasted waiting,

to the knowledge that somewhere ahead

a man is waiting who will say, "No,

we're not hiring today," for any

reason he wants. You love your brother,

now suddenly you can hardly stand

the love flooding you for your brother,

who's not beside you or behind or

ahead because he's home trying to

sleep off a miserable night shift

at Cadillac so he can get up

before noon to study his German.

Works eight hours a night so he can sing

Wagner, the opera you hate most,

the worst music ever invented.

How long has it been since you told him

you loved him, held his wide shoulders,

opened your eyes wide and said those words,

and maybe kissed his cheek? You've never

done something so simple, so obvious,

not because you're too young or too dumb,

not because you're jealous or even mean

or incapable of crying in

the presence of another man, no,

just because you don't know what work is.

Philip Levine

On Marriage - Kahil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love:Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loafSing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.And stand together yet not too near together:For the pillars of the temple stand apart,And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A favorite "Journey" poem from a favorite poet

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-- Mary Oliver

Send or post one of your favorites! They can be lyrics to a song!

Playing For Change

Please see the current music video from "Playing for Change" at the bottom of this page. It is a movement. Enjoy!

"Playing for Change" is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world

Fall in Love

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” --- Pedro Arrupe SJ

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Rotation No.25,550

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