Second Chance Dance: July 2021

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Caesura and The Enjambments : 13th Anniversary of The Second Chance Dance

"My cousin has great changes coming...someday he'll wake with wings.

My cousin as you see

Takes his changes so easily

O happy we

Could take each change so easily..."

- Cousin Caterpillar, Incredible String Band

-------

Caesura and The Enjambments

Well, they say it took Ulysses ten years to get back

To where he once belonged,

Something Sergeant Pepper could not achieve.

For a wandering wounded soldier and unwed father

It would be a year locked down in ascetic solitude

For Ignatius to wake.

Sometimes constant busyness

Becomes the master distraction ,

A rationalization in believing attachments,

Rewards and material worldly goals

As the promised treasures of paradise.

Lives can easily become one big run on sentence.

Lost in the maize of the promise of identifying purpose

Pilgrims and the ignorant wander barren desserts aimlessly

Searching for the lost land of milk and honey.

No oasis discovered , only mirages.

Whatever happened to calm and deliberate?

What ever happened to pausing

Allowing the peace to wash away the grime

Cleansing the spirit allowing one to become

Precisely who the divine intended ?

One's who preach their own self perfection,

Charlatans in sheep's clothing,

Keep themselves at bay from the barricades of heaven.

No thing stays the same.

No thing is perfect.

No algorithm, navigation system, spread sheet

Or the best laid plans can accurately predict.

Carefully positioned dominoes don't always fall

As designers and players anticipate.

Therapists and patients believe

Personal control is possible.

Can we really learn from the Venetians and

Their belief that the rising ocean can be restrained?

Sometimes the tiniest and grand events alike as well as

People of all types and sizes

Influence which road to take or what rabbit hole to go down.

Sometimes that mystical spiritual energy gives birth

To that caterpillar who might become that butterfly

Flapping her wings, that would start a breeze,

Becoming the wind moving the chimes to sing,

A song whispering the truth

While refreshing the pilgrim who had paused

To be mindful while letting go.

Many mystics , poets and a few songwriters appreciate

the power of the pausing , presence and hope.

And so it was thirteen years ago

The Pilgrim's Odyssey

Was about to blow up his plans when

He found himself crippled retreating into a pause.

His true companions lowered him through the roof.

His heart healed and mercy washed across his spirit.

And, he flew away.

- JF Sobecki

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The Way Through The Woods - R. Kipling ( R. Fiennes)

https://youtu.be/Bolzk3MT2yQ

Isn't it a Pity-Take 27 (2020 remix) G. Harrison

https://youtu.be/nFxYsWCT6_k

Cleveland Heart - J.Browne

https://youtu.be/7M4BUIidfxs

Cousin Caterpillar - Incredible String Band

https://youtu.be/B_gZu1xK29s

The Holy Longing - Goethe

https://youtu.be/3xnTdpJyWxI

Hope For the Flowers - Trina Paulus

A story for Caterpillars, pilgrims and children of all ages

https://youtu.be/g6CaBnO5e0Q

July 1 - Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Anniversary of the Pilgrim's Healing 7/1/2008

"Teach me to be generous, to serve as you deserve, to give and not count the cost, to fight and not heed the wounds, to toil and not seek for rest, to labor and not to look for any reward, save that of knowing I am doing your will."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

(Thank you to the companions - Dan, Lou, Tom, Gerry, Bill, Ed, Bob, Dick, Carolyn, Herb, Kirk and Pete)

AMDG

Coda: Even Jersey bar bands and their singers need a Caesura

From "Eddie and The Cruisers"

(and Thank God for English Majors!)

https://youtu.be/QUO_E7noTTg

Thursday, July 1, 2021

The Green Flash

"It is said that once you have seen green flash , you'll never go wrong in matters of the heart"

" Another great difference between our civilization and yours is ...you admire the person who pushes their way to the top in any walk of life, while we admire the one who abandons their ego"

- Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrer

" Often the reason why some do not believe in God is that they have often ceased to believe that God can love them"

- Thomas Merton

-----

The Green Flash

Consider the turtle and the hare

They say the turtle is calm and deliberate, no rush

Making progress when he sticks his neck out.

Consider that every day has a night,

Every competitive sport has an opportunity for a break-

A time out , a time for the athletes to take a breath.

Long duration competitions give the athletes

A time to recover and get reinvigorated for the next game or race.

Musicians have measures and and rests.

At the close of a composition there is a time for a break.

Notes without silence in-between is not music

Books and poems end, don't tell Joyce

Long distance hikes and solo global sailors

Seek the opportunity to nourish themselves.

Eventually sailors seek to secure serenity of a safe harbor.

Le Mans and Nascar drivers consider their fuel

And wear and tear on their vehicle.

Pit stops are critical .

These are the days that can last forever.

Zen monks patiently create sand mandalas

Then rest and wipe the creation of the colored grains away.

The art is in the doing not the completing.

The constant busyness distracts from the essence , the truth.

Pilgrims seem to learn all this a little to late sometimes.

Slow down, relax , regroup , be mindful,

Listen to the children play ,

Breathe slowly when sitting on the beach at sunset

The blessing of witnessing and savoring the green flash

Is reserved for those who are present,

Those who stop and just be .

- JF Sobecki

---------------

These are the Days- Van Morrison

https://youtu.be/_lyve_egY8o

Children - Kahil Gibran

https://youtu.be/z8DSOpsNkt8

Murder In The City - Avett Brothers

https://youtu.be/cr420Jwr14U

I remember everything - John Prine

https://youtu.be/L21Tc_DtL6M

Across The Universe - Beatles

https://youtu.be/iotagMCkJRE

Daughter - Loudon Wainright III (for Lindsay and Leigh)

https://youtu.be/kgEePOfWMuc

The "Summer House" in The Safe Harbor of Cape May

amdg

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