Riding home at dusk just north of Phoenix, where the mountains ease into valley and where the saguaro cacti first begin to appear on the landscape, I was captivated by their beauty as silhouettes in the waning light. They looked like crosses. I thanked God for giving me the ability to see beauty, but more so for giving me the ability to see life through a unique perspective. It takes 75 to 100 years for a saguaro to grow its first side arm. These are old cacti. I don’t know for sure, but the Indians must have considered them holy landmarks as well.

Source: ADP

My daughter texted me that she is currently stuck on David Bowie’s song “Changes.” As many times as I’ve listened to the song, I never really listened closely to the lyrics or read them until today. What great lines — “turn and face the strange,” “so I turned to face me” and “ripples change their size but never leave the stream.” As the country slips into fall and times change along with landscape and temperatures, my daughter and I are facing more major changes in our lives. But we are “facing the strange” with faith. We are trying to remember to look at the indescribable beauty of light and color in autumn trees, to revel in cooler breezes that whisper into our skin. When the progression to something new is so evident, remember to pause for pleasure. It’s there moving in the ripples always waiting for us to see it.

Source: ADP

Tooting my horn remains difficult though I know that self-promotion is crucial these days. I hide my little successes under modesty, trying to stave off a pet peeve – pride. But, my recent luck (really nothing in the scheme of things) amuses me. Yesterday an editor phoned seeking to publish one of my poems. Mind you I’ve had almost a hundred works published and it’s not The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Gettysburg Review, or even Poetry, but it is — an editor from out of state who had enough interest to call. Thank you, Gail of Kaleidoscope Magazine. You’ve given me a flicker in my recent dusking of spirit. Poets always dream of being widely read and crafting words that move others, but perhaps love and the care of another human being in need may be my greatest accomplishments while on this earth. My words may be more like the fluttering of wings above that great fortune.

Source: ADP

“Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.” Victor Hugo

Be like the bird who, halting in his flight on a limb too slight, yet sings, knowing he has wings. Victor Hugo

“Let us be like a bird for a moment perched
On a frail branch when he sings;
Though he feels it bend, yet he sings his song,
Knowing that he has wings.” Victor Hugo
Saw a variation of this Hugo quote on a site but could not share it. So I searched for the quote elsewhere on the Internet to cut and paste. Funny thing is, I found several variations. I find it difficult as a poet to imagine having my words paraphrased or rewritten when we as poets select just the right words for a multiple of reasons after must consideration. Which version do you like the best? This brings me to the topic of translations. Great vehicles to share great words … but at what cost. Would you want your poems shared in another language if your exact words were lost?

Last thing I want to share, this comment also from someone out there on the Internetsphere, “I think the hard part is singing even when you know you don’t have wings!” My sentiments exactly. Where Hugo, I go.

Source: ADP

Live long and Google! Thanks to our innovative and happening friends at Google my day has been made (right here in the home stretch to the midnight hour)! Not sure how long the Star Trek interactive icon has been up, but I just saw it and checked it out. Great stuff, Google. Happy 45 years to all forward thinkers and dreamers. This almost tops my Star Trek find at Goodwill this week. Thanks also today to Valerie Johnson of Chicago’s best poetry magazine ever, Poetry. How many can claim they’ve done it for 100 years, yet alone, done it right (and/or done it with poetry). Valerie made the trip to Springfield to collect a Centenarian award from the Illinois State Historical Society. Beyond 100 years, and Star Trek and Google, good folks like Valerie, surpass the stars in my books. There’s nothing better than the humble and kind. Make sure to check out the Poetry Foundation, and if you are in Chicago, the awesome new green building they are housed in (by John Ronan Architects).

Source: ADP