Monthly Archives: November 2025

Holding On Together, for The Sunday Whirl

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Holding On Together
Greed, despair and tragedy need not rule our lives,
so long as that calm part of us holds on and survives.
(That presence that walks with us on those hard journeys where
evil seems to stalk us from within its fiendish lair.)
For at each of its stages, Earth has held it all:
both vibrating heart strings that heed the spirit’s call
as well as those demonic fiends that seem to be in power,
issuing their edicts from whichever tower 
they’ve chosen to reign from, be they palaces of stone
or White Houses half demolished that they claim to own.
These despots or these presidents, these potentates or kings
seem to concentrate their power in edicts and in things,
whereas those below them go on living their lives
by concentrating on the kindness that survives
and which we show each other in our living day-to-day,
hoping that the nightmare will soon fade away.

This is my very favorite quote and I have paraphrased it a hundred times. Here is the actual quote:

“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is what happened on the banks.” ~ Will Durant

For The Sunday Whirl Wordle  the prompt words are:
greed tragedy despair presence walk calm strings earth all spirit vibrating heart
Images created with the help of AI…the best that I could do.

Popsicles and Tuberoses for SOCS

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Popsicles and Tuberoses

A fresh whiff of jasmine on the evening breeze
sends me off in paroxysms—sneeze on sneeze on sneeze.
Lilacs give me headaches, tuberoses make me ill.
Whenever dates wear aftershave, I have to take a pill.

Pinesol makes me nauseous. I’d rather smell the dirt!
And please do not use fabric softener on my favorite shirt.
I can’t believe so many folks enjoy a scented candle,
for they’re another stinky thing I simply cannot handle.

When friends bring friends to visit me, they eschew scented lotions
and tell their friends to do the same, ‘cause I have these strange notions.
What I like to smell is dill, and soil soaked by rain.
The kind of things I like to smell I’m hard-pressed to explain.

Who likes the scent of curry or cabbage in the hall?
But I admit, I like them! They don’t bother me at all.
I love the smell of Popsicles—my favorite is cherry.
It’s floral scents that I abhor, so weddings make me wary.

I hug the bride and kiss the groom, contribute to her trousseau.
But I must always hold my nose and hurry as I do so.
Orange blossoms are the worst, along with the carnation.
Even roses, I admit, are an abomination!

I really do like flowers, but only how they look.
My favorite kinds of odors are kinds that you can cook!
Chocolate cake or popcorn and hot dogs on the grill
are smells that inspire ecstasy—that certain little thrill.

Vanilla poured in pudding, bananas mashed for bread—
swirl around my nostrils and end up in my head.
Such romantic odors. What stories they do tell
of culinary orgasms and itchings they will quell.

So if you want to pleasure me, please, for heaven’s sake,
leave the flowers at the shop and simply bring me cake!

 

For SOCS  the prompt is pop.

The Blade of Grief for dVerse Poets Chaucerian Roundel

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 The Blade of Grief

The loss of one with whom our life was built
will come to be the loss of our life, too,
We view the rest of life without a clue.

The blade of grief thus buried to its hilt,
we hope that it will do what such blades do,
The loss of one with whom our life was built,
will come to be the loss of our life, too.

We view our hopes for death with little guilt,
for death is that new love we hope to woo.
We seek no other lover that is new.
The loss of one with whom our life was built
will come to be the loss of our life, too.
We view the rest of life without a clue.

For dVerse Poets Chaucerian Roundel

To read other roundels created for this prompt, go HERE.

Fibbing Friday

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This week’s Fibbing Friday prompts cover topics musical:

Familiar songs this week, but who do you think could do a ‘cover’…… it doesn’t have to be a singer, so use your imagination and creativity for the next chart topper………… or flop.

1. I am the One and Only. Donald Trump
2. These Boots are made for Walking. A duet by John Wayne and Puss in Boots.
3. Help Yourself. The British Empire.
4. Make me an Island. Simon & Garfunkel’s recording company. 
5. I want to know what Love is. Romeo & Juliet, another duet.
6. Penny Lane. Tom Waits (See illustration above.)
7. I Heard it Through the Grapevine. The notorious town gossip
8. I close my eyes and count to ten. Your mother, after issuing a command
9. Knock Three Times. Your hard-of-hearing mother.
10. Let me Entertain You. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s Grandma’s Apologia for Staying At Home and Watching It All On TV

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Baby, I’d love to go ice-skating with you, but even in my teens, I couldn’t manage to stand up on blades to propel myself over frozen water. Besides that, I heard a rumor that they’d be there shooting a promo for your new album, and even in my salad days, I was frightened of cameras, so imagine me facing them now!

Esther’s Challenge: Can you tell a story in 61 words, using these words? (Photo assistance from AI.)

  • BABY
  • ICE-SKATING
  • ALBUM
  • SALAD
  • FRIGHT
  • CAMERA

“Pivotal Moments” for dVerse Poets

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Pivotal Moments

When it comes to making a decision,
I have often faced derision
for what I want I do not know.
Thus, eeny meeny miney moe
are the words that I must voice
to enable me to make a choice.
Thus are my life’s choices chosen,
even when my brain is frozen!!!

 

For dVerse Poets, pivotal moments.

Snowy Egret, for RDP “Gorgeous”

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Snowy Egret

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

It would be hard to choose which sense is most stimulated by Mexico.  I’ve written a few times about the sounds of Mexico as well as her flavors, but for me it is the visions of Mexico that top my sensory list of thrills.  Time and time again, it has been color that has attracted the lens of my camera, but one morning many years ago, I exited Cafetto Saga and happened to look up at the monstrous “Egret tree” where egrets perch for the night and I was thrilled to have this opportunity to photograph  white––not only the snowy perfection of egrets, but to also find that I was in a perfect location to photograph this mother and her chicks.  The somewhat goofy appearance of the chicks offsets the elegance of the adults.  I especially love the one of the chick stretched out to caress its mother’s beak. In fifteen years, I have never lost my excitement in viewing these graceful, gorgeous birds.

For RDP Wednesday, Gorgeous

Today’s Art Projects for Cellpic Sunday

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Quetzalcoatl I’ve completed painting the head of but with a too-bright tail
Tail plumes in process by Jesus.
Chuy adjusting too-pink tongue and too-white teeth
Scales completed by Jesus and Eduardo.
My new Project, planning a mount for tiny masks purchased at art feria.
This is what the masks will be mounted on, once my framers have created it.
Rough illustrations for next adult coloring book wherein my house becomes a retirement home for de-winged aging fairies.
I’ve written the story. These sketches were done by my friend Joe, who had read the story. Isidro will use them as a springboard for completing the illustrations.

Click on photos to enlarge.

For the first 1 1/2 hours of my day, I also taught an English lesson to Carmen and Yoli, practicing my Spanish by reading a story book to them in Spanish which they translated into English. Fun. Does this qualify as a full day?

For Cellpic Sunday, a bit late…

Reblog: No Longer in the Present

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I’m rerunning this blog from two years  ago for Lisa, who liked this photo I used on my Numbers Game blog and wanted to know the story behind it.  This is the poem I ran with it in June of 2023.

 

No Longer in the Present

Seated around the table in our favorite cafe,
attention to each other has come to be passé
We are not present here and now. We’re all in other places
as we stare at tiny screens, intent on other faces.

The friends we have around us will simply have to wait
for our interest in the world-at-large to finally abate.
The news that’s happening elsewhere is simply more amusing
than what might be happening in this space our body’s using.

Other friends are funnier in their “selfie” poses—
pooching out their lips at us and scrunching up their noses.
It won’t do to look natural, we have to look unique
in the selfsame pose that all selfie-flashers seek.

So if your friends are boring, not half so chic as you,
you always have the option to make a Tweet or two.
Check out the latest fashions available from China.
They’ll only take three months to reach you here in Carolina.

Check out the weather in Tibet and give YouTube a glance.
Companions won’t distract you if you don’t give them a chance.
Living one life at a time no longer has to do
so long as you remember to have your phone with you!

So if you’ve dropped a French fry and spilled ketchup down your dress,
you needn’t be embarrassed. It couldn’t matter less.
Intent on Twitter, Instagram, Facetiming and Facebooking,
the friends with you won’t notice, for nobody is looking.

The Numbers Game #98. Please Play Along! Nov 10, 2025

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Welcome to “The Numbers Game #98”. Today’s number is 220. To play along, go to your photos file folder and type that number into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find that include that number and post a link to your blog in my Numbers Game blog of the day. If instead of numbers, you have changed the identifiers of all your photos into words, pick a word or words to use instead, and show us a variety of photos that contain that word in the title. This prompt will repeat each Monday with a new number. If you want to play along, please put a link to your blog in comments below. Here are my contributions to the album.

***Click on  Photos to Enlarge and View as Gallery.***

1967, Laramie, Wyoming