Kind of Blue

I guess it's by accident, but the first wave of blooms in the garden is dominated by blues and purples. The striking blue Indigo, right on schedule for Memorial Day, salvia, sage, and masses of purple-blue bergamot. For balance, there is a splash of pink and white Columbine (and a blue one), the pink multiflora rose, and white spirea.

Speaking of blue, I have long held that the Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue, is perhaps the greatest single recording in the entire jazz repertoire. Evidently, I'm not far off. I recently heard that the disc, recorded in 1959, still sells some 5,000 copies a week. That's over a quarter-million copies a year, 45 years later. The all-star band features Miles on trumpet, Cannonball Adderly on alto, John Coltrane on tenor, Bill Evans on piano (except for Wynton Kelly on one track), Paul Chamers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. If you don't own it, you should.

Maxim

"What we do in life echoes in eternity."

– Maximus

Epidermis

Skin on skin,
I want to read you.

Skin
hiding wounds,
and storms of tears
becomes a blanket
in the sun.

Your skin
will shout for me.

Blind
in the dark,
you will peruse my body,
your silent fingers
dancing on my flesh.

Sentence
by sentence
you will write and trace
an ancient hieroglyph
of passion.

My skin
will shout for you.

– Hope Maxwell-Snyder

Varekai, The Betrothed

The betrothed
Originally uploaded by rebetsky.

Without Brushing My Hair

The
Closer
I get to you, Beloved
The more I can see
It is just You and I all alone
In this
World.

I hear
A knock at my door,
Who else could it be,
So I rush without brushing
My hair.

For too
Many nights
I have begged for Your
Return

And what
Is the use of vanity
At this late hour, at this divine season,
That has now come to my folded
Knees?

If your love letters are true dear God
I will surrender myself to
Who You keep saying
I
Am.

– Hafiz

How possibly?

Lord, when I think
How could You possibly bless me more?
You amaze me yet again
And I am left speechless.

I beg Your forgiveness
For ever letting one minute pass
Without proclaiming infinite
Gratitude to You.

Garden Guardian

Beauty, ever present
Originally uploaded by rebetsky.

Night Wind

Wind in the treetops
Lures me into its journey
Whither from? And to?

Psalm

May all things move and be moved in me
and know and be known in me
May all creation
dance for joy within me!

– Chinook Psalter

Seeds Grow Down

Seeds don’t grow the way you expect —
The green sprout breaks through and grows
first down,
not up.
Only after setting that anchor
does it push its husk hat up and
spread those first two leaves
like wings
to shed the hard shell.
As with all things solid
the roots go down first
and only then
can the reaching begin.

Long Ago And Far Away

Long ago and far away
I walked the forest wide and deep

And when I reached the highest mountain
And when I swam the seven seas

And everywhere I turned

And everywhere I turned

There was...

yearning

There was

only...

yearning.

– from Vareki
Cirque du Soleil

Some Nights...

Some nights, stay up till dawn
as the moon sometimes does for the sun.
Be a full bucket pulled up the dark way
of a well, then lifted out into light.

Something opens our wings. Something
makes boredom and hurt disappear.
Someone fills the cup in front of us.
We taste only sacredness.

— Rumi

There Is No Pain

There is no pain
That was not measured
Before coming to you,
Selected like a gift
For your birthday.
How ill-mannered to
Attempt to refuse it.
Send a thank you note instead
Attach it to a leaf
Or the first star your eye lands on
Or give it to me
And I will deliver it personally
To the beloved Sender
And tell that Friend
What a perfect fit it is
How happy you are to receive it
And how you will cherish it always.

No Punctuation

I’m not on board
With this “optional” comma
before the “and.”
Let the list be separated:
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow,
Where, when, and how,
This, that, and the other thing,
But not a comma between
me and you
nor anything
period semicolon or dash

Living With Wisdom

For God loves nothing
so much as the person
who lives with wisdom.
She is more beautiful
than the sun, and excels
every constellation
of the stars.

– Solomon 7:28-29

There Is A Pond

What would I tell you,
dear friend,
to have you know me?

There is a pond
there in the back
across the field
behind the trees

No one knows it’s there
but me, and a few others
who have walked this land
and studied its treasures

If you come in the Spring
though, you will have
some inkling that there
is water behind those trees

You will not see it
you will not smell it
but will hear it in the
voices of tree frogs

calling out to you
luring you with their
sweet spell, sweet voices
calling, asking

“Who are you?”
“Where are you?”
Sirens of the Spring
night and you
cannot resist

No you cannot
resist
the call of
love
the call of
redemption
the call to
leave everything
behind
but your soul
which you carry
with you
always
and
surrender
always
to the sound of
sweet voices
in the night.

Nothing Theoretical

There is no love apart from the deeds of love; no potentiality of love but that which is manifested in loving.
—Jean-Paul Sartre

Listen!

Logon to:
www.radioparadise.com
or find it under the "eclectic" tab on iTunes radio. It's one of the best-programmed stations ever. (And I hope that's not just my age talking.)

For Sale, Not By Owner

Well, my book is in fact, available for purchase. Logon here:

http://www.betweenthecovers.com/display.php?id=45565

Pricey, but worth it!

I'm back!

Your patience, gentle reader, is appreciated! It’s been more busy than usual. Two Saturdays ago was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which was a once-in-a-lifetime event, despite the presence of our president. At least Laura did most of the talking. Celebrities that I spotted included Mary Tyler Moore, Goldie Hawn, Richard Shiff, the Williams sisters (Serena and ?), politicos Condaleza Rice and Martin O’Malley, and various news people. Got to shake Jim Lehrer’s hand, and sought out Maureen Dowd to tell her how much I like her New York Times column. Other attendees included Jane Fonda and Richard Gere, but I didn't see them. Oh, and how could I forget? Constantine from American Idol. I did see him, although I would never have known who he was, but he created quite the stir. I'd say he was almost the main event.

Out in the garden, it’s a mixed bag. Planted the third quarter last weekend. Now, in old-fashioned farm terms, a “quarter section” would be 160 acres — the size parcel my sister and her husband started with in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. In Sweet Surrender terms, a quarter section is closer to 160 square feet. The first quarter that I planted, back in early April, is a bust. Other than a few brave lettuce plants, almost none of the seed germinated; too cold and wet. This last section I planted, though, is coming up nicely, so far. We need rain now; I’ve been watering.

Looks like my first-ever strawberry crop will be good, plenty for personal consumption. Next year should be abundant.

The tomatoes are ready to go in, this weekend. I ended up buying some plants, since my starts looked so lame. Went to a nursery I heard about in Littlestown, PA, Dana’s, which was great. A nice little local nursery. They had Green Zebra tomatoes, which are one of my favorites and very difficult to find.

More catching up later…

Once In A Lifetime

05/05/05