Relative Something

*this* John W. Hays' take on things and experiences

Posts Tagged ‘poetry

Didn’t

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I didn’t have a dream
about a big black bear last night
nobody ever wonders
why they didn’t dream
about a big black bear
the one that is trying to get into the house
when you discover the only barrier
was a sliding screen door
separating you
from him
the kind of dream that goes on
and on
but for some strange reason
the bear never figures out
it could walk right through
which keeps the dream
from being about an attack
yet does nothing to allay
the imminent threat that it could
nobody wakes up
with an awareness
they didn’t have a dream
like that

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Come

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alone
in a room
for a very long time
laughing
on occasion
for no particular reason
but also
yawning
without covering up
and thinking
that the time might come
when all else fails
and as a last resort
somebody finally does something
to interrupt
the uncontrolled spiraling
away from the best
that was yet
to come

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Written by johnwhays

May 17, 2019 at 6:00 am

Posted in Creative Writing

Tagged with , ,

Words

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they are just words
but you can’t write them fast enough
because they flow
like lyrics in a song
that everybody already knows
even though they only remember
two lines of the chorus
because the verses wander
all over the map
about kittens and deforestation
cloth diapers, crime, and comedy
lightning, goal celebrations
vegan recipes and political tragedy
ghosts, authors, fancy makeup
chainsaws and Ultimate Frisbee
cyber insecurity, false witness
lost love and fortunes found
like a blog roll of unending topics
scrolling down a glowing screen
ideas on how to make millions with ease
or at least to transform
this world
into a better place
than it could ever possibly be
through song
sing along
with incandescent harmony

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Written by johnwhays

May 7, 2019 at 6:00 am

Exhaustion

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Words on Images

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Written by johnwhays

April 30, 2019 at 6:00 am

Drip

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Written by johnwhays

April 16, 2019 at 6:00 am

Relief

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Words on Images

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Written by johnwhays

April 2, 2019 at 6:00 am

Slow Spring

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I was thinking about taking a little break off my feet to soak up the bright spring sunshine on our swinging bench in the front yard yesterday, but there is still an iceberg parked there, taking its merry time with melting.

Delilah barks
it’s a squirrel
she claws at the window
the squirrel is hopping around
Delilah has a conniption fit
I holler
it doesn’t do any good
after she calms down
I take her outside for a walk
there are no squirrels anywhere
just chickens
but she doesn’t notice them
why? I don’t know
selective noticing?
nonsense?
I vote nonsense
like spring
that is still cold
and has icebergs

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Written by johnwhays

April 1, 2019 at 6:00 am

Minutes Revisited

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From March 27, 2012:

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Words on Images

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I’ve really been enjoying my little forays into the archives of this blog lately. Picking a single day of the month, and then jumping through each of the ten years of posts on that day has been very revealing.

In 2013 on March 27th, I was writing about getting fence posts up to define the border of the paddock, excited about how things would change when we got horses.

It was later that year, September, when the herd arrived. Here is a picture of the moment the four horses had just walked out of the trailer:

Tomorrow, the process is reversed.

Our time together was too short, but we had a lot of great adventures over the years and they touched a lot of people’s lives here.

I’m not sure what’s in store for us next, but whatever it is, we hope to do those horses proud. They’ve taught us a lot during the time we’ve been together.

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Still Flying

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Before I start with today’s post, I want to give a shout out of thanks to Jennifer Alexander for sharing her wonderful collection of student responses to my “Guess What” post from last week. Fearing most readers might not notice a new comment added to a previous post, I am specifically highlighting a fresh link to it here:

Another Guess – March 19, 2019

Check out the comment Jennifer added. I think she and her students have enhanced my photo-guessing game immensely!

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Ten years ago today I posted “Time Flies,” which is an impression that continues to feel valid to this day. In fact, I get the sense it is flying faster all the time.

Words on Images

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But, let’s not stop there. In my research of March 26 in the archives of “Previous Somethings,” I found the following post from 2017 too irresistible to exclude from today’s review:

Empowering Love

Editorial cartoon by James T. Pendergrast for Rolling Stone, June 2002

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Imagine replacing the negative with the opposite:

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Let fearlessness enhance enlightenment to fill our crucibles with love!

 

Let’s carefully teach everyone, before it’s too late, to love all the people, “all our relations” on this planet, fearlessly.

Happy March 26th, 2019. Send love. The world deserves more love.

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Launching Spring

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Continuing my celebration of reaching the milestone of Relative Something‘s tenth year, I found two previously posted Words on Images creations in the “Previous Somethings” which correlate nicely with this first full day of spring.

Happy Vernal Equinox (which happened yesterday afternoon at 4:58 p.m. CDT)!

After the weather abuses we suffered throughout the second half of this winter, reaching spring seems particularly worthy of special recognition.

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From May, 2018:

Buds

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From June, 2009:

Leaves

Words on Images - Leaves

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