Tag Archives: poetry

High Coo – Nov 24 – Thanksgiving Day Wisdom

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I am thankful for life and for the wisdom to appreciate life. Here are a couple of thoughts that come to mind for me today:

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is Thank You, it will be enough.” Meister Eckhart https://internetpoem.com/meister-eckhart/quotes/

Psalm 92: “It is good to give thanks. Does God need to hear my praise? No, I need to express it. To awaken to wonder, to holiness, to God, I must transcend the ego-centered drama I pretend is life. To shatter pretense, give thanks. Each thank-you reduces the false you. When I give thanks, I embrace others. When I give thanks, I move from drama to play and discover the aliveness that Is when I stop playing God and discover that God is playing me. It is good to give thanks for through thanksgiving awakening lies.” Minyan – Ten Principles for Living a Life of Integrity (c) 1997 Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro http://rabbirami.com/#Perrenial-Wisdom

“Religions are like languages: no language is true or false; all languages are of human origin; each language reflects and shapes the civilization that speaks it; there are things you can say in one language that you cannot say or say as well in another; and the more languages you speak, the more nuanced your understanding of life becomes.” http://rabbirami.com/

My humble senryu: Thanksgiving Day Wisdom

I’m grateful for you,

for us, for all beings and

this day to say THANKS

Three granddaughters with Nonno Photo taken by my daughter Mary

November 18 – Remembering A Deceased Loved One

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Remembering a loved one doesn’t necessarily need to end at the memorial service or the death site. Both of these actions are appropriate responses yet more may be desired to keep the loved one’s memory closer to home, closer to you on a daily basis.

Two writings offer some helpful advice. First is an article by Allison Grinberg-Funes (https://www.eterneva.com/resources/memorialize-loved-ones) in which she offers Ideas for Memorializing Deceased Loved Ones:

  1. Turn their ashes into a cremation diamond
  2. Visit their final resting place
  3. Do something they enjoyed or you did together
  4. Have a memorial release with balloons or butterflies
  5. Listen to their favorite songs or watch their favorite movies
  6. Look through old photos with friends and family
  7. Plant a tree, shrub, or flowers and visit it
  8. Create a memorial website or Facebook page
  9. Donate to their favorite charity
  10. Eat or cook their favorite food
  11. Write them a letter, poem or song.

The second writing is a section from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book How To Live When A Loved One Dies (c) 2020, Parallax Press called Making An Altar For Your Loved One:

“When we have lost someone we love, we often feel the need to express our deep love and gratitude to them…and we want to keep their memory alive…Making a shrine or altar is a concrete way of expressing our love and care, and of helping us feel connected to them. We can set up a small table and place a photograph of our loved one, a candle, some flowers, and other meaningful things on it.” p.133 http://www.parallax.org/product/how-to-live-when-a-loved-one-dies/

Check out both sources for more information.

In the meantime, here is today’s brief poem: Remembering A Deceased Loved One

our lives together

made great memories for us –

thank you forever

High Coo – Nov 17 – Losing My Attachment Figures

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https://theawkwardarchaeologist.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/the-comfort-of-things/
https://theawkwardarchaeologist.wordpress.com/2019/03/11

“Attachment theory is a very popular concept among psychologists and has been for a few decades now. It states that humans – in fact, all mammals – have an innate drive to seek out close emotional relationships with other people, who can become our ‘attachment figures’. Humans seem to have developed a particularly flexible attachment system. By this, I mean that we can become emotionally attached to a wide number of other people, from relatives to friends to romantic partners. Even non-humans can be our attachment figures – think about the bond you might have with a beloved pet, for example. Even inanimate objects can be attachment figures – the notion of a child and their teddy is a common attachment bond in many Western countries.” Maddie Bleasdale, aka The Awkward Archaeologist (see link above).

A recent Animal Chaplaincy class discussed how a loved pet (aka companion animal) can be a traumatic event for someone, especially when that loved one was a “primary attachment figure.” The guest speaker, Janel Griffieth, a Senior Director for CARE (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (https://careawo.org/about-us/) gave a powerful presentation about her personal experiences and why knowing more about trauma, resiliency, hope and the Attachment Theory can help animal chaplains be more empathetic when humans are emotionally devastated by the loss of their trusted non-human companion.

Today’s poem: Losing My Attachment Figures

the moment you died

I was sad, lonely, bereft –

I walk with you now

The book below, by Thich Nhat Hanh, has been helpful for me, perhaps it may be helpful to someone you know. https://www.parallax.org/product/how-to-live-when-a-loved-one-dies/

High Coo – Nov 15 – Senryu to You Two

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Dr. B and Dr. C from The Two Doctors https://thetwodoctors.uk/

As a life-long learner, I appreciate great teachers, those who love learning and love helping others learn. Dr. B and Dr. C are role models worth meeting.

Most recently, Dr. B, has introduced his readers to Senryu (pronounced sen – rye – ooo). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJmzsBmog_Q

Senryu is described as “a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 or fewer syllables in total. However, senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are serious.” https://www.languageisavirus.com/poetry-guide/senryu.php

Another good source of information on senryu is a blog called Failed Haiku at https://failedhaiku.com/2022/11/. Editor Bryan Rickert with founder and now Video Editor Mike Rehling offer regular publications and contests for participants.

My first knowing attempt: Senryu to You Two

wonderful teachers

encourage exploration:

who are you, again?

High Coo – Nov 12 – Emily Dickinson First Published

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Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts and died 55.5 years later in 1886. Her first book of poetry was published four years after her death on November 12th, 1890.

It is reported that only 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime. No one realized she was such a prolific writer until her cache of poetry was discovered by her sister after her death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson

What few poems were published during her lifetime were heavily edited to meet the “standards” of acceptable poetry as determined by the publishers of her time.

A complete collection of her poetry did not become available until 1955 (65 years after her death). “The Poems of Emily Dickinson — Emily Dickinson, Thomas H. Johnson”. Harvard University Press.

Today’s homage haiku: Emily Dickinson First Published

unacceptable

during your lifetime – today

you are a model

Publishers interested in book sales may not appreciate your work today. The “fickle finger of fate” may not “reward” you during your lifetime. Nevertheless, the reasons you write, and the acceptable standards of your writing, are something only you can determine.

High Coo – Oct 31 – Happy Halloween?

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Three thoughts for today:

First, the Christian religion co-opts another pagan holiday (the Celtic New Year on November 1) with All Hallows’ Evening and Scottish and Irish children go door-to-door reciting poetry, singing, telling jokes and doing tricks for free food. Centuries later the religious holiday is co-opted by secular marketeers. Is turnabout fair play? https://nationaltoday.com/halloween/

Second, I’m scheduled for a hospital visit today for a KUB ultrasound to determine if my kidney stone has moved and what the next steps will be for its demise. What might my trick or treat be today?

Third, I’m scheduled to give a poetry reading in 5 weeks at a local Indie bookstore and cafe. It will be my first reading there so I’m excited and a little frightened at the same time. I would appreciate any advice you would offer.

Today’s haiku: Happy Halloween?

fear and joy unite

laughing and shrieking today –

what horrors await?

High Coo – Oct 30 – Visit a Cemetery Day

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“Visit a Cemetery Day is a holiday that takes place every last Sunday in October. This year it falls on October 30. It is a day that allows us to honor the life of those who are gone. It is a chance to admit that, though they’re no longer physically with us, we still have them in our memories. It is a day when people go to the gravesite of friends and families who have left this world.

WHY VISIT A CEMETERY DAY IS IMPORTANT

  1. To honor the dead – On this special holiday, we get to honor those who have gone before us. It is good to cherish the memories they left behind.
  2. Understand life better – When we visit the cemetery, we get a better insight into life and appreciate that we must cherish it.
  3. Helps to remember the dead – On Visit a Cemetery Day, we get to recall the times we spent with departed loved ones. We remember all the things they’ve done for us and the memories we shared.” https://nationaltoday.com/visit-a-cemetery-day/

Today’s humble haiku: Visit a Cemetery Day

There for us in life

we are there for you in death

Together we rest

High Coo – Oct 28 – Love and Fear and Smiling

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I woke up yesterday morning to a strong pain in my lower right back. Long story short, it was diagnosed as “right side flank pain – right 5mm obstructing stone in the ureter causing moderate hydroureter and hydronephrosis” AKA, kidney stone. I know, I know, this is TMI: too much information. Anyway, I’m feeling much better this morning and found the two items below inspiring a brief poem of my own that follows.

There are only two feelings.
Love and fear.
There are only two languages.
Love and fear.
There are only two activities.
Love and fear.
There are only two motives,
two procedures, two frameworks,
two results.
Love and fear.
Love and fear.

Love one another.

https://www.leunig.com.au/works/prayers

Chimpanzee smiling in Knoxville Zoo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile#/media/File:Knoxville_zoo_-_chimpanzee_teeth.jpg

“Primatologist Signe Preuschoft traces the smile back over 30 million years of evolution to a “fear grin” stemming from monkeys and apes, who often used barely clenched teeth to portray to predators that they were harmless or to signal submission to more dominant group members. The smile may have evolved differently among species, especially among humans.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile

Today’s brief poem: Smiling

I see you smiling but am not sure.

Are you happy or insecure?

Shall I respond, say “hello”

or simply nod and let you go?

May your day be well and kidney stone free 🙂

High Coo – Oct 27 – Happy Birthday Dylan Thomas

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Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas born Oct 27, 1914, died Nov 9, 1953, in NYC at the age of 39.

Famous for the line “do not go gentle into that good night“, Thomas described himself as a “roistering, drunken and doomed poet“. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas)

Considered one of the great English language modern poets of the 20th Century, Thomas developed and maintained his popularity through his radio recordings.

His poetic style was suggested to be influenced by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Thomas Hardy, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence among others. Dylan Thomas responded that his greatest influence was Mother Goose:

“I should say I wanted to write poetry in the beginning because I had fallen in love with words. The first poems I knew were nursery rhymes and before I could read them for myself I had come to love the words of them. The words alone. What the words stood for was of a very secondary importance … I fell in love, that is the only expression I can think of, at once, and am still at the mercy of words, though sometimes now, knowing a little of their behaviour very well, I think I can influence them slightly and have even learned to beat them now and then, which they appear to enjoy. I tumbled for words at once. And, when I began to read the nursery rhymes for myself, and, later, to read other verses and ballads, I knew that I had discovered the most important things, to me, that could be ever.” Myers, Jack; Wukasch, Don (2003). Dictionary of Poetic Terms. University of North Texas Press, U.S. ISBN 978-1-57441-166-9.

Unfortunately, the talented Dylan Thomas died far too early from advanced bronchopneumonia disguised by excessive drinking. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas)

Here is today’s homage haiku: Happy Birthday Dylan Thomas

Such a silly goose

no ugly duckling you – drink,

drank, drunk, dreary death

The White Horse Tavern in New York City, where Thomas was drinking shortly before his death.

High Coo – Oct 19 – Walking Dogs

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Each Wednesday morning, I walk dogs at Stray Rescue STL in downtown St. Louis, MO. The facility is full and the staff appreciate any volunteer help they receive to provide the dogs exercise, fresh air and TLC while their individual “apartments” are being cleaned.

Here are the five dogs I walked last Wednesday:

The Supreme – a 5-year-old female Terrier mix.
Fury – a 3-year-old male Rottweiler mix
Coco – a 7-year-old male Retriever/Labrador mix
Ronan – a 6-year-old male Terrier mix
Wendy – a 9-year-old female Shepherd mix

Each were a delight to spend time with and would be a wonderful companion dog for a “furever” family.

As I head into the facility this morning, I’m hopeful that one or more may have been adopted in the past week but I know the odds are not in their favor. As much as I’d like to bring them home, we have already adopted four animals and anymore would be too much at this time.

Fortunately, Stray Rescue STL is a no-kill facility so they will continue to receive food, shelter and daily exercise until, someday, a very lucky human will recognize the canine companion that waits for them.

Please consider adopting or fostering a dog from your local shelter.

Today’s haiku: Dog Walking

people come and go

but a dog prefers to stay

with you forever