Who’s Who and What’s What
For many years, my father’s name Followed Rich Little’s in the book “Who’s Who in America”; and There were times I wondered aloud Whether it…Continue …
Season’s Crossroads
Wouldn’t know it from the weather, but the summer’s almost gone. Those lazy early days have faded, though the swelter lingers on; and the memory…Continue …
Wanting what you have vs having what you want
I paraphrase the Dalai Lama a bit here, but the gist of it is that most of the world focuses on having what you want—…Continue …

Tag: permanence

Left of How: English sonnet

Published on May 21, 2025

The world evolves without suspense or trick;
it is and it becomes, with no delay,
both seed and flower’s dried husk, derelict
from newborn babe within each single day.

What seems to be so permanent and cast
in stone, begins to crumble at its birth;
mere nothingness is all that seems to last –
and we know just exactly what that’s worth.

The past and future are both fantasy;
they live both in our minds, and not at all.
You may as well believe you are a tree
to think spring comes again after your fall.

And yet, life is worth living, here and now.
You’re given when and where; what’s left is how.

21 MAY 2025

The Chalk Lines

Published on June 27, 2005

The lines were drawn some time ago;
they framed the fallen corpse
where it was found to be expired
and removed, in due course.

Its owner left it vacant there,
having no further need
of its method of transport,
or ability to read.

One might imagine that the chalk
by now would be long gone,
what with the traffic in this place
and all the goings’ on,

but there it is, as sharp and clean
as when it first was lain;
it’s neither flaked away to dust
or been washed down the drain.

The permanence of some things
seems a little bit off whack;
for instance, the sidewalk beneath
the chalk, no longer black,

but softened to a misty grey,
is cracked beyond repair
and only held together
by the chalk line drawing there.

27 JUN 2005