Posts tagged ‘aging’
POEMS & FLEETING THOUGHTS
Looking Back,
Have you ever
Wished
You were young
Again,
With what
You know
Now?
POEMS & FLEETING THOUGHTS: SPLITTING WOOD
SPLITTING WOOD
On a crisp
October day
I once split wood
The entire afternoon,
Never tiring,
Never straying
From the mission
To keep winter warm,
Now,
Many years later
Walking is sometimes
A chore,
But I remember
Those October days.
POEMS & FLEETING THOUGHTS: WINDOWS’ VIEW, PAST AND PRESENT
I was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, a city not known for its beauty or soft heart. Not my choice, but it helped to form what I am. These words are meant to describe the difference between my life then and now.
After all these years I still ponder my life in Newark, and appreciate the emotions and experiences the city provided.
As I sit, advanced in age
Looking out back from my home
I see a multitude of trees
Denying the presence of neighbors,
I recall the home of my youth
And the views I saw then,
Beer factories
And the back windows
Filled with clothes lines
And hard-packed ground,
Beyond the bordering fence of wood,
More of the same.
I now pray
Not to take for granted
This present life,
And not to forget
The past.
POEMS AND FLEETING THOUGHTS
Progression
As my years gain numbers
My once youthful mind
Cannot comprehend
This change,
Ponders
The fading past
And wonders
At the future,
I sometimes feel
Like Kafka’s
Roach,
I went to sleep
At seventeen
And awoke
Nearly seventy,
Trying to grasp
The thoughts
Hopes and dreams
As they drift away,
How will time
Treat my questioning
Soul?
POEMS & FLEETING THOUGHTS: HANDS
I gaze at my hands,
Withered, once firm,
Remembering what
They have done,
And wonder
At their future.
POEMS AND FLEETING THOUGHTS: PAST GLORY
As I age
Past small accomplishments
Thought meaningless
Take on new life.
RANTS & RAVES: THE PRICE OF OIL
Okay, I may be slightly paranoid. Perhaps beyond slightly, but here is another example of how I think we are being manipulated, by having ‘experts’ telling us that the sky is falling.
Someone out there please help me understand this. It wasn’t long ago when the price of oil was about to exceed 50$/barrel and ‘experts’ predicted a catastrophe for that would be a first. Economic distress would surely follow. Now, years later, the price of oil has fallen below 50$/barrel and ‘experts’ are predicting economic distress sure to follow. Are we being manipulated, do ‘experts’ not know what the hell is going on or am I just getting too old to take everything I’m told as ‘the truth’.
Is there anyone out there that can offer guidance?
I know this blog is dedicated to writing, but our writing, in some way or another – even if it be horror, is based on the world around us.
Let me know what you think.
REVIVAL BY STEPHEN KING
Published as a paperback by Galley Books in 2015, with Revival, Stephen King has done it again; taking us on a ride through interesting characters with a touch of horror, maybe more than a touch. I enjoyed this novel. Now let me tell you why.
First, some background.
Stephen King and I are the same age, and we’re both writers of horror. The similarities stop there. King has bucks coming out his butt because his novels sell because they are excellent reads. I just have a butt with the usual production, but I’m working to change that. I love King’s work, and with this last novel, I’m beginning to understand why.
We grew up together.
I enjoy all of King’s earlier novels, written while he and I were young or of middle age, the characters kept my interest and the storylines were magnificent horror. But the age of the characters was unimportant to both me and the work. Then, as he grew old, and life took its toll, his writing began to change, and being the same age, I now strongly identify with the characters.
There is no guide to getting old, thank God, for if there was, some might chose not to. Everyone’s experience is different and unique. There are those who do not have a chance to experience the aches, pains and loss of the purpose they once knew. You know the only way to not grow old, think Marilyn Monroe. They are the ones who suffer the loss of opportunity of time and accomplishment.
Now, about the story.
Revival centers on a minister who loses his faith and a young boy he encounters before circumstances cause this loss. Even after his loss of faith, the minister holds revivals and accomplishes cures using ‘secret electricity’, an unknown form of electricity which he is sure exists. He also feels this electricity will allow him to glimpse worlds we cannot normally see. The result is not pleasant. King goes totally H.P. Lovecraftian at the novel’s conclusion. Being a fan of Lovecraft, I loved it.
Revival is an excellent tale of horror, but it is much more. It is also a skilled description of the ageing process through the life of its characters. Until you are there, advance age cannot be truly described. This is what give a richness to King’s tale. Through personal experience, King does a fantastic job of combining advance age, and bearing the crosses of life’s experiences. I also bear crosses, and am stumbling through the years.
Treat yourself.
Read this book.
A NEW POEM
I was just minding my own business and this happened.
I don’t know where it came from, but there it is.
NOW AND THEN
Once deep thoughts ruled
The day,
Now the struggle
Is to stay awake.
Once creative labor
Ruled the day,
Now keeping house
Takes priority.
Once the lives of loved ones
Ruled the day,
Now distant memories
Fill the void.
Once hope of things to come
Ruled the day,
Now the end
Draws near.
So it is
The cycle reaches conclusion,
So it is,
A live spent.
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