Friends and Girlfriends

 Smoke on the grotto 

I’ve spent a lifetime 

Trying to rectify things

Like why did Chip leave me

For Woody

Making him his very best friend

And then dump him

For Susan

Sitting in the gold Trans Am

Beside my brown Schwinn 

And why did Terry think

PK Young the better place

to graduate

Leaving us minus a catcher

At home plate

Why did Melissa’s mother

Call her home from Blue Grotto

Yet remain silent

When wolves came near her scorekeeper? 

Why did we switch making out

Places with Eva Jean and Rebecca

When I drew Eva Jean my dream

Fairly

Rock trumping scissors 

Why did the afro on black magic Wanda drive me crazy

Dreaming of her in home economics class

And why did Ann overdose and die

Did she lose hope I’d come and give 

her diamonds in the sky?

And how did Pam become such the artist

Teaching at the University 

When all along that was my dream

And most of all

After all the Cat Stevens and Ten Years after 

I went through

Why is it I still love

deep purple?

Trumpet Sound

 When the trumpet

Johnclarestokes 

Lately we’ve been spending

our time with our ears tuned

toward the eastern skies

while below seems one great gulf of

separation from the song

we can faintly discern

even in the hummingbird wing

It frustrates me to no end to post a photo that is used to illustrate the words. The photo is not my emphasis. But it mostly is the viewer who doesn’t read. They comment on the hummingbirds or whatever they have. I could care less. This has been a long, ongoing frustration. It will never change. I have to learn the person is more important to them their own words,etc. 

More the same

 Another day of taking it easy. Yesterday i thought I was taking it easy but i lacked stamina. Not trying to do so much today. 

Stamina

 One of the frustrating aspects of this stroke is the lack of endurance. I am good for a task and i have to stop and rest. The legs especially with the bad left knee causes saitica pain in the right and it is difficult to walk. I had planned on picking up limbs in the yard from Debbie but i just get too tired. I did pull the mexican sunflowers up that were bent by the wind and dug holes, tiring. Then i drug the remainder to the wet side yard. I also cut the bamboo with the hedge trimmer.  

Do you dare

 These are what i would prefer to enter. But the judges would be uncomfortable and choose something pretty and safe. 

Between the Lines

 Seems every show i enter i try and submit that which is not the standard fare, everybody is doing it. It has not gone well. The judges that are selected are looking for pretty, cliche, and everyone is doing it. I should learn. This year was no exception and last years butterfly remnants. Art should be cutting edge not vanilla flavored. 

Debbie

 Power went abour 5am and all probably be out through tomorrow. Though high wind and rain all day we lost no trees, and we have big pines! The water is all over, backed up. The poor chicken pen is flooded. The tall Mexican sunflowers are on their side.

Branford Camera Club

 Tomorrow night at the Gateway Gallery is the reception and award ceremony. The two i entered. Methodist Mice and Impression Swallowtail. It is always a guess at to what to enter. 

Red Devils

Grounds of silence

Johnclarestokes 

Who will pause upon the opening day

To have a moment of silence

For that which went away

They loudly proclaim the need

The poor children were suffering

And we dare only quietly agree

You cannot educate in the past

We must abide by the code

Devils pride out east will last

So honk if you love ole things

stoke the bonfires and sing  

Old Devils! Keep your pitchforks

Sharpened.....

Stage Flight

 Stage Flight

Johnclarestokes 

Between the final act of life

(Of what is left of it)

Save for the five-minute smoke break

(At intermission )

Lungs shot to hellacious 

Forgotten chain-sucking Thespian

The lines of the Bard mumbled,

"Nor moody beggars, starving for a

time, of pell-mell havoc and confusion".

The disengaged,sullen orderly wheels

Henry the fourth

off stage to room five b with

The drawn curtains,

(Yellowed-fingers tremble)

Bed bound the encore call cord

beyond reach,

O'er and o'er the lines lipping 

"O the ignominy sleep with thee in

the grave, but not remember'd in

Thy epitaph!"

In thy epitaph!

Tug a tore

Tug a tore

John Clare Stokes

It's a painful thing

This pull to reclaim

The works of man

We hew the pew

From the oak

Sew the curtain

From the cotton

Then comes the briar

The branch

The worm

To reclaim its own

We held so long

The burning of the

Slow pulling rope

Stings

Taking men's things

Across the line

Winning every time.

Verbenadale Church

Williston

Them Bones

 Them bones

John Clare Stokes

Tell us a mystery 

I shall tell you one

How opened upon

The old pulpit dusty

Dry bones long dead

Began to tremble

And then assemble

When words were read

Come forth His cry

You army of bones

To Zion march on

Ye shall not die

What a mystery!