tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33232261433344231272024-03-19T02:36:05.637-07:00Karma Larma Ding DongI mean, who can really figure this stuff out anyway?Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-26366941727985121902012-04-11T03:13:00.000-07:002012-04-11T03:13:47.820-07:00Poem- 4/10/12My fears are a well-tended garden,
flowerful, redolent, manicured…
Indeed, completely at home,
I know these paths well,
worn and treaded steadily in bare feet
among rows of shocks of violent hues
and delicate memory.
You don’t believe me?
I’ve invested a whole life here.
Ask and I can furnish you
any bouquet imaginable,
presented season-perfect and timely.
Would you think to save me
from these Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-1368395435005741482012-03-01T02:03:00.000-08:002012-03-01T02:03:56.518-08:00Poem- 3/1/12Sitting here, still among movement,
My mind leaps along, unbounded,
And recedes with the night's silence.
Fleeting images linger under my eyelids,
Insubstantial as voice lost to wind,
Or the wave forgotten by the ocean.
A simple reflection off light
Elsewhere placed and formed...
How can the moon go so gentle along?
I am leaden and heavy,
Where you are color and life;
Possibilities unspent, a Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-7865648145504661662012-02-19T02:08:00.000-08:002012-02-19T02:08:52.888-08:00Painting and Poetry tonight...
I would do honor
To all that I see within you
A hundred times over
And not once ask of anything.
Let my eyes wear thin
No longer to find the pleasure
Of just one smile;
Or my hands to crumble
Under the weight of a rose
Never once given...
Yet may that space be saved,
Remain protected, forever in heart,
Where last I knew you.
2/19/12Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-44443578134846051822012-02-12T21:53:00.000-08:002012-02-12T21:53:39.234-08:00Taking a chance on ourselvesSo, needless to say, I haven't written in a while. In truth I've been finding myself kind of resistant to it lately. It's a combination of things like spending more and more free time painting (such as the piece here)
But it's also been a time of more reflection after all that has gone on the last few years. I focused so much on writing about what was happening that now it's been nice to just Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-84832537435526753302012-01-13T20:15:00.000-08:002012-01-13T20:15:02.176-08:00Been enjoying some Walt Whitman...To A STRANGER
Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,
I ate with you and slept with you, your Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-21064527136708599922012-01-11T01:53:00.000-08:002012-01-11T01:53:17.848-08:00Evening shotsJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-15798311379983473622011-12-15T08:27:00.000-08:002011-12-15T08:27:16.712-08:00Last CB postHere is my last post on the Civil Beat blog...Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-28545720258010649122011-12-11T21:42:00.000-08:002011-12-11T21:42:31.749-08:00Poem 12/11/11The ageless before me
continue to weep,
the wounds of the world
still fresh on their minds.
But these hurts pour forth--
lines, notes, words...
You call them "music, art"...
We call them our lives.
Of the colors that
bleed through my veins,
none become visible without
one simple heart stroke.
I could not be cut off,
removed from myself,
any more than I
could not write you.Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-59849719140580341792011-11-27T16:06:00.000-08:002011-11-27T16:06:43.390-08:00Poem- 11/27/11Silence is the mantra
bearing me along what seems
an endless, pause-filled night.
Each breath a mark in time
to the sky's movement towards dawn,
ticking towards my next hope.
And like the unopened bloom
hidden in still morning's shadow,
I await the embrace of return,
When I see the sun once more.Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-67501289689860419262011-11-25T10:16:00.001-08:002011-11-27T16:08:23.336-08:00SerenityJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-6404223722470388242011-11-22T17:14:00.000-08:002011-11-22T17:14:04.436-08:00Poem 11/22/11Wisdom watches the flowing sands,
Abiding within this container,
Turning over with each repetition
Of timeliness and completion;
Impressive by the hour,
Leaving indelible traces.
Yet these wisdom marks
Are best left to the books,
Where they contain and sustain,
And something resembling
A touch on my mind can be
Brought forth.
But I break from the glass,
No longer drowned in the sands;
I am Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-32203255343128692742011-11-20T01:27:00.001-08:002011-11-20T01:27:09.394-08:00Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-10542488630430789212011-11-16T10:52:00.000-08:002011-11-16T10:52:58.767-08:00Homelessness speech I gave...This is the written version of a speech I gave to 250-300 people at the Statewide Homeless Awareness Conference in Honolulu just yesterday. The spoken version naturally added some more emphasis and I lost my place a few times. But the gist of it is here:
Some of you may know me through my writings on Civil Beat entitled, “Un-homed, But Not Un-hinged,” although more recently it shifted to “Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-34055150074000051502011-11-14T11:48:00.001-08:002011-11-14T11:48:30.920-08:00The SunHad I not seen the Sun
I could have borne the shade
But Light a newer Wilderness
My Wilderness has made --
Emily DickinsonJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-37461194820231747052011-11-09T16:19:00.000-08:002011-11-09T16:19:56.794-08:00Back at it!!I've decided to revive this blog now that the un-homed portion of life is complete (at least I hope so...). I'll write about more things in my view of life and take it from there.
In the meantime some photos never posted from various wanderings.
Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-58470623198337540162010-12-13T13:05:00.000-08:002010-12-13T13:05:23.818-08:00New online column at Civil BeatWell it finally came through: i have a column/blog on Civil Beat. Here is the link to the first article.
http://www.civilbeat.com/posts/2010/12/13/7300-un-homed-but-not-unhinged/
It's a subscription site so don't worry I will still look to keep up with thoughts and musings here as well. But the Civil Beat column ought to be an interesting look at life on the edge of success and failure.
More Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-74902827747410687462010-12-05T19:05:00.000-08:002010-12-05T19:05:31.505-08:00On the edge of it allLiving on the edge is definitely a constant struggle. Though it may not be as bad as completely being homeless I can't help but wonder whether it's worse. You still feel connected to the other side- stability, "success" by some definition- that you carry layers of denial, shame, doubt, and so many other factors in the mind.
So much of it is buried in where you came from, reaching all the way Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-33080104444963609502010-12-01T15:50:00.000-08:002010-12-01T16:44:51.389-08:00This is my Excellent Adventure!Well, I'm back from a fine meditation retreat. Nothing like a little concentration and mindfulness practice to clear the mind. Of course not to say that every moment was peaceful: pain in the back, restlessness wanting to be somewhere else, day-dreaming... LOTS of that going on actually!! But the over-arching result was a good pat on the back and personal "well done." That's as it should be.What Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-72454399700245950772010-11-23T11:37:00.000-08:002010-11-23T16:32:37.600-08:00Patience is a...I have often been accused (yes, ACCUSED!!!) of being very patient. Most often by people who only know me peripherally in some way. So lets dispell this myth right here and now. If any doubts just make me go grocery shopping: The land where people walk in the door and stop just there to get their bearings without thought to who else needs to use the door; where people will stop right at the Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-10903037347159264342010-11-15T23:20:00.000-08:002010-11-16T11:43:45.502-08:00Soonly-sight... nearly-sighted... mostly-sighted... fearly-sight?So we talked about looking backwards, and coined the term "hinder-sight." So it is only fair to put some brain juice to looking forwards as well (especially since we got the request!). In this case I started to ponder what is the hang up on future plans? In my thinking it's expectation and assumption. We generally just automatically feel that any plan we put into action should result in the Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-48479795997774015562010-11-12T22:59:00.000-08:002010-11-13T12:49:18.526-08:00More hindsight... or hinder-sight???Well, I sort of remember the beginning of this promised topic. Of course the direction it was supposed to take was definitely lost to the dream time. As it is the beginning only took shape cause I was still awake enough. Everything else I thought "no need to get up to write anything down. This is so cool I will certainly remember it!" Riiiiightt.So what was intended is this, 20/20 connotes havingJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-58381473557157077762010-11-12T04:16:00.000-08:002010-11-12T04:24:52.850-08:00Hindsight is 20/20... What a laugh!This was the brilliant title for my next post that occurred to me just before falling asleep last night. And of course the content seemed a brilliant direction to go in. (By the way, does it happen to you too that when you talk to yourself in your own mind you are always so brilliant? But then in the real world interactions something gets lost in translation? Just wondering...) But of course now Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-2856143353984206622010-11-07T22:31:00.000-08:002010-11-08T11:40:15.115-08:00"Why is this happening to me?"This is something we've all said at some point, and it's very easy to say when things go awry. Whether in personal relations, business issues, health, school... you name it and that phrase pops up sooner or later. I know I've said it several times a day over the last few years. I've been baffled more times than not. On one hand there's plenty that we can take honest responsibility for, but on theJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-41212132316068934512010-11-03T13:58:00.000-07:002010-11-03T14:48:39.507-07:00What goes around...Happy to say that going to court this morning had a good outcome. Back in September I had received a few tickets for some trivial things that could have been overlooked by a compassionate officer, but no. Instead I faced $400 in fines at a time when I'm counting change out of the basket for lunch. Fortunately, having resolved the things in a timely fashion the judge accepted my explanations and Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-85573914361244541852010-11-01T23:42:00.000-07:002010-11-02T23:21:52.656-07:00Predicament means what???I looked it up and predicament comes from Latin roots "to proclaim." I'm gonna have to stew on that one for a while as that doesn't seem to tie in with my understanding of a "WTF?" moment. But none-the-less there is something to say for proclaiming your place in the world no matter the good or bad. That's true for what karma really means, you own up to what is happening and take responsibility Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0