Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

When I heard the learn'd astronomer - Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,
and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with
much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.
Well after weeks of the book sitting around, I finally finished Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) Amazing story in that it's realistic enough to where it could actually happen.. this has so many twists in it, right up till the end... a series of mind-blowers. Geez, you think you know a character in a book and then they go and do something like that! You just never know. So now I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I wanted to get the book finished before I even thought about seeing the movie. I hear a lot of people saying it stays pretty close to the book, so I might not even want to see the movie...

I hear we may get some storms coming our way later on tonight... We had one the other day that reminded me of tornado conditions... wouldn't that be wierd, twisters all the way out in Jersey.

I hope all of you had a safe Memorial Day weekend. I know the police stepped up like they usually do, to issue fines to those not wearing seat belts. Not to mention catching drunk drivers and red-light runners like the one I saw a few days ago... easy to spot too, he was the only one on the road, no traffic at all to speak of, and there was the cop just waiting for someone to mess up. I saw him as he went by and thought "what a dumbass..." Sure enough the cop pulls out to pull him over. A quota beyond easy.

I'm really hoping that June turns out a lot warmer than this month. I'm still wearing a jacket in the mornings, when it's been overcast and rainy. Bleh.. I'm ready for summer.

Sat down to watch a movie last night, and partway through it, I get a phone call. The voice on the other end says "Hey, turn your TV on to USA real quick." So I say, "I'm already watching Braveheart." My daughter had Tim, her boyfriend call to tell me this, since she couldn't pull herself away from the movie... It seems to be one of hers (and mine) favorite movies..

Next month they'll be adding more tasks for me at the pet shop... to include fish, reptiles and snakes. Not too sure about this... but I'll manage. I'll just have to rearrange the times and days I do everything else... I just worry that some cages won't get clean often enough... Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

One Cliche Beyond Easy

Have them play Free Bird
or Sweet Home Alabama
Run like jagged glass
through a false sounding stanza
Mock up 50, Puff, Coolio or Eminem
Achieve enlightenment with
rhymie-rhymes but this ain't no zen.

Spill a cliche like
you haven't heard it before,
I found 'em all dazed and
trampled on the floor
When the flow went awry
in boredom still they wouldn't budge,
like some huge ego trapped in
the role of jury and judge.

I've never seen
so much the strongest stance
of that where wise thoughts
and action fly by chance,
just more of the blind
buffalo stampeding run.
Should just stick a fork
in his ass to see if he's done.

(This is also so much beyond fun, a war of wits with an unarmed man)

Friday, May 27, 2005

It has stopped raining, the sun is shining, the birds are singing.. and its going to be a beautiful weekend... And now for the important news of the day. I just got my pdf file sent by HBO of the upcoming June schedule... And hey I know this pic is just HUGE but, I've been waiting for what seems like forever on this fifth season. Awesome, total awesomeness here...

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Disappointed in myself because I haven't been writing like I think I should.. not as much, anyway. I also haven't devoted much time to reading.. I've been on the same book now for what seems like a month. I've put it down... and it stays down. I'm off and away on junk time wasters, like crossword puzzles and just browsing the internet. I was doing yoga too, but I've gotten out of that for a little while. Maybe I'm just being lazy, or maybe its all just bad time management. :(

But on the other hand, I've started a new poetry group for us local writers in Cherry Hill. We've had two meetings so far and it seems to be working really well. They're actually just informal get-togethers, just to chat and discuss what's going on with each of us. This past Tuesday was the second one scheduled. We had it at Dunkin Donuts so it was nothing fancy, which is good 'cause its just a place to meet and relax.Eileen was there... Robert came along this time, I was glad, and he really enjoyed it. There was also another member to show up, Moriah. So all in all I think it was a great evening.

This weather... I keep waiting for a break in this cloudy, rainy... bleh type of days. They had a little reprieve from it a few days ago, so the apt. complex hired contractors to come repave the entire parking lot. But even then, they were rushing to beat the rain. Plus it's still chilly, jacket weather. I was thinking coming home from work yesterday - how its almost June now, but you can't tell it from all these lower temperature and chilly rain... just nasty, I tell you.

Oh, my son got me good... He posted on Xanga a poem (lyrics) I thought he wrote. And he let me believe that he actually did write them.. I was impressed. Until the next day he posted an edit on the blog that it was not his. Actually an old set of lyrics from Blink 182... one of their first albums, he says. I wouldn't have thought anything about it.. but he'd actually told me he wrote it. Oh then he says "yeah, but I had you going for a little while, huh?" Hmm.. not even a lie of omission. That bothered me.

Well, I'm getting used to the routine now at the Pet Shoppe... I still love my job. I'm going in every morning looking forward to dealing with the ferrets.. they are the most mischievious little buggers.. cleaning the cage, I can't get anything done because they're right there where I'm trying to clean, lol.. just as soon as you push them back, here they come again. One of the babies will even grab my sleeve and hang on while I scoop out the bedding. I guess you'd have to be there to see it. Lol, scoop, lift, dump... and he's hanging on to my sleeve the entire time.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Cumulus

Looking through nature
with a camera eye,
everything is more real
just before dusk.

Think of frayed cotton by the
light of the moon, try to
pick out these shapes the way
you always can in dimly lit
noisy rooms; like patterns
in the grain of tabletops
you can pick out
whenever you want.

Last night the stars
were throwing themselves
against the clearest sky
and we watched as they
moved across minutes,
hours.

New Poetry Group


A group of local writers and poets in and around Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Post a poem, or just read one... Join in book discussions, help plan informal meetings with other members of the group. Relax, enjoy the imagery and art of words... Have fun with poetry, hear it, speak it, make it a part of your life... Written, spoken, shouted, performed, whispered, it all begins with a thought. This ain't your great-grandfather's poetry, this is accessible.

Monday, May 23, 2005

I can just imagine... "Hey, Ferret face!" I was handling some of the younger ferrets that recently came in to the store. And while I was holding one of them, he jumped up and bit me in the face. And wouldn't let go till I tapped his head. He did it once more and I had to tap him on the nose for doing it. Little bugger! Didn't hurt, it was just more of a surprise than anything else. Lol, if I'd have dropped him he would still have been hanging there not letting go. Some of them have to be disciplined just like little kids.... cause that's what they are to me, I think of them as just little people... with fur. :)
Somebody came in yesterday and bought the Parrot.. the one I was trying get to talking.. was repeating the same thing hoping he'd repeat it back to me. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Well he's got a permanant home now and will be well taken care of.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Hey, what happened to the Spring? I know I'm still waiting for the warm weather to make an appearance... I also know that once summer is in full swing, I'll be wishing for some relief from the heat. Just wish it would get a little warmer soon. With all this rain lately it seems that it's cooling things down a little too much.

I'm still thoroughly enjoying my job at the Pet Shoppe. I still love the hours, the days are busy. Mondays especially, after those few days when hardly any of the cages get cleaned. So I've been told "assume nothing gets done" over the weekend; it makes for a very busy start to the week. But I wouldn't want to be working anywhere else, I just love it.

I haven't written too much this past week, poems or otherwise. I ended up quitting one of the poetry groups. I'm sure it steamed them to no end that I never posted all that much... but I didn't post any less in that one than I posted in any of the others and never got called down for it like this. Oh, well. It's better this way.

Robert popped in a DVD last night. A couple of weeks ago we watched The Lord of The Rings, since I've never seen any of them yet. Last night it was LOTR: The Two Towers, and again I was blown away by the scenery. Love the story too, I've never read Tolkien either. Next week we'll go for the third one, really looking forward to that.

These two cats, I swear... there's the one who can't get enough cat treats and always seems to be begging for another one. Then there's the finicky one who I'm sure he thinks the treats must be poison or something since he'll turn his nose up every time... But he's coming around slowly but surely, getting used to the idea of somebody new paying him attention. I've even got him to playing with one of the interactive toys now, when he used to run and hide from it. Lol.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Night And Day

If looks could kill
I'd be dead a thousand times over.

He's watching the outside now
and jealousy rears its head
again with eyes and ears on full alert
from the sameness of the INSIDE
he's watching the other one
fulfill a leisurely pace, they're
peering through glass doors
at each other, then a stretch
and another look over the shoulder
before replaying full relaxation...

We call this one
"screaming white south Jersey fox"
for the times he opens his mouth
in protest, the noise is relentless
as if he carries intricate conversation
with himself that he alone can
understand; it's a wonder how even
he can hear himself think
of what to say to us next.

It's a bright sunny day on the balcony
and the lucky one has found laziness
enough to sleep and dream
of four rats in a coconut boat, maybe
a hairless one lounging in a hammock.

Pity, just moments before
there was a question of integrity
and talk of impending upset
when that self same fat cat
pounced on an unstable table
for want of a treat. You know...
he's been searching high and
low for those things, they appear
as if by some magic rain inside
the house.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

I Was Listening

Close your eyes...
Your dreams can be
inspired by sound.

When you play a rythm
of sixteenth notes
it'll be a cadence to
get the blood pumping,
add meaning to the wisp
of a feeling that lives
and brings purpose
the way you've done.

Awestruck, I listened
when it all came back
and circled like wings
in flight through the air
of this room.

I was listening
and you were oblivious
to everything in that moment
save chord and structure
and strumming, strumming
I wouldn't have you
any other way.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Just realized I haven't posted in five days... I guess I was busier than I thought. Had a great week though. I'm at a place now where I can actually say I love my job... and mean it. I'm even getting used to the Parrot sitting on my head when I'm cleaning out his cage... Or should I say he's getting more used to me. And the ferrets. They sold one last week, they're down to three now. And also last week they got in several dogs and a few kittens, a couple of akitas and papillons.. well they sold the two papis in as many days. Cute ones they were.

The weather has been awesome.. more and more like spring now. It just seems like there've been too many false starts with the weather, but I'm hoping its stays nice like its been for the past few days.

Robert got another day off this week as well. I'm glad he's been able to do that, since it's supposed to be busy with people going out of town in the next couple of weeks. So I told him he should rest up for it now while he has the chance. I'm hoping that eventually he can at least take every other Sunday off now with me working, it'll even out with the money coming in.

Last night I had a horrible dream involving one of the ferrrets and a snake. Somehow one of the snakes got loose and also for some reason one of the ferrets was running around in the store... they both ended up in the back room in the doorway, but the snake was curled around the swinging door while the ferret had its back to it, facing me. So I reach to grab the ferret and the snake sinks its teeth in my hand, I had to physically remove him with my other hand and while I was doing that, the ferret thinks I'm playing so he comes back to where all the action is... I reach again to get him out of harm's way, and the snake bites me a second time. By this time I'm calling for somebody to come get the ferret. Finally one of the ladies comes back to get the little bugger and tells me "just be sure you get all the poison out..." What a nightmare. I'd hate to come to work tomorrow morning and there'll be a ferret missing. I'd almost be afraid to ask if somebody came in and bought one, only to find out that something else happened to it. :(

So... has anyone been keeping up with Survivor Palau this season? The finale and reunion is tonight... I'm thinking it's gonna be Tom who'll win. With the two hour finale and then the hour-long reunion, it's definitely gonna be quite the evening of TV watching. It's really gonna seem strange next week with Thursday nights free... we'll all have Survivor/CSI witdrawal. But I'm thinking next month will be the start of the new Def Poetry, so I'm really looking forward to that.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Lemmings Away

You go through, go through
and live through the everyday
grind
of your life. Then one day you
find technology simplified
at your fingertips.

So you begin to chronicle your events,
your ups, downs, your good and bad,
even those ugly, uncertain days
full of doubt;

do the best you can to minimalize
esteem, however often you choose...
To reach inside, pull out as much
as you see fit.

Spill your very guts -
some of us more than others,
in art and the beauty of words
that travel with sincerity and
true meaning, loving life for
the revel in experience,
exploring deep how one can paint
without actual pigment, create
pictorials from the barest
figment or breath of imagination.

Using the mind, the mind's
description
can be an awesome thing...
Stunt yourself with the vague
myriad many, many, many ways
to parrot the same message
in the sing-song sloppy-joe
slang and you absolutely
refuse to grow.

Saturday, May 07, 2005


Well my first week on the new job is over, and what great week it was... In between cleaning cages, watering and feeding everybody, getting the work area organized, I've had to hunt for a bird that escaped, been bitten by a rat, juggled ferrets and mice, (not literally, mind you!) and made friends with the resident Parrot. He'll sit on my shoulder all the while I'm getting food for the other birds.. still there when I'm sweeping up.. he's got personality, thats for sure. They're hoping to get him to start talking eventually. My goal is to teach him to say "Here, Kitty, Kitty!..." They want me to talk to the other birds too, so they'll get used to humans. I can just see it now, reciting poetry to them while I'm in there, lol. Not a bad idea actually. And the ferrets, those little mischievious creatures that they are... Every morning I'm telling them, "Hey guys, I'm trying to clean up here!" So I'm constantly pushing them out of the way, lol. But who couldn't love those little faces!
Thursday morning I found a wonderful card Robert had left on the table... (sigh) So sweet, that card says it all. And after work he had dinner ready, did the dishes. Later while we were watching something on TV, he's offering me a foot massage.. felt sooo good, too. Such a sweetheart, :)
The weather has been chilly this past week and I'm wondering what happened to Spring? I remember those few days it turned out really nice and warm, enough to where we even had on shorts out on the balcony. Well I'm hoping that the forecast is correct, that we'll get temperatures up in the 70's for next week.
I'm still trying to get a decent routine going, what with the new job and all. I have to settle in and find time to write, and up till now its been hard to concentrate on it. Robert tells me its just been the stress of not having a job for so long and the moving and all. And he's right, there has been a certain amount of stress with all that, I just didn't realize it. It was more that I didn't have a job, and it was taking so long to find one. But I'm really glad I was able to wait for a decent one that I knew I'd enjoy.. That way it seems less like "work" or a "grind" than if I'd stayed at the diner or even working at the mall in Moorestown. So it took a bit of time, but now things are working out, and I couldn't be happier! Well that's all for this update... Take care, everybody. I Bid You Good Day!