Time

Can it really be true that this year is almost over? Surely the calendar must be wrong! It can't be December 29 already.

But, yes, one must admit, sadly, that it is. Another year almost gone and what have I accomplished? Very little, it would seem.

To be honest, 2025 has been full of challenges for me. The challenges have been primarily related to my health, beginning with a fall in January that resulted in injuries that put me in the hospital for a few days and is still requiring regular follow-ups by a home health nurse, something which I hope to dispense with very soon.

So, all things considered, 2025 has not exactly been a stellar year for me and I am hoping for better things out of the coming year.

I remember my mother remarking on the fact that the years get shorter as you get older. That didn't make any sense to me at the time, but now I understand all too well what she meant.

All of which brings to mind the lyrics of the old Jim Croce song from long ago,"Time in a Bottle." If I could save time in a bottle, how would I choose to spend it? Well, at least some of it would be spent right here, composing these posts for you, for I do look forward to the time we spend together, especially when you respond. I plan to keep doing this in 2026 and I hope you will keep responding.

Happy New Year!

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman