Brian B's Open Salon Blog

Sleepless Nights (Old Poem)

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:11:27 -0500

I've been sick - no, not a Halloween candy overdose, and not H1N1, but some nasty bug that invaded my sinuses and lungs. On the mend now, but haven't had inspiration or focus to do an original post, so I freshen my blog page with this Old Poem, appropriate because I did have a few sleepless nights of coughing, not that the poem is about that:

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

The poet dreams of paper

Empty

Or filled with words confused

demanding form, demanding substance.

Sweet, vicious nightmare.

Like paper dolls, we cut the words

Bending,

shifting shapes,yet still making no sense to anyone else

driving ourselves to oblivion,

Insane obsession

We dance to the unseen music

Puppets

Croaking out wooden rhymes

Casting words into darkness

Echo, our sole divine listener.

Words float past

Demanding

Spilling, twisting, dancing

Poet works till dawn to stop

The madding rush.

The poet has meager talent

Cursed

Gnaws his heart and brain away

Cancerous eating chimera

Silent killer unseen.

Pray for the lonely poet

Possessed

Seeking to exorcise his demon

Only to feed it fresh

Pain burning spirit,

The poet becomes the demon

Kill the poet to kill the demon?

Suicide?

The poet's curse and saviour?

Well, everybody does love a martyr....

June19, 1977

Happy Halloween, eh?

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:10:08 -0400

Yes, Virginia, we Canadians DO celebrate Halloween the same night as Murkens do, y'all. As far as I can discern, there are few if any differences in the traditions - costumes, candy, parties, pumpkins dressed as Jacks O'Lantern...

Tonight in God's Country, it is warmer than normal - a balmy +4 Celsius (about 40 Fairenough)- totally unlike the freezing rain memories of childhoods (mine and my kids'). The weather reports claim there's light rain, but sun is shining in MY window, though the wind is strong enough that a witch might blow past on her broomstick any moment.

I was on the road, so the B boys and their mother (the ex) craved a couple of pumpkins - we'll light one & put it in the front window, the other outside. I bought enough extra candy to last til Easter, even if we get a rush of kids.

As for Halloween memories, alas, my most outstanding one features The Nice Catholic Girl whose Halloween party is one of the 10 Things I Do Differently, so lets NOT dwell on that- but since its the best story I've got and I've told it before, I'll pass and just wish everyone a Skooktacular Evening!

Doggerel, Just Because

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:10:32 -0400

Just because

Tulips, and squirrels

no longer dance

Too much munching on caviar,

perchance?

Just because

it's Friday

always a special day

Just Because

Hearts, bent but not broken

perhaps, like carrie's

misplaced

need venting

or mending

Hey, carrie -

wonder if they ran off together?

Your heart, and mine

If so,

I hope they are happy

in a happy place

in a state of grace

Just Because.

On Tulips and squirrels -updated

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:10:03 -0400

No, this post is not about "The Squirrel". hopefully, he doesn't eat tulips, unless whatever's in the crockpot is really vile that night.

It IS the time of year when I should be planting more tulip bulbs, though I somehow managed to forget that until talking gardening over coffee yesterday. My friend mentioned she had 400 tulips in her yard, and I was reminded that since only about half the three dozen bulbs I planted last year bloomed, I ought to plant more before the ground freezes. Which might be any day now, or might be in a month.

Many of the tulips that did not bloom this year never had a chance, because they were just squirrel food. Many a morning last fall, and early this spring, I would leave the house to find a few (more) bulbs dug up and gnawed upon. I would sometimes replant them, but sometimes not be able to commit to dirtying my hands, thinking I would get them later. But after a while, when the same bulbs resurfaced yet again, my enthusiasm waned.

Tulip bulbs seem to be squirrel caviar.

Still, I love the glorious early spring colour of the tulips, after a long bleak winter which in God's country lingers too far into spring. I firmly believe and understand that "if you don't grow, you die". which in the case of the tulips, means since the darn varmints are bound to try eating more of my remaining few, I ought to include the garden center in my travels tomorrow.

Who knows, maybe MY tulips might look like this:

UPDATE -I planted 50+ more bulbs. Tulips & crocuses along the front of the house, a few Narcissus around the birdbath in back. The picture on one package lookeda lot like the one above, so here's hoping that spring bursts forth with dazzling colour chez B.

Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:10:24 -0400

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, or maybe it was yesterday, I'm never quite sure which. Today is the day off, though.

Sure, madcelt has a point that our holiday lacks the "Pilgrims and Indians" tradition, and thus is a somewhat pale copyof the American version. Gotta disagree though about the suggestion that the late November American holiday is superior in launching a "holiday season". Maybe I'm just a grinch and think that Christmas shouldn't start too soon, but I have another reason as well.

By celebrating Thanksgiving the second Monday in October, Canadians enjoy a true harvest festival. This is a tradition of its own which anthropologists tell us far predates Christianity, and spans many cultures. Humans have long thanked their deities for a bountiful crop, and the promise of food to put aside to survive a long and harsh winter. And in Canada, winter is all that.

Just as I typed that, I had an epiphany. All weekend, I've been bothered by the importation of Thanksgiving into religious worship, at least in Canada. Our service yesterday was themed all around giving thanks, and it seemed off key. Now I see that this is simply a continuation of what Northrop Frye (himself a minister before becoming an academic) might call an archetype - an expression of an ur-myth, common to what makes us human.

In honour of our collective humanity, I now share 10 Things I am Thankful For:

My sons - regular readers will not be surprised by this one.
Good health- and the Canadian health care system - not perfect, but there when I really need it, at no cost, and no denial of pre-existing conditions.
Good Friends, even though on OS, we're "favorites" now.
Just waking up to enjoy THIS day- living in the moment
The sunrise. Glorious today. I drove to work, to sneak in a quiet hour. When I got there, the sun was making the river glow.
A future full of possibilities- a key to choosing to be happy is realizing that though living in the moment is important, the future could even be better.
The memories that deserve to be cherished. Not one to dwell on nostalgia, but certain moments past bring a smile to my face.
Good food. A bountiful harvest, somewhere, and all my material needs satisfied. I come from a farm tradition, and have my own little crop of tomatoes, but pause to reflect on this good fortune, the plenty I enjoy which others may not.
Living in God's Country. Fresh air, clean water, nature outside my door, and real seasons...
Being Loved, well if not for long, at least three times. Which leaves the hope for more.

And isn't Hope the greatest gift to be thankful for?