Friday, July 24, 2015

A blues song in the morning

Today I drifted awake with a blues song forming in my head. A slow and low man's voice, head bent over his guitar, bass notes stepping down to the final line in the chorus...

Living alone
Evenings I sit all alone with a drink in my hand
Mornings I lie in bed waiting for the courage to stand
Years keep on passing like water through the fingers of my hand
Why is it life never goes just as you planned

I wander these rooms remembering what used to be
And I miss the missing face I so long to see
Why won't your ghost ever come to me
In this house of misery

Outside the sun shines and birds sing and gentle winds blow
People pass by with their busy lives and somewhere to go
Sometimes they stop in to see me and I tell them to go
Why is it life never goes as it should go

And I wander these rooms wanting what used to be
And still I keep missing the face I wish I could see
Why won't your ghost ever come to me
In this house of misery

I fixed the roof ten years after you were gone
Another ten years I put all the new windows on
They walk by and see the flowers that bloom on my lawn
Why is it life is alright and then one day it's gone

Why won't your ghost ever come to me
In this house of misery

Oh someday a quick crash and burn will be the end of me
And I'll burn to the ground
This house of misery

Sunday, July 19, 2015

One day last week

I caught myself impatient
Washing lettuce from my garden.
Wanting to be finished,
On to something more exciting.
I halted in the moment.
What bubbled up was thank you.
Good God I have a garden
And fresh nutritious lettuce
I am not even feeling hunger for.
And water clean available
To wash my washing hands.
Today the sun is shining.
It is so much more than enough
As I stay here in this moment.
Upon the blind of my upstairs window
Shadows move,
Wind blown leafy branches
Like people passing by.
And I
Disturbed by motion
From the corners of my sight,
Look up but they are vanished strangers.
The wind has stilled.
So I go back to my reading.

In late afternoon my pyjamas surprise me
by my still wearing them.