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Showing posts from June, 2011

What is love?

Questions Iconic queries have often Defined a generation To be or not to be Where's the beef Who is John Galt We ask because we must Curiosity may threaten felines But it is essentially human If we accept that Love makes the world go round By whose definition? Do you, David, take this woman, Lisa... Was - is - pivotal We took one another and we Have gotten so much  From that give and take Westerners reject the ancient tradition Of arranged marriages  We believe in love And so who are we to deny Two men, two women You may say your god decides I reply that mine does not Love, like beauty Is in the eye of the beholder Freedom to choose Freedom to love Free at last Free at last Thank God Almighty  Free at last BREAKING: NY Senate passes same-sex marriage bill Editor's note:  The Marriage Equality Act was approved in the New York State Senate Friday night by a vote of 33-29. Related:  New York moves to become 6th state to legalize gay marriage dg 6/26/11 Sent from my...

The Nashville Glass Plant

Know that which is beyond all beginnings And you will know everything here and now Know everything in this moment And you will know the Eternal Tao Tao 14 Everything Is in this moment If You can grasp it Everyone you have ever met, all the love you have ever known Is here You are not now, nor have you ever been Alone Because they - them - all the moments that came before have Fused into you like the smallest grains of sand Melted in the fire of passion or in the flame of hate You have been forged by living and - Let me be clear on this - We all are the windows And many will see and through us - their days Whether sunny or sad - glad or gloomy We filter the light we all strain to see Yearning as we do for the sun We sometimes die in the darkness Of little lights denied But children, fathers, mothers Hear me As the village fool I am Sometimes allied closely with madness While other times standing near the stars I always dream of Hear me cry Sometimes scream My own heart's longing Let...

The Sounds of Life

Do what you love Said the Man Do what you love With all, not some Heart, soul, mind The gospel trinity Jazz, blues Towering rock This man stood tall Among these peaks The Boss The Big Man joined the band My heart heard The wailing still Sings through the night Joy and tears both Useful as we travel Badlands, Promised Lands Jungleland I first knew love I heard the naked truth Nothing could hide that scream That pleading That prayer Do not forsake us In our hour of need Do not leave us In our hour Of dark desire In Loving Memory of Clarence Clemons 1942-2011 dg 6/24/11 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

Change Management

The caterpillar me was Quite content Hunkered down with multiple legs Eating, climbing, eating, climbing There was a cadence to the days I could understand Fear sometimes flew by But I learned to blend in and Avoid attack One day I grew tired and listless Withdrawing, I spun a shell protecting From recent fears Unexpectedly awakened I felt constricted and A struggle began For days so many I Could not count them Then, finally A new me emerged Exhausted But free Man's true self is eternal Yet he thinks - "I am this body, I will soon die" This false sense of self Is the cause of all his sorrow Tao 13 dg 6/21/11 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

In whom we have put our trust

I find it odd A role reversal of sorts That on our dollars we have In God We Trust Every day I hear fear and frenzy Focused on debt and deficits Dollars and cents And yet we sing God Bless America We say we pray to Him alone Especially before wars, funerals and Football games But simultaneously we fire Teachers and firemen We close hospitals and schools Denying those in need Wouldn't it be more honest And at least less confusing To dispense with the ruse and Build our temples of silver and gold Bow down and pray Have mercy on us Wall Street Forgive us bankers for We have sinned Do not forsake us In our hour Of greed dg 6/20/11 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

A Shape-shifter's Reprieve

It is hard for me That All week long I must Strike a pose and hold it The expression required not unlike the Plastic smiles of greeters, grifters and politicos I guess what is notable is the Degree of adaptation How early I learned to shift Playing the character written for me How sad and poignant That only the morning's breeze And the soft swish of passing cars Were required to awaken me From my long week of Workday slumbers Once awakened I happily greet my Weekend dreams Gladly forgetting the nightmares Of do And do And do dg 6/18/11 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

In the Grand Rapids Airport...

The young couple, half pregnant Nervously awaiting final boarding We all expect to arrive in Chicago at the appointed time Our ticket, we know, is no guarantee Only a loose approximation of a promise That can be easily modified or even cancelled This is no comfort - I am sure - to the young mother Her small, properly-adorned son, however, is unconcerned He is sure all is "as it should be" And, usually, I suppose that is how we all fly Refusing to acknowledge the true seat-of-our-pants nature of living Hunters, farmers, overland stagecoach drivers all knew how fragile is The fabric that holds us - a gun, a knife, and errant arrow Was all that was needed to pierce the veil of expectation As the plane taxis toward takeoff, I am unsure just how United we are But I, for one, know the multiple escape clauses written into every contract The seat beside me is empty, as my love flies unexpectedly  On another plane, o n a completely different journey And so it is, all...

His-story

When I am gone, whatever of this amalgamation - This scattered scrapbook of living is left After what is popularly called the end of one's life All that remains are stories Some told over drinks and smokes And some told with sentimental tears Each story shaped and folded by the teller So as to best fit into their pocket of memories I, too, do this daily as I make sense of the nonsensical The seemingly random collection of days that have become me I never meant to make this particular me My best laid plans - as they all are - Have been shattered to dust by the shocks and shakes of living Through all of this, you and me, we have plodded, stumbled and Prayed ourselves back to the barn at night Stepping so many times like the work horses we are We have worn a rut around the millstone But sometimes, a storm or tremor Comes so large that we are shaken And forced to break the bonds that hold us to task And in those moments, we snort and rare up Flailing our limbs in p...

Conversation with God

Hey god,  It's been quite a while since we've talked, hasn't it?  I guess, to get right to the point, I feel like I don't really know you anymore.  Not that we were ever that close, really.   Our relationship was always a little unhealthy, I suppose.  Probably the age difference, for one.  You are quite a bit older (not that you don't look great...but how would I know?) And long-distance relationships are tough - even without the language barrier.  I never did really understand half of what you said, really.  And, I suppose, like any young lover, I had really unrealistic expectations of you.  I mean, initially, I was quite intimidated by you.  I mean, the whole "killing the firstborn" is a little hard to take when you're the firstborn. And, I have to admit feeling a lot of pressure to commit to a long-term relationship.   All your handlers, hangers-on and so-called "friends" really can be persuasive.  Fire, brimst...

Urban sprawl of a different sort

Every house begins with a plan Three bedrooms or four The kitchen here, a bonus room there Then come the inevitable compromises Unexpected costs, unforeseen mistakes If you're lucky, the end resembles in most ways the beginning And life begins, so young and tender A baby boy - with skin so soft But a busted chin from a bathtub fall Skinned knees so many that scars are inevitable All before the age of ten From then on the wounds - hard to see A broken heart is barely visible to a CT scan And broken dreams even less so But the funny thing you notice As life flies by The house you build So unforeseen and different Has through the years become The home You always dreamed of dg 6/4/11 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/