Timely Poem by my friend Arlene Corwin

The times are fraught; too much of my reading and listening time -- indeed too much of my brain time -- is spent with news about the impeachement proceedings in Washington. And whenever I turn pages in the NYTimes or read The New Yorker or other magazines I discover other ways in which the world is badly awry. I believe there were four shootings in the past ten days and that's only in America.

Several years ago I began a correspondence with Arlene Corwin, poet-proflict with 13 books in print and her own very specific style which I think springs in large part from the fact that she has been a professional jazz pianist (and sometimes singer) since the age of 16. And she is now a wee bit older than I am, has been living in Sweden for quite some time and sends me her new poems, often hot off the laptop several times a week. She's just had a bad couple of months when her body seemed to announce it was giving up, but Arlene has also been a practitioner and teacher of yoga for most of her life and her mind/body said NO,  IT'S NOT TIME TO GO. She is recouperating and back to writing poems, which have mostly take a somewhat move serious look at the world and life in general. I am especially in agreement with today's poem and have warned her I will quote it here. She doesn't mind at all.

   Mysteries That Never Cease

There are mysteries that never cease,

Will always be:

Because of, not in spite of.

Look at progress:

Despite progress, we are more at risk than ever.

I fear, not ‘in spite of’, but ‘because of’, progress never

What it seems,

All the reams of information,

New advances, dancing in our eyes and ears

Dependent on who sees or hears,

Every positive a dormant negative

Dependent on whose hands it’s in.

Then the secrets of infinity:

What, where, how, why, when; 

A mystery most definitely.

And music, art 

The part that improvises and creates

Out of a place inscrutable,

Wondrous, wonderful.

To never understand?

Dependent on whose hand it’s in, 

Whose talent, aptitude, inborn mind

Is interested at all to find

The answers.

Mysteries That Never Cease 11.21.2019

Nature Of & In Reality; Circling Round Reality; Arlene Nover Corwin 

The little gang

Four great-grandchildren on an autumn day posing for their Mom who likes taking photos and does a very fine job of it. The girl who seems to have decided not to wear a jacket is Stella, now in first grade, the tallest boy, with the reddist hair is the eldest (if someone who's 9 going on 10 can be called "eldest" at all) is Phineus  (Phin/Finn), who is in the 3rd grade.  In the red plaid coat is second son, Cole, and down front, littlest but not at all willing to be least is Silas who has started pre-school this year.

The golden trees in the background were lovely for a while but we've had very serious wind and rain and even a dusting of snow since the photo was taken. So autumn is turning toward winter.  (And Stella will have to put on a coat).

November already!! Working on Reflections

Middle of  November already -- hard to believe! With a half dozen wonderful women I'm deep into editing the next issue of Reflections which will be the 20th issue--a special landmark. This one has more content (and it seems to me a higher caliber) than the previous ones.  I am not a believer in the all-American motto that "Bigger is better" but in this case I think it's true. It's also more work and I'm grateful to have the  "comma crew" go over every submissions.

Indeed, we're add a great many commas, also hyphens and corrected much grammar. One committee member, Cathy holds her cell phone ready to check many spellings and facts on Google. It sounds awfully nerdy, but I really have enjoyed the sessions for the past six weeks. One more meeting on the editing and then a subcommittee will work another three or four weeks and lay out the anthology. I enjoy the discussions and decision making about what can follow what, where we need to add in a lighter poem, what photos works where.  Perhaps I missed a career that would have been satisfying, not getting into publishing. But then most people miss many possible accomplishments. I'm happy with this bit of work at this stage in my life --- and especially so because I'm not alone, I have compatible and trustworthy and admirable help.  How often can people in business say that? 

Sign and photo

Many months ago I noticed this sign on  two-lane street that is a connection to downtown Hyannis and popular Rte 6A which runs along the north side of Cape Cod. It comes shortly before a railroad crossing where only one train a day crosses. I told Rachel about it and we've thought of taking a photo but it's never happened until today when we also had Rachel's friend Paloma with us as we were all going for a walk at an Audubon reserve. I visualized a photo of a couple of old people bent over canes, their backs to the sign. But that was not the idea the others had so here we are ... I'm the "Old person"  being guided by Rachel. The sign is the focus which IS what I visualized. I drive that way frequently but I have yet to see a person, young or old, actually walking along that stretch of the street.

Our walk through woods and down to the harbor was fairly long but perfectly wonderful on a sunny, slightly cool autumn day with many fallen leaves beneath our feet.  We passed an enclosure with about ten goats, the sign identified them as "working goats". They are apparently taken to weedy areas where they are allowed to eat all the weeds and such (even poison ivy, I'm told). They are an ecological preference to the use weed killer in places like the right-of-way beneath power lines. They're attractive animals to watch  ... unfortunately they have in inevitable goaty perfume.