A narcotic dream

book-store

Here, unhurried, one could browse for hours.
Ordinary life drowned, went under.
On the street outside, often cold and wet,
it seemed, were passers-by in overcoats and expressions of care,
but within the shop one leafed through pages in a kind of narcotic dream.

~ James Salter, Burning the Days: Recollection


Image source: Child in Time.

 

Saturday Morning

blue-neck-nape

[…]

All the candles
burning down to the metal,

the radiator singing its dumb water song.

[…]

The dust
in my lungs.
Knock it
out of me.

[…]

When
did it get so cold?

~ Marty McConnell, Elegy


Credits: Poem – VerseDaily. Photo: Exercice de Style

A perpetual astonishment

first-day-of-spring-march-21-2015

Every spring
is the only spring —
a perpetual astonishment

~ Ellis Peters


Second day of Spring 2015. March 21, 2015. Picture taken outside the front door. 4:55 am. 27° F.


Credits: Poem – Assorted

 

Freeze, thaw, repeat — the cycle expands in the mind to unbearable infinities

parka-hood-winter-cold

NY Times – The Winter Has Gotten Old:

Then I’m laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone, going home, where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me.” So goes the Simon and Garfunkel song, buried deep in the memory, an oldie that seems to have been around for as long as this old winter has.

And long it has been. Long stretches of painfully frigid weather, brief respites, then more snow, ice and freezing rain. Freeze, thaw, repeat — the cycle xpands in the mind to unbearable infinities, the unyielding sensation of being trapped.

But check the calendar: This week means we are officially in late February, which means March. March means daffodils, which means this all must eventually end.

Until then, we wait, battered and diminished. Winter shrinks the vision, narrows it to the limits of a parka hood. It numbs the heart, dulls the reflexes of graciousness and gratitude as people’s behavior on sidewalks and train platforms shifts to self-preservation. It bends the neck, as the eyes scan for ice, gauging the leapability of slush puddles and the danger of left-turning, nonyielding cabs. Is that filthy, black-edged snowbank crusty enough to slip on, or soft enough to sink into? Will I break my ankle or just soak it? Should I give up now, and die right here? It’s windy. It hurts. I can’t go on.

I’ll go on…

Do be sure to go on.  Read the rest here: ~ The Winter Has Gotten Old


Thank you Susan

1° F. Feels like -21° F. Or, Plan B.

hawaii,oahu

Good Morning!
Sunrise.
Inhale. Deeply.
Salty ocean air.

Slow walk down the beach.*
Surf lapping feet.

Morning papers.
Scones, butter, and strawberry jam.
Coffee.

Sunscreen. Sunglasses. Pool chair.
Kindle.
Sashaying palm fronds.
Late morning nap.

Catch of the day: Red Snapper.
Grilled vegetables.
Tall Iced Tea.

82° F.
Long swim.
Wide winged pelicans skimming over turquoise waters.
Soft afternoon rain.
Mid afternoon nap in hammock.

Light Dinner.
Gentle breeze. Sunset.
Evening cocktail.
Crickets.

One last chapter.
Drift.
Drift slowly away.

Do over.

~ DK, Today’s Alternate Reality


Notes: