A State Of Blue Burning...

Post by AquarianM on Feb 26, 2011 at 7:53am

A State Of Blue Burning...

They used to say that the Moon was made of green cheese,
Some brilliant dithering distraction to a red carpet ride to Hell,
A pitiful place of dirt, dark, and grunge,
Hopeless is what they wish for you,
Beaten like poultry in old flour before the pan,
A junkie for whatever relief they'll let you have,
No love to know after that first breath,
They use all that green cheese to paint everything their way,
Every brick and sentence bought and sold cheaply.

That's their vision, not ours.

Picked up,
Dusted off.

After the shock of surprise,
The drums are pounding a deafening roar,
The signs are waving,
Voices arise and neighbor feeds neighbor,
Even the constabulary can see Hell down this road,
The world over is echoing a poetic Santa Claus:

"On Wisconsin, On Egypt, On Libya and On Tunisia,
On Ohio and Texas and Tennessee,
On Florida and Oklahoma,
On Britain, On France!"

How I love to see those hearts afire finally dance,

For a brave new world.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 02/26/2011

www.usuncut.org/actions/30

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

One Terabyte Of Disco…

Post by AquarianM on May 8, 2010 at 5:07am

One Terabyte Of Disco…

Disco it off,
The dust of idle years,
The girth of computer slavery,
The mire of current conformity,
Lose it all,
Trance-tastic and ecstatic,
Becoming reverberating elastic,
Old memories of lights under the floor,
Back under the sequin strobes,
Falling in love with something my age,
Feeling lithe again,
Fluid,
I wonder,
If there’s a terabyte of disco,
I’m going to find out,
I’ll dance until I fall,
High-step into another dimension,
Hip-rotate into an altered state,
Dreaming black-light dreams.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 05/08/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Return of The Boogie Knights...

Post by AquarianM on Jun 5, 2010 at 2:40am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return of The Boogie Knights...

Use the Funk, Dude,
It's all in the beat and sway,
Close your eyes and feel the thump,
Like the way it feels when you slow dance,
And then get down for a night and a day...

In the trance of the dance every beat is a phrase of prayer,
Because we need the up-beat pumping out through the harried air,
The World is softly crying 'cause so much sad news abounds,
And if everyone would just party and dance,
All the love could be found.

I can cross the Universe in a song and remember my fallen ghosts,
Connect with every girl I shared a floor with and thump across space and time,
I'm inside the me I used to be just as much as the me of now,
When I turn my Boogie wishes gentle and kind there's a subtle power of the mind,
It doesn't matter what's new or old or waiting in the wings.

Use the Funk, Dude,
It's all in the beat and sway,
Close your eyes and feel the thump,
Like the way it feels when you slow dance,
And then get down for a night and a day...

When you slow dance always do it right,
Belly-to-belly with an easy soft swing,
Close your eyes and slip into the night slow and kind,
"Cause there's a touch of love under the disco lights,
Breathed in the scent of long soft hair.

The oceans are calling with the soft salt of sweat,
Mother Earth gave you the moves to glide,
Remember the tick-tock of the tides in the beat of the high-hat drums,
The stars are twinkling in the rolling lights,
Aurorae blinking in colors beneath the floor.

Use the Funk, Dude,
It's all in the beat and sway,
Close your eyes and feel the thump,
Like the way it feels when you slow dance,
And then get down for a night and a day...

Say your prayers in the trance of dance,
For a kinder and gentler world,
Hardness of heart is for Lords of the Sick,
Who lose when you dance for the Tribe,
And your Brothers and Sisters are all Humankind.

When you get down get on down and Boogie the blues away,
Care for the ones who need and make sure the music plays,
Glow like an angel and be a light-worker in all you do and say,
There's a real need for a counter-beat centered in love,
That's how the World gets saved.

Use the Funk, Dude,
It's all in the beat and sway,
Close your eyes and feel the thump,
Like the way it feels when you slow dance,
And then get down for a night and a day...

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 06/05/2010

Evelyn Champagne King doing "Shame":
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDlSHu83Ehc&feature=related

Last Edit: Jun 5, 2010 at 7:13am by AquarianM

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

A Poor Day To Die...

A Poor Day To Die...

In the terrible currents of fear and wind and rain,
Left with nothing but their feet and maybe not even that,
No dime no nickel no car no gas,
Maybe no job if they left - I guess now it's too hard to laugh,
The stench and the heat and the waters full of death and disgust,
Six days with nothing but bullets and broken promises,
Thirst and pain and confusion comprise everything,
Bodies plugging the bathtub drains,
Call it looting or scavenging to survive,
When the world ends without a plan,
And everything that could have been done never was,
The night falls and there are no coins for it all,
The flood of eyes that have crossed the toxic river,
The Ferryman played golf and shook his cup of tin,
In a crisp suit where workaday clothes belong,
The beach is stripped bare and the attics are filled with skeletons,
By God - it's a poor day to die,
In this train wreck they call The City of New Orleans.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 09/03/2005

Author's Comments:
There are natural disasters and there are moral disasters. Some days they converge, like the last six have exposed. I woke up early from a horrible nightmare about nuclear war last Monday morning. It seems I wasn't so far off. The guard at the elevator door to the underground shelter told me to go through the door to the left. It was the entrance to a boxcar on a train going back towards where the skies were being lit up like a billion lightning bolts. I jumped the train and awoke...to the news of Katrina.

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to all the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.

Psychedelic Summer...

Post by AquarianM on Mar 13, 2010 at 2:49am

Psychedelic Summer...

Love children seeking the sky,
Cosmic love in the streets,
Shaming the War Pigs with gentle flowers,
Gun barrels bristle with flowers,
Fire in their heads,
Steel strings pull at their hearts,
The world has come three-quarters of the circle,
Stuck in the Spring,
Just before a new Summer of Love,
The cries and deaths uncovered,
No newspaper or TV will touch,
So sing your heart out children,
Wherever you are,
Earplugs are everywhere,
An artistic monolith of angst and sadness rules,
Interspersed with Gangsta angry,
As we wonder if there will ever be another up-beat,
The song seems to remain the same.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 03/13/2009

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Feet On Fire...

Post by AquarianM on Jun 23, 2010 at 2:29am

Feet On Fire...

It was the Father's Day from Heaven and Hell all at once,
For of children I have only one.

Saturday comes the mail with a GED certificate,
Accompanied by a high-score award,
Leaving me with a pleasant glow all Sunday,
Despite the lack of a call.

Then comes Tuesday,
Then came Tuesday,
The day of the weekly call.

Jobs are scarce and so are plans,
So off to the National Guard will go our young man,
To Hell with anything I've ever said,
Off to help the corporations make people dead,
You just never know who.

I've got nothing left to do,
To kill off this dark mood,
Except put on my dancin' shoes,
Boogie until smoke and sparks fly from my feet,
Burn up rubber on the floor,
Because my feet are on fire.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 06/23/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Blue Earth Blues Sax...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 31, 2010 at 11:51am

Blue Earth...

This is a spoken-word-to-music creation of mine in celebration of Earth, Love, spirit, and Human potential. It has an other-worldly sound quality to it, but I've gotten a good bit better with the sax, and it's pretty smooth here. I'd suggest reading the lyrics, then closing your eyes to listen. It's a bit meditational, too. I call the genre "New Age Blues."

The below file is the MP3 audio version. I performed the saxophone, harmonica, percussion, and vocals, and wrote the lyrics. The song was mixed and edited using Audacity 1.3 Beta. (Free download at: audacity.sourceforge.net/)

www.archive.org/download/BlueEarthBluesSax/Blue_Earth.mp3

Written lyrics are below:

Blue Earth...

The Heart of the world,
Can be heard in the rush,
Of ocean waves,
In the rustling spirit,
Of wind in the tree leaves and grass.

The heart of the world can be seen,
In the softness of your lover's eyes,
In the flight of a bird,
Across lightly-clouded skies,
Past the snow of a mountain peak.

The heart of the world can be felt,
In the beat of your lover's heart,
Where you lay your head,
In the smile of your child's discovery,
Of the colors of butterflies,
Atop waving dandelion heads.

This gift - our lives Mother,
This joy and dance and race,
We hold her in the palms of our hands,
Tenderly or rough our touch,
The choice is no longer ignorant.

The heart of the world beats,
In every step we take,
Every act we make,
The slightest thing we do,
Like ants that could fell a tree.

The heart of the world is our crossroad,
Every one of us walks into a future,
Something we endlessly paint,
Brushes coarse and fine,
We're the foundation to the next layer.

When the spirit of love,
Matches and mates with the sense,
Of common sense survival,
Then the future is won,
Conflict dissolves,
We have what we need.

We have this world,
We have each other,
We have each creature,
Sustaining both,
We love it all,
And it all loves us,
In its timeless fashion.

Our heart is with the world,
And the world is then with us,
Opening the Universe's heart,
All the potential we could ever need,
As far as any eye we create,
Could ever lovingly see.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/31/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Dead Water And Fire In The Sky...

Post by AquarianM on Mar 9, 2010 at 1:35am

Dead Water And Fire In The Sky...

I read about it daily,
Wondering,
"Will we ever find it in our hearts to create Paradise?"

Every burn mark we put upon the sky,
A tattoo upon the dark side of our souls,
Blind as we are to the crab skeletons,
Sinking to the bottom of seas devoid of oxygen,
We swim with the jellyfish and wonder if they sting,
A constellation of undulating crystalline flesh,
Reminding us of our hand in the hand of death.

They say the next time will not be a flood,
All you have to do is see the rainbows,
Yet fire in the sky is certain,
A result of our own evils,
An evil I call ignorance,
Even when it's purposefully a result of intention,
Sadly because there's another possible dimension.

I can see the song inside my head,
A vision of beautiful green and blue,
Spring and soft tides awash in gentle smiles,
A future where hearts of steel are molten,
Becoming reeds and grasses and alive,
Bending on gentle breezes and strong winds,
A field of brothers and sisters in a multitude of colors,
Leaning in hurricane or sunshine,
Cushioning each other,
Not a single stalk to fall,
Because there was no cruelty left at all.

I know it's never about what you can get,
If you treasure what you've got,
If we've got each other,
Then the Apocalypse can finally get lost,
Back where all nightmares belong,
In the empty nothing where bad dreams belong.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 03/09/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Tar Party...

Post by AquarianM on May 22, 2010 at 1:34am

Tar Party...

Half the Gulf is tar on feathers,
Slicked and sick with a rainbow sheen,
The oil-sleepers in office finally had their bloomers ripped off,
And it's dang ugly under there,
Just like the crude in my next marguerita,
And the shrimp, they're beginning to oil,
Never again to boil,
So get 'em while they're hot,
Or while you can,
Because I,
For one,
Have never forgotten,
Which President was an Oilman,
Or was it Snake-oil Salesman,
Or appointer-in-chief,
And I won't forget which didn't clean house after,
Either,
Or who's been voting against the sun and wind,
It's all stuck in my craw,
Kind of like oil is to a fish.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 05/22/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Intel Corp Using My Poem To Promote Wind Energy...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 3, 2010 at 12:24am

Intel Corp Using My Poem To Promote Wind Energy...

...In an advertisement promoting the use of Wind energy in Oregon State. (http://gl-zephyr.blogspot.com)

Here's the pertinent e-mail:

"From: MacKenzie, Bill
Sent: July 01, 2010 12:11 PM
Subject: use of your poem

Dan,

Thanks again for giving Intel permission to use your poem, “The Magic of a Breeze”, in another ad promoting wind power. Intel is the largest purchaser of wind power in Oregon and we want to encourage others to follow our example.

Would you be kind enough to reply to this e-mail just giving us written permission to use your poem so I have a record of our conversation? I will certainly make sure to send you a copy of the ad when it is completed, which should be in a couple weeks.

By the way, I think I sent you a copy of the last ad we did with your poem, but attached is another copy in case I didn’t.

Regards,

Bill


Bill MacKenzie
Communications Manager
U.S. Corporate Affairs, JF3-107
Intel Corporation
5200 N.E. Elam Young Parkway
Hillsboro, OR 97124"


You can view the .pdf version of the ad here: ia360703.us.archive.org/14/items/WindPowerAdvertisementmagicOfABreeze/WindAd1.pdf

I didn't solicit this, it came to me via Bill from Intel finding my poetry online. You never know who you'll reach with your poetry when you're on the internet. I wanted all of you to see this, because it's all too easy to think that your voices aren't heard - but they are. Any of you can choose to be a messenger of light and love or whatever message you see fit, and it can make an impact long after you first put pen to paper or fingers on keys.

Thanks for reading,

Dan

PS: I'm not taking compensation for this ad other than the crediting of my work, due to the cause being one I personally promote. See gl-zephyr.blogspot.com for some of my efforts on this issue.

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Soft Blue Glow...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 31, 2010 at 8:30am

Soft Blue Glow...

There's something translucent like moonlight on a calm sea,
A touch of Saint Elmo's Fire that glims the lines between you and me,
The slightest ripple edged in a soft blue glow,
My fingertips trace your curves,
This is the heaven that I know.

In the hours and spaces that make up our lives,
We've wandered the world together,
The stories all told and two if by sea,
Every place our ghosts will some day go,
To find each other if the winds should rage and part us,
Even for a moment.

No matter what I'm doing,
No matter who I'm with,
No matter where I'm at,
No matter when I am,
The soft blue glow of your love surrounds me,
I am a soul gilded by you.

I want to play in the gentle swells of your heart,
Feel them roll over me,
Try endlessly to recreate their sound in my saxophone,
Touch and hold your perfect note,
Boldly like brass and reed.

Our love is the color of that moonlit sea by twilight,
Filled with stars and comets,
Wandering the universe and filling it softly,
Gently,
A warm radiation of the heart.

There's something translucent like moonlight on a calm sea,
A touch of Saint Elmo's Fire that glims the lines between you and me,
The slightest ripple edged in a soft blue glow,
My fingertips trace your curves,
This is the heaven that I know.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/31/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Blues Cruise By The Dashboard Lights...

Post by AquarianM on Aug 6, 2010 at 12:04am

Blues Cruise By The Dashboard Lights...





Tenor Sax solo for poem: www.archive.org/download/BluesCruiseByTheDashboardLightsSaxTrack/Blues_Cruise_By_The_Dashboard_Lights.mp3 (3-minutes, 19-seconds MP3)

I'm rolling down the highway in my mind,
Even at zero,
Put the Satellite on channel seventy-four,
BB's Bluesville station,
Let that harp wail,
The night is graced by Aurora Borealis,
Twinkling stars and old memories.

The guitar leads me down memory lane,
An old friend or two I'd not mind a minute with,
A gal I wish I could catch up with just to see,
How did life turn out, Tree?

I hear the saxophone down low under it all,
At the root of the world,
Maybe low C,
And I get lost in time as street lights roll by.

The windows are down and summer glorious,
I turn up the volume as I roll into the city,
Blues City,
Chicago,
Big Windy,
All the better to push my reed.

So long Sister Blue,
The stars are winking,
It'll all be alright,
I'm cruisin' the Blues tonight.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 08/06/2010

Last Edit: Aug 6, 2010 at 1:07am by AquarianM

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

 

About "Blues Cruise By The Dashboard Lights" Sax Track...
This track is strictly the un-accompanied instrument, and I think it's one of the prettiest I've done yet. The only embellishment is a bit of echo effect. ( 0.3 second delay with 0.25 second decay) The track was created using Audacity 1.3 Beta. ( audacity.sourceforge.net/ ) I also kept a copy that is echo-free. I did use the Audacity noise-removal tool to clean the hiss out of the track. The photo is actually the dashboard gauges of my 2007 Dodge Dakota pickup truck at night. I've always loved the soft blue glow of the dashboard in this vehicle, it's one of my favorite things about it.

Thank you for listening! ( 66sax.blogspot.com/2010/08/blues-cruise-by-dashboard-lights.html )

Another Fishwriter...

Post by AquarianM on Aug 9, 2010 at 11:26pm

Another Fishwriter...

Poets love fish,
They must see them in their dreams,
They write of them,
Eat them,
Compare them to ideas,
Splash them with Ubiquitous Mystery sauce,
But never throw them back.

Maybe water is timeless,
So must be everything in it,
Because when we dream of flying we swim through the air,
Like we were home again.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C)

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Battle For The Vaposphere...

Post by AquarianM on Jun 9, 2010 at 1:39am

Battle For The Vaposphere...

There was a blimp full of hydrogen and otherwise empty,
It floated high above the clouds,
A sign of water that caused rain when it finally exploded and burned,
Creating a rash of H2O.

There's a guy sailing the Seven Seas in a boat glued from plastic bottles,
He picks them up from the whorlpools at the middle of each sea,
Someday he'll glue a city of them together,
And a Brazillion people will live in a dripping hodge-podge,
That smells of plastic-choked fish.

Of course every critter in the sea has choked on plastic by now,
The fish don't feel lonely anymore,
And the jellyfish are damn-near indestructibly polyethylene,
They'll live in that environment for at least 500 years,
Breeding in the Gulf of Texaco,
Which used to be of Mexico,
But BP changed the name.

Of course there's a certain President,
Whose head was like the blimp,
Big and mostly empty,
He was the Appointer and Decider,
And no one was the wiser,
Until they had to clean up another of his messes,
With nothing but BS and guesses.

The TV and newspapers all carry on,
The messengers of money,
Finding every subtle change in words imaginable,
They have an army of word-twisters fighting for the Vaposphere,
Who can lie by,
Omission,
Attrition,
Twistin',
And everything else in your vocabulary.

They'll twist your mind by your gonads,
Feed you full of corn grown from fertilizer made from oil,
In fact everything on the planet these days eats oil,
From cars to cats to crabs,
Though it's been cleverly disguised,
And of course pollutes the skies.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 06/09/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Sight Of A Season...

Post by AquarianM on Sep 11, 2010 at 3:46am

Sight Of A Season...


I saw red leaves today and my eyes joined in,
Summer is winding down and it leaves me melancholy,
It always does.

I'm another Summer farther,
Off from those golden days of youth,
Young loves bygone and flown,
Young friends and old grandparents,
Pictures that flake away to dust.

Every sunset notches my heart,
Whittling it down to a match stick,
Still it burns bright and heavy,
While I hold my breath as the sun slides off the world.

Summer, Summer,
Leave me not,
For it's hard to bear the sentiment and ghosts,
That play like faded children in Autumn leaves.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 09/11/2010

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

The Daydream Deficit..

Post by AquarianM on Aug 31, 2010 at 1:29am

The Daydream Deficit..

We were told,
Children,
To focus on the here-and-now,
Sit up! Pay attention!

It was punished and ridiculed into us,
Practicality enforced with a social baseball bat,
We got it so well,
Dreamless to our bones.

Is it any wonder then,
We drug the daydreams out of our children,
Run a chronic national sleep deficit,
Rule our exhausted world with an iron fist?

Was the human need to dream and imagine so dangerous,
That we abhor it to the point of our own collapse?

It's known by psychologists,
Humans laugh at things that cause them social tension.

Is this why it's so hysterical,
When I dream of a world built on love?

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 08/29/2010

Last Edit: Aug 31, 2010 at 2:24am by AquarianM

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Angels And Sharks...

Post by AquarianM on Sep 28, 2010 at 1:30am

Angels And Sharks...

There's probably six billion books,
Yet I don't own even a million years.

If I could stuff my head with it all,
I could be the angel of Knowledge,
Drift in dreams on paper wings,
Whispering secrets not quite heard,
Repelling the sharks of Ignorance,
Those eaters of mind maps,
Sellers of fake visions and blood,
Stop their frenzy-feed on Earthlife,
With the sound of love,
Pouring,
Washing,
Healing,
Sweeping.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 09/26/2010

Shadow Throne...

Post by AquarianM on Oct 1, 2010 at 5:15am

Shadow Throne...



I sit in the silence of the Spruce cathedral,
Hearing and seeing,
Patches of sunlight drift down through the canopy above,
A needle carpet at my feet,
This place where time is shattered,
And I search the quiet for the scent of soul,
Something missing in that other world outside.

Every rustle and every breeze carries a scent,
Sweet pollen or musty old leaves,
Seasons turn me back to the beginning of time,
Leaving me to think that only this stone is real,
This hard thing that bears my weight in a place of surreal beauty,
Where my feet rest and my heart dances.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 10/01/2010

Photo in the Spruce grove, Morton Arboretum,
Lisle, IL 09/28/2010.

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

Path Of Jubilation...

Post by AquarianM on Oct 2, 2010 at 5:48am

Path Of Jubilation...



It was a year-and-a-half ago I was broken,
Wounded bird unable to fly,
Passing the seasons in injury's chains,
Wondering what the sight of recovery would mean.

The Tinker Man fixed me with bolts and braces,
As if I were a thing of tin and oil,
Yet it worked in its fashion,
In its sweet time.

I wondered then if I would walk again,
Then I wondered if I would dance,
Would I ever know the grace of the Katas,
Let alone run forward in life?

I walked and walked and walked,
Doing everything the healers bade me,
Bent and pulled and pushed,
Eventually gently danced - muted with caution.

Today the Tinker Man declared me free,
To kick and jump and run,
Race to the Moon if I dare it,
Stand in for Bruce Lee if I feel silly.

Kato I'm not,
But I'll be back in class soon,
And I'll keep walking,
Even run a little.

I am healed, and I feel fine.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 10/02/2010

Back story:
Many of you know I suffered a severely broken ankle in February of 2009. It was put back together surgically, the bolts and braces are still in it. I slowly went through healing, physical therapy, walked further and further a little at a time. I even got to dancing again a little. Still, there's always a little twinge now and then, a slight reminder that it happened. I've used care and caution and stayed out of karate, never ran one single stride since, not jumped an inch. I went to the surgeon's office yesterday afternoon to see if they were going to have to take the hardware out. The surgeon was amazed at how well I've healed, and the strength and flexibility I've gotten back. I'm within a degree or two of my original range of motion in two directions, and the other two directions are as good as before the fall. Not only did he tell me that I don't have to get any hardware removed, but I'm fully cleared for any physical activity I wish to pursue within normal human limits. I plan on being back in karate by January at the latest, and to try running a bit very soon. Needless to say, this is a huge relief, and I celebrate it.

Dan

A Whisper Of Will...

Post by AquarianM on Nov 6, 2010 at 5:05pm

A Whisper Of Will...

When the shadows fall let them fall from the Earth,
In a gentle parade of love-light,
A trillion ghosts dancing in jubilation,
As sea-foam comes clean,
Night skies bare their shining jewels,
Forests sigh a clean breath,
Peace fills the land,
Empty hands reach out,
Become filled with an embrace,
Tears are wiped away,
We lift each other from burden,
Beasts become brothers and sisters,
Sailing the stars in a loving dance,
A future where Grace is blooming lush and resplendent,
Life is joy,
Unbound and fearless.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 11/06/2010

Poetry can be prayer...

All Aglow...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 10, 2009 at 1:15am

All Aglow...

The lights are all on now,
All over town,
Soft and low,
It's so quiet at night,
Chicago streets full of nothing but snow,
Windows everywhere filled with the symbols of the season,
Awaiting the hustle-bustle morning,
A sign of childhood never-abandoned,
Work and toil might hold us,
Underneath it all,
We're all aglow.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/10/2009 poetry and photography




101 N. Wacker Drive, Washington Avenue side.

Geeks' Fire...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 11, 2009 at 1:22am

Geeks' Fire...

By the soft glow of a dehumidifying HVAC unit,
I warm myself in the hot breeze of router cooling fans,
As slowly the night-shift clock does creep.

All through the Site not an alarm stirring,
Neither transducer's screams,
Nor LED gleams,
No printer going nuts.

All night I pray to keep it that way,
Holding fast to my inner Zen,
O if the tidings are right,
Of a silent night,
I'll make it home on time to bed.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/10/2009 - poetry & photography

Reading The Mist...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 12, 2009 at 2:14pm

Reading The Mist...

 

The soft glow of existence surrounds us,
Blanket of mist and salt and light,
Where we were rivers flowing to sea,
As we swim tiredly upstream,
Or peacefully down,
Struggle or merge we learn,
There is nothing and no being,
Not a thing untouched by motion,
It is all apiece and in place.

See the world as sacred or dead,
You become your envisioning.

What that was created can not be filled of the Spirit of that creation,
Therefore interconnected as one,
Yet dreaming as many?

Walk the path that you see,
For there is no escape from your own footsteps,
And the journey is the goal.

Everything around you ever is washed in the waters of your sea-sight,
As you are in its.

You can climb mountains highest,
Yet you'll never be apart from water.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/12/2009

Falling Silent...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 22, 2009 at 2:32am

Falling Silent...

I look outside my window tonight,
A gentle silent glow of street lamps,
The world is pools of light on soft new white,
All around every lamp a halo of star dust falling,
Christmas lights glowing off in the distance,
I quiet I celebrate the union of Air and Water falling on Earth,
Illuminated by the soft glow of Fire,
Not a sound but my breath trying to fog the window,
The hush of the season asleep all around me,
Children will wake up soon enough,
For now they slumber peacefully,
All the World is falling silent,
My waking dream.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/22/2009

Christmas fallen...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 23, 2009 at 1:54am

Christmas fallen...

Softly their voices whisper to us,
This time of year when all draw close,
When the world whirls in white and love,
When faint lights alight across the darkness twinkling,
Flickers in distant windows,
We know in our silence,
Who is here,
And who is only heart-near.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/23/2009

A Modern Cowboy's Wish List...

A Modern Cowboy's Wish List...

Gypsi Belles,

Wheel Love In The Desert,

Wild Steering,

Buttes, Butts, And Wheels,

Yellow Roses On The Road,

Big Skies, Hot Hearts,

Romantic Cowboy's Road Crew,

Mooning Over The Road South,

Not Your Gentleman Traveller,

Wheel Songs Of The South,

Unrepentant Cowboy Rolling,

Stars And Steam On The Desert Highway,

Dixie's Driver,

Rolling Romantic's Southern Tour,

Wheel-Well Belles,

Desert Passes,

Driving Dixie With Flowers,

She Rode South With Me.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford

(C) 10/06/2017

Merry Christmas To All, With Love...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 24, 2009 at 11:46pm

Merry Christmas To All, With Love...

The lights are strung,
The presents all tucked under the tree,
Sleepy smiles on cherub faces,
Abed even for you and for me.
If ever there were a moment,
When love could be found most anywhere,
This is it.

If there's a magic to Christmas,
It's the love we all share,
That's our greatest gift.

Tonight, we do as our Teacher said - and love thy neighbor as thyself.

Merry Christmas to All,
With love.


AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/25/2009 - donated to public domain.

BANG!

Post by AquarianM on Dec 29, 2009 at 12:19am

BANG!



Soon the New Year will pop,
Like a cork from a bottle,
Shot 'cross this scary lovely world,
History writ in 2009's cold Winter grit,
Drank spiced with hope and trepidation,
We may remember old friends,
But questionably the celebration,
A whole brand-new year,
Whatever shall we do,
With so much precious time?

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/29/2009 - poetry & photography.

For A Naughty Old Soul...

Post by AquarianM on Dec 31, 2009 at 1:19am

For A Naughty Old Soul...

Blue Moon,
You naughty old soul,
Kissing clouds,
Feeling up angel wings,
Way up in the black night,
Cheesy lips kissing the eyes of a poem,
Stealing fire from a star,
Pools of your light fall on the darling flower,
Rose in the garden,
Waving fronds in the breeze,
Swooning in the rivers of orgasm,
I know you love watching her,
Deep in your ancient mystic heart.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 12/31/2009

Author's Note:
Response to a challenge to write a poem using ten of the following "over-used" words:
love
heart
blue
soul
angel
wings
clouds
rivers
eyes
fronds
pools
black
darling
moon
flower
rose
garden
poem
lips
taste
kissing
kiss
orgasm
fire
star

Dan - The Early Years: Swamp Gas...

Post by AquarianM on Jan 1, 2010 at 5:57am

Swamp Gas

See a UFO ......swamp gas.
See a new way to go.....swamp gas.
Tell a new idea, they listen........swamp gas.
Watch a political show......swamp gas.
Manners impeccable everywhere....swamp gas.
All will treat you kindly.....swamp gas.
Fairness abounding.......swamp gas.
Authorities know it all......swamp gas
Get rich quick......swamp gas.
Life is always easy.....swamp gas.
Hard work not required.......swamp gas.
Education unimportant......swamp gas.
I'll get to it later......swamp gas.
Someday it will....swamp gas.
Seen any lately.........swamp gas?


AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 05/08/2000


Author's Comments
Just a reminder....a lot of life is like the Twilight Zone. Keep a salt shaker handy and take a grain of it often.

January Is For Stars...

Post by AquarianM on Jan 6, 2010 at 3:20am

January Is For Stars...

I can see the jewels of deep space,
Fire hottest embedded in coldest nothing,
The burning sources of our basic atoms,
Ghost-daddies of the night,
Wandering in eternal circles,
I wonder how many children they've seeded,
On quiet little Mother-worlds,
Hidden behind bright light.

The cold January air is still,
All the better to see you with,
Dear cousins of the deep dark night.

Perhaps someday we'll get to come out and play.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 01/05/2010

Why I Landed In Noni's Kitchen...

Post by AquarianM on Jan 8, 2010 at 10:18am

Why I Landed In Noni's Kitchen...

Under other circumstances,
I might have been lost in the spirit house,
Never to be born,
But a leaf is blown in the wind,
And the sexy turmoil boiled over downtown,
Making me as the budding cherry blossoms,
Born to fall to this Earth.

Thankfully I wasn't born to a bag lady,
I landed in my Noni's back yard,
Watching her pin laundry on the clothesline,
Fascinated by an old wringer washer,
Amazed by a sewing machine with a pedal.

Sunday sights and scents,
Garlic and sapphires,
She was from old Sicily,
Where the sage-baked chicken was tender at the bone,
Pie-baking she would comfort me with apples,
And the spices grown under the kitchen window.

You would die to have one bite of her pasta,
I know it.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 01/06/2010