tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64280013720701315742024-03-05T06:22:00.503-08:00ALBERT B. CASUGAIssues worth spending precious lifetime on.ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.comBlogger567125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-15537195282150842732014-07-08T17:21:00.000-07:002014-07-08T17:21:04.735-07:00THE OTHER SITTER<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>THE OTHER SITTER<br /></strong> <br /> Dark days will always be with us,<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> but they, too, will pass, like wind<br /> blowing through gloomy rooms: <br /> <br /> look at her fleetingly smile at you<br /> when you hold her to your chest, <br /> the dove-like cooing telling you <br /><br /> how warm it is to curl into arms<br /> that will always be there to hold<br /> and enfold however cruel days <br /><br /> become, however bereft of grace<br /> struggling to live becomes. Look<br /> at her gaze at you long enough <br /> <br /> to manage another smile before<br /> she looks away and closes her eyes<br /> to sleep feeling you will be there <br /> <br /> when she opens them again still <br /> singing her a lullaby, her smile<br /> never once leaving her tender face. <br /> <br /> It is when you are moved to get<br /> down on your knees and pray<br /> that, if this were your final day, <br /> <br /> you would still have her cuddled<br /> in your arms smiling at what you<br /> have begun to doubt is still there <br /> <br /> holding us all in his steady palms. <br /> <br /><br /> ---</span><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=655938884" href="https://www.facebook.com/albert.casuga" saprocessedanchor="true"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Albert B. Casuga</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br /> Painting by Janet Weight Reed, England, "A Baby"</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="text_exposed_hide"> </span></span><br />
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-88152959368830521342014-07-03T21:56:00.001-07:002014-07-03T21:56:03.168-07:00Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): THE PASSION<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2014/07/the-passion.html">Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): THE PASSION</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-62993589166582140522014-07-03T21:53:00.002-07:002014-07-03T21:53:45.280-07:00DRUTHERS ON HIS DOTAGE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Poem, if he had a choice. There was a time I could write any borracho under the table, I mean drink under the bridge. Is that the bromide? But whatever for? I cannot recall how and when I wrote this note on a rough, brown paper bag of music<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></em></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><em> and a pack of metaphors. Did I say music? Meta…what? Oh, I meant a pack of brew. Give it all back. Return them to senders. I am done.<br /></em><br /> <strong>DRUTHERS ON HIS DOTAGE</strong><br /> <strong><em>(Or Send Back to Sender)</em></strong><br /><br /> <br /> If he had his druthers, he’d rather not be given:<br /> too little time for too much to give back on.<br /> A keen eye to see both sides of a magic coin?<br /> Be a magistrate then, look for the right and just.<br /> Or a poet who sees both sides of a wall. Or mirror.<br /> Why not a jihadist who slays both good and evil<br /> for a master who will not see any evil in any good?<br /><br /> <br /> And snow now melting faster than it could fall?<br /> What ever for? He’d rather they all blew back<br /> to whatever skies they’ve fallen from, too late<br /> anyway for the grandkids who prayed as hard<br /> as the grumbling Imam now hoarse with his<br /> praying at the muezzin. What’s a hillock for<br /> if it is not snowbound for their tobogganing?<br /> </span></span></div>
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<br /> He will not suffer the little ones to miss their <br /> winter sleigh. On the other hand, this could be <br /> a wayward winter storm giving back a late wallop<br /> for having been given a welter of clouds and a clash <br /> of heat and cold. Someone sent him a throne of words:<br /> he built cathedrals of thought no one understood. <br /> It’s poetry, mon ami! He said it’s worth a shrug, <br /> like cold tea on a rainy day. Some tea? Bit of sugar?<br /> Cream? Tea, Madame? Tea? Anyone?</div>
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<br /><strong><br /> —ALBERT B. CASUGA</strong><br /> <em>Mississauga, July 3, 2014</em></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-39282708134298662922014-07-02T17:52:00.002-07:002014-07-02T17:54:51.781-07:00A LULLABY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The lullaby has a long poetic tradition. In this poem, I try to capture the rhythm of those songs that are invariably sung to put people (babies) to sleep. (How bad can they get? Or how gentle?)</em> </span></div>
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<strong>A LULLABY</strong><br />
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Close your eyes and fairy lights will lead you </div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Away from the dark and gloom that scare you:<br /> <br /> In your dreams, do you run through brackish snow?<br /> Climb leafless trees or swing from a broken bough?<br /> <br /> Where the river bends, do you gather rotting fish,<br /> Glean carrion left from a summer’s fishing mess?<br /> <br /> Has the snowman’s head fallen off its melting body?<br /> Its stick hands twisted like pretzels. Arrows really.<br /> <br /> The carrot nose has become its stabbing tooth,<br /> Where both eyes were, now Cyclops orb is left<br /> <br /> On a conehead of dripping snow; a crushed face<br /> Stares blankly at a mid-day sun whose lapping rays<br /> <br /> Forebode another season for yet another reason<br /> To accept that what lives is also ripe for destruction.<br /> <br /> <em>(O, my aching heart, it aches, it hurts,<br /> It hurts badly, it hurts to the core.<br /> Kindly spare me your gentle nurture,<br /> For I dread death’s coming spectre.)*</em></span></span></div>
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Close your eyes and let the wind rip through<br />
Tears and cracks and cranny and broken doors, too.<br />
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Grip the tightened string on your wayward kite,<br />
No wind could wreck nor snap it loose from flight.<br />
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You will ride the wind, my boy, and touch the sun,<br />
Though frightful prayers plead that you must run<br />
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From the dreams that have become nightmares,<br />
From the fallen kites; run from the fearsome snares.<br />
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Life is a trap, much like the burlap waiting downstream,<br />
When you get there, you are enmeshed -- do not scream.<br />
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It is too late to scream. Close your eyes, shut them tight.<br />
Life is not a waking dream. You have just begun to fight.<br />
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<em> (O, my aching heart, it aches, it hurts,<br /> It hurts badly, it hurts to the core.<br /> Kindly spare me your gentle nurture,<br /> For I dread death’s coming spectre.)*<br /> </em></div>
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--- ALBERT B. CASUGA<br />
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<em>* Annnay, pusok, annay, annay,<br /> Nasaem, naut-ut la unay.<br /> Itdem kaniak ta pannaranay<br /> Ta kaasiak a maidasay.</em> <br />
--- Duay-ya: Dungdungwen Kanto<br />
(A Lullaby of Love), Ilocano Lullaby Refrain<br />
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-83723873535898890592014-06-30T18:02:00.003-07:002014-06-30T18:02:32.641-07:00AM HERE: AN EPITAPH<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">AN EPITAPH: AM HERE</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />Am here where nothing is everything,<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">where the still point of our exploration <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">is exploring beginnings turned into navel <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">gazing, a standing still on the tip of light.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /><i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where am I?<o:p></o:p></i></span><br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Am here where mornings crack into a shiver <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of twilights breaking into days and nights, <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">songs and echoes --- whimpers of regret<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">or frenzied halloing achieved after couplings <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of living and dying, of starting and ending, <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of suns and shadows. Endings begin here.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Am in a circle at last where the hole <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">defines life’s next of kin. The hole is a circle.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I have come. Am here where I am going.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Been here before. But is anybody home?</span><br /> <span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">--</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">- ALBERT B. CASUGA<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><em>Revised, June 30, 2014<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /><u>From the Author’s Notebook:</u><br /><br />In his "Life and Death: The Burden of Proof", Deepak Chopra defines <i>zero point: </i>"At the moment of death the ingredients of your old body and old identity disappear... You do not acquire a new soul, because the soul doesn't have content. It's not "you" but the center around which "you" coalesces, time after time. It's your zero point."<br /><br />What happens if the "center" does not hold? Will life and death still come from the same fibre? Will dying still be needed to extend the energy of living? Nothing is everything here.<br /><br />"...The zero point provides the starting point from which everything in the universe springs. Since matter and energy are constantly emerging and then vanishing back into the void, the zero point serves as the switching station between existence and nothingness." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Chopra invokes the principles of physics to locate this point as he postulates that life and death are from the same stream. He quotes Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita: "Folding back in on myself, I create again and again."<br /><br />One does not die, therefore. One continues the journey. The <i>homo viator</i>cannot come home again.<br /><br />If he must come home, is there anybody there to come home to?<br /><br />It is questions like this that authors like Richard Dawkins (<i>The God Delusion</i>) exploit. Some of his fellow atheists have purchased ads in trams and transits to coyly admonish: "There probably is no God; go out and enjoy yourself tonight!" The critical word is "probably". They sound unsure about their certainty.<br /><br />Because we have yet no certain way of knowing, we will maintain silence in our beds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-85244674314796978142014-06-28T20:45:00.002-07:002014-06-28T20:45:14.993-07:00DIES IRAE: A POEM FOR OLD MEN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">DIES IRAE: A POEM FOR OLD MEN<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The Nightmare<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Halfway, between this river stone and many rocks
after,<br />
Nara shall have gone from our echoes-call.<br />
We have wandered into a sunken mangrove and wonder:<br />
Is it as silent there? Are there crabs there?<br />
What quiet mood is pinching bloodless our spleens?<br />
This is another pool –-- navel upon the earth.<br />
Always, always, we cannot be grown men here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">After the white rocks, after the river bend,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Nara becomes the dreaded dream.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We have put off many plans of soulful revisiting
---<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We will go on re-stepping beyond the white stones,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Each step becoming the startled rising<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Into a darkened city farther downstream<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where we once resolved never to die in.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Do we wake up then afraid of Nara?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But rising here is the nightmare come so soon,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Treason in the daytime, maelstrom at night:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The nightmare was of cackling frogs</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">And serpents rending skulls and cerebrae</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Of kitemakers who sing while termite logs</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Burn and children, chanting the Dies Irae,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Mush brainmatter, pulling out allegory</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like unwanted white hair, stuffing black grass</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where brain was, casting tired similes</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Into dirty tin cans where earthworm wastage was:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">River swells drown us where, surfacing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We wake up knowing our days have become<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Termite nights and decaying metaphors.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">--- ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-53625189101455621382014-06-27T20:11:00.001-07:002014-06-27T20:11:23.870-07:00Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): STILL POINTS: POEMS FROM THE HOUSE OF TAO<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2014/06/still-points-poems-from-house-of-tao.html">Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): STILL POINTS: POEMS FROM THE HOUSE OF TAO</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-58214264154834613442014-06-26T18:09:00.000-07:002014-06-26T18:09:09.631-07:00POEMS AS ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="6621630643282196394"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="7472836015863748200"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="561799432554586138"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="7819639163935102016"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="1666900044736156757"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="4781179249617594410"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="7633825370865783835"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="7641237245893852777"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="8513253287890229697"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="2127333944417832831"></a><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">POEMS AS ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">By Albert B. Casuga<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS 1: WHAT IS IT ALL FOR?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
a</span></i></span><span class="usercontent"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">m exploring poetic answers to the BIG QUESTIONS. </span></i></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Cosmological, Philosophical.) Stuart Clark
listed down questions on The Universe in his Big Questions book, and Simon Blackburn
his list in The Big Questions: Philosophy. Our first question is from
Blackburn: WHAT IS IT (Life) ALL FOR? <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">IN SEARCH OF MEANINGS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Missing the many splendored thing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">is one way of looking at this search.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How really far out there do we need<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to fly, or espy for the god particle we <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">see</span>med to have lost in the process? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why look behind the stars or in them? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Did we not lose our angels coming off <br />
the crib or the direst cranny for shelter? <br />
They do not grow with us, nor guide us. <br />
Absconding, they quietly creep away. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Courage and devilment open our eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> what stories we could live with or by, <br />
or what places to board up or occupy. <br />
Orphans at birth, we are alone at death. <br />
What we mean here is what we make.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The womb is a meaning we cannot do <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">without: our final breath is a call: <br />
Mother, hold me. Our first cry is a call: <br />
Mother, love me. And then we grow old <br />
shaping up all excess purposes and ends. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The tomb is yet another meaning we <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">scarcely begin to understand before it <br />
pulls us to its urgent demand: living <br />
to die trying to live while dying is easy <br />
may yet be the meaning we struggle for.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">BIG QUESTION 2: CAN WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER?*<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">YOU AND I</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Words in their primary or immediate signification
stand for nothing, but the ideas in the mind of him that uses them</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">. ---John Locke</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Are you
talking to me? Are you writing to me?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Answers
to questions you pitch into the dark</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">are meanings I assign to
the questions you ask.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Always,
you and I, will be at opposite ends </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of a
half-lit hallway where echoes are as urgent</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">as the tremulous
confessions we burden ourselves<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">with each
time we look into our reflections </span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">on </span>one-way mirrors we look into when hiding</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">hurts hurled like <i>hunting
</i>knives at target trees. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When I
call you, I mean to quickly hold you down,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to find
your voice, to shape your feelings, to own</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">your thoughts, to mould you
as I want to have you. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I
interpret you through my own lenses and mirror</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">you as
you would me and have our confluence </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in this reflection, a
dragging into a cold dungeon <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of
thought constructing meaning instead of finding</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">it, and
the “You” becomes the “I” held in bondage.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Except that in this
conquest, I lose everything. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
Questions and answers become elusive phantoms<br />
of meaning, configurations of troth to the other<br />
turn into fantasy, dreams and desire but delusions.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">*This poem was prompted by Simon Blackburn's "Can We Understand
Each Other? Treating Words Carefully," <i>The Big Questions: Philosophy</i>,
Quercus Publishing, London, UK, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS 3: BETWEEN HERE AND THERE</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">BETWEEN HERE AND THERE</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A poverty of language requires reading</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">between the lines: the eyes cannot see,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">nor scents mean anything. No taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">or touch could jump out of nothing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A trick, if there is one, is that
meaning <br />
cannot mean beyond the compulsions<br />
of a body made for this time only.<br />
<br />
Does one learn to understand a heart’s<br />
diction? What words leap out of silence?<br />
Why does one need to listen to whispers<br />
of absence? Why do sounds of sorrow<br />
and madness register the same timbre<br />
where indifference is the sounding board?<br />
Is this why we would rather tolerate poets?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
They read and write between the lines,<br />
and could not care less about the simple,<br />
palpable grip of certainty bereft of clarity.<br />
What is clearness if the whole truth hides<br />
behind the unknown <i>here</i> and a dark <i>there</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If meaning could not be found in one
place,<br />
here, why do we think we really understand?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
Between the lines, we may yet begin to know<br />
that we need to go <i>there</i> to be truly <i>here</i>.<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In response to the Big Question: What is
Human Nature (The Problem of Interpretation) by Simon Blackburn, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Big Questions: Philosophy, Quercus
Publishing Plc,</span> London, UK, pg. 18 etseq.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">THE BIG QUESTIONS 4: A ZERO POINT<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is Death To Be Feared?": One of the Big Questions included by Simon
Blackburn in his <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Big Questions:
Philosophy</span>. Here is my take for an answer.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A ZERO POINT </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He said it first: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after this death, </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">there is no other. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It is peremptory. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But a world without a memory,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">is as final as it can get without you. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Will it be a place where love is free?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Magical, except you can’t come back. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The pictures will be on the walls,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">as mute as the hooks they hang on. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">They will not talk to you, they can’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Even if they could, they would not. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Even if you have become the cobweb<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">wrapped tight on the broken frames,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">you would not have been there. No.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">You are not part of the furniture. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like dust in abandoned houses, you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">will inhabit the nooks and crannies,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and would not be disturbed until<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">termites take over. Too late then, <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">because you are not even a remnant<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">temps
perdu,</i> you are lost in time <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and in space; even among the stars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and black holes, you are not there. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like the sound of a single hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">clapping, you will not be heard. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The first death is always the last. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS 5: CHOOSING CHAOS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Here is my poem-a-day answer to one of the Big Questions posited by
Simon Blackburn in his "Am I Free? (Choices and Responsibility) </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">CHOOSING CHAOS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Order is articulated chaos, its desire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">an old rebellion that recalls the loss<br />
of a streamlined paradise. Nothing<br />
is needed here. Everything is given.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Then, why walk out of this Garden?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A provident Eden where everything<br />
grew including his wanton dreams, <br />
of having his way: orders be damned.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How simple things would have been.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Each pebble on the pond had a reason<br />
to be there, each star a constellation<br />
of sunlight, each sun a starter of life. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How serenely flowers would bloom<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on the tip of thorns, or water flow<br />
gently from the cracks of dry rocks,<br />
and ripe fruit fall into open mouths. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Everything can happen here, nothing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is everything there, a cipher is full.<br />
How benignly would mountains rise<br />
from the sea, and lakes from mudpools.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would movement have moved this<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">conspiracy of stillness and creation?<br />
He could not see this, nor feel the pain<br />
of a yanked rib to make a woman cane.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A yearning rooted in his belly burned,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">a lust for roaming the hidden valleys,<br />
finding struggle with fish and grain<br />
a surprising tug on his arms and loins. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Walking out on a promise of fullness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and unbridled abundance, did he<br />
choose somehow to stand on hind legs<br />
and see whence came the thunderous <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">offer? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You
who are made in my image,</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">shall have dominion over all that you</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">see and taste, all that is still or
moves,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or none but the courage to choose. <o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He chose to shape his own order out <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of the unseen chaos of growth he <br />
occupied East of Eden, and decided:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We will gather ourselves some fig leaves.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We will make ourselves our own image. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 6: MEANING AS
AXIOM<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here's a poetic response to the
Big Question: Why is There Something and Not Nothing? (The Strange Ways of
Being)*</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">MEANING AS AXIOM</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
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If another twig falls in the night,<br />
as silently as it grew as a sapling<br />
toward the sky, would that mean<br />
anything anyway to anyone?<br />
<br />
The graveyard of a fallen tree<br />
may tell untold stories that stay<br />
untold until a struggling stray root<br />
breaks through dry rot and ground<br />
for yet another flushed cherry tree.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The inexorable is also axiom here:<br />
life begins in death in a spun gyre<br />
twirling into flowers, forever moving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Nothing is everything here, but there<br />
where leaves had once fallen, broken<br />
twigs spring back as fluttering birds<br />
twittering on branches like new leaves.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 8: BEING ON TIME (DOES TIME GO
BY? THE STRANGE RIVER OF TIME)</span></b></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"></span></strong> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCwQ1iVludpPEEroVmzPSU1xk7IHbnEcHikW42O9TmeAJFVUZjePzkqfT-MdQGspKcZm1it7Ju_6UDwQRVukhlpux8pD1CH2zyQBUHo7U2jm79Ko-AtzzlGRPi0yZJFVvlkbPs6NzagE/s1600/DALI.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCwQ1iVludpPEEroVmzPSU1xk7IHbnEcHikW42O9TmeAJFVUZjePzkqfT-MdQGspKcZm1it7Ju_6UDwQRVukhlpux8pD1CH2zyQBUHo7U2jm79Ko-AtzzlGRPi0yZJFVvlkbPs6NzagE/s1600/DALI.png" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Painting by Salvador Dali</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">BEING ON TIME<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
When Time equals Being,<br />
That would be the End.<br />
<br />
Nothing would get past<br />
The edges of ephemera.<br />
<br />
What would the end be,<br />
When Being equals Time?<br />
<br />
There will not be a bang<br />
Anywhere, nor a whimper.<br />
<br />
There can only be trumpets<br />
Of the winged proclaiming<br />
<br />
An arrival in a regained<br />
Haven where Death is dead;<br />
<br />
At which time, no time<br />
Marks being on time. Ever.<br />
<br />
All will be late for the birth<br />
Of God on Judgment Day.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A response to one of the Big Questions posed by Simon Blackburn in his <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Big Questions: Philosophy</span> essay
on Time and Being, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"Does Time Go
By? The Strange River of Time." </span>(pp.115-123), Quercus Publishing
Plc, 2009, London UK. </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></i> </div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>THE BIG QUESTIONS, 9: CHANGES (PROBLEMS OF CONSTANCY
AND CHAOS)<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why are things in constant flux? Why do times change and we with them?
Everything is relative then? Relative to what? Are you here or are you there?
As Blackburn asks: <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">why do things keep
on keeping on? </span>Is Eternity in another life a myth? A placebo? Another
world? Why struggle then for Eternity?</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></i> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">CHANGES</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O, the times a-changin’…Times change, an’ we change with them!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Changes</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">, as constant as they are intriguing,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">slither
through as coldly as serpents move</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">into crevices not unlike
meandering fog. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Inexorable
patterns, they are the unchanging</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">streams
running through the cherished fables</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we tell and retell until
they become a reality <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we cannot
escape however sanguinely we try</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to build
walls to ward them off chambers</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of fear housing our hapless
lives. Hopeless. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Every
sunrise fades into a sundown, all lives</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">dwindle
with discarded days, anguish turns</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">into ecstasy and loops
around like a storm. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What
grows in spring withers in summer,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">then,
like twigs blown off in autumn’s fall,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">get buried in winter frost,
a carrion of a year. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why
struggle then for eternity? Nothing lasts.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">That
story about a lost paradise is still grit</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">for an unchanging story <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">once upon a time.</i> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Could <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">changes</i> have been that fruit in Eden?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">An apple
stuck in his throat, it bobs forever</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">like an intruding promise
that everything <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">must
perish even in paradise. The rot here</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">then is
forever. Flotsam of ruined homes,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">debris of broken lives, all
tombs of betrayal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would a
morning ever come, as we sip tea,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">when like
a wave laving the shore, it ebbs</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">only to crawl back at all
sunrises and sunsets,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">never ceasing, never
leaving, never changing? </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 10: LITTLE QUESTIONS? (WHAT ARE
MY RIGHTS IN A SOCIETY? IS THERE SUCH A THING AS SOCIETY? AM I FREE?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">LITTLE QUESTIONS? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is there such a thing as Society? What are my
Rights? Am I free? ---</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Simon Blackburn<i>, The Big
Questions, Philosophy*</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">There must be a little door<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">that will not end in a room.<br />
Space is all. Is there an end <br />
to these rooms? An exit<br />
into a free space all my own?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I require a room-less door<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to step out of when leaving <br />
would finally mean being <br />
unbound, no walls to fence me <br />
in, no house to shackle a home. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For what would a sky be for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why would suns set over hills?<br />
Suns rise from the edge of seas?<br />
Why do springs expand to falls?<br />
Why is beauty is own excuse? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Whence comes this splendour,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">what does it mean for a flower<br />
to bloom? When all questions<br />
have been answered, where<br />
ends he whose end is a question? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
Or are answers simply next door? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">*</span>Simon
Blackburn<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Big Questions, Philosophy</span>,
"Am I Free? (Choices and Responsibility)?". pp. 28 etseq., "Is
There Such a Thing as Society? (The individual and the group), pp. 66 etseq..
Quercus Publishing Plc, London, UK, 2009.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 11: HIS WAILING WALL (IS THERE A
NEED FOR GOD? WHY IS THERE A NEED TO BE GOOD?)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">HIS WAILING WALL <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant --- Tacitus*</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Either way, distance finds me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">looking up or down this cliff,<br />
an unlikely sanctuary I escape<br />
into aching for scarce solitude. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How can one be alone among <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the darting seagulls? Or silent<br />
with lost memories jarred by<br />
blasts of breaking waves below? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Here, gods revel in their haven<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of whistling winds and clouds,<br />
down there fishermen cackle,<br />
chewing sargasso, guzzling gin,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">while their thrown nets fill up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">with flotsam floating around<br />
moss-gowned boulders staring<br />
at the sky like dark green eyes. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is it this vast and empty space<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">between that scares me now, <br />
when I should be murmuring<br />
secrets to messenger winds? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I would scream unbearable<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">pain, holler down bitter anger;<br />
I must share muffled grief,<br />
loosen taut shackles of despair. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Either way, I find wailing walls<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in air, water, rocks, and wind;<br />
like Job I weep for peace, hope<br />
to gently fall in the cup of palms <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">waiting to catch my carrion<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">now carved out of a shattered <br />
world of faithlessness and fear,<br />
unable to hold on to life or love. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">On this piece of jutting rock,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">have I not found the little place<br />
where I could reach His Hand<br />
quickly were I to fall, either way?
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Simon
Blackburn is a philosophy professor at the University of Cambridge in England.
His essays "Why Be Good?" (pp. 94 etseq) and "Do We Need
God?" (pp. 159 etseq), are included in the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Big Questions, Philosophy</span>, 2009, Quercus Publishing Plc,
London, UK.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 12: TRANSFIGURATIONS: IS BEAUTY
AN OMEN? (WHAT IS BEAUTY? WHAT IS IT FOR? IS IT AN INTIMATION OF IMMORTALITY?)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">TRANSFIGURATIONS:
IS BEAUTY AN OMEN?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A condition of complete simplicity/ (Costing not
less than everything)---Little Gidding, The Four Quartets, T.S.Eliot</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Cocooned in a condition of utter simplicity,<br />
the silkworm will not stop oozing out its tapestry<br />
onto the point of death which is also its beauty.<br />
<br />
How much beauty can be eked out of pain?<br />
Like the hurt bivalved flesh of the grimy oyster,<br />
would the papillon wings glisten like a pearl?<br />
<br />
But this one is spun out of patience: there<br />
must be radiance out of a cocoon’s dark<br />
confines. It can only break into mobile light.<br />
<br />
Colour the <i>mariposa</i> green, would that matter?<br />
Dye the silk out of its consumed gossamer nets,<br />
would that stop its flying out of a crude beginning?<br />
<br />
Arrested from its final transfiguration, the worm<br />
turns and it is on a table–the grub of culinary<br />
quintessence! Quite like an earlier challenge:<br />
<br />
“Eat of my flesh, drink of my blood. This covenant<br />
shall not be broken. I will be with you again when<br />
the radiance of this goblet dims into a eucharist.”<br />
<br />
A condition of simplicity? Bear beauty and perish?<br />
Offer an unending dream in a kingdom, and be slain?<br />
The tale of the supreme sacrifice is also immolation.<br />
<br />
What does it matter that I die then, if I flew out<br />
of a trellis like the monarch butterfly, that started<br />
as a wormed-out silkworm then food for the hungry?<br />
<br />
I would be the worm, the injured mother pearl,<br />
the crucified madman who asked that his flesh<br />
be eaten, his blood quaffed, and live forever.<br />
<br />
Beauty is an omen. Destroy this vessel of clay,<br />
and it can only spill the reddest of wine, the<br />
stoutest of ale: a dangerous promise of eternal life.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i>Ref.: The Big Questions, Philosophy</i> by Simon Blackburn, "What is
Beauty? (<i>The fatal attraction of things.), </i>pp 150 etseq., 2009, Quercus
Publishing Plc., London, UK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 13: OCCUPYING THE GARDEN: A
HUNGER (WHAT IF I WAS MADE FOR THE OTHER? WHAT DO I NEED? AM I MY BROTHER'S
KEEPER? AM I DECEIVING MYSELF?)</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJqJyxkMU_x0QDzc6GZ-WffIHDqCYyu_XkQsI21DI0TVyD0esB9nZAww-pxXasDJuDBeV9t0pvsVK-Q92IkIeU8-qUfFLSVc1GQ3wBXvLDntyF-oFCj8KRTOAdtLbF7OJG3JbpbacheO-/s1600/occupying+the+garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJqJyxkMU_x0QDzc6GZ-WffIHDqCYyu_XkQsI21DI0TVyD0esB9nZAww-pxXasDJuDBeV9t0pvsVK-Q92IkIeU8-qUfFLSVc1GQ3wBXvLDntyF-oFCj8KRTOAdtLbF7OJG3JbpbacheO-/s1600/occupying+the+garden.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">OCCUPYING THE GARDEN: A HUNGER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What do I
want, what do I need? </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Later<i>, I tell myself, </i>later<i>. There’s plenty of work, the hours
full of obligation. But I know I am not virtuous: I am always my hunger.</i>
---From “Hunger” by Luisa A. Igloria, <i>Via Negativa<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What if this place were made only for the other?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">You are yourself, but you are also others’ other. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Were you conceived for yourself, or for a specie?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Someone must extend the process of evolution. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Your first act out of the womb was to let out a
cry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Was it not to alert the birthing other you’re here?
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">And you will bring joy to a union forged in dreams,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">but you could always be the unwanted obligation. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What if you were the inevitable happenstance<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">come from the aches of groin and gravid reasons? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Are you an issue of love or lust? An afterthought?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When did you start to even aspire to be yourself? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Dare you grow then to even ask: <i>What do I want?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What do I need?</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> Selfish
angst? No. Must-ask ones. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">One cannot give what one does not have, <i>operatio</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">sequitur esse</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">. Find and
feed your hunger to know <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">what you are here for. Are you a brother’s keeper?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or does a lover keep you? Either way, a hunger. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">If you were for the <i>other</i>, you must be
provident;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">but fill your tills first before giving a ruddy
cent. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is your neighbour the village thief? Love him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Clothe the naked, as you would with a fig leaf. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Before long, you would have guessed how little<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">you are without the other, and learn to whistle <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in the dark, and wait, and build, and gather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">behind walls, until, one on top of the other, <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">you begin to climb beyond your pauper space<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to occupy a lost garden, a haven, as your place. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 14: GETTING BLANK BACK ( AM I
FREE TO MAKE A MESS OF MY LIFE? WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY?)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">GETTING BLANK BACK</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
<br />
How efficiently convenient it would have been<br />
if we were born with erasers in both hands:<br />
ones which could quickly rub out anything<br />
irrelevant or inutile to a life made in the stars.<br />
<br />
Would one miss the struggle that colours days?<br />
Would one etch a restful stroll under the palms?<br />
How easily could a hammock be hung on walls<br />
when weary of a senseless shift of acts, and rest?<br />
<br />
The start and stress of little lives is enough <br />
to wish for all-purpose equipment to work life<br />
out just as we want it. Aren’t we our own masters?<br />
Why let others outside mould our lives inside?<br />
<br />
Are we not free to sculpt our haunches, paint our<br />
portraits, pare our own earthen jars, exist as us<br />
regardless of them? Why not use those erasers<br />
to blank out every misstep, every dread, and live?<br />
<br />
How conveniently efficient it would have been<br />
had we been able to erase the ineffectual lines<br />
that make us shadows instead of bright forms<br />
exact on the blank sheet we were made to draw on.<br />
<br />
<br />
* Inspired by a poem, "Removed, " written by Columbus, Ohio poet
Hannah Stephenson published in her poetry blog, <i>The Storialist</i>.<br />
<br />
<i>Erasing is not/not drawing,/ just moving/ around what/ you think you/ didn’t
mean..../ We can’t get/ blank back,/ just as good as/new but not/ the same as/
before you drew</i>.---From “Removed” by Hannah Stephenson, <i>The Storialist</i>,
06-19-12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 15: QUESTIONS---NOW AND THEN.
WHY BOTHER ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, WHEN THEY COULD NOT BE ANSWERED NOW?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">As an interregnum, this poem should bring the reader back to what the
series was all about---the task of man as a homo sapiens is to ask questions
while he is around, because his effort to answer them also defines whether or
not his existence is meaningful, as transient as it is while it lasts. W<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">hy bother to ask these questions, when </span></span><span style="color: #225588; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes;">they could not be answered now.</span></em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1.<br />
What good is a brilliant question, <br />
If it could not be answered now?<br />
Of what use is an inchoate answer,<br />
That begs the essential question? <br />
<br />
It is the cat catching its tail, a snake<br />
Swallowing itself, it is the circle<br />
That will not break, a spinning gyre<br />
Spitting back unanswered riddles.<br />
<br />
Is not time past after all the now<br />
We worry an answer for? Is it time<br />
To be anxious for, when tomorrow<br />
Has not gone past the hurdle <i>Now</i>?<br />
<br />
A condemnation by circuit pulses,<br />
Is always an unanswered curse.<br />
<br />
2. <br />
That is precisely the imprecision<br />
That presides over the fate of man<br />
Who must answer for a finitude<br />
He did not want nor grovelled for.<br />
<br />
Why must time past be time future,<br />
When there is no <i>now</i> save a passing<br />
Passion for all that looks beautiful <br />
For just a little while, a vanishing<br />
Vision---a grand mansion of thought,<br />
A perishing still point, a broken<br />
Promise of eternity he cannot know,<br />
Nor understand for its briefness?<br />
<br />
He will ask all the bright questions,<br />
But they cannot be answered now.<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">* This poem was inspired by a post by Ohio poet
Hannah Stephenson. "<i>How do we know/ what now is /if it’s always
passing/ through us/ before we can get a good/ grip on it. ---From “What Do You
Have in That Headlock”, Hannah Stephenson, The Storialist</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><em></em><br />
<br />
</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 16: ODDS: WHY LOVE
THEN OR LIVE AT ALL? HOW TRUE IS OUR EXPLORING?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;">
<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why love then or
live at all? How true is our exploring? How certain is this mock-up for staying
alive?</span></i><br />
<em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"></span></em></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE ODDS: HOW TRUE IS OUR EXPLORING?</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i>For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business/ ...Love is most
nearly itself/ Where here and now cease to matter./ Old men ought to be
explorers/ Here and there does not matter/ We must be still and still moving/
Into another intensity...</i>From<i> “East Coker, The Four Quartets,</i> T. S.
Eliot<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
Because we could not hold on to love<br />
As it must be held, given pure and free,<br />
We can only try to find what is most<br />
Nearly itself, until we get to a still point.<br />
<br />
Time does not define where that may be,<br />
But it must linger in the mother’s breasts,<br />
When she suckles her infant into a life<br />
Where there is nothing but uncertainty.<br />
<br />
How precariously certain is this mock-up<br />
Of staying alive when it is impermanence<br />
That most resembles it? A will-o’-the-wisp<br />
Or a cruel mirage hounds us, it is there<br />
<br />
But not here. Why love then, or live at all?<br />
When uncertain weather is most certain,<br />
Why dare fritter precious lifetime on this<br />
Uncharted clearing? It is our yoke to try.<br />
<br />
We will perish trying, measure dying by<br />
How true our exploring must be, we <br />
Cannot stop, we simply move into another<br />
Space, with flaming eagerness or anger.<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 17: STAYING ALIVE EVEN IF WE DID
NOT PLAN TO BE BORN---A JOIE D'VIVRE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What does it mean to Stay Alive? Even if one did not plan to be born,
why is it preferable to make a go of living it up with elan and joie d'vivre?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTvVVuJdWjUsP038MaaUVUmcOBz7S8Xa1JHz78yEnqkEpvBdLOqSzUbb0K96IPsFf3S5RKWBwJucsrT3Ek-OIQTqOdzxU52rOaM-pc1KLennKrsUrLnBHr4jzdHnF3MMJ_-A2x2F-uLI/s1600/staying+alive.jpg"><span style="color: #225588; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">STAYING
ALIVE---<i>A JOIE D'VIVRE</i></span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Because
what we now have is a life</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we will
never have again, something</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">as
unrepeatable as living or dying,</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we drink
to it as often as we turn down</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">an empty
cup, and learn to forgive</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">what was
given or not, <i>noblese oblige,</i></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">coming as
we do to this strange place</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">without
as much as a warning or even</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">our
consent. We did not know. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Because
we did not plan to be born,</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">is it too
vexing to learn--perhaps</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to revel
in--the myriad acts of loving,</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of
living, and in return be grateful</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to
perform the surprisingly magical art</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of
shaping life, nurturing it, finding it</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">where no
one would lead us, blind</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">as we are
to this fire in our weak loins?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Was that
left behind by a rushed maker,</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">like a
spare screw, and we had to find</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">where it
would fit snugly, divinely apt</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and
delicately, deliciously, our manner</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of
staying alive when dying is better?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 18: LESSONS ON THE LEAP OF
FAITH. (WHY AND HOW CAN ONE BELIEVE? WHY BELIEVE IN LIFE, LOVE, LETTING GO?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why and when must one make his leap of faith, or
not at all?</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwp-D2vxgVKyV_8Jiq1S0nNq5oNMRaVHNvjrvVhTYPw5NZOGZDgOhw3H0p7acncREnw70wG4jV1XQjATNecVeq7MsCAgmOdc7gic6aYcdNlMtagrUtKeusuAKYxSnkJ2NSLY2hu_vJnrVa/s1600/buddha+sitting1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwp-D2vxgVKyV_8Jiq1S0nNq5oNMRaVHNvjrvVhTYPw5NZOGZDgOhw3H0p7acncREnw70wG4jV1XQjATNecVeq7MsCAgmOdc7gic6aYcdNlMtagrUtKeusuAKYxSnkJ2NSLY2hu_vJnrVa/s1600/buddha+sitting1.jpg" /></a></div>
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<br />
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">LESSONS ON THE LEAP
OF FAITH
<o:p></o:p></span></b><br /></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When the
torch of desire burns clean<br />
you would have learned all there is to learn: </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To give, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Datta.</i> To feel and care, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dayadhvam</i>.<br />
To own and control, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Damyata.</i>Therefore,
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To love
beyond all loving because it is pure<br />
like the mother suckles her infant. Give. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To know
when caring will make things grow<br />
like the raindrops nourish but will not sting. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To have and to hold even
when that lashes<br />
irreducible hurts to weary hearts that care. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It is for this that, naked,
we halloo in the rain,<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let it come!</i> Let all desires fill our
dry vessels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Then we
wake to the warm caress of the Sun<br />
for the day is always new, the flower lovely. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is not
the rose lovelier when its thorns sharpen?<br />
Does not the potter’s knife need its razor edge </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to pare
the lips of the wine jar and smoothen<br />
its mouth that lovers may drink to full desire? </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Bare your
body then to its wild abandon, salve<br />
it with the cool spring water now welled </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">f</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">rom the earth, and open
your mouth to kiss<br />
the sunlight, defy the anguish. Never say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not
yet</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Let it come!</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> Let the leaves fall on this Upanishad,<br />
because the leap of faith is never to say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Not
yet.</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 19: DISCARDED DAYS (ARE OUR LIVES MADE OF DISCARDED
DAYS? IS THIS OUR BEST SHOT AT STAYING ALIVE?)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What does it mean to stay alive? Why stay alive,
when dying is easier?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">DISCARDED DAYS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What have we discarded,
cutting through tunnels</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we must
have plodded, to quarry from lives we</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">might
have been accidentally given? What loves</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">have we
found, what hearts have we lost? Layers</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of clay,
cracked stones, and silt could build us our</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">houses of
hurts and ruptured dreams. Not a home. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But we
take care to wake up to days we can shape,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to
moments we could mould like delicate bowls</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">whence we
share victual and drink for our hungry</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and
thirsty souls. When travel becomes a burden</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of
faithlessness or pain, we call each other out:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Be brave, hold on, take on the world if we must!</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When
these passageways fall dark, we walk on.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">fter
all, our lives are not made of discarded days.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">This poem was inspired by a poem written by Norfolk
VA poet Luisa A. Igloria. "Time teaches a lighter tread: or/the body bound
to gravity must shed/layer after layer. What progress is tracked, /comes only
in the manner of what’s discarded: "---From “The Road of Imperfect
Attentions” </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">by Luisa
A. Igloria, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Via Negativa</i>. 07-30-11 </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THE BIG QUESTIONS, 20: GETTING OUT TO GET IN (WILL
I BE MY OWN HEALER. MY LAST AND FINAL GOD?)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Will I mould myself any which way I am pleased to behold as my own
creation, not in the image of someone who chooses to be absent or gone?</span></i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgty0yYaG6WXXEoGvxb-4GqzcDQt6LZSfgG0GM8byBtNovcs9zBuHdPZiSptrP9E10gJSk5Oq0WhHxS0mZ0fB6HnFiuVns98YSvptVjXjT3El7vE0kLamguF33pKTs9TyR8LpE-EwiBnXo/s1600/OLD+MAN'S+FACE++getting+outto+get+in.jpg"><span style="color: #225588; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMCLN_JzDM2KQjj9Dd5aI7KJgzdOMO8JLIx4AZXMiHXcohdRiPT5Avih5uvjSoAkJbrSex7pdP5G4VnAt6Gjik4K9o5_jg3GqJxpso59Soku4qvm0wrp8F4VObYvK948rKL-uA5VHuAIU/s1600/OLD+MAN'S+FACE++getting+outto+get+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMCLN_JzDM2KQjj9Dd5aI7KJgzdOMO8JLIx4AZXMiHXcohdRiPT5Avih5uvjSoAkJbrSex7pdP5G4VnAt6Gjik4K9o5_jg3GqJxpso59Soku4qvm0wrp8F4VObYvK948rKL-uA5VHuAIU/s1600/OLD+MAN'S+FACE++getting+outto+get+in.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">GETTING OUT TO GET IN</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">One way or the other, we will get out to get in.<br />
There are no borders here, nor limits, no doors<br />
To slam. I am my own clay, brittle now, but I<br />
Will mould myself any which way, I am pleased<br />
To behold as my own creation, not in the image<br />
Of someone who chooses to be absent or gone.<br />
<br />
But who cares anymore? There are no measures<br />
Nor beats I must march by, breathe by. I am free,<br />
Am I not, to perish any which way I live or err?<br />
Like my own moulder, shape or reshape my face<br />
The way I want to meet all the same faces I meet,<br />
And I will be my own healer, my last and final god.<br />
<br />
Idle now, I am meant to dance at full throttle.<br />
One way or the other, I will get in before I get out.<br />
<br />
<br />
</span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">This
poem was prompted by: "Who pays heed anymore? Three birds in succession
thunk against the glass. Which/ one is pursuer, which pursued? Danger and
excitement. Dance at full throttle."---</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">From<i> “Throttle Ghazal”</i>
Luisa A. Igloria<i>, Via Negativa, 07-19-12</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-21-sun-drenched.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">BIG
QUESTIONS, 21: A SUN-DRENCHED ELSEWHERE (WHERE WILL I GO WHEN I AM OLD AND
GRAY?</span></a><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><em><span style="color: #225588; font-size: small;">W</span>here Would I Find the Leftovers of Life?</em></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A SUN-DRENCHED ELSWHERE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">"Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with
a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched
elsewhere."---Isabelle Eberhardt </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Sometime soon, I must swing down<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">from my sundown hammock, <br />
get back to those unpasted pictures. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Albums have more life here than I need.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">They can be nagging, flogging,<br />
their bursting sunshine smiles nailing <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">time and love in sun-drenched elsewhere:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">there, a place for lost seashells,<br />
here, a cliff to dive into lost memories from. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where have they all gone? Or faded into?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">These walls are blank now,<br />
where they hung mute on nailed frames. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where shall I go from here when shadows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">would no longer grow tall?<br />
Will I even be able to talk to mottled walls? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I must go back somehow to a sun-drenched<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">refuge, wherever elsewhere<br />
they have frozen into these dead pictures, <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">carrion of wonder in yellowed album pages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where have they gone, what place<br />
awaits to return the days I have yet to shape?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I must find that one sun-drenched place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">that haunts me now and see you<br />
there before I abscond into those shadows. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-22-yearning-for-other.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 22: YEARNING FOR THE OTHER SIDE (WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "KICK THE
BUCKET"?)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What does it mean to die? Has anyone come back to tell us what really
lies beyond? It is an inexorable truth, but aside from the clinical meaning of
dying, what emotions are felt at the critical moment? Has anyone come back from
the other side to confirm certain romanticized beliefs about eternity thereat,
or infinite bliss with one's Maker? Is it true that beyond it lies "the
nobility of man, and beyond it the only hope?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">YEARNING FOR THE OTHER SIDE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When I am dead, my dearest,/ Sing no sad
songs for me,/Plant thou no roses at my head,/ Nor shady cypress tree:/ Be the
green grass above me.---</i>Christina Rossetti<br />
<br />
<br />
When death and dying are lumped together<br />
as “kicking the bucket,” there seems little<br />
reason for a lachrymose ritual that will cost<br />
a lifetime’s nest egg. And yet, and yet.<br />
A send-off at sea is as good as any–one<br />
is flushed off the starboard to become part<br />
of whence life came, or where it ends. Debris.<br />
<br />
Do not send for whom the bell tolls, some<br />
tired man holding a ready bucket of waste,<br />
warned the unready, unprepared, or untidy.<br />
Inexorably, inevitably, the bell takes its toll.<br />
<br />
Like a confusing game, kicking the bucket<br />
is nothing but a tiresome waiting game.<br />
Let the jasmine bloom where they may,<br />
when they may; no one has yet come back<br />
to say if they, too, were enriched by manure<br />
from the overturned pail, nor say, when the day<br />
the game ends, they had no bucket of waste.<br />
—</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-23-contra-mundum-why.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 23: CONTRA MUNDUM (WHY SHIELD HEART, HEARTH, AND HOME WITH
DEFIANCE?)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;">
<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What price life if
it were merely a wading through the gentle streams of a lotus land?</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">CONTRA MUNDUM</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The world is
charged with the grandeur of God.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">—Gerard Manley Hopkins, </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">God’s
Grandeur</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like silt
at the bottom of creek boulders,<br />
wading against the current must be residue</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of a
proclaimed apostasy, a paradise lost,<br />
somewhere East of Eden. But it was good.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">There
would be toil and a struggle for love,<br />
and upon his progeny an edict of suffering<br />
pain at the birth of all begotten offspring.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But does
this act not bring exquisite joy?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What
price life if it were merely a wading<br />
through the gentle streams of a lotus land?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why
flaunt dominion over all that grows<br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">or dies for these where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nature is never spent</i>?*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Let me
shield my heart, hearth, and home<br />
with all the strength and defiance I can hold.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">*Hopkins</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><em></em></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-24-when-words-come.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 24: WHEN WORDS COME BACK (WHY APOLOGIZE FOR THE MANNER YOU LIVED?)</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">WHEN WORDS COME BACK<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For my Children: That They May Forgive)</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">There are no lessons deep enough, clear enough,<br />
that they could hold on to or use to decipher,<br />
or understand, or even to respond: <i>Of what use?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Of what use are murmuring creeks that turn<br />
blue when they flow into the river’s mouth<br />
as it meanders to an open sea, itself a tributary<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to all that is deep and dark and dangerous<br />
in these untamed oceans, beginnings and ends<br />
of life, the vast expanse of all our explorations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What does it matter that the moon swings low<br />
over pine branches, or that the urgent calls<br />
to trek back to forgotten origins are inexorable?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">You can only counsel them enough of beauty,<br />
because this earth makes it more often an omen<br />
of regrets, or even an augury of faithless betrayal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p>Whe</o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">n the words you lisped--as they turned<br />
somnolent in your arms--come back to haunt them,<br />
they will rush back to you and pray for strength.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When that time comes, do not mumble an apology,<br />
because this has never been needed nor accepted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-25-recherche-du.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 25: RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU (HOW BIG CAN WE BECOME?)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Can we be any bigger or better than those who came before us? Why is
this necessary to find life significant and meaningful? How big can we become?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7TyC4PCPVUkMHeg2GpndxRi2YmT-0jlhME5myI_9bNGoTnJpuAk4otAadrC5gvBPJrPPOw5fFqy3SPdWmYVtlAe2WvAaCCAysHTi4heqVJ7JSzkD7bbJbSQoARX6U2C_UWdDj2rrCJb8/s1600/snow_angel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7TyC4PCPVUkMHeg2GpndxRi2YmT-0jlhME5myI_9bNGoTnJpuAk4otAadrC5gvBPJrPPOw5fFqy3SPdWmYVtlAe2WvAaCCAysHTi4heqVJ7JSzkD7bbJbSQoARX6U2C_UWdDj2rrCJb8/s1600/snow_angel.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
</span><br /></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT47WU7Tlsmel6noc2V_wysxAOF7cPJ_gQ39kGJdh0i9GSzBfkz_yfn321qsrCm2ayV63gvXMTRtlE3vy4DLX35WG3rDNN5EJCSZ_H1vhDnepwbHzP4Ivim_CirCq35WtrbsVGRw30gV0/s1600/snow_angel.jpg"><span style="color: #225588; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The space cleared/is bigger than they were/...as the maker of the snow
angel/ once they get up from the ground.---From “Personal Space” by Hannah
Stephenson, The Storialist<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I thought it was the other way around:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When one is no longer there, he will be<br />
bigger than the space he occupied. I<br />
cannot begin to gather the memories<br />
grown rampant of those I have loved<br />
and lost, they will fill my days to the brim. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How can I run with my father through<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">those fields with a wayward kite? How<br />
can I sing those goodbye songs in my<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuela’s</i> tremulous voice? Will I keep<br />
in tempo with grandfather’s steps when<br />
I find myself walking up the winding<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">stairwells, my little palms in his hands?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Will I tell those tales of enchanted <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">elves and flirting fairies as animatedly<br />
as grandmother Teodora, and hold<br />
my own grandchildren in thrall? How<br />
large a space must I have to grow with<br />
them while I keep this quiet watch over<br />
the rhythm of days as we bravely wait? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I will not be able to fill these spaces you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">have carved yourselves when you were<br />
here---they overwhelm me with grandeur.<br />
How will I cope with the largeness of your<br />
presence now that you have gone from us? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like the lad who threw himself on the snow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to create his winged likeness, I find my<br />
snow angel larger than I am achingly small <br />
engulfed by lingering memories of your<br />
abiding love and immeasurable greatness.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-26-with-this-touch-we.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 26: WITH THIS TOUCH, WE KNOW (IN THOSE HOUSES WHERE WE GREW, HOW
SOULFUL ARE THOSE MEMORIES STILL?)</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Why do we need to touch those that have touched us? When do know when we
must let go? In those houses where we grew, how soulful are those memories
still?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">WITH THIS TOUCH, WE KNOW</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“We tore down the ancestral
home. It had termites all over.” –Letter from Home</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We go in
and out of the chambers of grace<br />
and afflictions in the heart of things at our<br />
own peril. These are houses we scarcely know,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">but
before long we think we have known,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and cried at every mention
of how things were<br />
in those days in those houses where we grew.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We have
known them all: the familiar songs,<br />
the loves gone by, the pains forgiven, the hurts<br />
that linger, and all that has touched us we now</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">want to
touch, maybe not with caressing hands<br />
but certainly with steady and soulful embraces<br />
that know how to let go when things must go.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We have
known them all already, we have touched<br />
them all. With each touch we have learned to pray.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-27-gravestone.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 27: GRAVESTONE SCRAPING (WHAT, INDEED, DO WE KNOW ABOUT ETERNITY?)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What, indeed, do we know about eternity? Has anyone come back from the
other side to tell us what we have known by faith or what we can hope to know
before we kick the bucket?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">GRAVESTONE SCRAPING<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Has
anyone come back from this defiled form</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and
mapped out ways to get back to that eternity</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we claim as heirs to, where
days are as chartless</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">as the river stream that
must flow to an endless,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">ceaseless fountainhead
which has no beginning?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">There is no other way back
except by destruction. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When
every rampart has been carted away, we</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">do not
pine for them like those we cannot lose</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">because we store them in
vaults of our memory:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">they are our milestones of
an afterlife we choose</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to build from achieved
desires, fulfilled dreams--</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">these chambers of a heart
that will not crumble. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What,
indeed, do we know of eternity? Save this:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We are
never away from it. Until memory fades. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-28-no-exit-what-is.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 28: NO EXIT (WHAT IS OUR CLOSEST LOOK AT HELL? CAN WE LIVE A HELL OF
A LIFE AND STAY ALIVE?)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What does hell look like? What is our closest look at hell where we are?
Can one live a hell of a life and stay alive?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">NO EXIT</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Endless
malls that have no exits<br />
should be our closest look at hell:<br />
too many nice-to-haves too little<br />
time, no cash nor credit cards—<br />
no unemployment cheques nor<br />
bank debits, only foreclosure notes. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But
what’s so nasty about Hades<br />
with air-conditioned corridors?<br />
That knock-off Louis Vitton purse,<br />
or that Burberry bag slaved over<br />
by starving waifs in Bangladesh,<br />
you can do without—but in this<br />
heat, in this beastly humid heat,<br />
why does it matter if there is No Exit<br />
from an endless mall air-cooled<br />
by the taxes paid from mortgaged<br />
homes that will soon become houses<br />
grabbed by money-lenders and realtors? </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Here,
where lilac leaves hang limply<br />
at the end of a dead dry day, I dream<br />
of an endless mall that has no exit.<br />
Like that homeless tramp snoozing<br />
his hunger (or hangover) away near<br />
MacDonald’s, I hope I never wake up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-big-questions-29-happiness-graffiti.html"><span style="color: #225588; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><strong>THE BIG
QUESTIONS, 29: HAPPINESS GRAFFITI (WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE US HAPPY? WHY
WORRY/ BE HAPPY.)</strong></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What can make us Happy? Why do we need to be happy? Can one be happy
without being free"to dream the impossible dream?"</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">HAPPINESS GRAFFITI</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“Sleep then work/work then sleep/I am free.”
---Graffiti on Wal-Mart’s Wall</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEpAhsRNH2wpXjOYTEhU2R5mb4NiCCMtn5P0AmL6fVEFnypOLHEHDEm5J9HbqjtXltHxF_LG0RPQVYBWUgCbcKaHxxVvuUEKO1aMOTB49jO8gS3rruUe6MuYd1_HHsp9qh4VLK9vK18A8/s1600/HAPPINESS+GRAFFITI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEpAhsRNH2wpXjOYTEhU2R5mb4NiCCMtn5P0AmL6fVEFnypOLHEHDEm5J9HbqjtXltHxF_LG0RPQVYBWUgCbcKaHxxVvuUEKO1aMOTB49jO8gS3rruUe6MuYd1_HHsp9qh4VLK9vK18A8/s1600/HAPPINESS+GRAFFITI.jpg" height="320" width="196" /></a></div>
</span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Must have been a dead-beat father,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Must have been a cheating mother,<br />
Must have been their runaway kid,<br />
Must have been a homeless tramp: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Who would scrawl a happy graffiti<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like that? A stock boy at WalMart?<br />
His mom who just quit and found<br />
A lover working nights, asleep days? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or his sleep-deprived old man gone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Berserk with new found freedom<br />
Having been thrown out of wedlock<br />
And mocked as sans prowess in bed? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is this all they need to be happy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Work then sleep. Sleep then work.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am free.</i> A new union mantra? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You happy?</i> But are they really free?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">BIG QUESTIONS
30: A RAISON D'ETRE</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">search of a reason for being? Why not make
it our duty to spread beauty as a reason for being?</span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><strong>A RAISON
D’ETRE</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Imagine
if all of us were caterpillars,<br />
all inching toward that one branch<br />
or leaf whence we spread our wings<br />
to carry out a bounden duty of flitting<br />
from one rose garden to a hillock<br />
smothered by a rainbow of pansies: </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would we
race to the highest branch<br />
and shed our cocoon shackles quickly<br />
to fulfill this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">raison d’etre</i> of
spreading<br />
beauty where it is scarce or now gone?<br />
Imagine if all that we lived for were a<br />
task as gleeful as this godlike whimsy. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would we
not scale beyond this boot,<br />
and swing beyond this silken thread?<br />
Or tear through bramble or grappling<br />
gossamer webs that drag us down<br />
even as we crawl toward sunlit fronds<br />
to spread our wings and get beauty done?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">—ALBERT B. CASUGA</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> Mississauga, June 26, 2014</o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-43891930223966082802014-06-21T20:01:00.000-07:002014-06-21T20:01:16.293-07:00DESIRE ON A SUMMER SOLSTICE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlXg6-L4Vz1CBwQE7nCqldZHiLndbTEs33dE5UJE8RoIvgiexQPmB8pEbT-tIcEhdSSSqZQHplEc0TVFwy7_R1jkRFbaAOSOwaOCJzX0TQtipFQ5I8B4PxXyg6-H9quF9q1fT53I8iO-0/s1600/cup+of+sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlXg6-L4Vz1CBwQE7nCqldZHiLndbTEs33dE5UJE8RoIvgiexQPmB8pEbT-tIcEhdSSSqZQHplEc0TVFwy7_R1jkRFbaAOSOwaOCJzX0TQtipFQ5I8B4PxXyg6-H9quF9q1fT53I8iO-0/s1600/cup+of+sun.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">DESIRE ON A SUMMER SOLSTICE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Keep your eyes wide open if you want to dream---Paolo Coelho</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
ones we talk about or ache to recall</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">the
morning after, we call nightmares. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A
love-sick, maudlin, slobbering goodbye</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">in
the tight-pillow-hug tearjerker dream? </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
was not a dream. It is a stifled desire,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a
constipation “devoutly to be wished”. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Shrinks
shrank these into Freudian blots</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">on
the balance sheets of love and hate: </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
You want to run as wildly far away as you</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">could,
id permitting, haunches allowing. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One
needy life is enough torment; free</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">yourself
then from this strangled trellis, </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">where
hanging like a wanton leaf is not</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">the
twin of hanging on but dangling still </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">until
hurts can no longer wound you,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">nor
gentle caress save you. You are a stone. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
No fall can sever you from tangled vines</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">that
summer burns, nor frost cripple you; </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">you
would not even pray for the spring</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">to
bring sunrises and sunsets to heal you. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Open
your eyes and dream that loneliness</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">becomes
you; you are strong and alone, </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">omni soli, semper</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">. Will
courage redeem</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">you
then from the stupidity of being brave </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">and
alone? And when you sleep, will you</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">remember
to open your eyes and dream? </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
--- Albert B. Casuga<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-87046727315699506012014-06-20T20:20:00.001-07:002014-06-20T20:20:06.486-07:00Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): A BIG QUESTION: BEING ON TIME<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2014/06/a-big-question-being-on-time.html#links">Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): A BIG QUESTION: BEING ON TIME</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-13183947231131451492014-06-19T19:37:00.000-07:002014-06-19T19:41:31.972-07:00A RETURN TO THE ROOT: SUMMING UP POEMS FOR MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">RETURNING TO THE ROOT: </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">SUMMING UP POEMS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">This returning to the root is called quietness. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">-- Lao Tzu</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">There is a manner of returning to the root<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">that explains the virtue of a hole,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">its quietness the petering circle:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The canon of the cipher indicts us all.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">And you, rocking yourself to an eddy,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">drown the death wish: O that grief<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on sons’ faces could tell you all.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“Will courage be visited upon my children?”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It is this cut that whittles the tree down,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">not of consumption but of fright<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">that bereaving is one’s splintering <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of children’s bones. Death is our betrayal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">They are sons gaping as grandfathers die<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">shapes the gloom of the breaking circle.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">They who knew the frenzy of the bloodcry<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">must never return to find sons become spittle.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
-- ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBdbG4MdP1lyGRb1d8wjsspCBXB9Bz-NEUMyoHYL2BpKOOInNQSLMmaOPYN3kFVZzlbn18tnCYkkzJmVcry39ejThAQzI5OsVWtNvyOs2F60VR3zIA25ZBYqFsfSptpR6DjXsvDKFdhmR/s1600/Songs+for+my+children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBdbG4MdP1lyGRb1d8wjsspCBXB9Bz-NEUMyoHYL2BpKOOInNQSLMmaOPYN3kFVZzlbn18tnCYkkzJmVcry39ejThAQzI5OsVWtNvyOs2F60VR3zIA25ZBYqFsfSptpR6DjXsvDKFdhmR/s1600/Songs+for+my+children.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SONGS FOR MY CHILDREN<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Youth Sprouts from Sudden Fear in
the Bright Grip of the City<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">All the piper has is a bag of music and a pack of
metaphors. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">-- In a Sparrow’s Time, 1990<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. The Firstborn<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
These broken smiles, these cracked laughter –<br />
(O dear tender dear gentle dear child)<br />
You have become my little mermaid,<br />
Restless in your lair; and I, the Sire’s shadow staid<br />
On a broken, creaking chair, growing stems,<br />
Rotting grass, shooting blossoms dying on an ear.<br />
<br />
<i>Youth sprouts from sudden fear</i><br />
<i>in the bright grip of the City.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. A Shock of Memory<br />
</b><br />
Paper boats neatly crumpled into a shock of memory<br />
form the eddies where we drown a death wish among<br />
debris scattered for effect upon a mound of games<br />
left awry when the rain came.<br />
Glee undone, wry laughter muffling quiet cry,<br />
we pray:<br />
<br />
<i>We shall not play boat today, child, the rain is harsh,</i><br />
<i>The night falling tucks away the gentle wind and dog stars.</i><br />
<i>We shall cup the melting sky in our hands, </i><br />
<i>We shall, behind the dogwood, let Him slip us by.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. A Mischief of Cigars<br />
</b><br />
You were a break of laughter<br />
firmly cut on Father’s chin before your birth.<br />
Your life was a smile in the mischief of cigars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
You have been born before in a shock of memory<br />
when all Mother could remember were nights<br />
Father was the agile dancer dancing dense<br />
the deep dark duty that you were.<br />
<br />
<i>O, my son.</i><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. A Game of Fireflies<br />
</b><br />
It is only death dies in a cavort of children:<br />
the game is old – catching fireflies in the woods.<br />
When fire dies in the hollow of their palms,<br />
the woods fall dark, the games expire;<br />
but the children haunt the woods<br />
because fireflies will be back. Time shapes up<br />
the day’s good game when fire is caught.<br />
<br />
<i>Tonight, child, we change the game:</i><br />
<i>Catch the fire and burn the Woods,</i><br />
<i>Yield the fireflies for the night’s good game.</i><br />
<i>When nighttime shrouds the dry woods, hija,</i><br />
<i>lead me on where the game is good, </i><br />
<i>where Apu Ang-ngin appoints the Fire seconds</i><br />
<i>to the Duel with children playing the Children’s Hour.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Children play. Tra-la. Fire and Woods. Tra-la.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">5. Dialogue<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
“Time died here, love, among the hyacinths.<br />
I had this way of picking it up, feline-like purring,<br />
By the nape – your Mother crying a little –--<br />
I buried Time between the dogrose and the lilies."<br />
<br />
<i>O, Father. Time overtakes us, and <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">We cower in our darkened rooms.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But I will always lie awake as you peek<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Into these rooms, along cold corridors,<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Eager to hear you gently whisper:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“Sleep, little one, Hush, little one, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">wipe those clear brown eyes, and smile.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Tomorrow we travel to the stars and clouds,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In a clear sky, bundle Time in a sling, lose<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It among the winged ones, and find it again,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Coming home, among the lilies now in lusty bloom.<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Unbridled in Spring<br />
</b><br />
Dandelions grow unbridled in spring,<br />
Because they would not at any other time;<br />
But you will shoot unbridled on the wing<br />
To clip the wind at any other time.<br />
<br />
It is the curse of sitting tall, my daughter,<br />
Pursues you, like I must in turn pursue;<br />
The pursuit is not unlike some laughter<br />
Welled from frolic and peal of ingénue<br />
<br />
Caught in the fervid grasp of her lover,<br />
Spilled on the shimmering mantle of bloom;<br />
Dandelions grow unbridled as cover<br />
For hillocks echoing some such uncertain gloom.<br />
<br />
Laughter is as good only as the song<br />
When not arrested in its rhyme;<br />
You are a laughter as good as song,<br />
My Dandelion, in spring or wintertime.<br />
<br />
-- ALBERT B. CASUGA</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For my grandchildren Julian Ashley +, Diana Patricia, Daniel Anthony,
Matthew Francis, Taylor Lauren, Megan Sarah, Michael Albert, Sydney Alexis, and
Chloé Dominique, Louis Martin, Marie Clementine</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
FUGUE FOR BEACH SHADOWS AT SUNDOWN</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For all my Wee Ones* wherever they are or
will be.) </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. There
is Here</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Here</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> is where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">there</i> is: Do you
hear the murmur<br />
of the seawaves laving this shore? It is her caress.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Mother titters gently
with her romping children</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">among the sundown shadows, a flushed horizon<br />
meeting, hugging the sea, Father’s sunburnt face <br />
gleaming ruddy with laughter’s heat, His brows<br />
still etched on crinkled clouds in the waning sky.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The little shadows taunt
the limb-grasping tide.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">R</span>aucous, when doused at last, their screams<br />
echo their surprised delight drowning whimper<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of ebbtide waves now turned to gentle
laughter.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. His
Faith</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O, that this cacophony of sounds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">becomes the noise of a lifetime<br />
this old heart (from all distances)<br />
could hearken to, leap up to ---<br />
Velvety notes of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">joie de vivre</i><br />
this place was built for, made of,<br />
has grown by, and remembered by.<br />
<br />
Is this not, after all, the paradise<br />
he thought was lost in time past<br />
now visited upon his coy dotage<br />
when he still hankers for some joy, <br />
a little life left, while there is time?
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Revised, June 18, 2014<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Julian Ashley +, Diana Patricia, Daniel Anthony, Matthew Francis,
Taylor Lauren, Megan Sarah, Michael Albert, Sidney Alexis, Chloe Dominique,
Louis Martin, and Marie Clementine. Forever infants jumping on my walls at
sundown while I lie in my hammock.</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. + (For the Grandson Who Did Not
Choose to Stay) <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(In memory of Julian Ashley)</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How I wish you had given me the chance to teach </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">you how to fish. But you left without saying
goodbye</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or it could have been the way lilies go –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we cannot tell them from filth flowing<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">with the flower towed to die in an open sea<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">itself immolating; we would not even know<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(ever) why its heart gobbles up what in the<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">beginning it gave.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It is the Sea eats limb so life (so love)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">may not to its eternal wanting finish<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">what it late started must soon deny:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">a clown’s journey through a circle’s shadow,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the circle rending rapture where, threatening,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the Shadow begins what beginnings<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">should have done: to fill the empty cups,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the gaping tables, with lilies of the marsh<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and vases of the Sun.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But the circle and the shadow uniting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">are miracles come from the Sea<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">its womb (and lilies) devouring.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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2. + <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A HAMMOCK SONG<br />
</b><br />
<i>(For Julian Ashley+, October 2, 1984-January 30, 1885)</i><br />
<br />
<i>It is the Sea eats limb so life (so love)/ may not to its eternal wanting
finish/ what it late started must soon deny:/ a clown’s journey through a
circle’s shadow. . .</i><br />
<br />
Another fishing season would have gone<br />
by sundown, but I have stopped counting<br />
and stopped fishing, too; think of all the bass<br />
that got away and the crayfish dried brittle<br />
on rocks laved clean of seaweed and brine,<br />
ebb tide marking rhythm and time when<br />
breaking waves drown the homeward hallos<br />
of fishermen pulling empty nets and ruined<br />
mesh dragged off by catamarans whose relics<br />
now jag brackish breakwater rocks when<br />
low tide retrieves stray shells wrapped in flotsam.<br />
<br />
It is my hammock hour. Come swing yourself<br />
on this final refuge. Don’t take too long, <i>hijo</i>.<br />
We have groupers to grill, oysters to chuck!<br />
<br />
Echoes of your shrill shrieks and laughter startle<br />
me still when I cock my ear to catch them<br />
filling rooms and spaces that I would have shared<br />
with you if you had only given me the chance<br />
to teach you how to fish. But you left without<br />
saying goodbye. At sundown, though, <br />
on my hammock hour, I still hum your lullaby. <br />
<br />
--- ALBERT B. CASUGA<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">October 2, 2010, Mississauga</span>
<br />
On October 2, 2014, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Julian Ashley
Casuga-Dela Rosa</i>, my first grandchild, would have been 30, but he succumbed
to sudden infant death syndrome four months after his birth.<br />
<br />
I wrote an earlier poem marking his passing, "For the Grandson Who Did Not
Choose to Stay", which I reprint together with the “Hammock Song” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O, how we could have gone away fishing, had he
stayed longer. <i>Con amor duradero, hijo mio.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">III.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FOR THE GRANDCHILDREN WHO
CHOSE TO STAY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQAvMtjQXoacqzN2S2pWOnyCjjiuXVv4js9ZCipON5KmM8894ewut0LFepcv3vH7A5Ht6ap4iwkBHObSiSoprzNyqX5UuClAVf75EcGFObw7NgPWiOBXC2HzL6WhY037WT2wMVw_KeT-z/s1600/diana+grad+pic+solo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQAvMtjQXoacqzN2S2pWOnyCjjiuXVv4js9ZCipON5KmM8894ewut0LFepcv3vH7A5Ht6ap4iwkBHObSiSoprzNyqX5UuClAVf75EcGFObw7NgPWiOBXC2HzL6WhY037WT2wMVw_KeT-z/s1600/diana+grad+pic+solo.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. FINDING HER DREAM PATIENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For Diana Patricia Casuga-Dy,
Grandchild #1)</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. Lover, Healer, Daughter</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A milestone, or a millstone. Her search<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For passion and fun requires a distinction.<br />
One negates the other. Knowing her need<br />
And finding what fulfills it---touchstones.<br />
From these turnpikes, she will find home.<br />
Her joy is to serve and heal all afflictions<br />
As she has done to all that drag her down,<br />
And she is happy now. She needs to love.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Did she, will she find her one true passion?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">If she has not, she has shaped a millstone<br />
To pull her into yet uncharted dark holes,<br />
The abyss whence she has pulled anchors, <br />
Cast aweigh so she could fly in a span of sky<br />
Gods have assigned as endless corridors<br />
For her flights as lover, healer, a daughter.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. A Crowning Milestone</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Here she is, scarcely departed in my eye<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">As the restless infant playing sleepover<br />
At Lolo and Lola’s ocean of a sandbox bed,<br />
Laughing at the start of a quiet lullaby,<br />
Frantically wailing: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I wanna go mommy.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Home. "Love," the tired abuela
hugs her. </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"It is two in the morning. Still
sleep time."</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">She would fall back sobbing, but mornings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would find her yammering over pancakes<br />
How when she grows big, she will take care<br />
Of her, Lola and Lola, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sleep in your big
bed</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and make you good, and strong, and happy.</i><br />
How can this not be her crowning milestone?
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">3. Finding the Dream Patient</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Leave-takings are longer now with a healer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Hugging this dotard of an old man: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lolo,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have your heart repaired again, this time</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">With a bovine’s valve; the porcine’s
tissue</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gave you a good decade and more. Quizzas,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You might even make the century mark. </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I will take care of you. I will be with
you.</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like that night when she wanted to go home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To her mommy, he kissed her gently again,<br />
And whispered: “Why, Love, I did not know<br />
That I had a bright nurse who is also in search<br />
For her dream patient. I am yours then.<br />
Dream patient or not, I might even ask for soup.<br />
O, you can also cup my heart, hush it, heal it."
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mississauga, June 17, 2014</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. NO LONGER THE SIDE SHOW: INTERACTIVE POEMS</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For
Daniel Anthony Casuga-Dy, 21, Grandchild #2)</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. The Lolo’s Side Show</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Protesting , <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I am not a side show”,</i> he ran off to
his room</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Half-naked in his
kindergarten pants: I got him! A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mantra</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I will haunt him with all the rest of his
best days. Dan Man.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would I ask him to sing
maybe? Dance? Say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">twinkle star?</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I did, that one time I
needed to see my little Danny Boy,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For that one joy grandfathers hunt for: a
fishing buddy boy. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But no, he is not a side
show. Not for a jig, nor for a song,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Not even for the call
from those <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pipes from glen to glen:</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He is not the little show. Not the unheard. Not merely seen.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">No, not a little show. No, not the little
show. The Big Show.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The littlest rebel did
not take long to prove he’s got mettle:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Junior Senior High did he not work at cooking
fries? So?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. Making Up with His Ace Philo Essay</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Homework is easy stuff. Home Work is the
tough stuff:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Dad got the better of his worn-out ticker; I
took an apron.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">And wrote that essay which Mom rushed to my sulking Lolo:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“A Gift Outright” the Grand man called it on
Father’s Day,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">And I remembered Frost had that Inaugural
Poem for JFK.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He must think it’s great then, (Mr. Simms called it my best),</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The gramps I did not sing for, nor danced for
as a “sideshow”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When I was that nude toddler he coaxed as his
lump of joy,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Now this pubescent grandson he thought he still knew.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">3. The Essay as I Recall</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Daniel’s essay is so
like Daniel. Here is that puling little boy</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">who stormed out, when
doted upon by this dimwitted dotard:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“I am not a sideshow, you know!” He was just
a wee lad of two </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">or three then (not even in kindergarten?).
Was he not then?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O he was voluble about
things he thought he knew, he knew.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">An impressive thesis:
“One will never truly know whomsoever </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we think we know.” (Or "one is forever
lonely?"). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Filosopo</i>?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Not that kind of charlatan. He is the real
thing. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Philosopher</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">4. The Big Show: A Prelude</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Graduation day. How he
regales his audience of lovers. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He laughs, squints,
flirts with the damsels, too. Handsome.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">College education was a breeze after all.
After the struggle.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Moving on, he said, work, graduate work, more
capitalist</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Ventures on his plate. He is the consummate
host to relatives</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Godmother, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abuelo, Abuela</i>, Aunts, Dad Nash, Mom Nicole, </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Cousins, nephews, nieces, the college and
workplace gang, </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">His sister Diana Patricia, and, he whispered
to Lolo: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The girls</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He is not a sideshow, all right. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I did not misread your essay,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Danny Boy. How little I
knew you, mettle and all. O Dan Man,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Before curtains fall on Lolo’s show, and
dotage robs you </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Of your victory, I must concede: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You have become the Big Show</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mississauga, June 16, 2014</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbsdv-O7Zp3ANQrUoM0jQSYTY_35Po8dy0szXACsjuGKP1kED6ndxdEGNTRKljJOorIfplk9hz-AfA_r34V9FqEOZ706tMbaNivcLCmPf5JWEQHXZg3uLz-YfTRuPX3BgUTXYjmM2JrIL/s1600/matthew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbsdv-O7Zp3ANQrUoM0jQSYTY_35Po8dy0szXACsjuGKP1kED6ndxdEGNTRKljJOorIfplk9hz-AfA_r34V9FqEOZ706tMbaNivcLCmPf5JWEQHXZg3uLz-YfTRuPX3BgUTXYjmM2JrIL/s1600/matthew.jpg" height="320" width="230" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">3. WATCHING NUMBER SIXTY EIGHT <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For Matthew, Grandchild # 3, On
His Football Debut)</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Was it a random number, Matthew?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or did you choose to call attention <br />
to your grandmother’s 68<sup>th</sup> birthday?<br />
Why not the next naughty number?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">She peered through her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leica</i> camera <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">but could not see you nor make you out <br />
among those sweaty gnashing giants <br />
who could have been the drooling babies <br />
not so long ago. She yelped out a gasp <br />
of delighted surprise when she espied you <br />
on the zoom: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How do you zoom on his face?</i>
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zoom in on, </i>I lisped a feigned
idiot’s shrug.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">From afar, she could still see a puling boy <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">who could not even throw a ball. She yelled:<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Omigod, look at him barrel through that
lad </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">blocking his run! He would hurt the boy </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or get himself broken!</i> It sounded
like a sob.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I could not help but look for the mayhem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I came to watch his football debut for: <br />
W<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ho will dare bump him? My little boy, </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all bulked up, war-primed, brute strong,</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could throw a pigskin to God knows where.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oooh yes, pitch the first blocking body,
too. <o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Bloody idiot”</i>, he would snap a
growl, a snarl,<br />
really. But if he were within hearing distance, <br />
she would upbraid him: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matthew Francis, </i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">language! </i>He would snicker but curl
away.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">She watched him through tear-stained lenses, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and stifled a cry: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My little boy. A big man now.</i><br />
Strange. At sixty-eight, I, too, felt old and weak.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Revised, o6-13-2014</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
09-21-11: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When he was 14, Matthew Francis
Casuga, third eldest grandchild, was an instant choice by a drooling coach when
he applied for his high school’ s football team. A little while ago, he was
just our little boy who would weep at the sight of a fly on his arm.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">4. THE ANGEL, TOO, HAS A SPEAR<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(A Poem for Taylor Lauren Kwan)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Unlike Megan, you would rather paint on small
spaces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like finger nails. Your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuela’s</i> toes looked easy to kiss<br />
With those curlicues you laboured on: Hearts on toes?<br />
But that is who you are: Tough as nails, smart alecky.<br />
All putty and tender and gentle and soft, killer dimples<br />
Allowing all aches to zing through your unfading grin.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What will it be like when next you find yourself
hurt?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Will anyone dare crush your armour of tough charm?<br />
While you have the easy and languid grimace of dad,<br />
You, like your mom, can warn fools with a steely smile,<br />
A counterpoise of loving and contempt in your smirk.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuela</i>,
you are a toddling sweetly-burbling baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">On the phone; to your <i>Tati </i>Jing, you have
true <i>method</i><br />
To your smug, impregnable, hard-to-cut-and-hurt <i>mien</i>;<br />
To your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuelo,</i> like it or not, you
are still his beauty<br />
Fiend and regal clown, who could paint a broken heart<br />
On a nail that could be nullified by a laughing face<br />
On another on a hand that has just quickly wiped tears<br />
From your eyes, unseen by anyone, away from the sneer <br />
Of one who would not know you. An angel with a spear.<br />
<br />
---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">5. POEMS FOR MEGAN SARAH: REWRITING A COVENANT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For Megan Sarah Casuga,
Grandchild #5)</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“You have your paintbrush and colors. Paint Paradise, and in you go.”---</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Nikos Kazantzakis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. Her Palette of Rainbows</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“I painted a rainbow for you, abuelo, a long one.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">See it? It twirls around the hills and rivers</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It colours the evening sky, too. Look.
See It?”<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Barely able to contain a bursting torrent of words,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">She jumped up from the widest expanse of space<br />
Defined on the floors of the ball court. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Her
studio</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“Look, look, look. Do you see it now? It is for you.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">You can ride on the back of a rainbow can’t you?”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
A beaming art teacher followed her with a smile<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">To where the startled old man got jolted from a nap<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">While he waited for the lass to finish another day<br />
At what he called her paint-splashing war zone.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“Where? Whaaa? What riding rainbow? When?”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Askance, he blurted absently, until he heard her<br />
Guffaw: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There! Lookit! Come. Let’s make
rainbows.”</i>
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. His Covenant Built on the Rainbow</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It would have to be a clear canvas, and all the
walls <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">a limitless expanse of nothing. Yet. Your easel <br />
could turn or slide in all possible directions, <br />
your palette a saucer of rainbows. Your brush a wand.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">These are my terms for an unbreakable covenant<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I shall draw with the Master Artist: that you, my
girl,<br />
would always remain the giggling child with colours,<br />
an unbridled conjurer of quaint realities among clouds<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">where they match quicksilver dreams that shape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and reshape themselves however you fancy them;<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
that you would be free of the shackles of meaning <br />
or the ghosts of language as their intolerable gaolers <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in dungeons where there are no keys nor clanging
cell <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">doors to open; that you would have all the sunrises<br />
and all the sunsets in your fingers, and all the days <br />
of your life kept neatly folded in drawers you could open.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">That your thoughts could grasp their tail and hold
it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">while running to fill all empty vases with loves
and lives <br />
as meaning of what meanings would be if your life <br />
meant anything at all; that you will paint your paradise.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">June 11, 2014, Mississauga<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">6. A GAME OF PONTOONS <br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>(For Mikey, Grandchild #6)</i><br />
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<i>Mikey (</i>Michael Albert Casuga who turned 13 last May 7)<i> bested his
cousins in the game of balancing on the lily pads (mock pontoons) while
crossing the pool without falling into the water before he gets to the last
pontoon. This ancient mariner, bedazzled by his grandchildren’s confidence and
derring-do, failed to even get past the first pontoon despite their egging him
on: Come on, ‘lolo! You can do it! Just do it! ---</i> Writer's Notebook on a
Family Break at Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara<br />
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He leap-frogged lithely with tentative grace <br />
from one drifting lily pad to the other, <br />
an uncertain smile creased on his elfin face:<br />
quite like relishing the exquisite danger<br />
of leaping from one life moment to another<br />
shorn of anxiety or fear a fall could end it all.<br />
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<i>Would the pontoons hold </i><br />
<i>while he teeters on them</i><br />
<i>grasping for absent branches?</i><br />
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His final leap was also this old heart’s leap <br />
of faith that this lad’s leap-frogging<br />
will end in a crash of pool where ripples <br />
are his balm and sinking is his baptism<br />
of fire in a game called living where bridges <br />
crumble with the tottering pontoons.<br />
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---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> 7</o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">. SYDNEY’S SECRET DUET WITH THE PHANTOM OF OZ<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For Sydney Alexis Casuga-Kwan,
Grandchild # 7)</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">You were looking out into the darkened theatre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Were you hoping you would not see an old man<br />
On the aisle belting an over-the-rainbow line<br />
About little blue birds able to do it, why can’t he?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But you warned him earlier: <i>no duets, abuelo,</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Not on stage either---they will throw popcorn,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i>Slippers, shoes, maybe chairs at you. Please?</i><br />
<i>It is our song, and ours only. Nobody must know!<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When auditions were called for the Oz, for Dorothy,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I knew that was mine, abuelo. I know the rhythms,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i>I know the words from my crib, know your tremolo.</i><br />
<i>Were you trying to lull me then with the rainbow song?<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">From the corner of your eye, you saw him on third
row,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He was swaying, shadow-like, and wiping his eyes,<br />
His lips were moving, Oh no! He was singing your song,<br />
About to leap up his feet, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuela</i>
held him down.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">June 9, 2014, Mississauga</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
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<i>"Somewhere Over the Rainbow", a Judy Garland hit from the Wizard
of Oz, is our song, Sydney and I. When she sang it as Dorothy on stage, I said,
I will join her in a duet on the theatre aisle. That, of course, struck fear
and dread in her heart.</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">8. A BALLERINA ON THE WINDOW<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
(For Chloe Dominique Lalonde, Grandchild #8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i>“Adios, adios, abuelo. </i></span><i><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Te Amo. Je T'aime! Mahal Kita! </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Luv ya!”<br />
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---- Chloe speaking in tongues.<br />
<br />
A glimmer of a sylph on the gossamer bay,<br />
She pirouettes and is gone into her chrysalis<br />
Not unlike the sylvan truants that waylay<br />
The wary wanderer among the trees,<br />
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Or the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">papillon</i> flitting from blossom
to bramble,<br />
Hidden but always there, some surprise grace,<br />
A magical fairy light to dispel the creeping pall<br />
Coiled on the winter ennui of fallen days ---<br />
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O, she dandles dearly with her ragged ragdoll,<br />
Caressingly delicate in a wistful <i>pas de deux</i><br />
Of her shadow Fonteyn caught in a sudden fall<br />
By a prancing Baryshnikov vaulting off the shadow.<br />
<br />
Was that his <i>pas de chat</i> to snatch her from disaster?<br />
Quickly now, urgently now, hold the hapless Dame<br />
As would a cat curl on the legs of its Master,<br />
Dream now of a demure <i>pas de bourree</i> of fame,<br />
<br />
While dreams still enthrall, while the dancing<br />
Is still your language of love, of boundless courage,<br />
While the arguments of your young body moving<br />
To the beats of passion are still the true language<br />
<br />
Of the good, the honest, and the beautiful:<br />
Until then, <i>mon amour</i>, these decrepit hands cannot<br />
Stop the deluge of fear, of hurt, and of the frightful<br />
That would drown us all, before our windows are shut.<br />
<br />
Even now, as you wave from your window,<br />
I know you will be brave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">--- ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">9. GROW LIKE THE CREEK: THREE POEMS FOR LOUIS</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For Louis Martin Lalonde, Grandchild #9)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. Wiping Him Dry</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Grow like
the creek, as did this wisp of a boy </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">rising
from the water, hallooing: </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Look, <i>abuelo,</i>I can
dive, I can swim!</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He wiggled his <i>salva
vida</i> floating to the edge,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">his face toward the bright
blue sky: I am good!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">As all
grandfathers would, he said: <i>You are!</i> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Oh, you are, my boy. And while I wipe you dry</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">after this dousing frolic, I run my hands over</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">your body, cleaning it of any tinge of dry clay,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">loathe to think that if I were shaping you</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">from the mud East of Eden, I’d want you pure, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">unalloyed, a cherubic imp of a teaser, a laughter</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">tickled out of a dream, a pure delight, and clean.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Another Robot </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">He would build them with empty soda cans,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">recycled wire, parts unknown until they move.<br />
Look, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuelo</i>, a robot! Whence comes
this love<br />
for all things foreign to this dotard askance<br />
about why little lads like him would prattle <br />
about apps and some such instead of apples?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">3. Like the River</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Under his breath, he also lisped a wistful<br />
plea to the walls around him or whoever<br />
could hear an old man’s prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Please, let him build them strong, and
not<br />
destroy; and for my </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">nieto
jovencito</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, to never<br />
forget that there are grander castles in the air.<br />
Please, let him grow like the creek,<br />
when freed of silt will turn to clearest blue.<br />
O let him flow like the river and find his sea.</i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">June 3, 2014 Revised</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd_aF3kp9uOa2kQF5UBoaCqmMQIjYMs9tU2A31YI3x4sXoAIxFaM-wdA-82sFRGG9kTdmOAV1BL7fW95NO2Gts4KJRrPHVS7Na-pr4PrkJxPv7oCN8kt8H1MZMrrcxUITEYXWimHxLKRz/s1600/marie+ready+for+communion1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd_aF3kp9uOa2kQF5UBoaCqmMQIjYMs9tU2A31YI3x4sXoAIxFaM-wdA-82sFRGG9kTdmOAV1BL7fW95NO2Gts4KJRrPHVS7Na-pr4PrkJxPv7oCN8kt8H1MZMrrcxUITEYXWimHxLKRz/s1600/marie+ready+for+communion1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">10. THE FIELDS SHE WILL CROSS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For Marie Clementine Lalonde,
Grandchild #10)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
with these small steps will change her <br />
wee world; a vast expanse awaits her:<br />
there are fields of raw beauty and joy <br />
where flowers seek her to gather them.<br />
But there will be other meadows she<br />
must not cross: her dainty restless feet<br />
will find mud, all the muck and mire<br />
of a spoiled world, some dark places<br />
I pray she will never ever take without<br />
this old man building her clean bridges<br />
she could run through to find her home,<br />
a bright and happy heart, and all that <br />
have been wished for her by all those <br />
who love her, who cherish her quiet, <br />
shining promise, a silence she has yet<br />
to break, her gait a jig she has yet to dance.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Culled, June 19, 2014<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhLwFrlr0n9sFjOdmWBxn5pUqta81HNHsLQwA_gtdRfO8qJw6xmCnMeMeJoCwn5TZX6aju8TdzO1kqXwl6UgkTYGxzk6SHk7IBKJVXr_yrsxqTQ8CPwAXB4cMSOUoxnk2YY1ilpI29EUTD/s1600/551100_10151627853563185_579507464_n+rumi's+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhLwFrlr0n9sFjOdmWBxn5pUqta81HNHsLQwA_gtdRfO8qJw6xmCnMeMeJoCwn5TZX6aju8TdzO1kqXwl6UgkTYGxzk6SHk7IBKJVXr_yrsxqTQ8CPwAXB4cMSOUoxnk2YY1ilpI29EUTD/s1600/551100_10151627853563185_579507464_n+rumi's+photo.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">IV. ORISONS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. A LULLABY AT SUNDOWN</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
At sundown, on my hammock hour, I hum a lullaby.<br />
And I become the magus among the cattails chanting:<br />
<br />
</span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O give me a home bursting with laughter and song,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O give me a nook to hide and hold quicksilver
dreams.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
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In their crannies, I shall wrap them with sunflowers;<br />
In icy snow chambers, I shall save slivers of sunlight<br />
To keep them warm. I shall be the rabbit popped out<br />
Of the magus’ cone hat; I shall jump and disappear<br />
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Into their hideaway taking the darkness with me.<br />
In their lairs and treehouses, I shall bring dry flint<br />
And candlesticks and all things bright and crackling;<br />
I shall be with my wee ones and darkness be damned.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---Albert B.
Casuga
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. ANGELUS<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Sundown
was always gleeful for us growing up</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">around <i>abuela</i>.
It was always time to gather</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the clucking hens into
bamboo nests tied</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on low <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Manzanita <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>trees, low enough for us</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to scoop
the scrambling little birds beelined</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">behind
squawking mothers into their perch. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The chore
done, the handsome lady lilts</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">our
boisterous squadron into a sudden</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">calm:
Anyone for rice cakes after prayers?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The
magical word was “cake,” not murmured</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">promises
for a reign of peace as it is in heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">On my
hammock hour, I replay sundown </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">tableaus
like these radiant remembrances,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(while
recollections remain tranquil and clear),</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and
gather my own noisy bird scoopers, all, </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">all of
them gone now into their own little worlds. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“Anyone
for real stories on when I was young?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Some
songs sung as I scooped frantic chicken?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Anyone
for tea biscuits after sundown prayers?”</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O, for
those shadowy things to jump up alive</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">again
from these empty walls. O for those songs</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to chime
in again to lull me, and gather me in.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-70378443818052996382014-02-02T23:13:00.001-08:002014-02-02T23:13:02.695-08:00OUR LADY OF CANDLES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>OUR LADY OF CANDLES*</strong><br /><br /> It is what we have this candle for. To light<br /> And brighten what we ought to, need to---<br /> Life being all too brief---that through this,<br /> We can accept this fiercely warm yet gentle<br /> place we have been given, noblesse oblige,<br /> To enjoy, to love, to offer for the wounds<br /> And the pain of this lonely struggle, a life<br /> We know we must give back when we end<br /> The journey to get back to our beginning<br /> To know it again and again as the still point<br /> Of a dazzling light of Lights beyond this hole,<br /> A sharp shining scimitar to slay an imitation <br /> Of living where one strives only for the wind,<br /> A quiet dragon breathing nothing but cold fire. <br /> <br /> --- ALBERT B. CASUGA<br /> <br /> <em>*Nuestra Senora de Candelaria</em></span></div>
ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-39806684617427826562014-01-23T20:24:00.000-08:002014-01-23T20:24:00.477-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">HER QUIET REPRIMAND</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“But what have I, but what have I, my friend,/ To
give you, what can you receive from me?/ Only the friendship and the sympathy/
Of one about to reach her journey’s end.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---T. S. Eliot, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Portrait of a
Lady”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How often
does she get up nights</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">looking
for the leftover dried fish?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">She wakes
up hungry these days,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">roused by
carousing cats, mating</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">with
puling sounds she snickers</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">about
when her knees do not hurt. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Dawn
cracks by the time she rests</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">her face
on the laced tabled cloth</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ilustrado</i>* family had given</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">her as a
wedding gift, embroidered</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">by her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abuela</i>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the way to a man’s</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">heart is through his stomach. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or some
such bromide she must</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">have lived
by, however often she</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">promised
to leave the philanderer</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on her
now cold bed till he freezes</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">over, but
he went on to die ahead</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in a
seedy motel locked ardently</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in the
armpit of a snoring <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">querida.</i> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">With
grand aplomb, she buried him</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">decently,
and her neighbours said:</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like a lady, she stood by her man. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">She wakes
up nights now looking</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">for a
misplaced cellphone, its use</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">scarcely
learned, no, not mastered,</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">but handy
anyway when she calls</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">her
next-of-kin <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">across-god-knows</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">what-oceans </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">asking for his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">where</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">abouts,</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he is not
home yet’</i>, and she</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">feels
like eating some hot <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dimsum</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">from that
dark Ka-Yang <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">panciteria</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">where
families gather on Sundays.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---Albert
B. Casuga</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">*<i>ilustrado</i>
-- well-educated</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-14015517961052203282014-01-19T17:36:00.000-08:002014-01-19T17:36:36.685-08:00BEACH SHADOWS AT SUNDOWN: A FUGUE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYW45amJn9O7G2bSS9oxpA7DmEDSE68Q3j_J3CIkcjNFFE4SazBOXpRBiDv9aTH6SmMp24iuP3g6R-MyHVLYnGtHBHOkn5E0CLhqrjG7SFwIKlclElgHnZ9zwvRoroVzEYoCuEqUgjuIE0/s1600/three+mousekeeters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYW45amJn9O7G2bSS9oxpA7DmEDSE68Q3j_J3CIkcjNFFE4SazBOXpRBiDv9aTH6SmMp24iuP3g6R-MyHVLYnGtHBHOkn5E0CLhqrjG7SFwIKlclElgHnZ9zwvRoroVzEYoCuEqUgjuIE0/s1600/three+mousekeeters.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">BEACH SHADOWS AT SUNDOWN: A FUGUE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">(For all my Wee Ones* wherever they are or will be.) </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. Here is There<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Here</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> is where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">there
</i>is: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">do you hear the murmur<br />
of the seawaves laving this shore?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It is the whispered caress of a Mother<br />
finding her little ones romping<br />
among the sundown shadows.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where the flushed horizon <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">meets the sea, a Father’s face <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">gleams ruddy with laughter’s heat<br />
still etched on His crinkled brow.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The little shadows taunt the sea<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to reach their limbs. Gleeful, <br />
when doused at last, their now <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">surprised screams are drowned<br />
by the whimper of ebbtide waves <br />
that has turned to a gentle laughter.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His Faith<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O, that this cacophony of sounds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">becomes the noise of a lifetime<br />
this old heart (from all distances)<br />
could hearken to, leap up to---,<br />
velvety notes of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">joie de vivre</i><br />
this place was built for, made of,<br />
has grown by, and remembered by.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
Is this not, after all, the paradise<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">he thought was lost in time past<br />
now visited upon his dotage<br />
when he still hankers for some joy, <br />
a little life left, while there is time?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">*Julian Ashley +, Diana Patricia, Daniel
Anthony, Matthew Francis, Taylor Lauren, Megan Sarah, Michael Albert, Sidney
Alexis, Chloe Dominique, Louis Martin, and Marie Clementine.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span id="goog_1227492525"></span><span id="goog_1227492526"></span></span></o:p></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-78086024745566221092014-01-19T17:23:00.001-08:002014-01-19T17:23:16.794-08:00Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): BEACH SHADOWS AT SUNDOWN: A FUGUE<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2014/01/beach-shadows-at-sundown-fugue.html">Ambit's Gambit (Albert B. Casuga Literary Blog): BEACH SHADOWS AT SUNDOWN: A FUGUE</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-50325329104634723152013-07-28T21:01:00.001-07:002013-07-28T21:01:24.798-07:00Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): FENCE GRAFFITI: DENYING THE VOICE<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/07/fence-graffiti-denying-voice.html">Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): FENCE GRAFFITI: DENYING THE VOICE</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-57730178194833787632013-07-22T19:47:00.002-07:002013-07-22T19:47:27.905-07:00A RIVER'S RUSH: COMING FULL CIRCLE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A RIVER'S RUSH: COMING FULL CIRCLE</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></strong> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">---On a cruise along Lachine, Quebec.</span></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><em>Today’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Journal Note for a Play: @ She: “Had I known then, what I know now, that we were too young, and it was just our brimming desire that bound us… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>@ He: “But has desire left while we were not looking? In the twilight of our years, I set you free. Our harbour is, after all, not named Regret…and the Streetcar it was on was not even named Desire…” @ Both: After a quick giggle, they fell silent. 07-22-13<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The River as mother to the sea entraps us<br />into this womblike feeling of ease.<br />She draws us to this discovery of need,<br />a foregone joy, our quiet helplessness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We are the river that has run its course<br />into an engulfment of this restless sea.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em></em></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">How far have we gone away from Nara?<br />How long have we silently gone astray?<br />Does the river current come full circle<br />from the breaking waves of this sea?<br />Do we meet each other, dreamlike,<br />in the endless stream of all <em>Lachines</em>?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The river runs full circle, and yet and yet,<br />we dread we have not even, halfway, met.<br />When will my currents flow into your rocks,<br />you distant sea, you entrapment of need?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When do we come back as rivulets<br />in some warm, some hidden rock spring?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Will we even find an engulfment of ease?<br />When will the sea create the river?<br />When will the river create the sea?<br />Where they meet in the trickle of a stone<br />garden, who laves the rolling river stones?<br />Who will lap the greenwood’s shores?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This River’s rush is finally our question:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Did love leave while we were not looking?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">---ALBERT B. CASUGA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mississauga, On. 07-22-13</span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span> </div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-50271042628314069652013-05-31T19:36:00.001-07:002013-05-31T19:36:22.244-07:00Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): A SCAMPERING OF GRACE IN THE DRY WOODS: TWO POEMS<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/05/a-scampering-of-grace-in-dry-woods-two.html">Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): A SCAMPERING OF GRACE IN THE DRY WOODS: TWO POEMS</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-59191725181854097842013-03-17T17:59:00.001-07:002013-03-17T17:59:24.026-07:00Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): A THING SHE TOOK AWAY: A HAITI FUGUE<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/03/a-thing-she-took-away-haiti-fugue.html#links">Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): A THING SHE TOOK AWAY: A HAITI FUGUE</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-75555517357746534012013-03-17T17:58:00.001-07:002013-03-17T17:58:31.927-07:00Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): "THE THINGS THEY BROUGHT": SIX POEMS FROM REFUGEE CAMPS<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2013/03/the-things-they-brought-six-poems-from.html#links">Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): "THE THINGS THEY BROUGHT": SIX POEMS FROM REFUGEE CAMPS</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-12188196625146987192013-03-16T09:57:00.000-07:002013-03-16T09:57:47.661-07:00THE OUTSIDER POPE: POPE FRANCIS, SJ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8owJcPTuCGjzhnSbDR5LCZiueMpLhMxn6obdUkaDysbSPHGPocYiOX0l1Ue_eFOV30HzEOzbw9aK-O0tsedCtBN2oAuJqZ-ZeWHLsAWhUGn32N6BuNjlpwnaYfTeCFr0hdylv-Uup-luO/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8owJcPTuCGjzhnSbDR5LCZiueMpLhMxn6obdUkaDysbSPHGPocYiOX0l1Ue_eFOV30HzEOzbw9aK-O0tsedCtBN2oAuJqZ-ZeWHLsAWhUGn32N6BuNjlpwnaYfTeCFr0hdylv-Uup-luO/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">THIS ITEM WAS
FORWARDED TO ME BY REV. FR. FRACISCO ALBANO, OSB, FROM THE DIOCESE OF ILAGAN,
IN THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINE PROVINCE OF ISABELA. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The story of the outsider Pope.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">By Peter Stanford<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Pope
Francis is not the sort of churchman given to writing weighty tomes. In his 76
years, he has produced just one book. Indeed, his practical bent may have been
one of the reasons the cardinals chose him as successor to the bookish Benedict
XVI.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In
his years as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is said
to have turned down almost every media request for interviews, but he did allow
himself time in 2010 to engage in a series of “conversations” about his life
and work with journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti. These were
subsequently collected in a book, called simply <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">El Jesuita</span>. The title is important to understanding how the new
pope defines himself. Of all the many breaks with tradition that the election
of Pope Francis represents, the fact that he is the first Jesuit ever to sit on
Saint Peter’s throne gives the best indication of how this pontificate is
likely to develop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For
all their power and prestige, the Jesuits have a curious, checkered reputation
— admired and envied by some as the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">creme
de la crème </span>of the Catholic religious orders, but loathed and feared by
others, who use “Jesuitical” as a term of abuse to refer to anything clever and
cunning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Their
foundation by Ignatius Loyola in 1540 is usually seen as a key moment in the
Counter-Reformation, the Catholic fight-back after Martin Luther’s break with
Rome that means we still have a papacy five centuries later. The quasi-military
tone of some of Loyola’s directives to his followers, set out in his Spiritual
Exercises, has caused Jesuits to be dubbed “papal stormtroopers”, “God’s
marines” or, in the words of one church historian, “new athletes to combat
God’s enemies.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">While
it is true that Jesuits have played a major role in extending the authority of
the papacy around the world, to paint them as the pope’s unwavering palace
guard is a mistake. Indeed, the relationship between the Society of Jesus — to
give the Jesuits their proper name — and the papacy has often been troubled. So
troubled that they were suppressed by papal decree between 1773 and 1814. And
then, in 1981, Pope John Paul II imposed his own man, Paolo Dezza, to lead the
Society when its popular reforming Superior-General, Pedro Arrupe, was felled
by a stroke. Such interference in the Jesuits’ structures was deeply resented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What
lies at the heart of such tensions is the Jesuit tendency to combine loyalty
with independence of mind. Father Arrupe, for example, had enthusiastically
embraced liberation theology — the “preferential option for the poor” widely
adopted by the Latin American church in the 1970s — but back in Rome John Paul
and his enforcer, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, regarded
this approach with enormous suspicion, seeing it as tainted with Marxism.
Parachuting in Father Dezza was just one part of a campaign to show the Jesuits
who was in charge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">This
unhappy episode is so recent that it makes Pope Francis’s election all the more
remarkable. The Jesuits have often appeared to operate as a church within a
church, and, occasionally, as an intellectually arrogant one at that. In
Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, still popular to this day, they have their own
manual, to supplement the gospels. Like all other religious orders, they
operate outside the formal diocesan structures that otherwise bind the 1.2
billion Catholics worldwide to the Vatican, but the Jesuits are distinctive in
having a flexible devolved model that allows them to respond to regional
differences and circumstances. That is the antithesis of the papacy’s claim to
govern all Catholics, wherever they are, by the same rules.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">And then the Jesuits also have the
temerity to refer (admittedly colloquially) to their leader, chosen by a
democratic vote of all members, as “the black pope.” It is a description that
contrasts their traditional simple black cassock with the pope’s white robes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Jesuits,
then, are both at the very heart of the system and one step removed from it.
That independence may have helped Cardinal Bergoglio stand out in the Sistine
Chapel. He was, after all, the only Jesuit there. If you need a new broom to
sort out warring bureaucrats in the curia (as most recently revealed by the
so-called “Vatileaks” scandal), who better than someone from the
insider/outsider Society of Jesus? If you need someone sufficiently removed
from the fray to take a long, hard look at where the Church has been getting it
wrong of late (notably over the pedophile priests scandal), who better than a
member of a religious order famed for its cool intelligence and
clear-sightedness?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Well
yes, but there is another pitfall in such analysis. It shouldn’t be assumed
that all those with the letters SJ (Society of Jesus) after their name are cut
from the same cloth. What is striking about Loyola’s legacy — which the 20,000
Jesuits globally gather periodically in General Congregation to consider — is
that it can be interpreted in almost as many ways as there are vibrant
individuals who subscribe to it. It has been a weather vane for developments in
the wider church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The
Jesuits have often appeared to operate as a church within a church, and,
occasionally, as an intellectually arrogant one at that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In broad terms, Loyola began by
launching a reform movement in Europe in the wake of the Reformation that
harassed heretics. Then he evolved into inspiring a missionary enterprise
around the world, following in the footsteps of another Jesuit luminary,
Francis Xavier, who travelled to India and Japan, and whose memory is as
celebrated in Cardinal Bergoglio’s choice of papal name as Francis of Assisi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where
that global mission was originally in league with the colonial powers, the
Jesuits thereafter “went native.” Pope Francis’s mission in the slums of Buenos
Aires, travelling on buses, washing the feet of lepers, and eschewing all other
symbols of power and authority, is just the latest interpretation of Loyola’s
imperative to live out the faith with vigour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">If you then move on to considering
noted recent Jesuits, the Society of Jesus is so wide-ranging that the North
American province was capable of including Daniel Berrigan, the U.S. peace
activist jailed in 1970 for burning Vietnam draft cards; John McLaughlin, known
as “Nixon’s priest” for his work as an apologist for the Republican president;
and Robert Drinan, who sat as a Democrat member of the House of
Representatives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">That
same plurality can be seen today in the 200 members of the British province. It
manages collectively to reconcile custodianship of London’s smartest Catholic
parish church (Farm Street in Mayfair, beloved of celebrity weddings and
high-profile conversions), trusteeship of Stonyhurst boarding school,
involvement in such radical groups as Jesuit Refugee Action, and one member who
works as a doctor with homeless people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">So
what is it that binds them all together — beyond history and reading the
Spiritual Exercises? At its simplest, a radical social conscience that is
bigger than either left or right in politics, or traditional and liberal labels
in Catholicism, combined with unyielding moral postures. Pope Francis will not
be setting about dismantling the Church’s teaching on sexuality — that is not
the Jesuit way. He will uphold the ideals, but concentrate on dealing with the
realities of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">There
can be no doubting that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is steeped in Jesuit
spirituality. He joined the Society at the age of 21. His background as a
chemist is shared with many other Jesuits, who are bright enough to balance
what are often seen as the poles of religion and science. The future pope’s
training stretched over 11 years before his ordination as a priest — compared
to the standard six for diocesan vocations — after which he taught theology at
the Jesuit faculty in San Miguel, and later served as rector there. In between,
he spent seven tough years as Jesuit Provincial — the senior Jesuit — in
Argentina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 248.1pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">These were unhappy times — for him, the Society and Argentina at large.
He carried out a root-and-branch reform of its activities, which may count in
the eyes of the cardinal-electors as good preparation for the challenge he now
faces with the Vatican curia, but which still sticks in the throat of many of
his fellow Jesuits in the province.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">His leadership coincided with the reign of terror of the military junta
and its flagrant abuse of human rights. Accusations were made subsequently that
as provincial, Pope Francis was not as outspoken as he could have been in
condemning the “disappearances” of the regime’s critics, and that he failed
adequately to defend two Jesuit priests arrested and tortured by the junta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 248.1pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In <i>El Jesuita</i>, he vehemently rejects all these charges, but there
is a lingering sense that there may have been a period of estrangement between
the former provincial and his fellow Jesuits once he stood down. Indeed, on the
website of the archdiocese of Buenos Aires — to which he was appointed an
assistant bishop in 1992, and head in 1998 — there was for many years no
mention at all that he was even a Jesuit, or of his past role as provincial. Some
reports say that he was closer for a time to Communion and Liberation — best
known as a European lay movement, most influential in Italy, where its
enthusiastic backing of social action was later tainted by being associated
with right-wing politicians, including Silvio Berlusconi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Whatever the truth of such rumours, his record as archbishop — “Father
Jorge”, to the poor, marginalized and dispossessed whose cause he promoted
tirelessly — was Jesuitical in the best sense of the world. His notion of
Christian liberation is not simply about being free from sin, but also from
poverty and injustice. Such sentiments are rooted broadly in Catholic social
teaching, but it is the unique mixture of contemplation and activity that is
the hallmark of the Spiritual Exercises, and which now appears set to define
the reign of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pope Francis SJ</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheox_yqk0IGWI1rhnVCnfQNhYi2CHGKxSbou2MApfxBpdm0sMNUUreRIE8Je4ZKACa-oJHA0MZ-lpH55EzkxQeMmM3XE_9AEQvMwo8enMffRZdG1NZY0Kjw8ioliQP8oKqRf5mzrVoo_Es/s1600/POPE+GUAARDIAN+CO,.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheox_yqk0IGWI1rhnVCnfQNhYi2CHGKxSbou2MApfxBpdm0sMNUUreRIE8Je4ZKACa-oJHA0MZ-lpH55EzkxQeMmM3XE_9AEQvMwo8enMffRZdG1NZY0Kjw8ioliQP8oKqRf5mzrVoo_Es/s320/POPE+GUAARDIAN+CO,.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> Photo by Guardian Co., UK</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-89321648542830306112012-10-03T18:10:00.000-07:002012-10-03T18:10:08.076-07:00A WAITING GAME<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIV0RmCJhyphenhyphenSA_XuZhaDWlxumwbas7gFZCiPWGSCGEQKeEUVSrztD43d2QnRG5poNjIRQIjctgDdPX47PwUYpPmO40TeDZhVcHdH1aFS6dTHlFs1_Big0zVILnZndDodpmVCcCLS2e57vj_/s1600/b9737464a6676bec134ab7420ddff935_L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIV0RmCJhyphenhyphenSA_XuZhaDWlxumwbas7gFZCiPWGSCGEQKeEUVSrztD43d2QnRG5poNjIRQIjctgDdPX47PwUYpPmO40TeDZhVcHdH1aFS6dTHlFs1_Big0zVILnZndDodpmVCcCLS2e57vj_/s320/b9737464a6676bec134ab7420ddff935_L.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></b> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></b> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A WAITING GAME</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Looking for a good time to stop,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">is to stop looking like slumping </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on a fallen trunk or a trail rock</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">jagged and jutting out of the bluff. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Morning walks get longer along</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">empty spaces before familiar curbs</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">signal a turn to what we wait for:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the final bend. We are back home.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Now Albert is coming back,</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">make yourself a bit smart.”*</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> Eliot,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of course, said it for me earlier. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">How long ago was that, when I</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">read those <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wasteland</i> lines? How</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">long have I waited to use them?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is this a good time, yet? I waited.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Because we have seen the clues,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">because we have seen them all</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">already, I feel it is time to stop</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">waiting, sum up the bill, and go.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What was I given to bear the pain</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">of knowing that I did not know?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or build a home I could not live in?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What tools must I now return? </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In summing up, I will discount this,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">in the game of haggling for a place</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">back in the Garden. Our stay here</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">was overpaid. We waited too long </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">for that room with a better view,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">that terrace with a canopy of roses,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and blue birds trilling on the sill.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">O, for a touch of that distant sky! </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Next time around, if there is one,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I will be smart. I will settle only
for </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">a room where I could see the sky</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and the sea conspire to eat the sun.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---Albert B. Casuga</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">* T. S. Eliot, <i>The Wasteland</i>,
II. A Chess Game, T. S. Eliot, The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-66377134696675488882012-10-02T19:30:00.001-07:002012-10-02T19:30:09.104-07:00Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): GROWING AWAY<a href="http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.ca/2012/10/growing-away.html">Ambit's Gambit (A. B. Casuga Litblog): GROWING AWAY</a>ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-4027589320006981642012-10-02T19:15:00.001-07:002012-10-02T19:15:24.290-07:00COME AWAY: THREE POEMS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3246xe5TAmMXR6577sXwAi_eNQn7W5taXPdWvAKaeMv_ms_wbXudXwUqke4Qi03NkDUm0fr0KrsfTUH12ouyu28YTbfuhm4lqPxQGTArv8C8mWu2mm2gDe4LS2eXrxXpO3-wICpikxCFm/s1600/Autumn+Leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3246xe5TAmMXR6577sXwAi_eNQn7W5taXPdWvAKaeMv_ms_wbXudXwUqke4Qi03NkDUm0fr0KrsfTUH12ouyu28YTbfuhm4lqPxQGTArv8C8mWu2mm2gDe4LS2eXrxXpO3-wICpikxCFm/s320/Autumn+Leaves.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></b> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"></span></b> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">COME AWAY: THREE POEMS*<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. Away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It does haunt one’s reverie</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">like an old melody’s refrain,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a way</i>
but not away. But</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">where is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">away</i>?
A memory,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">perchance a lingering pain?</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Distance-given right to know</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">erases world’s away, rebuilds</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">them only as far as a pebble</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">skips and skims over eddies</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on roiled water: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See old faces?</i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Etched on beach sand, away</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">is a heart pierced through</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">by an arrant arrow called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luv</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and a spray of trickling angst</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">named <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Will</i>
or blood bubbles.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Or a nodding gran chanting</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on her beads wishing shadows</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on her walls at sundown might</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">jump out where they grow tall</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and call out: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Granny,
I’m back! </i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Maybe an unreachable land,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">then, endlessly dark, no sun</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">creating rainbows, no showers</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">lads and lasses run through</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">naked and free, cold but happy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. Monologues</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">When are you coming back</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">from the front, son? Sometime</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">soon, before mom fades away?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where is this Viet Nam? Iraq?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Afghanistan, Pakistan? Somalia? </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Will you take the midnight train,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Betty, and be home Christmas?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Me and the gang, we will throw</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">a party at the Metro, wait for you,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">gulp suds for every train whistle.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I guess he will not be around</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">for my umpteenth birthday, mom.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">You invited him, did you not, he</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and that woman in Denver? I</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">just have to wait by the window.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is grandpa going fishing with me?</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like last summer, he will drive in</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on his old Studebaker, clanking</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">with a loose tail pipe over cobbles</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">on our street. Will he? Won’t he?</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I will not be away for a long time,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">not too long. Before you know it,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">some 10,000 sleeps from now, we</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">will be bowling again in St. Peter’s</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Alley, cracking lightning and thunder.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">3. Overture</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Come away then, come away, while</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">we can, let’s run through valleys,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">swim the rivers with the catfish,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">slalom down those snowbound hills.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Come away, Love, to some place away.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">--- ALBERT B. CASUGA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">*
The poems above were prompted by lines from Hannah Stephenson’s “Away”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Throw it away, / we say, but where/ does
this directive/ lead. Where is/ away. We know it/ suggests distance/ and
removal, that/ the thrown thing/is no longer visible/ or retrievable</i>. ---
From “Away” by Hannah Stephenson, The Storialist, 1—20-11 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6428001372070131574.post-16990919788895055202012-09-30T17:42:00.000-07:002012-09-30T17:42:06.676-07:00WHAT MEANING MEANS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfp97dgA2lwjE6OxyUkX4hhNFItL75B35dlnHO_VduDzqv3s5LERhxqYyFXiIwHr2eHQDcvKRWz1UnsP3QdNiglpB9urGVhewtF7BFvI3TWbi-cvl4toPJY82I4SZQ5pDsucqd2l2MRuWc/s1600/dance+for+the+Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfp97dgA2lwjE6OxyUkX4hhNFItL75B35dlnHO_VduDzqv3s5LERhxqYyFXiIwHr2eHQDcvKRWz1UnsP3QdNiglpB9urGVhewtF7BFvI3TWbi-cvl4toPJY82I4SZQ5pDsucqd2l2MRuWc/s320/dance+for+the+Dead.jpg" width="186" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">WHAT MEANING MEANS</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Giving up on giving up is a better choice,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">when being sensible and clear are futile.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Words would lose meaning, ours will not. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Where you see a vine leading its tendrils</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">up to a broken branch shedding a last leaf,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">you make me see its undulant plummet </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">to the parched pond mottled by blackened</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">and brittle leaves long dead even before</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">the end of this long hot summer. It is real.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Is this not our faultless way of knowing</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">what we pretend to know when we can</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">no longer see the dancer from the dance? </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Would not the falling of that lonely leaf </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">trace the slower climb of a clinging vine?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Like seeing both sides of the wall at once. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">---Albert B. Casuga</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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ALBERT B. CASUGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08403297362821170299noreply@blogger.com0