poetry, prose, and photography
a springtime moment
some cat holding a sparrow
blood on its whiskers
These are troubling times, aren’t they? I wonder what it would take for humanity to seek connection instead of division. Perhaps I’m naive to think that such a thing is possible. Perhaps. Yet I’ll cling to my hope.
Ok, this is not a haiku nor a poem. I hope you can forgive the deviation from my norm. Today I read a piece by Seattle writer Angela Garbes. It resonated deeply with me, so I wanted to share with you, my friends.
Published in the Seattle Met, “As Seattle Grew, I grew Up” mirrors my own experience. I, too, spent my ‘feral 20s’ wandering Capitol Hill, where I lived the better part of 10 years of my life. Seeking the urban as a cyclist seeking a car-free life, and the vibrancy I imagined coming with concrete. Years making mostly minimum wage, yet able to survive. Gentrification just starting to squeeze. I being able to rise up the wage rungs quickly enough to stay above the flood waters of economic calamity.
My revisits come filled with memories. Oh, “this was here”, and “that was there”. Then “what WAS here”? Memories combine with memory’s absence; strange feelings, ones that I’m not quite used to.
“Cities are meant to change”. Seattle’s changed, quite a bit. Driving home how time has passed, how much older I’ve become. Things I’m not quite ready to accept, so they keep rearing up. Such is the way of things I guess.
Well, I’ll finish with a haiku: it’s what my soul wants.
these old concrete walks
echoing my youth’s footsteps
urban memories
stories of the past
yet I look to the future
I am far from done
Met a really cool guy today. A former Navy nuclear power program sailor, just like me. Though he is quite a bit younger.
Swapped stories of our respective experiences, which I enjoyed. Yet I often worry in those moments that I’ll become like the subject of Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days”, a relic, trapped in the past. Grave fate, for me, at least.
time’s motion
irresistible
spring
Two days until my job ends and I begin the next chapter of my life. Mixes sadness and excitement into a strange cocktail.
​Going to sleep Friday
Tomorrow’s free morning
Ah, to wake leisurely!
My mind springs awake
Hours before dawn
This sadistic life
The pain of children
When adults won’t prevent it
I don’t understand
You are wonderful
Celebrate all your beauty
Leaves upon the breeze
Pleaee, always remember how wonderful you are. Celebrate it, delight in it, share yourself with the world. Make it a better place.
As I’m dealing with shoulder and lower back pain. I appreciate you folks: constant and kind.
We devour rage
And it seeps into our bones
One tweet at a time
A meditation on modern culture. Am I off base? What do you think?
~Carl
The night is waning
Light slowly filters through clouds
Steel now starts flowing
Happy Thursday everyone! Or, shall I say, Friday-eve.
Thinking about flinging myself into the jaws of grinding steel and plastic that’s Seattle during rush hour.
Carl Setzer: Word Shaper 