Friday, June 28, 2019
"These Are The Words" / Patti Smith song from 2018 written at the request of Wim Wenders
Awake everyone, the dawn has come
Life is streaming from the sun
A garden blessed, the bird that sings
Nature gives us everything
Awake everyone, the time has come
To mend, to tend, our common home
To give our thanks, sow our seeds
Extend the hand to those in need
When the soul yearns for love
It comes flowing from above
Mercy, hope, humility
These are the words to live by every day
Walls will crumble, we arise
To work as one, abide, provide
Mercy, hope, humility
These are the words we whisper in our sleep
When in doubt the nights are long
Wear the smile, wear the sun
To comfort us when alone
Holding your heart, love will come
Walls will crumble as we abide
Restore the house, we shall provide
Love, compassion, unity
These are the words to live by every day
Awake everyone, the time has come
Life is streaming from the sun
Mercy, hope, humanity
These are the words
These are the words
These are the words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsTDcF7zKdY
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Jingle Dress Dance / All of us who live in the Americas are living in Indian Country / Whatcom means "noisy water"
The Google doodle today celebrates the Jingle Dress Dance. On my way home this morning, traffic was stopped for Whatcom County road repairs. I took this photo:
Watch the Jingle Dress Dance:
Learn about the Jingle Dress tradition:
Friday, June 14, 2019
Tall Tales / Stories That Could Be True / "... the circus is in town ...) / All the light
We phantoms are assembled at the end of the Rolling Thunder tour.
We started out
trying to recover America.
We discovered a
certain amount of truth about ourselves.
Old friends who
thought their loves had been lost were able to get together and, uh,
face each other eye to eye and sing over an electrical microphone to
please the desires of myriad young yearners who had been seeking some
kind of union and community and saw therein an image of that
community.
…
You who saw it all
or saw flashes or fragments, take from us some example, try and get
yourselves together, clean up your act, find your community, pick up
on some kind of redemption of your own consciousness, become more
mindful of your own friends, your own work, your own proper
meditation, your own proper art, your own beauty. Go out and make it
for your own eternity.
(am's note: Allen
Ginsberg is shown speaking these words at the end of the film. He then bows in the Buddhist manner)
Click to read this:
(am's note: Now, in 2019, it's 243 years since 1776. My income doesn't allow for me to subscribe to Netflix. I am grateful to a friend who made it possible for me to watch "Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story")
A Ritual to Read to Each Other
If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dike.
And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.
And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider—
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.
For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe —
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
A view of our beautiful earth and our beautiful sky from my porch, and then there is:
"All The Light We Cannot See."
Monday, June 10, 2019
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Inspired by 37 Paddington and Ellamae Simmons

Wide-eyed
And listening,
I walk.
Intent.
Looking at everything.
Rarely understanding anything.
Hey world:
You are a puzzle.
With no piece in place.
Every day I bring my own puzzle piece
With me
As I walk
As I wait
As I work with friends on a project that will culminate in two exhibits of selected tapestries from one of our friends who wove for 50 years before losing her ability to weave due to cognitive difficulties, the time I usually have for blogging is limited. Thank you to everyone who responded to my post connected to this year's Memorial Day. I felt so alone in the year the man I loved served as a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam and felt alone for nearly 20 years after the war ended. I spent as much time as I could at the ocean -- one place where I did not feel alone. This year, in large part because of your comments, I know fully that I am not alone, no matter where I am. You are never far from my thoughts. I am grateful to belong to this far-flung community of kindred spirits.
A friend who is staying in Laguna Beach, California, with her husband this week emailed me this ocean scene. It may take several clicks before the video appears:
P.S. Rosemarie -- Our public library secured a copy of Overcome for me. I am just a few chapters into the book. The long and eventful life of Ellamae Simmons is an inspiration. Thank you for making it possible for her story to be told.
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