1-3-09

 

It's hard to believe it's 2010, isn't it? These years seem to fly by at a faster and faster rate. I've tried to put a governor on them to slow them up. I've even tried denying them, but nothing works. The only thing left is for me to accept them.

 

Holidays are the same as every other day here, so the days all seem to run together. Since the days are the same, I try to make each one of them special.

 

I hope classes will start up soon. There haven't been any for a number of weeks, so I've been without a job. This makes it a pretty lean time, but it does give me extra time to write and to tutor the students. On Saturday mornings I've been helping some of the fellows with their poetry. Recently, one of the fellows recited one of my favorite poems - "Jenny Kissed Me", by E.E. Cummings.

 

"Jenny kissed me

when we met.

Jumping from the chair she sat in.

Fate, you thief who loves to get

Sweets into your list, put that in.

Say I'm weary

Say I'm sad

Say that health and wealth have missed me.

Say I'm growing old

But odd,

Jenny kissed me."

 

A poem like this touches our memories and our feelings. I believe a poem should say a lot in a few words and it should leave something unsaid. It should collect experiences and shape them into forms that cause us to think. A poem can be like a candle flickering in the darkness. I don't know if the enclosed "A Morning Walk" accomplishes this, but it felt good to express it after my morning walk.

 

With the passing of these many years, I'm becoming more and more aware of how little I know. Sometimes I remind myself of Charlie Brown, to whom Lucy once said,

"Charlie Brown, in the Great Cruise Ship of Life, some people place their deck chairs to the fore and look at what's coming and others place theirs to the aft and look at what's past. In the Great Cruise Ship of Life, which way is your deck chair facing?"

And Charlie Brown replied, "In the Great Cruise Ship of Life, I'm one of those who can't get my deck chair unfolded."

 

As this year unfolds...may we get our deck chairs unfolded!