- SPRINGTIME: It has been one year since we started this podcast, so now it seems the right time to restart with Season 2 Episode 1. Springtime – Just as we have hopes of emerging from the worst of the Covid pandemic, we have emerged from one era of political leadership in the US, into a new world of leadership focused on recovery and regeneration, rebuilding and rebalancing. This time can become our golden hour, and 2021 our golden year. Poems in this episode are:
- Passover & Easter (Again).
- One year of Transformation
- The Golden Hour
- Moving forward
- https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8305512
2. BIRDS, BOOKS & BUYING: Covid is still with us, so simple delights of being in nature and reading a good book are pleasant rewards and a good use of the extra time we have saved by buying over the internet instead of “shopping around”. This episode tells stories in short poems about birds, books & buying in this new reality. The final poem honors EARTH day and our place and role as human beings on this special Planet Earth.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8385446
3. RING IN RESILIENCE: May 2021 – for over a year we have been living cautiously waiting for this pandemic to go away. We have been resilient and flexible. We must keep resilient, and we can keep learning about resilience from many unexpected sources, such as:
Toothpaste and sunscreen.
Tricolor Herons
Magnolias
Swamps
Scam callers!!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8462010
4. INSIDE OUTSIDE: Its May 16, 2021 International Day of Light and International Day of living together in Peace. Yet we are now witnessing a horrible conflict in the Middle East.
Many years ago Swami Muktananda gave a talk: Life is a play of Sunlight and Shadow.
You cannot avoid seeing both, but you can choose how to experience them. I personally have negative and positive feelings that I may choose to express, and invite you through this poetry to enter the door and join me on this journey, as we remember our humanity, our true nature, our spiritual Self, and witness the material and physical reality we live in.
As long as we remember whom we truly are in our hearts, we can play our roles with joy and love and we will do our best to make this world a better place.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8546379
5. TEA TIME AND ERNEST: In this episode you will hear about Ernest Hemingway, Tea and the wonderful, positive impact the pandemic shutdowns have had on the natural world. My hope is that we can continue to protect and support the natural world intentionally, instead of simply as a side effect.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8663530
6. SEASONS CHANGE: I am sitting here in a wild Florida summer monsoon storm: rain, thunder and lightning. You will probably hear the sounds of the storm and this is a perfect backdrop for the idea that nothing physical is permanent and that everything – almost everything – is changing every moment.
You will hear poems about how technology, time and nature change AND we can create our own unique future.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8741838
7. ART – INSIDE & OUT: These poems came out of a few days in DC the nations capital finding the RENWICK Gallery of Folk Art inspiring and discovering the outside artwork and murals on the Metropolitan bike trail and buildings around Washington DC and also experiencing the National Zoo. The last poem was written in 2011 about WARLI art created in India. You will see the connection! Click on each thumbnail to see full size!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/8835075
8. SILENCE: It’s been about a month of silence from me. During that time Kassandra and I have traveled to six national parks and I completed a landscape photography course in the Badlands of South Dakota. Now I am preparing for a walk around Mont blanc. At the same time I have been editing thousands of photographs taken during our trip. Strangely I find it difficult to be creative visually and with words at the same time, so here goes – here come the words. To listen go to:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9046086
This episode starts in South Dakota and Wyoming, and takes us across the Rockies into Utah. The images here are in the Badlands, Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse. CLICK to view an image full size!
Above – Crazy Horse
9. ARCHES AND CANYONS: This is the second podcast following our trip through national parks and local hikes. In this episode we are in Utah, where we stayed 5 days in Moab, exploring the area before moving on to Mesa Verde. The photos are of the arches, Canyonlands and Route 279 outside Moab.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9046086
ABOVE – Arches . . . . BELOW Canyonlands!
10. COLORADO JOURNEY: This 3rd episode of our National Park trip continues in Cortez, near Mesa Verde, and we travel to Montrose and the Black Canyon of Gunnison. Next stop, after a surprising drive, is Crested Butte. In Winter a ski resort, in summer a mountain biker’s paradise. Listen at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9077025
These images are from Cortez
These images are from the Montrose County Fair
En Route to Crested Butte
COLORADO FINALE
11. COLORADO FINALE: It is over 2 months since Kassandra and returned from Colorado, and only 1 week since we returned from Europe. This podcast completes our National Park odyssey. I am left feeling I want more time in South Eastern Colorado, so we will return to explore more. These images are from Crested Butte, Great Sand Dunes and Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9357705
12. BACK HOME AGAIN: After 6 weeks traveling in Europe I have thousands of images to process and select, from my hike around Mont Blanc, my daughters wedding in Germany, and our river cruise down the Danube.
Writing poetry requires uses a different part of the brain from the visual processing of the images. So expect poetry relating to this trip to appear over the coming weeks. Thanks for your patience, waiting for this podcast!
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9370479
13. COMPLETING THE TOUR DE MONT BLANC: In this episode you will hear poems about the completion of the Tour de Mont Blanc, which is about 120 miles long and as you might have guessed from episode 12 the vertical ups and downs make this route seem a lot longer. One of the beauties of this walk is the opportunity to go through 3 different countries and experience the different cuisines and languages.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9476659
14. THE TIME TRAP: Trapped in the sequencing of time, poetry for now becomes poetry for when? I wait, sinking in the quicksand, of poetic inspiration about the Danube trip and our daughter’s wedding. The truth is poetic inspiration and words happen in a moment – which is “Poetry for Now”.
So I am going back in time to recreate the moments through my journals and photographs, reliving the scenes and times. These poems capture a few special and poignant experiences rather than being a travelogue of our 3 weeks through Europe.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9708552
15. A JOURNEY’S END: Life has many journeys. This is a short episode to complete our 2021 European trip which ended in Holland. Over 50 years ago I was in Amsterdam. Have I changed more than the city? Now more multicultural than ever. More extraordinary museums celebrating its artists. More culinary delights and friendly people. Sounds you hear: rain, working windmill, the bells of Zuiderkerk
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9895469
16. LOOKING FORWARD TO 2022:
Happy New Year 2022. As I contemplated ideas to start this year with a fresh uncluttered perspective, I recalled the life changing experience of my walking the Camino de Santiago, so I looked through my books and found a couple of poems I wrote that capture the opportunity this New Year offers. I also received a photo from an old friend of the new snowfall around his home in Maine, which led to the final poem. The gonging you will hear is a recording of a weekly gong concert my wife Kassandra is now playing for neighbors from our front porch.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/9910876
17. BE PREPARED: Hearing that my friend Curtis passed away in his sleep shocked Kassandra & I. We have know him for about 30 years. He did not died from Covid. Curtis was a little younger than us and this makes me aware of our own mortality. Most of these poems came from reflecting on this very recent experience.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10032159
18. DOORS, WINDOWS AND HAIRCUTS: GOING WITH THE FLOW- Billy Collins, the great American Poet, suggested pick a starting subject and just keep writing, allowing it to surprise you – and keep at it until it ends. What is poetry? Good question! These poems led me to old memories and some new endings. The last poem was sparked by Mark Doly’s poem – this is your home now.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10077306
19. MAKE PEACE NOT WAR: Every day since Russia invaded Ukraine I have written something that’s help me process this awful situation; a reality that the world is facing today. As I listened to this steel band I felt that steel can create music & pleasure or destruction and pain. It is our choice.
The poems came day by day, starting on Saturday (February 26, 2022). The courage of the Ukrainian people is celebrated and supported.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10200516
20. CALL FOR JOY: While our human family suffers in many places around the globe, from Covid and war, Ukraine is staring us in the face. In our safe and peaceful lives here in the US we must do our best to do whatever we can to reduce pain and bring back joy soon. We cannot let despair win.
The poems include: The sun will shine! Neighborhood Gong Concert. The Joy of Bread.
“In conclusion” has suggestions for how you too can help the refugees.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10308208
21. NATIONAL POETRY MONTH: This episode has 3 poems:
“National Poetry Month” is a humorous poem about poetry book titles.
“Go to the Page with a Heart as open as the Heart of God” takes this title from a line in a book by Elizabeth Stroud.
“Journals” is about what goes into our journals and where they all go!
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10387151
22. EARTH DAY IS EVERY DAY: Earth Day was 22nd April 2022 – However taking care of the earth and nature comes naturally once you take a walk slowly, appreciating the plants, animals, insects and birds around you. We are lucky to have a small nature preserve on our doorstep. You will also hear Kassandra’ s gong concert where she plays using the Fibonacci pattern.
https://poetryfornow.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10609830
23. A LONG TIME AGO:
As a younger adventurous traveller I had many experiences and lessons to learn. These poems reflect some of those, and they are not at all in chronological order.
- The summer of 72, part 1 takes place in Colombia
- Before you know takes place in Nepal
- Greece: takes place on the Pelopennese Peninsular
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10669233
24. JUNE MUSINGS:June is going by so fast. We spent 2 weeks away from home as wars, school shootings and inflation flashed across the media. Thankfully being in Nature always refreshes me and gives one hope.
The poems are about my experiences in Florida & Shenandoah National Park… and a couple of almost private family jokes!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/10871038
25. WALLS: Relationships only truly succeed when we breakthrough the barriers, the walls that divide and separate us. Some of these poems are inspired by Robert Frost’s line “Who doesn’t love a wall!”. Two poems are inspired by those first unique experiences we have in our lives, particularly as a parent.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/11002905
26. LIVING OUR CHOICES: These poems came as I reflected on the choices I make every day: How I spend my time, what I read and listen to, and consequently what I think about.
A theme is that it is easy to get caught in a virtual world of electrons – but Nature is all around us offering beauty and joy.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032811/11167695
27. EVOLUTION: Living in South West Fl these last 7 years have given a me new perspective of nature and its wonders. These reflect some of these experiences.