NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 15

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Joy of Sail,, Loving Life, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve been drawing sailboats lately, so I thought to incorporate that phase into my writing as well.

The Joy of Sail

A ship of wood, a ship of steel,

Or carbon fiber tech.

It’s sails belled with steady wind,

Warm sun upon the deck.

The wheeling gulls cry loud and free,

Beneath cerulean skies.

The ocean swells lift up her bows,

And salt spray stings the eyes.

Now see her fly across the waves,

Is there a finer thing,

Than canvas wings spread to the wind,

Oh hear her rigging sing.

Horizons beckon ever on,

What may await us there?

Some tropic isle with swaying palms,

Pack ice and polar bear?

It matters not what we may find,

The voyage is the goal.

The joy of sailing o’er the sea’s,

A blessing to the soul.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 14

On By WinstonIn Mars, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Science, Spaceflight, TechnologyLeave a comment

Science tells us that the Earth has an expiration date. Not any time soon hopefully, but it’s definitely there. The only way to guarantee our long term survival is to become and interplanetary species and ultimately, an interstellar one.

The Way Up Is The Way Forward

I gaze up in the night and see,

Stars sprinkled ‘cross the sky.

I close my eyes, set free my mind,

And through the dark I fly.

I think on how we first set forth,

From Earth out into space.

That pinnacle of science just,

A cheap and tawdry race.

Now once again that race heats up,

Vast fortunes on the line.

With Branson, Musk and Bezos too,

Who has the best design?

Depends on what you want to do,

And where you want to go.

To get us off the Earth for good,

For now, Musk steals the show.

But he is not the only one,

Who’ll take us to the black.

And make a tidy profit too,

To bring us there and back.

The race is on and leaders rise,

Then into hist’ry fade.

While others rise, then rise again,

By them is progress made.

So choose your team and cheer them on,

No finish line in sight.

As they drive on then further on,

Into the endless night.

For when it’s all been said and done,

The first small step is Mars.

The real prize, the one to chase,

Is humans ‘mongst the stars.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 13

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Loving Life, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Personal, Poetry, ValuesLeave a comment

I’ve been dreaming of having the money and time to travel where I want and spend my time as I please. This poem reflects what I see in those dreams. Enjoy!

Where Do You See Yourself?

There’s so much beauty to be found,

At place where land meets sky.

Horizons call and beckon me,

To where the seabirds cry.

Or maybe find a mountain peak,

With valleys deep and green.

To wake and greet a brand new day,

Somewhere I’ve never been.

The sounds of surf upon a coast,

The soft cry of a loon.

Great rushing winds of summer storms,

Soft silver light from moon.

I sit and watch the dazzling sun,

Dance ‘cross a peaceful lake.

While listening to the insect drone,

And perfect mem’ries make.

To find the peace which nature brings,

Such joy it brings to me.

They fill the corners of my soul.

Each wonder that I see.

They may be grand or tiny things,

Each precious in it’s way.

A bloom, a bird, an ocean vast,

Each has something to say.

I will experience each one,

As many as there’s time.

And listen to the whisp’ring world,

Bask in this joy sublime.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 12

On By WinstonIn COVID 19, NaPoWriMo, Pandemic, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Science, Society, Uncategorized, Values2 Comments

I am well aware that not everyone will agree with today’s poem and that’s okay. This post reflects my views on the current situation. Thank you for keeping any comments polite, respectful and brief.

COVID 19

This virus, such a tiny thing,

How quick, how far it spread.

Around the globe in just a year,

There’s near three million dead.

“It’s not so bad.”, some folks maintain,

“It’s no worse than the flu.”

At least until someone who died,

Is someone close to you.

They can’t conceive or won’t believe,

Why everything must stop.

And every step that we can take,

We must ’til cases drop.

Now wear your mask and wash you hands,

And stay home that’s the plan.

Now close the restaurants and bars,

Close any stores you can.

There’s no cabal with some grand plan,

To strip your rights from you.

The powerful elites don’t care,

‘Bout little fish like you.

Your “rights” aren’t more important than,

All those who’ve yet to die.

Unless you’re one who’ll tell me that,

This all has been a lie.

I beg you don’t say this to me,

I’ve heard it all before.

And I’ve no wish to go around,

Go ’round and ’round once more.

This virus, such a tiny thing,

Makes such a huge divide.

Some swear our fear has made us blind,

Some work to stem the tide.

I’ve diabetes, heart disease,

Health issues by the score.

Up until now my Docs have worked,

To keep me from Death’s door.

So I’ll rely on their advice,

To get me through these times.

And pass the lockdown as I do,

Composing little rhymes.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 11

On By WinstonIn Drawing, Loving Life, My Art, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Creativity Project,, Poetry, Sketches, UncategorizedLeave a comment

As you may have seen in previous posts here, I also enjoy drawing. I had really stepped back from it for while when my daughter was young and I was busier doing Dad stuff. She is out in the world now and I have started re-investing my time in visual art. I’m never going to be a great artist, but it brings me great joy. That’s really what I missed.

Recaptured Joy

I loved to sketch, to draw or paint,

Although I was no pro.

A life I got then, as one does,

And chose to let it go,

Oh sure I doodled now and then,

But less as time went by.

And as old skills from mem’ry slipped,

Was less inclined to try.

But then at length I realized,

What giving up had cost

So I set out once more to find,

That joy which had been lost.

Once more I pick my pencil up,

Resume old exercise.

Draw basic shapes five hundred times,

Each one a different size.

Here I now sit and set to page,

What’s seen in my mind’s eye.

Though I’m not back where once I was,

At least I’m going to try,

I study and I practice now,

I draw all kinds of things.

But haunted by my past I won’t,

Draw unicorns with wings.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 10

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Uncategorized, writer`s blockLeave a comment

For myself typically the problem isn’t finding words. Words I’ve got in abundance! The problem is finding words that I can force into some form of narrative. That’s where the tricky bits are, and that’s the subject of today’s poem.

So Many Words, So Little Focus

I feel the words rush through my mind,

In search of some release.

I try to shift them to the page,

Find for myself some peace.

But any peace is too short-lived,

For always there are more.

A jumbled, meaningless tumult,

An endless, numbing roar.

I catch a few, a sentence make,

From there a couplet spin.

They are too few the words I free,

To calm the storm within.

Now once again, the chaos comes,

I give myself to it.

I dance within the whirling gyre,

Though here I plainly sit.

I clutch and grasp and wrestle with,

The words within my mind.

And when at last I dare to look,

A finished verse I find.

And briefly then I know such peace,

Before it starts again.

The words return, they rush and roar,

And fill up my whole brain.

And so it goes, the wheel turns,

The cycle starts anew.

To write until the storm abates,

Is all that I can do.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 09

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, Media, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Society, Technology, ValuesLeave a comment

A lot of ink, both physical and digital has been devoted to the evils personal tech devices of late. I’m more a proponent of balance than banishment. Make better choices. That’s what I’m striving for.

What Is Light Without The Dark?

The constant light, is always there,

It seeps in through the seams.

There’s nowhere that I’m free of it,

Even my darkest dreams.

Light finds me there, and sears my eyes,

I beg for some respite.

But there is none, it never fades,

Dim yet eternal light.

Five billion screens, each one aglow,

Dark never stood a chance.

Now day and night are just the same,

We’ve stilled the ancient dance.

And though our screens give constant light,

We see much less by far.

Than when our eyes looked up to seek,

The brightest, clearest star.

By giving all our time to this,

Thing there within our hand.

We’ve lost the will to look beyond,

And try to understand.

But don’t forget that screen is just,

A tool that we can use.

Don’t blame the thing, but blame the choice,

And then more wisely choose.

Now choose to close that screen sometimes,

Enveloped in the night.

For darkness is essential to,

Appreciate the light.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 8

On By WinstonIn Loving Life, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Personal, Poetry, spring, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Since April is National Poetry Month, I try to do at least one spring themed entry per year. Here in Canada, winters are cold and long and spring is much anticipated. It is probably my favourite season.

For Love of Spring

To watch the swelling of a bud,

Then watch the leaf unfold.

The wonder of a world reborn,

From winter’s deadly cold.

The piping of returning birds,

Geese calling overhead.

With crocus blooms a welcome splash,

Of colour in their bed.

The days grow warm but no too hot,

The nights are still quite chill.

I love the spring, I always have,

And prob’ly always will.

I watch the swelling of a bud,

The bloom which opens there,

It’s beauty overcomes my heart,

All I can do is stare.

For spring is come, at last arrived,

All dormant things awake.

To stretch and seek this vernal sun,

All beauty now to make.

And I, eyes filled with wonder walk,

See wonders everywhere.

It’s spring and beauty fills my world,

With light and joy so rare.

So bring the sun, then bring the rains,

Wash winter’s signs away.

Then paint the world in brighter shades,

I’m loving life today!

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 7

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Don’t Fight the Dark

I see a light through fog and dark,

To it I turn my eye.

A beacon and a guide I see,

As shifting shadows fly.

Lost have I been within the dark,

How long I cannot say.

I pray this glint, this gleam may lead,

Once more to light of day.

It starts to fade, I thrust myself,

Through cloying ebon mist.

In desperation lashing out,

With elbow and with fist.

But as I fight, it fades still more,

Withdraws with every blow.

Some lesson here within the dark,

But what I do not know.

I rage and fight and try to force,

My way to where it waits.

I curse the dark, the names of Gods,

And rail ‘gainst the Fates.

The harder that I fight the dark,

The more the light withdraws.

I fight against my weary mind,

To understand the cause.

As my strength fades, my blows become,

Less fearsome over time.

And as I fail, the light at last,

Becomes a glow sublime.

Then as I pass beyond this world,

This truth at last I see.

You cannot take by force of arms,

What you received for free.

So in the end, we must accept,

An end to all our strife.

Go gently then into the light,

To find what’s after life.

Cheers, Winston