NAPOWRIMO Day 8

On By WinstonIn Humor, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, RantsLeave a comment

White Weather Blues.

Now spring is here and so I sit,
And watch the falling snow.
The robins sit upon my lawn,
Shout every curse they know.

l know the snow won’t stay this time,
But still I’ve had enough.
With every extra flake that falls,
The more I hate that stuff.

Tomorrow when I walk to work,
l know it’s going to rain.
Yet even as I splash along,
You won’t hear me complain.

The reason rain sucks less than snow,
No need to shovel it,
I’ve had my fill of winter now,
It’s time to stop this shit!

Cheers, Winston.

NAPOWRIMO Day 7.

On By WinstonIn Bullying, Discrimation, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Celebrate! Ignore The Hate!

No flowers, cake or dress for you,
‘Cause this book says you’re bad.
Some think that that’s how things should be,
And that is very sad.

They blame a God, a book, a faith,
For their hard-hearted state,
They talk a lot about Gods love,
But then they act from hate,

It seems your wedding was so wrong,
You’ve broken marriage now.
A love so strong, a love so true,
Has threatened theirs somehow.

So let them rant and let them fuss,
Don’t ever let them win.
For what you have is precious, rare,
Could never be a sin.

Cheers, Winston.

NAPOWRIMO Day 6.

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Pop CultuteLeave a comment

Music Is…

The notes and words go flowing by,
Some let us ride along.
And for a time, once in a while,
We find a favourite song.

But faithless hearts and fickle ears,
All ensure that will change.
They tempt us then and captivate,
With tunes both new and strange.

A beat that’s new, no beat at all,
They’ll try ‘most anything.
Though when they start to shriek and moan,
I’m not sure they can sing.

But who am I to judge such things,
There’s plenty love that sound.
When fifteen thousand see their show,
Their stomping shakes the ground.

The country crowd’s all boots and hats
And my dog took my truck.
And it don’t matter what you do,
Sometimes it’s down to luck.

The pop tarts sometimes flash some skin,
‘Cause they all sound the same.
And some days that’s the only way,
To snatch at fleeting fame.

Some classic bands are still around,
They sell out concerts too.
So long as there is someone who,
Reminds them what to do.

But I will share this truth my friend,
It’s down to you and l.
Whatever songs we love are “great”
They help our spirits fly.

Cheers, Winston

NAPOWRIMO Day 5

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Self AwarenessLeave a comment

Overcoming The Noise.

I cannot think, I cannot hear,
The voices in my head.
They try to speak and to be heard,
Don’t know just what they said.

There’s poetry that I can’t hear,
It’s lost in all this noise.
The words are lost beyond recall,
l’ve lost so many joys.

Voices within and more without,
I try to sort them out.
But there’s no sense that l can hear,
Can’t tell what they’re about.

I want to write to get it down,
It’s all a jumbled mess.
A word from me, a word from them,
From someone else I guess,

And now the voices in my head,
Have reached a fever pitch.
They yammer, screech, and howl there,
Quite soon I’ll start to twitch.

So I have worked with what I’ve got,
Have used what I could save.
And as I write these final lines,
they fade back to their grave.

Cheers, Winston

NAPOWRlMO Day 4

On By WinstonIn Dark / Gothic, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Values, WarfareLeave a comment

The Lies Myself Tells Me

I fear the time has come I said,
As I sat there alone.
I found that I agreed with me,
Been too long on my own.

I used to argue with myself,
Don’t bother any more.
The fact is I’ve learned to my grief,
I am a dreadful bore.

But I’ve been here so long it’s now,
Much harder to go out.
I’ve beat them all and won the game,
Of that there is no doubt.

Some players used to talk to me,
Upon my radio.
But static swallowed up each voice,
So many years ago.

I see the dust on everything,
My larder so long bare.
There’s nothing here to eat or drink,
I think that I should care.

I hear a whir from faraway,
From deep down underground.
I look and see the blinking lights,
And curse this truth I’ve found.

I yell at me and curse myself,
I’m filled with hate and rage.
And once again I vow to flee,
This cybernetic cage.

For it was not a game we played,
But dreadful, dreadful war.
And deep within our bunkers we,
Slew billions, billions more.

Each of us thought we’d be the one,
Once it was safe outside.
But one by one the bunkers fell,
And one by one we died.

I had a plan I would survive,
Just not the way we thought.
Our scientists had found a way,
To fend off age and rot.

Now me, myself and I all live,
If life is what this be.
In memory and subroutines,
Of this machine I see.

I argue with myself again,
It’s such a waste of time.
Because the years have not been kind,
Myself speaks only rhyme.

I want to end our suffering,
To pull the plug on this.
But myself and me refuse,
To grant eternal bliss.

But they will do the next best thing,
And dump my memory core.
Let me forget the centuries,
Think I’m alive once more.

Cheers, Winston

NAPOWRIMO Day 3.

On By WinstonIn Loving Life, NaPoWriMo, Personal, PoetryLeave a comment

The Best Things In Life Are… You!

Dear Universe, I’d like to say,
A thank you from my heart.
For bringing me this person who,
I’ve loved right from the start.

My love provides a piece of me
l didn’t know was gone.
She gives so much, brings me such joy,
My strength to carry on.

I was the one who could not see,
The joy in every day.
But love has helped me see that joy,
That life can bring my way.

So thank you life for bringing me,
This Angel whom I love.
And thank you love for coming here,
From Heaven up above

Cheers, Winston.

NAPOWRIMO Day 2.

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Psychology, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

We’re All In This Together
(Except For Those Who Aren’t)

Dreaming the days go drifting by,
A bit of truth in each.
Some grasp the dream and take from it,
The lesson it would teach.

So many more are lost to it,
Content to blindly sleep.
They push the dream of truth aside,
Let life it’s secrets keep.

“What good” they ask “can come from this?”
No good they say just pain.
Refusing truth they cannot see,
In ignorance remain.

Dreaming the days go drifting by,
All life about it s tasks.
And now and then some sleepers stir,
And see beyond their masks.

They’ve seen some truth, some tiny part,
Cannot remain unchanged.
But those awake, to those asleep,
Must surely seem deranged.

The choice is “Treatment” drugs and pain,
Or just go back to sleep.
And in their dreams they glimpse the truth,
And in their slumber weep.

Cheers, Winston

NAPOWRIMO Day 1

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, PoetryLeave a comment

So… it’s that time of the year again.  Thirty poems in thirty days.  How hard can that be?  Last year I stretched it out to over two months… sixty-plus consecutive poems.  After that, thirty will be nothing… hopefully…. maybe…. ah well, may as well get started,

My Beloved Friend

A day, a week, a month, a year?
How long must grieving last?
I long for when the joy remains,
But constant pain has passed.

I don’t regret the time we shared,
Your love so worth this pain.
And even as I shed these tears,
I’d do it all again.

My friend I miss you still so much
I see you everywhere.
And when I’m feeling most alone,
I look and you are there.

You come to say you are still here,
You live within my heart.
So long as I can feel you there,
We’ll never be apart.

Miss you Chester

Cheers, Winston.

Mortality Redux

On By WinstonIn Loving Life, PersonalLeave a comment

For some time, I had been getting chest pains. Like any sensible person, I saw my doctor. He referred  me to a specialist who did a treadmill stress test. The results at that time shoved no immediate threat.   Over the next year and a bit, things went from bad to downright nasty.

By the time I saw my doctor again, the pain was so severe I couldn’t walk for five minutes without stopping to rest. Two or three times.

So my doctor referred me back to the same cardiologist who administered the same stress test. This time the results were a bit more spectacular. He immediately referred me to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute at the Civic Hospital here in Ottawa.  Priority is determined by severity. I’d heard stories of people who had waited six to eight months to get an appointment.  I had my first appointment a month later. This to me was a very bad sign.

The appointment was for an angiograph. For this procedure, they thread  a needle through a major artery in either the groin or wrist. (Please oh please let it be the wrist).   They run it up to the heart, pump in some dye and look at how the blood is moving through the heart. Or mostly not in my case.

They managed to tap the radial artery in my wrist (I LOVE working with professionals!).   Just so you know, they want you awake for the whole procedure. All the drugs you want, but still awake.   They get the dye in and start telling me just how bad it is. Some of the major arteries in the left side of my heart are  over ninety percent blocked. They need to put in stents to open them back up.   They do that. It hurts. I get more drugs.

In total, I’ve now got four stents in my heart.   I can walk to work without any pain in my chest. I can go up stairs without grabbing my chest like Redd Foxx in Sanford & Son. Long story short, I’ve got a new lease on life. Literally.

An interesting phrase that one. “A new lease on life”.   Like any lease, some terms and conditions apply. One of those conditions involves making some fairly significant changes in my life. Eat healthier. In my case, the main change involves gelting my diabetes under control. HUGE risk factor for heart attack there. Ten years ago I quit smoking (Soooo glad I don’t have to deal with quitting that too). Giving up sugar makes tobacco look like a walk in the park. So that’s a work in progress. Lot’s of work, not so much with the progress. But I’m  sticking with it. A lot of highly skilled people spent years of their lives learning how to prevent me from dying.   I’d feel a bit of a berk if I wasted all that (not to mention feeling a bit dead as well).

I’ve also got to walk more, eat less and learn to let go of my stress. Some goals are easier than others. I probably shouldn’t stress about it though. That’s one of the terms of the lease. Let’s face it, leasing isn’t the same as owning. If you lease a car, they’re not going to be happy if you paint it chartreuse before you hand it back at the end of the lease.   The same thing applies to my heart now. A lot of people now have a vested interest in my health, and that gives them a big say in the terms of that new lease. That’s probably a good thing given how I handled things as the sole owner. Maybe I’ve learned to treat myself a little better. Hopefully, I’ve learned something from all this. But what is the big picture lesson here?

Well, I’ve learned that my doctor is probably with the mafia. Every time I see him, he tells me that if I don’t do what he says I’m going to die.  But that’s really not too “big picture”. The big picture is actually a bit more cliched. You never really know just how long you’ve got. After it was all done, I was talking to one of my doctors and he told me I was one bad decision away from a major heart attack. A few months later, I turned fifty. I might not’ve made it that far. I might not have been there for my daughters  eventual wedding, or my hypothetical grandchildren, or to grow old with my wife.

There’s a lot  things that I still want to do. If take proper care of this new lease, there’s no reason I can’t do all of them. So now I’m off to stick my belly full of insulin and get to bed… it’s one of the terms of the lease.

More Soon!

Cheers, Winston.

I’m Back

On By WinstonIn PersonalLeave a comment

For those of you who used to follow  this blog, my apologies.   For a variety of reasons, it is quite some  time since I have posted anything.   This is largely because to ran out  of things to say.

I still follow the  news and it still winds me up as much as it ever has.   But I’ve gotten out of the habit of ranting about it. I’ve realized that shouting at the wind only proves that the wind doesn’t care.   As for the poetry writing… that is on hold until the next National Poetry Writing Month in April.

Having said all that, writing is like any other  learned skill… it’s highly perishable.   So I felt it high time to get back on the horse and if not shout at the wind, at least chat amiably with the breeze.

More Soon!

Cheers, Winston