LetMeBeClear

As I Grew Older

It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun--
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky--
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!

Langston Hughes

It is back to Walter again. I think this is kind of a hopeful poem especially from him. It is a nice one for starting the new year - in a world of wonders far away.

Dream Song

Sunlight, moonlight,
Twilight, starlight-
Gloaming at the close of day,
And an owl calling,
Cool dews falling
In a wood of oak and may.

Lantern-light, taper-light,
Torchlight, no-light:
Darkness at the shut of day,
And lions roaring,
Their wrath pouring
In wild waste places far away.

Elf-light, bat-light,
Touchwood-light and toad-light,
And the sea a shimmering gloom of grey,
And a small face smiling
In a dream's beguiling
In a world of wonders far away.

I was Almost going to go with Bronte, but Shakespeare won this month. It probably had something to do with the 16 inches of snow and the 4o mile per hour winds I enjoyed at work today although the snowball fight with the family before work was much more fun. I do like the snow, but the wind blows.

As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [Blow, blow, thou winter wind]
by William Shakespeare

Lord Amiens, a musician, sings before Duke Senior's company

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing . . .

There is wind where the rose was,
Cold rain where sweet grass was,
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.

Nought warm where your hand was,
Nought gold where your hair was,
But phantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.

Cold wind where your voice was,
Tears, tears where my heart was,
And ever with me,
Child, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.

Walter de la Mar - November

I am the wife. Sometimes I think that my hubby knows more about me because of my blog than any conversations we have had recently. Isn't technology weird? We use all of these time-saving technologies and end up with less time. It seems like the technology becomes more important than the life we are supposed to be saving time for. I think that a lot of things we do in life just obscure what is actually important.

I was one of those people. I worked long hard hours. I worked on big projects. I did interesting exciting things. I traveled to big places and wore business suits with short skirts and sensible shoes. I took all my luggage as carry-on so that I didn't have to wait for baggage claim. I knew the fastest places to eat. I worked really hard and got the job of my dreams.

The funny thing about that is that my first thought was "Wow, I should have dreamed bigger."

Now my dream involves a sailboat, warm water, fresh fruit and maybe even a bit of rum. I don't care if the code has a memory leak. I don't care if the root drive failed and somebody forgot to mirror it. I really don't care that the backup failed.

There I said it. I don't think that working as whatever for whomever is important. I don't think that the number of digits in my salary is important. I don't think that this quarter's numbers really matter.

I think it is important that the children I brought into this world are safe, literate, happy and healthy. Beyond that, I want to snorkel and live my life at a slow pace with no time-saving technology.