Mythos & Marginalia

life notes; flaws and all

  • Mondays are just young Fridays

    Maybe it was the jet lag, or the summer cold I picked up in Paris is still having its way with me, but I’ve been slow getting going these past couple of days.

    I arrived home last week to Winnipeg weather almost as hot as it was as a heatwave that overtook most of Europe. It chilly here before I left for vacation; I’m amazed at the change over a couple of weeks.

    I am home. I am back to real life after a wonderful trip to the other side of the world; to a city I have always longed to see. Paris.

    I feel different coming back. 

    With the heat in this city, the shades of the summer to come are well established. 

    The tulips I planted last fall and were only beginning to sprout before I left and are now past maximum height, and colour. I was fortunate to see the final days of the flower’s temporary glory wilt away. 

    What I’m feeling is not what you would call rested; it was a busy couple of weeks, but I’m rechanged now and ready to take on all that I have planned for the next couple of months. 

    There’s a lot of painting to be done around the house, a garden to tend to, but there is an awful lot of art on my mind. I’ve got oil paintings to complete, some to start, and plenty of ideas for prints and possibilities.

    I saw a lot of art in Paris, and I’m inspired. That’s a great mindset to create from.

    I’m truly looking forward to this summer.

    Life is good.

    j.g.l.

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  • celebrating themselves

    A country I have not known; a visitor

    I will always be.

    Always respectful of the culture, the food, and

    why we are here.

    Welcomed. The language a challenge, but

    not communication.

    They hang their flags, like laundry, for

    everyone to see.

    Pride, no shame. Everybody every day.

    Celebrating themselves.

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

    May 19th is a Turkish Holiday celebrating Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day,  

    a milestone occasion marking the beginning of the country’s War of Independence.

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  • the trip

    Today I will embark on a journey, a much-needed vacation, to the other side of the world.

    It is a trip that has been planned for years; something I have truly looked forward to. 

    I will be travelling to places I had never considered, and to a city I have always dreamed of visiting.  I’ll be there in less than a day and will be away for weeks.

    I’m most certain I will capture the trip photographically, and poetically. My camera and trusty notebook are packed for easy access to capture my thoughts. I’m sure to post them here, as time permits, but without the regularity, certainty, or my usual predictability. That’s fine with me.

    A vacation should allow time to step away from your everyday obligations. Time will be of less consequence, I think. It is my intention to simply let life unfold as I observe another culture, and traipse through a lengthy list of museums and galleries. I want to see how coffee, and life, tastes on the other side of this wonderful planet.

    It is sure to be an adventure.

    j.g.l.

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  • feel the potential

    Before a garden is a garden, it is just dirt.

    Indeed, the remains of last year’s efforts may be apparent in the dry and dead foliage shrivelled, sorry, and waiting for spring clean-up. And all your garden tools have been stored away, powerless, while favourite perennials lay latent beneath the surface.

    It’s when the bulbs begin to show through the soil that you realize the promise that a garden holds.

    A garden must be planned. Whether floral or vegetable, you’ve got to consider the Sun’s daily impact and where your plantings will prosper. 

    You’ve got to plant a seed, if only metaphorically. With that you can imagine the succulent taste of tomatoes fresh from the vine, herbs you will use in favorite recipes, and the scent of yet unplanted flowers that will fill your yard, and your mind.

    A visit to a greenhouse or garden centre inspires, as do the seeds propagated indoors months back. You can feel the potential as certain as you can see what is happening.

    A garden is a gift you give to yourself. Naturally, it requires sunlight and water (as we, as humans, do). Enrich the soil with compost before you dig and dredge the various beds in those corners and crevices of your yard now lifeless, and longing for attention. 

    Above all, patience is required through the coming seasons.

    A garden keeps you grounded through those summer months. The season allows for travel and trips to farmers markets, festivals and cultural events, but you always return home. The garden welcomes you as it does the birds, bees, and butterflies.

    A commitment, the garden keeps you caring about what is important: growth.

    Warmer evenings, hot nights, blissful mornings and summer shade are all ahead of us. Now, the garden is pretty much dirt, possibility, and something to look forward to.

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

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  • poem in your pocket

    Promised Chance

    Friendships are formed over time, 

    over coffee, over commonalities. 

    Patience is required of a relationship, 

    one more subtle than inhabited by 

    colleagues or neighbours. 

       The intimacy is greater than 

       those whom we speak with 

       and them not spoken of.

    Our outward signs of friendship are 

    contractual sides of a story continually

    writing itself in time; each chapter

    develops character and setting, 

    without plot. The narrative evolves.

       It is far from transactional.

    A rightness of values, disciplined 

    morality respected, never  

    abandoned, for a promised chance 

    at discovering a deeper meaning. 

       Never subliminal. 

       There is nothing subtle about it.

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

                       APRIL 30 

    POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY

    Celebrate poetry by selecting a poem, 

    carrying with you throughout the day

    and sharing it with family, friends, cab

    drivers, co-workers, your favorite yoga

    teacher, barista, physician, cobbler, or

    panhandler on the street. Strangers will 

    smile, children may well clap, and you

    might even get the occasional smile or

    laugh. Whatever you do, however you

    dare, this is a day to show the world

    how poetry cares.

         You may already have a favourite poem,

         but I offer you this in case it’s not handy.

                                                      j.g.l.

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