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.
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.
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
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.
Midnight snack or simple meal, a sandwich is
a sandwich: the real deal. Handful of goodness
inspired by hunger, crafted with care and what is
available in the fridge. It takes no culinary flair.
Deli counter craving, varied ingredients form
a connection. Stacked between two slices of bread:
fresh-baked artisanal, even common supermarket
selection, on the right day, a taste near perfection.
Roasted chicken, crispy bacon and cheese, lettuce,
tomatoe, mayonnaise; toasted crust sure to please.
Ingredients: fixings, so to say. Any sandwich worth
its salt satisfies on this, or any, day.
However an appetite sated, it is mainly up to you.
Lunch box delight, choice from a takeaway menu,
even childhood favourites of peanut butter and jam.
A sandwich always fills a void, whenever it can.
© 2026 j.g. lewis