Qualifying questions, remedial response.
Knowledge of situations often haunt.
What we know or have been told.
We tell ourselves we just don’t know.
Answers formed by thoughts untold.
Rumour and misinformation often sold.
Conspiracy theories tend to rule the day.
Bare truth and logic will get in the way.
04/22/2024 j.g.l.
Current Thoughts
Open your mouth, let words
bypass lips. Converse consciously
to brethren or bystanders.
Reach out to
close friends gone amiss.
Be not afraid, not now, of
articulating current thoughts and
accomplishments of which
you are proud, and even your sins
(for we have all owned a few)
might seem far less tragic
from an altered point of view.
Give fresh voice
to insecurities and anxieties hidden
within your self, speak highly of
those dusty dreams
languishing on a shelf.
Past sullen moments cast a
lengthy shadow, short-term
expectations tend to dull down
long-term possibilities.
Talk freely around all you want,
or hope, or desire to be.
Each intention will resonate
with those who wholly believe.
Understanding takes effort.
© 2024 j.g. lewis
April 18th is Poem in Your Pocket Day
a day to celebrate poetry by selecting a poem,
carrying it in your pocket, and sharing with the
friends and strangers who cross your path.
Share a poem wherever the day takes you, as you
would share a smile, a gesture, or your kindness.
Sharing is caring.
April is Poetry Month
take a poem to lunch
Our paths shift, circumstance and
attitude shaping our trajectory.
The company we keep alters both
our outlook and destination.
We are where we are
mainly because of who we are
and whom we are with.
04/16/2024 j.g.l.
I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
It was the taste of summer: a frothy root beer served up in a chilled frosted glass mug, always from A&W.
A&W was the first drive-in restaurant I remember, on Victoria Avenue in Brandon Manitoba, not too far from my family home.
It was not just an occasion, but an event, when the family climbed into the station wagon and drove into the parking lot. It was curb service at A&W where you ordered through a speaker set up next to each space in the lot. The family would sit in the car and decide.
It always seemed easy to order at A&W; my Dad would have a Papa burger (double beef patty) and it only seemed natural Mom would order a Mama burger (single). I ordered a Mama as well, as did my brother and sister. French Fries or onion rings completed the meal, and root beer.
Dad would then call the order into the speaker, and we would the wait (impatiently) for the waitress to bring the specially-designed tray out and rest it on the driver’s side window.
The car smelled heavenly as Dad would distribute the food to his hungry family.
It was a treat then to go to the drive-in. Fast food wasn’t a staple in society’s diets in those days; not like it is now as we line-up and drive through the parking lot of any number of international burger chains.
As a kid playing baseball in those summers, I was fortunate to be a player on the A&W-sponsored team for a few years. Each time we won a game we’d climb on our bikes and head over to the drive-in where we would be rewarded with a free drink. It was one heck of an incentive, and we often won the games.
At that time the only other team with such a tasty reward was the team sponsored by Dairy Queen. Ice cream was a part of summer, but not like Root Beer.
Today is Free Root Beer Day at A&W restaurants across Canada. I no longer live in Brandon, and the drive-in there closed years ago, but you can be sure I’m going to find a location in downtown Toronto. I’ll indulge in the taste of my youth.
Free root beer. Priceless memories.
07/22/2017 j.g.l.
I’m like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.