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.
I grew up in a Canadian city surrounded by wheat, a community where agriculture was the lifeblood.
Wheat was king, but pulse crops, corn, potatoes, and cattle were all a part of the economy.
I grew up reading the same newspaper I later worked at. Agriculture was often front page news; crop prices, rainfall amounts, weather conditions, and whether conditions would see farmers through another year.
In good years you could see the impact on the city, sales of just about anything were on the rise. In bad years it was a drought everywhere off the farm. Farming drove the economy on the prairies, and has a greater hold on the Gross Domestic Product of this country (and others) than it is given credit for.
We think in terms of commodities, and not food, and we don’t think enough about the farmers who produce what ends up on our table.
I’m always reminded of my roots as temperatures begin to drop at night this time of year. I know that as I’m sleeping soundly, old friends of mine may well be out all night on their equipment and racing against the first frost, hopefully near the end of harvest.
Hope is a big part of agriculture. Farmers, each year, take a gamble of what they will grow and when they will plant. You’ll never meet a more optimistic bunch of people than farmers; hope is a word that sustains them.
Farming is, like no other industry, at the mercy of the weather. The best growing conditions, and the finest field of crops, can change overnight as weather can wreak havoc on the land.
We give it so little thought as we pack our grocery carts with fresh fruits, berries, and vegetables, bread, eggs, milk, and the meat we eat. We think, so little, about who cares for the land.
We look for the best prices, but how often do we think of the price a farmer is paid for his time and investment? How little of that $2 loaf of bread does a farmer receive?
It is more than nutrition; it is food for thought.
09/04/2017 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.