Conversations,
ruminations, noise,
nonsense and
contradictory advice
comes with a price .
What was said
and what was
meant were
two completely
different things.
By all means
say what you mean
but please try
your best to mean
what you say.
12/08/2023 j.g.l.
With the wars, chaos and conflict, and proliferation of hate speech that surrounds all of us right now, it is difficult to subscribe to the familiar mantra espoused in this season:
Peace on Earth, good will to all men.
We can only wonder if this will ever be possible. More so, how have we even believed for so long that it could ever be probable. Globally or locally, peace and good will are notably absent from our lives.
Few of us are even in a position where we can affect enough change, and those who have any sort of ability are caught up in fruitless negotiations within the politics of it all.
Hatred has too much power
Love thy neighbour; who even tries? Locally or globally is anyone attempting? I do not wish to sound pessimistic and know there is nothing I can do personally to resolve the global catastrophes and calamities, but I am going to do what I can to create, or acknowledge, peace in my own little world.
In these coming weeks I intend to connect with family and friends who have been there when I needed them. I will reach out, even to those from a distance, to let them know I am thinking of them and what they mean to me. I should have been doing this long ago, and more consistently. I have neglected thanking people when I should have.
I need to be more thankful. I need to express my gratitude more often than I have been.
We can all do such a thing, even if it is something as simple as sending a Christmas card, dashing off an email, or picking up the phone.
We can all pick up the peace.
Yes, there are big problems on this planet we cannot avoid on the news of the day, but by making a daily attempt to reach out to those we care about our world can become a little smaller.
I believe we can find our own peace even in the absence of probability.
I still believe that peace is possible.
12/04/2023 j.g.l.
Personal accomplishments,
practiced perseverance,
following your own voice
even as it becomes muffled
by the world surrounding you.
Pride is not often easy, but it
is always possible.
12/03/2023 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.
What do you have that you would share
with a stranger, to blank page of stationery?
Is it confidence or curiosity? Query
or confusion. In your letter, will you say
most of your dreams are shaped like clouds,
or ask how the rain tastes
on their side of the shadow?
We all lead different lives, tempered
by second-hand knowledge, first-person
accountability, and animal instincts.
Watermarks across our silken soul.
Experiences: we have them all, at any age.
What will you write about as you
commit your life to paper.
You could always enthusiastically
talk about the weather, but
isn’t that what old men do, as they recall
the summer of ’67, and the rain.
Remember, they will say.
Older women, instead, will write
of more significant memories, like
the scent of patchouli or
heartfelt bewilderment, as their clothes
dried on the back of wicker chairs.
Dare they share the details, or will you?
Will you make sense of the emotions?
Trapped in this fluctuating state of grace
we all try to understand. We all try
to survive in a world messed up
by assholes and algorithms.
What will you share that might
help a stranger cope more contentedly,
or smile a little deeper?
What will they write back?
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.