Mythos & Marginalia

life notes; flaws and all

j.g. lewis

original content and images ©j.g. lewis

a daily breath...

A thought du jour, my daily breath includes collected and conceived observations, questions of life, fortune cookie philosophies, reminders, messages of peace and simplicity, unsolicited advice, inspirations, quotes and words that got me thinking. They may get you thinking too . . .

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.

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Words For Someone Else
Posted on February 26, 2022 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

“A man without words is a man without thoughts.”
                                                           -John Steinbeck

No matter how deep or superficial, words always send a message.

Whether spoken or written, language is used to express a certain emotion, event or situation. Many times they will cause joy, or pain, or spell indifference. We react to words.

Sometimes you have a lot to say, other times there are words you can’t seem to let out; the ones that get stuck in your throat, or are washed away by tears. Where do they go?

Lately I’ve flipped through old notebooks and journals of the past to find scraps of information, half-finished sentences and paragraphs of words intended for someone else. Often they appear as incoherent thought, or accurate accounts of a moment. True, and purposeful, but never released. Now just a remembrance, or a reminder.

The further back I’ve gone, the harder it is to remember who the words were written for, when, or why I bothered scribbling them down.

Words express our worth. Language is used to soothe the soul or sort out details. This is why, mainly, we keep a journal as a map of where we’ve been. These are the skid marks on the road we travel.

Communication the root of all language, but it goes deeper. So much of the time we are trying to keep in touch with our self. There is liberation in letting words out. When you are no longer held hostage by thought, or limited by perspective, you can find calm or comfort.

I am exploring words I have passed over or let sit on the rough pages. There are so many things I’ve got to say, but perhaps these phrases, passages, or poems, have to be said before I can move further.

I have a letter, a couple of essays, and two poems I struggle with off and on. I know what should happen, am often encouraged with the progress, and still I cannot take them where I want to.

Reading over the pieces, I see too many sentences deleted, or altered. I’m not quite sure when the revisions happened, but they are real. Corrections. Still, through the eraser’s smudge, you can still see the meaning, the feelings, and the intention.

Not everything comes out like you want. Not everything will be received as expected. You slowly learn, and maybe that is what holds you back from saying what still needs to be said.

Oftentimes words need to wait for another day.

© 2018 j.g. lewis

 

uneasy relationship
Posted on February 23, 2022 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

   Year three settles in, months and weeks of
pandemic pain, what little
    has been gained.    Still unknown how much
    we have lost.
Social distancing affected all of us, isolation increases
   the uneasy relationship between
    propaganda and fact peddled by social media and
supported by those unwilling to accept the truth.
   Them who claim it to be freedom
     show no empathy
   to those who have lost
    partners, parents and possibilities.

© 2022 j.g. lewis

So Much More
Posted on February 19, 2022 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

   So much more than flesh and tissue,
the human heart, of intricate design, responsible naturally
for each second time allows. A complicated array of vessels
and ventricles of immodest proportion,
its importance need not be reinforced. A vital organ.
A muscle; strong, steady. Purposeful. With the lungs
it functions, beneath ribs woven
to shield us from life’s catastrophes. If we should say
the heart is more important than the brain, we would
then again, have to think of how it functions,
or when it faults.
   Humans are complicated, from the start.
   Do we lead with our head, or follow the heart?
Secure in its biological habitat.    Protected.    And we,
as we grow, endeavor to understand emotions, and feelings,
and complications, as blood rushes through our veins,
as we learn to live, or love, in pain.
      Heartbeat.      Heart break.      Heart ache.
Trusting less in the function, less of the body,
we build walls, a facade, to hide behind.
Having lost before, or even since then,
   we protect our self.
    So much more than function or folly,
a human’s heart; the complicated array of flesh and veins,
of sordid pasts and rumpled pain. Strength we can find,
a purpose of which to remind.
If the heart is more important than the brain,
we shall learn to try, and will love again.

©2018 j.g. lewis