John's Dura Mater Blog

“It only happens to them,” I said. “There’s nothing for me to worry about. Before it ever gets too bad, I’m sure they’re gonna figure it out.” It’s a family of man we’ve got on this planet. There isn’t one life we can take for granted. Everybody has a mark to leave; a difference to make. Our backs may be against the wall, But our spirits will not break. Is it someone you know or only a stranger? If we stop to ask then we’re all in danger. It takes guts to rise each morning And look this thing right in the eye The solution starts with love And a dream that will not die. We’re all in this together, There isn’t any doubt. We’re all in this together, There’s no one we can do without. And we’ll never give in, Til we knock this thing out. Every star will shine forever. We’re all in this together. Don’t you ever lose hope That’s worth all the reminding As long as we don’t forget we can reach the horizon Here’s to everyone who’s brave enough to keep fight for their lives. Here’s to everyone th

i Make a place to sit down. Sit down. Be quiet. You must depend upon affection, reading, knowledge, skill—more of each than you have—inspiration, work, growing older, patience, for patience joins time to eternity. Any readers who like your poems, doubt their judgment. ii Breathe with unconditional breath the unconditioned air. Shun electric wire. Communicate slowly. Live a three-dimensioned life; stay away from screens. Stay away from anything that obscures the place it is in. There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. iii Accept what comes from silence. Make the best you can of it. Of the little words that come out of the silence, like prayers prayed back to the one who prays, make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came. - How To Be a Poet (to remind myself) By Wendell Berry

“I hold a beast, an angel and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression.” - Dylan Thomas

History, despite it's wrenching pain, cannot be un-lived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. -Maya Angelou (American Poet, b.1928)

What are you doing the rest of your life? North and south and east and west of your life I have only one request of your life That you spend it all with me All the seasons and the times of your days All the nickels and the dimes of your days Let the reasons and rhymes of your days All begin and end with me I want to see your face In every kind of light In fields of dawn And forests of the night And when you stand before the candles on a cake Oh, let me be the one to hear the silent wish you make Those tomorrow’s waiting deep in your eyes And the world of love you keep in your eyes I’ll awaken what’s asleep in your eyes It may take a kiss or two Through all of my life Summer, winter, spring and fall of my life All I ever will recall of my life Is all of my life with you -Music and lyrics by Alan Bergman / Marilyn Bergman / Michel Legrand