Beyond The Dreams

September 9

  Just before four
  Or just after
Half moon on the midway
  Floodlights dimmed
Excitement gone with the crowd
  The Ferris wheel rests
  For the night
A time
  When a stranger
May more likely meet
  A knife
  Than a smile
When the power of the sun is
Nowhere to be seen
Nowhere known
  Yet the heat is still present
Persistent
Reflected and refracted
From downtown concrete
The air humid
Dark
Suffocating
  Blocks away
A high-rise set amongst the clouds
Above the quiet
  Of long-gone crowds
Lovers unite
Dissolve against
  One another
Sensual shivers
  In spite of the heat
  Sweat on the brow
Sweat on the sheets
  Awake or
Awaken
What it was
  It still is
  Even the distance knows
Still in the city
Still is not calm
  Humanity tucked away from it all
  Asleep
Others are not
Tormented souls wander the night
Confounded by loneliness
Emptiness
  Worthlessness
  Restless youth
Careless and not knowing
Where they should be
Where they are
Silent as a shadow
And just as flat
  They wait temporarily
  Time
  After Time
Just after four
Or just before
  Someone smiles like a knife
Someone
Tonight will fall
  Beyond the dreams that lovers hold
Beyond the dreams they once were sold
Out of time
  Out of place
Out of synch with the human race
  Lives now dimmed or cower
  Out of sight
Out of morals
  Out of light
  Unsuspecting souls
Who know no fate
Will soon make certain
An unknown place
Beyond the silence
  Beyond the sight
Someone else
Will fall tonight
When lovers dissolve
When lovers unite

Hello Winter

The weight of winter hardly upon us, 
only now is our reality apparent.
The season must be seen to be felt.

Without snow there are only 
harsh winds and inconvenient truths.
Precipitation fuels our anticipation.

On the cusp of Solstice, Christmas 
barely a week away, winter now visible.
We live the season as much as we wear it.

Months from now we will wish it all 
away, yet today our feelings are as fresh 
as the fallen snow. Hello winter.

12/20/2024                                j.g.l.

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December 16

Mondays are just young Fridays

The learning never stops; and so, it shouldn’t.

Often, more through trial than error, I have taken on new tasks throughout my life and the experience (for the most part) leaves me in a better place; no matter how difficult it seems at first.

I am undertaking a redesign of this website. Not the type to go into things blindly, I’ve taken on some help to see myself through the process. I knew, from the outset, that I would require some assistance just as I did when I opened up Mythos & Marginalia almost a decade ago.

So much has changed in the years since. I wanted to take this opportunity to not only update the look of the website, but also my skills.

I am learning.

While I know (or think I know) what I want, turning my ideas into a tangible reality is not easy. I understand the fundamentals of page design from my years in the newspaper industry but editing and layout has come a long way from the days of pencils and pica sticks. Technically it is easier now (or should be), but it is the technology that I have issues with. My knowledge of coding was never what it should be, so I am trying to learn more.

The learning never stops.

The WordPress ‘classic editor’ — the platform I have worked on until recently — is, principally, more straightforward with its options. Selecting text size was a drop-down menu, and aligning the type was just a choice of clicks. Working in this format had become routine.

The newer (and, apparently, more advanced) ‘block editor’ mostly seems to skip those familiar steps. I, now, should be able to work more visibly to adjust the text to what I am trying to achieve. That’s a big “should be”. I am, right now, daunted by what should be simple keystrokes and sizing on a very intuitive template.

Making mistakes is easy; correcting them often proves difficult. Understanding the errors of my ways takes understanding and knowledge. I am learning. Slowly.

I guess I had become too used to doing things in a certain way, in a specific order, always able to visualize the results. Now, in this new format, all I seem to be doing is confusing myself.

I am not working in my habitual ways. But I am still learning. That’s a good thing.

You don’t learn from routine, yet you should routinely be learning.

12/16/2024 j.g.l.

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December 22

Solstice Blessings

In North America, we have come out of the longest and darkness night of the year.

From here on in it only gets brighter.

Deify the light; acknowledge the dim.

Christmas is but a few days away, the high holidays close, and the spirit of the season is building. In all our cultures, there are so many good and wonderful days ahead.

I wish you and your families and friends — those who are close and them far away — everlasting love and community in the days and years to follow.

deep peace

j.g. lewis

12/22/2024

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December 19

speak up

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December 17

12/17/2024

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