The answers are far less certain
than even last week, to all those
perennial questions or solutions
you might seek.
What do you believe, or
what do you believe in?
Come Monday, you have fewer
questions than you had last week.
For a while there are less doubts
in what you believe.
Whom do you believe in,
and who believes in you?
11/18/2024 j.g.l.
We want to know what
we don’t know, or hadn’t thought of,
or forgot.
What mattered then,
or what mattered when, shifts over time.
We notice.
Perception is what you don’t see.
Deception is what know.
You see it differently through your aloneness.
The truth behind a lie,
you question how and why.
It made sense.
Anticipation keeps us waiting
for only so long. Will it matter
if you felt it never did?
© 2021 j.g. lewis
Slow down: even with the ideas that come to quicky. Take the time to acknowledge the feelings that arrive, as they arrive.
Write it down. How else will you remember what you were thinking?
Print neatly. You hardly understand the thoughts at the time, why make it more difficult to comprehend weeks or years from now?
Follow your own logic; only you need to truly make sense of what is happening, or all that has happened.
Pay attention to the lessons of the past. Be mindful that not all are worth repeating.
Clarity. Make corrections as you go. Flaws become more difficult to correct the longer you live with them.
11/14/2024 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.
When I moved from Winnipeg to Toronto five years ago, all that came with me was what would fit in the car. I whittled down a substantial vinyl collection and brought with me what I considered to be essential albums.
I later noticed how many of those albums were from Canadian bands, groups and musicians.
I grew up listening to music and I still do. Regularly. Every day,
I listen to both new and old music (classic is often an overused, under-appreciated term). I listen to what matters (or mattered) at the time, all the time.
How could I not? My history, my memory, has a soundtrack.
I’ve always considered music to be a necessity rather than a luxury.I even spontaneously popped into Sonic Boom yesterday and spent more money than I intended.
Most of my newest music was made in the past year or two but that is not always the case. Sometimes I’ll go way back.
Often, I end up in my own country’s musical landscape.
Today I’m going to explore that landscape.
What else are you to do on a national holiday intended to celebrate how great this country is? There are not a lot of public celebrations today; this pandemic and its further dangers have, pretty much taken care of that.
Yes, our national broadcaster is throwing something together across all its platforms to pay heed to the fact it is our national broadcaster, but haven’t we all spent too much time in front of a screen over these past couple of months?
Me, today, I’m going to sift through my albums and compact discs and play, in no certain order, music from artists that have shaped my life and made a cultural contribution to our identity as Canadians.
I’m going to listen to rock, pop, jazz and classical music that I’ve invested in over the years and today concentrate on a purely Canadian playlist.
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Canada.
I’ll be posting album covers of what I’m playing on Instagram as I make my way through the day (find me at jg_lewis). Sometimes I might even tell you something about the album, or what or why I remember about the time, or a song. Mostly though, I’ll let the music speak for itself.
Today is all about Canada. Happy Canada Day.
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.