Mythos & Marginalia

2015 – 2025: a decade of days


  • our foundation

    We cling to memories, even
    subconsciously. Certain days,
    and not always, continually play
    with our unruled emotions.

    Incidents of bliss, specific sorrows
    or worse, leave lasting impressions.
    It cannot be helped. We live through
    experience: yesterday and today.

    Reflected in our fragile faith is
    a greater hope. We often do not,
    or cannot, see past our cold,
    current, restless reality.

    It is not the truth that provides
    our answers, but an unclear
    deception of the question
    lingering in our consideration.

    Us fractured selves, not always
    strong and stable, survive by
    constructing our foundation of
    what we see and how we know.

    Hindsight is not honestly accurate.
    May your need for yesterday
    be slightly overshadowed by
    the wistful wonder of tomorrow.

  • decades

  • Christmas moments and memories

    “Christmas lights are like healing embraces,
    wrapping us in gentle comfort.”

    -Richard Palmer

    The lights, the trees, the festivities; with the entertainment and travel, the rush that surrounds the season can become overwhelming. There is such an emotional build-up to this day.

    Enjoy the moments and the memories with family and friends over the holidays but try to find a little time to yourself. Reflect, when you can, on loved ones no longer with you; those cherished friends and parents who once brought so much joy to this day. Hold your thoughts close. Feel the love embracing you.

    I wish you a season of peace.

    j.g. lewis

  • another reminder

    Last evening, I went out for a walk with my camera. Inspired by the first meaningful snowfall of the season, I wanted to capture the snow as it covered up the dirty streets of Toronto.

    For much of the past decade, I have been making photographs in and around this city. At first, it was my way of discovering my new home. Then, maybe, it became habitual. It provided me time to rediscover an art form I have enjoyed my entire life. I worked professionally in the newspaper industry through the ‘80s and ‘90s. The camera was a prolific partner long before that.

    I know that in the coming days and weeks I’ll be looking at this city a little differently. Mid-January I will be leaving Toronto and returning to Winnipeg, where I have spent a good portion of my life. Each time I now venture out onto city streets, I know I am taking my final steps here.

    I ended up, last night, in St. James Park. It is a park that has come very familiar to me. With its well-tended gardens and magnificent trees, it has become part of my landscape. Who knows how many days I have sat with my sketchbook or journal, photographed tulips or roses, or just relaxed under the trees with my morning coffee?

    Last night, again, the trees captured my attention. The fading daylight and fresh snow provided stark contrast to the deep grey trunks and branches now stripped of greenery. With little light left in the day, I captured what I could. The images will be another reminder of my years in Toronto.

    12/24/2024 j.g.l.

  • skyline

    Geography. Topography, cartography, 
    linear landscapes, even those vertically inclined,
    stretch beyond horizons we may never see.
    Others will. Personal point of view, perspective
    reflective of where we are or have been.

    Along the plain, above grade. Skylines, timelines,
    lines of communication. Direction, intention, the
    scene itself bewildering as it is beautiful. Foreign lands,
    countries we may visit or have in the past. Terrain
    a domain. Home, known to another population.


    © 2024 j.g. lewis