Mythos & Marginalia

2015 – 2025: a decade of days


  • In Camera

    This battered face prefers
    the other side of the camera,
    watching, waiting, silently
    from the side. An observer,
    looking on. Looking out.
    These impaired eyes have
    witnessed so much, perhaps
    too much. Injustice, imbalance,
    all in plain view. Images
    flow through me, captured
    for posterity. An honesty easier
    recorded than memorized.
    Focused on what is before me
    more convenient than looking
    within, where I know, and will
    not be surprised at, what goes on
    behind the camera. Damning
    view of humanity, insincerity,
    imbalanced injustice remains
    with me. The unknowns,
    knowingly stowed away,
    referenced only occasionally,
    when in disbelief at what
    I have experienced. Privately.
    Honestly. Silently. Memory.
    Without the light. In camera.

    © 2017 j.g. lewis

    April is Poetry Month
    something to believe

     

  • The Chaos and the Chorus

    For almost a decade I have partaken in Twitter; at one-time a generally innocent way of share bits and bytes of what was happening in the moment.
       At times, daily (or even more often), I would Tweet and re-Tweet my photography, poetry, and sample snippets of my opinions, essays and fortune cookie philosophies from my Mythos & Marginalia website.
       I engaged and interacted with human beings across this wonderful planet and enjoyed the contact and connection for the longest time.
       I’ve not been as regular these past couple of months.
       I am no longer sure about Twitter. I don’t like the direction it is going or, more so, where it was taking me.
       When I originally got involved in 2013 with the somewhat limited social forum (at that time a 140-character maximum), I would share positive thoughts on the context of the human condition and involve myself with day-to-day inspiration by passing something along.
       As my Twitter handle suggested, I intended to @sayit4word.
       At that time I was thinking positively, and for the most part I was.
       But, I guess, it was last year during the Ontario provincial election when I noticed I was not behaving properly, or rationally, and certainly not respectfully.
       I now know, or realized then, the forum itself was getting ignorant and obnoxious (even cruel). I noticed it mostly last February when the protesters involved with Freedom Convoy Rally began to take over our nation’s capital.
       Twitter got really nasty.
       And yes, I got nasty too.
       Throughout 2022, much of my anger was directed towards the fully-fledged idiot who managed to get himself elected as Premier of this province in 2018 and was being propelled towards re-election by a party and its anything-but-progressive pundits.
       I can see now and see how angry it made me. And, yes, I contributed to the mess Twitter is in.
       I’m no longer sure about Twitter. I haven’t tweeted for a couple of months. I don’t even check the forum regularly, certainly not as frequently as I used to; many weeks, not at all.
       I was even tempted, last month, to weigh in on the disturbing tale of Toronto’s mayor (or mascot) resigning after admitting an affair with a woman in his office half his age. I was thinking of all kinds of Twitter-appropriate comments, but after reflection, I managed to keep them to myself. I guess I was realizing that I would only be adding to the chaos and the chorus of idiots who were simply shouting into the ether without considering facts and feelings.
       I realized my Tweets and comments would be going against all I had imagined when I originally logged onto the social media platform.
       There was that lesson, a quote by Thumper from the movie Bambi, we learned as kids: “If you can’t say nothing nice, don’t say nothing at all.”
       So I have been silent for a while, but won’t be for much longer.
       April is poetry month, a period of the year I always cherish; so next month I think will step back into Twitter. I will start Tweeting again, but become more conscious of my intentions and try to pass on the more positive outlook I have been trying to nourish.
       I intend on saying it forward.

    © 2023 j.g. lewis

  • Something Meaningful

    I am not one for prayer.
    I am not sure about hope, several past decisions, or
    the trajectory of my path, but
    I am fairly confident
    we shared something meaningful once.
    That may be enough
    to pull me through this day,
    to help me remember
    we can all get through anything
    when friendship offers what it does, as it is meant to.
    It is greater than a prayer.
    It is the basis for hope.

    @ 2019 j.g. lewis

  • too much too easy

    – to let slight pain seep into your psyche.
    – to let symptoms become problems.
    – to let that last mistake haunt you.
    – to expect too much of yourself.
    – to become disappointed.
    – to overlook your worth.
    – to settle.
    – to stop.

    © 2023 j.g. lewis

  • Needed Rest

    Are you resting or waiting?
       A former yoga teacher used to, occasionally, ask this question in class. It was always during the long savasana in the middle, after the warm-up and standing series, and in preparation for the final half.
       Even if the studio was mat-to-mat with bodies, this question always felt like it was directed towards me. It was always on days when the sweat seemed to run more deliberately into my eyes, my breath would not soften, my muscles remained tense, and my head would be stuck in the emotional traffic.
       I’d get all fidgety and restless, and it was nothing like a corpse pose should be. My focus was on anything but my yoga practice, and it was like I was waiting to move on or waiting to be done with class so I could get on with everything else.
       I wasn’t reaching the stillness required.
       I wasn’t resting.
       I was waiting for the next postures to begin.
       There is a huge difference between resting and waiting.
       When you rest, whether in a yoga class or getting much-needed sleep at night, you need to let your entire being go slack; your eyes remain closed and your mind is open, and there should be nothing trailing in and out of your head.
       When you rest, you leave yourself open to dreams and ideas, and change. Your blood flows unrestricted, flushing the body of toxins and negative energy. You breathe, unceremoniously, allowing oxygen to circulate and seep into the cells and deepest reaches of your brain.
       When you are resting you remain open to what is ahead. You aren’t waiting for anything.
       When you are waiting, even when trying to rest, you never reach the point of relaxation.
       While you are waiting, your muscles are contracted; your rigid back and bones preventing blood from flowing freely. When you are tense, your mind is closed off to everything, except the thing you are waiting for.
       You are too intent on looking ahead, and thinking how you’ll get there, that your body does not have the opportunity to rejuvenate. You become anxious, and issues and obstacles appear out of nowhere and they stick around for as long as your reckless mind will allow.
       If you don’t get the rest you need, you can’t recover from what you’ve been putting yourself through. If you don’t rest, you are never fully able concentrate on the tasks at had because you haven’t rested well enough, or long enough.
       You’ve been tying up the mind with waiting for what will happen, that you never see and feel the rest of what life has to offer.
       Waiting is fine, waiting can be good (good things come to those who wait), and waiting is necessary, but it should not interfere with your rest.
       We spend all too much time thinking of things, when we really need more time to sit and not think.
       We all need more rest, and we all need less waiting.
        I know I need more time to relax and to breathe.
       We all need the time to rest and just be.

    © 2016 j.g. lewis