Not An Average Fan

I have been crazy about music all my life. My “Bud,” big brother, James, used to play his sweet blue and white guitar, which may have been a Fender, and I danced on the bed. This as a toddler, and maybe a bit beyond.

I am sure the harmonica my other brother, Melv, gave me, was in use almost enough to drive my parents to send me off for adoption. They gave in to my constant pleas for guitar lessons, and I spent about three years at that.

School had singing, the church had singing in choir. Mom, Dad, and I did an impromptu concert of gospel music almost every night. Of course, I used it as a way to stay out of bed whenever I could. We could go a couple of hours when I was really good at thinking of obscure titles.

I had an impressive collection of Disney albums, the original scores to many movies. My Fair Lady and Tennesse Ernie Ford were also in my collection.

I guess it was about 1972 that they got me a Kimball Swinger Oprea edition organ because I had outgrown the simple plastic one. Again, they were kind to allow me to practice because I am a volume menace.

My brothers left their 45s when they moved out, and I was introduced to rock mostly on a red portable turntable first in the attic, then in my room.

There were Country Music Concerts in parking lots, concerts included with my Six Flags season pass, and later concerts in Atlanta.

Vinyl, eight-tracks, cassettes, CDs, and streaming, I kept music always, and because I hate commercials, I have often avoided radio.

My favorite band is The Rolling Stones. I think over the time since I found them in 1981, I have owned the majority of their work and much of Mick’s solo work.

My son says I am an extreme fan of The Rolling Stones, and I guess he is right. I took him to his first concert to see them. It is funny to me that he thinks me so far gone.

This did not come out how I planned, but honestly, almost nothing I do does.

As a prompt, what is your musical history? Create something about it.

I got some sleep that was deep enough to be restorative. I am ignoring the pain.

Who cares about pain?
We all have it, such a shame,
Try to stuff it, pain.

*****

Take today under
Advisement, be open, beware,
Do not stare too close
At the presentation, be edgewise,
Try to share the beauty on show,
Do not let your reservations
Impair your ability to enjoy,
But remember there are depths
Not visible on the surface,
And you are a multidimensional
Creature in the process of being.

*****

Thank you for your visit here. You may follow Haphazard Creative, or come back when you will.

Many blessings to all of you.

Watch out, Monday is on its way, speeding down a surface street riddled with potholes that may aggravate its temper. Good luck to all of us with that.

No Consolation

Anger

Is it this situation, out of hand,
Where the world is wrong making
Plenty of tension, anxiety, no escape?
Playing on emotions deeply
Currying favor with the violence
Held at bay, so forbidden, hidden.
An open hand when the instinct
Offers up a fist, a calm insistent,
Instead of a horrid scream, hiss.
What are these breaking sounds
Within the heart, the mind, what
Damage made while keeping kind.

Lay Lay By

The days trace themselves
Across the surface; straw, dirt,
Shelter, foliage, rock, hair, skin –
Leaving marks, weather, pass,
Time, months, past, again, ever,
Until the season goes, slippery,
No one knows if it will bring
Forth another day, hour, free –
Or if as the day goes by it may
Be the last lay by into eternity.

Sometimes looking into the sun becomes a bright too clear, and the shadows impinge on vision. There can be beauty in the shadows, as well. We would not know the blessing of comfort did we not experience pain.

Today has been reflective, with missing those gone. Also, grief for all we have lost in this time of isolation. I bid you hope that all is more pleasant for you.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you will follow the site if you are new here, or that you may find your way back again.

As a prompt, face your feelings, explore what is within you at present. Create something that encompasses your emotion.

Conjecturing

What is it about?
All this doing and going,
Do we know lovely?
Have we tied ourselves in knots
Because of things we are not?

I Will Be Writing…

When I am tired, and pain is eating me up.
When my mind is hard-pressed to contain itself and continue against disease.
When the bills come with no relief.
When I doubt anyone cares about my words or will read.
Still…

I will be writing because, as far as I can discern, there is no line, no boundary, drawn between words and who I am.

It has always been reading, writing, being. Take my experience of language from me, I likely would quickly cease to be.

Each curving mark, sentence, punctuation mark is endowed with life, a portion of me.

Maybe I seem to exaggerate, but given time away from expression, I begin to regress, fade, lose will to continue, and become unanchored in reality.

For some writing may be a pastime, an idle pursuit, and that may be best for them. Me, it is living, dealing, breathing, so I Will Be Writing…

As a prompt: Think of something that defines or confines you in existence. Create something that expresses this, and perhaps a blueprint for change or greater success within your personal constraints. Remember you can only control what you choose to acknowledge.

2020.08.04 Lily and Bee rr

Captured

Loving you is child’s play,
Your world I fall into smoothly,
A crossing, of lines unstoppable
You are the soft place I come
To let my inhibitions melt away.
No subterfuge, no masks, no facade,
Stripped bare, naked, open,
I stand before you, my truth extended,
Given, reining in fear, attempting
To be a pure delight, plain spoken.
Hoping you are willing, able to
Present yourself likewise, dressed
In all conditions the same
As in my arms, you find yourself
Comfortably at home with me.

2020.08.03 Mail Snow1 rr

As a prompt, think of a feeling that is so easy to slip into that you never question how you arrive and create something to express it.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. If you desire, follow the site, or come again when able. I hope you are having a delightful week. Be open to pleasantness and it will no doubt find you. God Bless.

Broken

Wookie and I were playing. I threw her toy, and it hit the rice bowl I made in maybe kindergarten, maybe first or second grade. I knew it was terrible; then I heard the china hit the ceramic. The delicate china at that velocity under gravity’s influence stood no chance. It shattered, as you can see.

Sometimes we are like delicate china, safe enough until a tempest of trials and troubles hits us out of the blue. Maybe it is the winds of change in our finances or our health—the loss of something or someone we hold dear. We break, and we feel we are permanently damaged, but we are fortunately more resilient than china.

Somehow with God’s help and the passage of time, we recuperate and usually become more durable than before. We learn from the problems. We have so many reserves of strength and such power to overcome adversity.

I am not sure what to do with my broken keepsake, but God knows by sending us through the fire that he refines us and fuses our brokenness into greater faith and reliance on Him.

I did not have a post for tonight. I had been away from home today, spending time with one of my most favorite people—nothing like broken memories to set me straight.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative, please follow the site or come back soon.

As a prompt, create something influenced by brokenness or healing. You may conduct your work in any media that suits you.

May Christ guard and keep you and yours now and always.