This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Balance

       Recently I read a post by Stephen Tremp about The Junkyard.  Stephen was telling about how he essentially keeps a file on his computer that contains snippets and passages that he has removed from the manuscripts that he is working on in order to save them for possible later use.  This post happened to come as I have been in the midst of literally cleaning my house in tandem with my Tossing It Out Tuesday posts.

        Like some of you, I sometimes write down things on whatever piece of paper I can find and set it down to have it disappear into other papers and scraps that accumulate in my office or elsewhere.  As I was going through a box of papers I found the poem that I am presenting today.  I don't remember when or why I wrote this poem.  I must have been in an ecological frame of mind when I wrote it.  So for today's post I present this poem out of my "junkyard".



                                     BALANCE

    
                             Flowers bending in the wind
                             Sun, and rain--
                            To all elements exposed.
                             We--you and I--
                             All different, all the same,
                             In fragile vapor enclosed.
                             Human and plant and animal
                             This same earth share,
                             Yet engaged in timeless warfare.
                             Who will win if we lose?


23 comments:

  1. If that is what comes out of your "junkyard", I think you should clear it out more often! I really liked this poem - especially the ecological message.

    I always keep a file like the one Stephen referred to. Mine is usually entitled "clippings" (often subconciously referred to as "toenail clippings". It's a reason I cut it out in the first place...)

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  2. Very nice! And you selected great pictures, too.

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  3. Love the poem, you are a man with many talents I see.

    I tried that scrap paper thing but kept losing them. I use mini spiral pads now.

    Have you seen my pad? :)

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  4. Love the poem.
    You are certainly full of surprises.

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  5. Beautiful Arlee, thanks for sharing that. It's a great idea too, no writer should ever completely discard any words they've crafted. Remove them from a project, sure, but don't destroy them altogether.

    Today's guest blogger is Rose Cooper!

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  6. That came from your junkyard?? It's really good! I think I need to formulate a junkyard of my own! I just hit "delete" and don't think a thing about it.

    ~JD

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  7. Ooh! I like your junkyard! We should have tea and biscuits in it! :o)

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  8. You should dig into your junkyard more often, Lee.

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  9. Wonderful Lee, I think I'll dig into my "Junk yard".

    Have a good day.
    Yvonne.

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  10. It is an interesting poem Arlee. Perhaps you had a blog post in mind for it! Love Di ♥

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  11. You already know I love when people are in an ecological frame of mind :) The poem is truly lovely in its direct simplicity.

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  12. Your junkyard is obviously more like a garden :)

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  13. I like this a lot.
    Have a great weekend.

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  14. Wow! That’s good. The problem with my junkyard is that I either can’t read my note when I run across it again or I have no idea what I was trying to say. You on the other hand, have some really good stuff in your junkyard.

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  15. The last line wrapped things up excellently, my friend!

    ~ D-FensDogg

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  16. My thanks to all of you for the kind and encouraging comments. Just got back from a tiring day at Venice Beach--such a wacky, weird place--and brought a slight sunburn as a souvenir. Enjoying my visits with my daughters, sons-in-laws and others.

    Like Stephen, "junkyard" is a somewhat affectionate nickname for what is really a salvage yard--a place where spare parts are stored until I can find a use for them. I may be tossing things out lately, but I try to hang on to the scraps and what nots of written works cause I never know when I'll want to revisit them.

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  17. I love what you are hiding in the junkyard~ I, like you, tend to write on random bits of paper. I think a box to toss it in would work.
    Treasures may be in the mix...diamonds in the rough. Today
    you exposed a gorgeous gem~

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  18. If this is from your junkyard, when you have enough for a landfill you will have a book. Excellent poem especially considering today's enviroment.
    ........:-) Hugs

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  19. Arlee, nicely said. I'm putting you on my blogroll this weekend. Can't believe I haven't done this sooner as you have such thought provoking and heart piercing blogs.

    http://donnahole.blogspot.com/

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  20. Ellie -- That's me. Snippets in a notebook here and scribblings on papers in a box there. It works, but not in any organized fashion.

    Bernie -- Thanks

    Stephen--Thank you! I really appreciate that.

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  21. My "junkyard" is more like a toxic waste site...

    Well done!

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  22. Why in heavens was that relegated to the "junkyard." Lovely poem Arlee.

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  23. Larry --- I'm sure it's not all that bad.

    Paula-- Well, maybe salvage yard is a better term. I was just using Stephen Tremps terminology.

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