Archive for January, 2018

“B4 We Fell In Love”

Posted: January 28, 2018 in Poetry
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“Before We Fell In Love”                                                                                  (c)1-19-94 MSK

The painting used to be stunning,

Now it is shallow and pale.

What was once strong and firm,

Stands undecided and frail.

 

Anxiously awaiting the feast

Doesn’t seem worth the hassle.

These rooms so dark and lonely,

Were once a mighty castle.

 

The pool is deep,

It goes on forever.

Things don’t really change,

Only how we wish to see.

 

She used to be so beautiful,

He was so gentle and kind.

They wish not to see each other now,

To leave all their past behind.

 

Summer seemed to last forever,

Years pass in the blink of an eye.

When old friends come to visit,

You can’t wait to say good-bye.

 

The pool is deep,

The grass is always greener.

I was who I am

Before we fell in love.

The Not So Round Table

Posted: January 21, 2018 in family
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My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and her birthday recently.  We planned to meet with friends and have a dinner out.  We usually fill our bellies and head to someone’s house after the meal.  I have mentioned that a lot of our friends are musicians and creative types.  These are the people we invite to celebrate birthdays and such!  They are talented, creative thinkers and artistic wizards.

I bring this up to explain our tradition at the dinner tables when we gather.  Most restaurants have long tables for large parties.  Too many for the round tables available, we are all seated and start chatting.  Years ago we thought it would be more of a social mix if we chatted for a while and get appetizers and drinks when we get seated……… then everyone would take their drinks and move 3-4 seats over – in the same direction.  That way we could talk with different groups of people during the evening.

The waiter/waitress would come back and look around rather puzzled for a few seconds.  Most start to grin and roll with it very well.  Some are truly amazing and funny.

We might wait until after we order the main course and move seats again!

For our recent anniversary the place was busy and chaotic.  The manager filled in as our waitress because we had waited so long to be seated.  We decided not to rotate as we usually do to avoid further confusion and delays LOL!

Here’s to another year with friends at the not so round table.

This Moment

Posted: January 15, 2018 in Poetry
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© MSK 12-9-2017

While you sleep

You will lay safely.

I will caress you

I will keep you warm.

 

When the world

Is beyond your touch

I will hold your hand

I will call your name.

 

There is pain

Lost behind the door.

‘Til then embrace it

And the good things in life.

 

This Moment

With all the others

I’ll remember you

And still hear your laugh.

 

Overwhelming

What if it’s not a dream?

I’ll tell you what’s real

As moments remain.

 

This Moment

With all the others

I’ll remember you

And still hear you laugh.

 

In memory of my brother Christopher.

The Negative Power in Force of Habit

Posted: January 12, 2018 in Opinions and Observations
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Recently I was thinking about a work incident.  Not to go into details, but there were so many lessons to learn.  A co-worker with some minor authority over me tried to get me to ‘sacrifice something’ so that they could ‘benefit’.  There was no real reason that I could connect to this request – except that they thought they should get preferential treatment because they deserved it.

When I refused with a simple but unmistakable rejecting statement, the ‘bully’ came out.  Intimidation, threatening, and harassing behavior flew rapidly in my direction.

I am a rather easy person to get along with.  I do not get into gossip, rumors or status.  I just want to do my job, have a little fun if I can, and go home.  Sometimes that is not possible, and the occasional confrontation will creep in.  If personal friction happens, I will usually smooth it over and try to let it affect me as little as possible.  I would rather forget it and start fresh the next time I meet the other person.  But this time I wondered about being that passive and easy-going.  Was I improving things?  Did it make the day or life in general better?  Does it really help to let people take advantage of my flexible attitude and/or position in life?

I came to the conclusion that it did not help or improve things at all.   If I let a bully succeed at threatening, intimidating and harassing me, they will take their successful strategy and slam it on the next guy or girl.  As a friend of mine put it; I am more likely to speak up if someone else becomes a victim than if I do.  In some way to connect to the #metoo movement without being insensitive to that real concern, I needed to find not just the ability but the benefit in raising my voice.  I went to company admins and filed a formal complaint.  Doing nothing and ‘rolling with the punches’ does not and should not always work.  At some point I learned I needed to speak up and highlight an event that in my age I could brush off easily, knowing others might not have the ability to defend or endure the hostile environment.

Is there a reason they feel so privileged and deserving of what others are denied?

I wonder why so many people in power feel it is OK to mistreat others.

Why do they think they can get away with this kind of behavior?

 

Because historically: they can.

I would like to break from history and change the future.

 

Lyrics to “Single Desire”

Posted: January 9, 2018 in My Tunes
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“Single Desire” is one of my favorite original lyrics.  I think a number of my songs get too “preachy” and sound like I know all the answers.  I usually don’t know all the answers, but I sure have made a lot of mistakes to learn from.  Single Desire takes another path. With fewer words than many of my songs it tries to paint images using sights from our normal day to day lives.  I like using the sunset comparison as sunsets are one of the most beautiful things we get to enjoy on this planet.  Yet in this analogy, they can be burned permanently into our hearts and minds.  Sometimes the loss of beauty is the worst experience of all.

https://midimike.com/2017/12/06/single-desire/

 

“Single Desire”                                  (C) MSK 1988

You left your mark upon me

Like sunsets on fire.

Plunged deep into the sea

With a Single Desire.

 

Always got what you wanted

Nothing worked more than your charm.

As the hunter you hunted

Without thinking of the harm.

 

I never let you down

“But did you really care?”

I never put you down

“You just tried to keep me there”.

Once I had to follow:

Now I walk away.

 

You left your mark upon me

Like sunsets on fire.

Plunged deep into the sea

With a Single Desire.

 

I never let you down

“But did you really care”.

I never put you down

“You just tried to keep me there”.

Truth is hard to swallow

My Single Desire

 

Once I had to follow.

Now I walk away.