sometimes the path feels
bumpy and narrow
crooked and scary
but sometimes we enjoy
a smooth straight section of road
sometimes the words
don’t tumble out easily
don’t make sense to anyone
but sometimes they are
just enough for one person
sometimes the future seems
hazy and uncertain
far away and bleak
but sometimes we get
a forecast of sunshine ahead
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leaving italy november 2020
there are many in italy
throughout the european continent
and going through one
becomes a commonplace event
when traveling anywhere
i think they’re interesting
even strikingly beautiful at times
they remind me of spy novels
and they make the best photos
i don’t always love being inside a tunnel though
especially when it’s miles long
oh, it’s not horrible, not impossible, to be in there
and the darkness offers a unique perspective
but it can be slightly uncomfortable
emerging out the other side
back into the bright sunshine
always seems to elicit a silent sigh of relief
a tunnel is such a metaphor for life
leaving your past, heading towards your future
a symbol of the paths you might take
and the challenges you might encounter along the way
moving through darkness
pushing through obstacles
beginnings and endings
with light and hope, reassurance, waiting just beyond
evolving over the course of your journey
your very own metamorphosis story
my return to italy september 2022
i promise
more stories to come
more tales to tell
but
not today
the week has been hard
both jet lag
and a touch of the flu
so
not today
opening closed doors
releasing and welcoming
dormant feelings
assimilating
not today
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today i’d like to share a poem that i wrote four years ago, in august 2018, when i was facing down my dark side . . . i was struggling a bit with loneliness, which was spilling over into questioning the entire trajectory of the path i was on.
the autumn equinox
9.22.22
daytime and nighttime almost equal
light and dark in balance
heading into fall
with its cooler nights
layers and extra blankets
not much time left for
flip flops and iced lattes
witnessing summer’s end in italy
back to school
changing colors
the villa’s walls
colder to the touch
i’ve always thought of autumn
as an in-between season
leaving the sunny summer behind
anticipating the frigid winter ahead
i’ve never been a fan of in-betweens
of lingering midway, lost-in-limbo
not very clear, not very distinct
hazy and hard-to-define
this september, however, spent at villa magnolia
has provided much-needed clarification for me
an eye-opening and emotional journey
truly a transitional period
one in which quite a bit of
fact-finding and soul-searching
has taken place
culminating in a plan for the future
things that were complicated and confusing
beginning to unravel and resolve
untangling these knotty obstacles has been
both long-awaited and deeply satisfying
feeling calm and peaceful
entering the equinox
i have always been fascinated by numbers and i like the fact that this crisp new season begins on 9.22.22.
le maestose alpi apuane, from sunrise to sunset
i long to take the perfect snapshot of the apuan alps and embed the image upon my very soul
so that, no matter where in the world i may be, i can reach out and grab that centered peaceful feeling they give me
housing the white gold of carrara, their majestic marbly perfection makes me feel both calmingly grounded and wildly alive
stunning and magical, panoramic and historic, interesting and wise
the awe-inspiring scene before me ever-changing, never static
yet a hushed reverence for solidity
such an apt metaphor for life
i’ve missed these mountains so very much
what was the first thing i noticed,
the first time i ever experienced italy?
and what always comes to mind first,
each and every day i spend in the country?
and what is my first thought,
whenever i’m away from this magical land?
finding our way back . . .
~ and reconnecting ~
still lots to sort out
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we start to make plans
and then we hesitate
one thing pulls us forward
another holds us back
the old is again new
and the new is now old
a mixed-up myriad of
thoughts and feelings
swirling around and through
people and places beckon
people and places secure
experiences and memories
tether us in unexpected ways
like moving through gangway connections
on a speeding train
trying to balance without
but ultimately having to grab the rail
when the coach lurches
we’ve created more than one life
attached ourselves to both
questioning what’s realistic and true
as we step into the future
back and forth
back and forth
once more on that transitional precipice
where answers are elusive
liminal space unsettling
we think we know
but we don’t
why that guy
cut us off in traffic
why the waitress at our favorite lunch spot
was snippy with us today
why that young woman
is crying in target
we think we know
but we don’t
why the lady in gray
purses her lips in disapproval
why that little boy
rarely wears shoes
why the grocery store checker
never seems to smile
we think we know
but we don’t
we say “oh he’s just a jerk”
or we imagine she’s being abused
neither might be right
yet both may be true
we think we know
but we don’t
assumptions
conjectures
speculations
sometimes helpful
sometimes dangerous
we think we know
but we don’t
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