February 06, 2012

When We Two Parted

When we two parted

In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted

To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning

Sunk chill on my brow--

It felt like the warning

Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken,

And light is thy fame:

I hear thy name spoken,

And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,

A knell to mine ear;

A shudder comes o'er me--

Why wert thou so dear?

They know not I knew thee,

Who knew thee too well:

Long, long shall I rue thee,

Too deeply to tell.

I secret we met--

I silence I grieve,

That thy heart could forget,

Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee

After long years,

How should I greet thee?

With silence and tears.

~ Lord Byron

October 04, 2011

How to Stay Young

Throw out nonessential numbers.  This includes age, weight, and height.  Let the doctor worry about them.  That is why you pay him/her.

Keep only cheerful friends.  The grouches pull you down.

Keep learning.  Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.  Never let the brain idle.  "An idle mind is the devil's workshop."  And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

Enjoy the simple things.

Laugh often, long, and loud.  Laugh until you gasp for breath.

The tears happen.  Endure, grieve, and move on.  The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.  Be ALIVE while you are alive.

Surround yourself with what you love, whether its family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.  Your home is your refuge.

Cherish your health.  If it is good, preserve it.  If it is unstable, improve it.  If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

Don't take guilt trips.  Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, not NOT to where the guilt is.

Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And always remember: life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

~ George Carlin

October 01, 2011

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down today.
Nothing gold can stay.

~ Robert Frost

March 28, 2011

I pulled an arm away because I didn't want to hear this.  I actually needed to feel I was alone.  Why did I need the grief of others?  Wasn't mine enough?  Why did I need to feel that this abandonment was plural, when it was heavy enough singular?  The best way ahead that I could see was to drag this thing off and digest it on my own, like a python with an outsized kill. ~ Sebastian Faulks (from "Engleby")