#gathering
During a time of year where,
The temperature goes down,
The sun goes down,
Earlier than expected.
How do we pick ourselves up?
Christmas.
The warm and twinkling lights.
The red, white, green, and gold.
The carols we sing.
The wish for snow, that never comes.
The jingle bells ring out only for Christmastime.
Oh, how I look forward to putting my tree up,
Sipping on mulled wine,
Wrapping up warm,
Reflecting on the year as it winds down.
Something in me loves this time.
It’s a time for coming together,
Sometimes the only time.
Sharing stories of christmases long ago,
(Re)watching timeless movies worth gathering around for.
A banquet of food to fill your soul with warmth.
The time of year, we gift each other.
Love and be merry with one another.
Such a beautiful time.
How grateful am I to be able to enjoy this year after year.
How we all embrace the festive period.
This is how it is meant to be.
We wish each other a Merry Christmas.
We laugh, we spend together, we share gifts,
Then before you know it we’re counting down
And a Happy New Year begins.
We must cherish this time,
More than we realise.
For the time that follows,
That perpetual, never-ending dusk,
The cold and dark time that follows…
I always try to block it out.
We must stay merry.
Be jolly, this Christmas.
May the holiday warmth and glow,
Grow within you.
Let it stay with you.
And guide you through that darkness.
It will be spring before you know….
Dec 1, 2025
Dec 1, 2025 at 3:11 PM UTC
Close
Your
Eyes
Imagine
This is your
First experience
Of Our Easter
Traditions
First
Time
Tasting
Turkey
With all
The fixing
Stuffing
Whipped Mash Potato
Green Bean Casserole
Taste buds wet yet
Smell the
Decadent
Aroma
Candied Yams
Cranberry Sauce Sauce
Hot Dinner Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Whipped
Cream
All made
From Scratch
Two cultures
Converged
Enjoy
A
Family
Of Ten
Is A
Massive
Feast
To
Unfold
I’m told
Quite
Natural
For Me
You see
First
Hold hands
And Pray
Thank God
In what
You
Do and Say
Etiquette
Emily Post
At her best
No uncouth
Banter
Rather A
Splendid
Repartee
Use
the proper
utensil
Sit up
Straight
Posture
Is a
Big
Deal
Don’t
Be
Late
Napkin
In your
Lap
Manners
Pass the
Peas
Please
Thank you
You’re
Welcome
Life
Lessons
Start
At the
Table
Visitors
Apropos
If you’re
Able
Collaborate
Life
Is
Great
Inspired song;
We are family
By Sister Sledge official video 1979
BLT Webster’s Word of the day challenge
4-18-25 Collaborate
To work with a person or a group in order to do or achieve something
4-17-25 Uncouth
Uncouth describes things, such as language or behavior that are in polite or socially unacceptable. A person acting in a rude way.
Apr 18, 2025
Apr 18, 2025 at 4:46 AM UTC
When you play Magic; The Gathering,
You gotta understand what color you are inside,
That way you can play your color better.
You could be white like the plains,
Focused on order and loyalty,
Keeping a tight fist on your life.
You could be black like a swamp,
Willing to give anything,
To obtain everything.
You could be blue like an island,
Logical and cold,
Doing the hard job of saying no.
You could be red like a mountain,
Fiery and bold,
Ready to rage out on your enimies.
You could be green like a forest,
Big and boisterous,
Here for the friends and things.
Feb 15, 2025
Feb 15, 2025 at 8:04 PM UTC
What might we find if there were no lessons needing
learning,
no bait to not wait for ever to be
re
alized in the blink of an eye,
likka polish, a gloss
light flash active
pop
The shining being more subtile than any beast, eh?
You gnowad eyemean, o yew don'.
Once more, book of life with us in it, as words
and nada mas,
reconciled via bluetooth, keys to kingdoms
flow from my finger tips,
knocks are-were an swered swern sworn in a-mode, e-mode
zero-mode
ah, modern linguistics link us back the Burns and
wee beasties makom plans,
happy natal day misstress riddell
"'Tis done!" says Jove; so ends my story
Aug 13, 2020
Aug 13, 2020 at 5:54 PM UTC
We collect in boxes
Pixelated faces
Shifting back and forth
Our voices clamor against each other
We gather in arrangements
Of electronic meetings
The pandemonium of the pandemic
Has us learning to live in a science fiction novel
Trading in the outside word
For our little cubicles
As we learn to avoid the invisible invasion
Trying to ****** our bodies
We assemble in various forms
Video or voice streaming
Learning to create, to produce
To live within the pixelated dots
Of the computer screen
Jun 21, 2020
Jun 21, 2020 at 3:01 PM UTC
out toward the west
there's a gathering of clouds
which look like fluff *****
May 27, 2020
May 27, 2020 at 11:50 PM UTC
The Seashore Gathering
by Rabindranath Tagore
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
On the seashores of endless worlds, earth's children converge.
The infinite sky is motionless, the restless waters boisterous.
On the seashores of endless worlds earth's children gather to dance with joyous cries and pirouettes.
They build sand castles and play with hollow shells.
They weave boats out of withered leaves and laughingly float them out over the vast deep.
Earth's children play gaily on the seashores of endless worlds.
They do not know, yet, how to cast nets or swim.
Divers fish for pearls and merchants sail their ships, while earth's children skip, gather pebbles and scatter them again.
They are unaware of hidden treasures, nor do they know how to cast nets, yet.
The sea surges with laughter, smiling palely on the seashore.
Death-dealing waves sing the children meaningless songs, like a mother lullabying her baby's cradle.
The sea plays with the children, smiling palely on the seashore.
On the seashores of endless worlds earth's children meet.
Tempests roam pathless skies, ships lie wrecked in uncharted waters, death wanders abroad, and still the children play.
On the seashores of endless worlds there is a great gathering of earth's children.
Originally published by The Chained Muse. My translation is based on an untitled text in Bangla (Bengali) first published in 1912 and known as "60" due to its numerical placement. Tagore made history by becoming the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature the following year. Keywords/Tags: seashore, gathering, children, sky, sea, water, dance, sand castles, shells, boats, play, nets, swim, fish, pearls, ships, waves, songs, mother, lullaby, baby, cradle, tempests, death
Mar 30, 2020
Mar 30, 2020 at 11:03 PM UTC
Sunlight filters through the curtains
and falls on the floor
Cups of chai
are leftovers of our sunday morning
The cold air is quiet still
as if awaiting
poetry
I enter a deep state
of solitude
where soft whispers
are uttered delicately
like wildflower garlands
where worlds meet
without judgement
Where I find you
in all the patterns that come together
to become
a gathering
of me
O Beloved,
this magic of you
is the life pulsating
through my entire
universe
Feb 9, 2020
Feb 9, 2020 at 5:56 AM UTC
The night seems delicious,
Glazed with chocolaty darkness
Embellish with starry star
Resonance of laughter
Vibrations of delirium
Scent of seduction
Intoxication filling up
Enthusiasm circulating around
Quintessential it truly is
Mar 22, 2019
Mar 22, 2019 at 2:42 AM UTC
family gathered around the table
every year for something special
hearty laughter fills the air
and I feel at peace
telling stories
cracking jokes
sharing memories
i’m reminded of my blessings
though the family is small
the bond is stronger
as we grow close and feel our love
though the december air is hot in florida
the people around me are what make winter warm
Dec 24, 2018
Dec 24, 2018 at 9:55 PM UTC
There are days warring clouds raging in my head,
The hurtful scavengers are gathering large.
The wind howls like cats I'm worrying afraid,
Am I losing myself or am I still in charge?
Sep 17, 2018
Sep 17, 2018 at 10:03 PM UTC
Gather near
Young and old
A story of Winter to be told
The Blue-Haired Monster smiled at me
Then stole my soul with wicked glee
He knows my name
Gather near
Boys and girls
The Blue-Haired Monster’s tangled curls
Warned me of the danger
Yet stuck in the remainder
It knows my name
Jul 19, 2018
Jul 19, 2018 at 2:37 AM UTC
The closest thing, I've personally seen, to the truth
is that I am fortunate just for the walls and the roof.
Everyone in the United States loves to **********
as they all try in vain to dissuade their innate guilt.
How much a better person will I become for
all of this good that I have done?
Corporations buy lakes to upsell life like
William Gibson thought they might.
Where is the sunset in flame through the eyes
of a younger Ridley Scott like we saw?
Let's start a fire in the heart of the woods.
Everyone will ignite, equally ugly.
Dance through the night with me.
What's your strain?
Would you care for some LSD?
We could die at any time, obviously,
So why not live up to the destiny
Implied by the monarchy?
Peasantry, peasantry.
Nihilistic pleasantry.
Peasantry, peasantry.
I used to think I was
Selesnya, Boros, or
Azorius, but now
I know that I'm a Jesuit--
Or something?
And so belong to House Dimir
Or to the Cult of Rakdos.
Peasantry, peasantry.
Nihilistic pleasantry.
Jul 10, 2018
Jul 10, 2018 at 5:11 PM UTC
Remembering the time so many years ago
Aunts and Uncles, and their children all drove for miles,
For this I ask myself , as the dinner table amused me
like the
Movement of a Merry go round
Round one round two
Could we carve the **** bird before round three
Not a chance first sisters vs sisters the circus life amusing not so as our holiday cheer. It's never enough joined their husbands like freaks a muse from a mime show couldn't rain so clear. At last the children joined in a rustle a bustle round and round we go
Can someone stop this ride I scream this family is a joke
Next year I'm begging you to miss the turn to this circus mochary get your kids and don't forget the dog see your way to the door
Aw the circus life is a freak show Everytime our family gets together
Don't send an invitation nor will I just remember in order to ride this ride you must be so tall take a seat , keep your hands and your feet inside the ride at all times because if your family is your foa distinguished such as mine hold on tight it's gonna be a ride to remember oh one hell of a ride
Mar 10, 2018
Mar 10, 2018 at 3:12 AM UTC
The mainstay of guests,
Their backs against chairs
That are backed against walls,
Readily seated and settled
Into tight knit sub communities
And discussion cells…
Thrashing out social failings
And political ineptitudes
Gleaned from broadsheets
And RT News updates,
Mumbling agreements
Or gentle dissents,
Some too ****** to participate
(should have “passed the kouchie
‘pon the left hand side”).
One spills red wine onto white cloth
And they all laugh longer than necessary
About the irony of it all
Even though there was no irony
In the situation to begin with.
There are a small handful of male guests
That I feel I could get along with.
I give way in the doorway
For the hostess to deliver nibbles.
There are a handful of female guests
That I think I’d like to ****
(the hostess included),
But none of this allays the reluctance
To step through the threshold.
The hostess exits the room
As I pin myself to the hallway wall,
“It could be you”, I think,
And try to relay this through a raised eyebrow smile
That goes unnoticed.
I attempt my break in
Just as the conversation turns to
The importance of contemporary art
In modern society
And the relevance of Jim Morrison’s poetry
In the cerebral world of words.
I search audibly for a conversation
Centred around Adele’s latest album release…
And I NEVER, on a good day, want to talk about THAT.
In for a penny, I take the step with a fuzzy indifference
And am drawn to a hand extending the offer of a spliff,
And to the ***** of empty wine glass on full bottle,
And a “will you, won’t you?” expression,
And I trip and fall over a synthetic fur rug
Lying, recumbent, too scared to take my eyes
Off the pendulum light bulb that hovers above me
And all I can think is that the hallway
Was a much safer place to be.
Copyright Marc Hawkins 2017
Oct 7, 2017
Oct 7, 2017 at 5:39 AM UTC
A schlepper ground with stars alight round movie
marquis a rightful pocket will pop a leader
to weigh in his conversation where
fire tight dreamer's surreptitious delight
when eggplant has garnished the haunt tonight
and there in a mercurial trance these numbers abound
in a matinee where such tones are plush.
Jun 24, 2017
Jun 24, 2017 at 6:06 AM UTC
You’re doing it again
So get yourself prepared.
You’re moving into the future
So, do not be scared.
You’ll be a year older so
We’ll get out the old jokes.
You can take it because
It’s love from great folks.
We’ll sing the usual songs
And by all means have a cake.
Bring on your birthday cheer.
Let’s do whatever it takes.
Maybe go out dancing
And have a lot of smiles
Like it’s not the age the tires
It’s all about the miles.
And of course quips
About being over the hill.
Somebody always makes one
And it seems they always will.
But others will remind you
That you don’t look that old
As they check you for wrinkles,
And gray hair and mould.
Let’s have great good fun
And all at your expense
Because it’s traditional
And only makes good sense
We always make those jokes
When others had a birthday
So now it’s your turn as you’re
Having another birthday today.
Dec 30, 2016
Dec 30, 2016 at 11:43 PM UTC
Clasps
Thunder
Overtoure's
Epic opening
*
Tenderness becoming
Gentility of the fragile souls
Floating upon floatable
Multi~verses
*
What's solid?
Our steps
The little
Silences?
Mild frost
Of a season
Strumming
Galloping
Into
*
Wind chimes violin
Goose bumps beauty
*
We have tinted Ink
And gave lives to
Cosmic tinkerbells
We made vows
Across love abouts
*
Across the plains
Of Josephine's
Linnen laced
double
Edged swirl dress
Swinging below
Zodiac crisp
*
Summer's
canopy
Seems
To have
A life made
Out of
Tiptoed
Barefoot origins
*
Ticklish Grains
Got into our Mild
Dreamy oceans
Terra Rosa
Pine''
Pan
Flutes
*
Come va?
Is hour ship sailing
Is our sip sang?
Jan 23, 2016
Jan 23, 2016 at 1:42 PM UTC
Lippy Dippy the hippie,
Always so much to say.
Protesting, picketing
Never quite gets his way.
So much about us
The world and how it runs.
Someone to carry a sign?
Lippy Dippy is the one.
He started out with war
Calling out President LBJ.
The issues kept happening
Up to and including today.
Lippy and his hippie cohorts
Protested for human rights
Whether it be about gays
Or brown, black or white.
Get him and friends arrested?
That just may have to be
As long as law and lawyers
Practice their legal infamy.
He reminds of Dred Scott
And how the law of the land
Immorally took the freedom
And dignity of that poor man.
Too little water here
Too much water over there?
Veterans getting gypped?
See if anybody ever cares.
Lippy Dippy and friends
Will gladly show up at your place
And show you what you are;
Bad example of the human race.
Oh, they made fun of him
They called him many names
Including Dippy, so unkind
But it gave him a kind of fame.
It would be nice if maybe someday
There were no need for him.
Unless things change someway
The hope of that is very dim.
So, he and others like him
Which will, of course, include me
With stand up and protest
As long as we citizens are free
To gather publically and say
This sort of situation is wrong,
Then Lippy Dippy and the rest
Will come sing our protest songs.
Oct 16, 2015
Oct 16, 2015 at 10:14 PM UTC
Last night,
I was surrounded by people-
like-minded and beautiful.
My heart was pounding,
and I had a resilient smile
despite how shy my voice felt.
I kept scanning their faces,
when they weren't looking,
lingering for safe seconds,
searching for something.
I couldn't tell what it was
there was a lack of then.
Or why I almost felt content,
but really more like
a half-full glass of wine.
But I began to catch hints,
when people began to retire.
I caught my ride back,
and climbed into
my empty sheets,
fumbling with
my silent phone.
Until sleep
took my hands
and laid them
over a deep hole.
When I woke,
and my arms
reached out
for warmth
I knew what I was missing.
You.
Sep 24, 2015
Sep 24, 2015 at 7:43 AM UTC
Do you remember?
You know what I'm talking about.
Those times when the entire family was gathered at our house,
simply enjoying the pleasure of each other's company.
The smell of the grilled fajitas.
The sight of the women cooking in the kitchen, preparing the side dishes.
The kids playing in the pool as if the day were endless.
Oh, how I long for those days!
How I wish I could relive them.
Truth is you never appreciate anything until you look back in time,
cause in the moment you're too busy feeling alive!
Jul 27, 2015
Jul 27, 2015 at 2:52 AM UTC
Day slowly passes
Its torch to the distance
Beyond the crowd who've gathered
All color will fade too
When the birds flee
Before the folk there stands
A group of men but one
His knees--left and right--knelt
His neck and head bowed
No face behind the black sag of hair
He will no longer be
When the birds flee
Voices ring and ring
Rash like a forest screaming
While the fires are lit
Still are only two
A mother and her daughter
Standing with the wind
Faintly it will wisp
When the birds flee
Life has been cast
Along with the day
Should tomorrow come
The day may turn so gray
Knelt is the man
And now his head shall lie
Away from that which lifted him
Another tale to tell
When the birds flee
Jul 11, 2015
Jul 11, 2015 at 3:04 AM UTC
Your idea was to dislike cats.
I love both: You and the Cat.
Jul 7, 2015
Jul 7, 2015 at 5:32 AM UTC
*Time we have been together
All come back to me now.
I don’t want to go away
But you left me no choice.
The places we visited
The nights we spent in each other’s arms
The movies we watched
The gifts we exchanged
The parties we rocked together
The promises we made
The tight hugs
The passionate kisses
The songs we sang together
The tough times
The happy moments
All are coming back to me.
I wonder whether
It is the day of parting
Or the day of gathering?
But this is the final good bye.
But this is the final good bye.*
May 24, 2015
May 24, 2015 at 7:24 AM UTC