Happy New Year
My parents when young in Scotland with their families would celebrate on this the last day of the year "Hogmanay". Today, December 31, was, as all last days of the year, honored with the name, Hogmanay, and often celebrated by offering a wee dram of God's Gift To Man to any visitor knocking at the front door. Too often, though, I suspect the host consumed quite a few drams themselves in the process. Scots are well known to imbibe fully for the sake of an occasion.
The Posted Poet began on Thanksgiving this year.
( click on www.thepostedpoet.blogspot.com )
You are welcome to offer a poem for posting by cutting and pasting to the comment space noted.
Please have a safe, healthy, prosperous, and eventful New Year. See you all at the bonfire down at the Schuylkill Riverfront Park at 10am, Saturday, January 1, 2011. Be there !
Friday, December 31, 2010
A Shaman Thoughts For A New Year
A Shaman Speaks
High up in a mountain top cave sits an
Old man crossed legged ,grey bearded ,robed .
Embers wisps a sharp herbal fragrance
On the breeze fanning the wood fire .
I have come to seek out Wisdom
From this Shaman in his temple .
How else does one get great ideas
If not from minds of learned men ?
" Oh , Great Seer , how shall I best live
My life ? I feel I'm such a low life
Since all around me I see myself
In other people who themselves need help ."
The Shaman speaks :
"Be clean and neat , be orderly ,
So little cost ,so great a reward .
Satisfy these basic human needs :
Be content , controlled , simple , and clean ."
"Be honest ,especially with yourself ,
If truly in your own mind you're a cad ,
Tell yourself you are , don't lie about it .
You must lead your own self to freedom ."
"Reward comes from effort through work .
Expect none if you don't freely give
Of yourself . If you're lazy , suffer .
A hand up always trumps a hand out ."
"Seek strength from external forces .
Always choose your beliefs wisely .
Question yourself , be ready to change .
Make wonderment your personal temple ."
"Gather facts to develop knowledge ,
From this wisdom may emerge .
Through wisdom comes original thought
Which has a chance to change our World ."
I asked ,"Anything else , Great One ?"
"I'm tired , but, seek out beauty ,
Need little and want even less ,
Balance desires , promote life's needs ,
Heed the message of your inner voice ."
I sensed the story of Moses carrying
The Ten Commandments down from
The mountain . Scripture or Shaman Speak ?
Chose the message to live your own life by .
Ronald C . Downie
High up in a mountain top cave sits an
Old man crossed legged ,grey bearded ,robed .
Embers wisps a sharp herbal fragrance
On the breeze fanning the wood fire .
I have come to seek out Wisdom
From this Shaman in his temple .
How else does one get great ideas
If not from minds of learned men ?
" Oh , Great Seer , how shall I best live
My life ? I feel I'm such a low life
Since all around me I see myself
In other people who themselves need help ."
The Shaman speaks :
"Be clean and neat , be orderly ,
So little cost ,so great a reward .
Satisfy these basic human needs :
Be content , controlled , simple , and clean ."
"Be honest ,especially with yourself ,
If truly in your own mind you're a cad ,
Tell yourself you are , don't lie about it .
You must lead your own self to freedom ."
"Reward comes from effort through work .
Expect none if you don't freely give
Of yourself . If you're lazy , suffer .
A hand up always trumps a hand out ."
"Seek strength from external forces .
Always choose your beliefs wisely .
Question yourself , be ready to change .
Make wonderment your personal temple ."
"Gather facts to develop knowledge ,
From this wisdom may emerge .
Through wisdom comes original thought
Which has a chance to change our World ."
I asked ,"Anything else , Great One ?"
"I'm tired , but, seek out beauty ,
Need little and want even less ,
Balance desires , promote life's needs ,
Heed the message of your inner voice ."
I sensed the story of Moses carrying
The Ten Commandments down from
The mountain . Scripture or Shaman Speak ?
Chose the message to live your own life by .
Ronald C . Downie
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
High Street The Fox
High Street The Fox
When wisdom lifts her tardy head
To view the past from far ahead ,
Will she not know the measured beat
Of Pottstown's reborn foremost street ?
One million dollars to be spent
To make it old with new cement.
A master plan now so complete,
Will the town rebound or just the street ?
Will merchants' clamor fill unused space
So customers flock a new found place ?
But when they come from way afar,
Best they walk, not use a car.
Meters soldiered in curb side ranks,
Hostile environment, not merchant " thanks".
Kill ring of coin in meter box -
Makes mall the rabbit - High Street the fox !
Ronald C. Downie.
Note: Written as an attempt to rid the town of parking meters some years back but, it seems, they may be on the way back as tickets are . Parking police with their tickets and meters with their coins hardly pay for the effort. Three things the malls have that High Street doesn't offer : no tickets - no meters - and a shopper can readily see the door they want to enter from their parking spot. It's tough to see a store's entrance on High Street from any of the parking lots the town promotes. Therefor, there has to be some other compelling reason a shopper would choose to come downtown rather than go to a mall. The Big Question is "What"?
When wisdom lifts her tardy head
To view the past from far ahead ,
Will she not know the measured beat
Of Pottstown's reborn foremost street ?
One million dollars to be spent
To make it old with new cement.
A master plan now so complete,
Will the town rebound or just the street ?
Will merchants' clamor fill unused space
So customers flock a new found place ?
But when they come from way afar,
Best they walk, not use a car.
Meters soldiered in curb side ranks,
Hostile environment, not merchant " thanks".
Kill ring of coin in meter box -
Makes mall the rabbit - High Street the fox !
Ronald C. Downie.
Note: Written as an attempt to rid the town of parking meters some years back but, it seems, they may be on the way back as tickets are . Parking police with their tickets and meters with their coins hardly pay for the effort. Three things the malls have that High Street doesn't offer : no tickets - no meters - and a shopper can readily see the door they want to enter from their parking spot. It's tough to see a store's entrance on High Street from any of the parking lots the town promotes. Therefor, there has to be some other compelling reason a shopper would choose to come downtown rather than go to a mall. The Big Question is "What"?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Painted Brick - Blah Facades
Painted Brick - Blah Facades
When painted brick and blah facades
Of downtown building's past hurrahs
No longer cloth Pottstown in honor,
It's High Street's final fate we ponder.
Victorian lamps grace brick ribbon walks,
The promenade in shade of tall trees adorn.
A return of shoppers is merchant's talks,
Never to happen, unfulfilled, their forlorn.
Studies pile high our manager's desk
Editorials stuff overfull his journal.
Citizens resolve that the ultimate task
Is plant a seed and nurture that kernel.
Which sprouts the voices of discontent
That quickly grows in groups who question.
Where are those leaders we voters sent,
In chambered halls, closed, executive sessions ?
What ? Build a brand new Borough Hall
To fix the ills of lean, tough years ?
While town's shoppers sent all to the Mall
As high taxes drive the elderly to tears.
We're left with bills for little done
To stem the rising tide of disrepair.
Wake up-speak out- decay hasn't won !
Don't throw in the towel of utter despair.
Demand that your group voice is heard
By elected servants who loudly promised
Your needs and that your town be served.
It's up to you to keep all of them honest.
Ronald C. Downie
Written 18 years ago when a new borough hall was first seriously considered but misappropriation of borrowed funds stopped the effort dead in it's tracks.
We have a new Borough Hall now but the ultimate conflict between those in charge and those who pay taxes continues on. The problem remains : can the vocal activists keep up their energy so a change will happen in their engaged civic life time ?
Hope being eternal, the stars seem to be lining up in favor of real change finally happening. Activists and administrators are talking with each other rather than at each other.
Each side seems to know that real problems exist and each is willing to forgo old differences that created former positions cut in stone. Let's pray !
When painted brick and blah facades
Of downtown building's past hurrahs
No longer cloth Pottstown in honor,
It's High Street's final fate we ponder.
Victorian lamps grace brick ribbon walks,
The promenade in shade of tall trees adorn.
A return of shoppers is merchant's talks,
Never to happen, unfulfilled, their forlorn.
Studies pile high our manager's desk
Editorials stuff overfull his journal.
Citizens resolve that the ultimate task
Is plant a seed and nurture that kernel.
Which sprouts the voices of discontent
That quickly grows in groups who question.
Where are those leaders we voters sent,
In chambered halls, closed, executive sessions ?
What ? Build a brand new Borough Hall
To fix the ills of lean, tough years ?
While town's shoppers sent all to the Mall
As high taxes drive the elderly to tears.
We're left with bills for little done
To stem the rising tide of disrepair.
Wake up-speak out- decay hasn't won !
Don't throw in the towel of utter despair.
Demand that your group voice is heard
By elected servants who loudly promised
Your needs and that your town be served.
It's up to you to keep all of them honest.
Ronald C. Downie
Written 18 years ago when a new borough hall was first seriously considered but misappropriation of borrowed funds stopped the effort dead in it's tracks.
We have a new Borough Hall now but the ultimate conflict between those in charge and those who pay taxes continues on. The problem remains : can the vocal activists keep up their energy so a change will happen in their engaged civic life time ?
Hope being eternal, the stars seem to be lining up in favor of real change finally happening. Activists and administrators are talking with each other rather than at each other.
Each side seems to know that real problems exist and each is willing to forgo old differences that created former positions cut in stone. Let's pray !
Monday, December 27, 2010
Haiku 2
Haiku 2
Smells kitchen cooking
Saliva gland dreams of feast -
Turkey table bound.
Nature's Dominion :
Soil, seed, sprinkle, sun, hoe, wait -
Behemoth farms' wrath.
Whitening cold snow
Blankets my World out windows-
Nights shadow day's light.
Christmas bird feeder
Fondly filled full, may I watch?
Fly in feather friends.
Family table :
Heads bowed, hands held, grace spoken -
Ancestors present.
Please read Haiku more :
Five, seven, five beats per line -
Satisfy feelings.
Ronald C. Downie
Smells kitchen cooking
Saliva gland dreams of feast -
Turkey table bound.
Nature's Dominion :
Soil, seed, sprinkle, sun, hoe, wait -
Behemoth farms' wrath.
Whitening cold snow
Blankets my World out windows-
Nights shadow day's light.
Christmas bird feeder
Fondly filled full, may I watch?
Fly in feather friends.
Family table :
Heads bowed, hands held, grace spoken -
Ancestors present.
Please read Haiku more :
Five, seven, five beats per line -
Satisfy feelings.
Ronald C. Downie
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Passions
Passions.
Long in years when passions pout
Old's seen change heard hymn and shout
Wondering still what life's about
Fire in the belly long turned to gout
Thin's in so we shun the stout
The long haired poet termed a lout
His fervent wish to shout it out
Wisdom through thought to live without
We are the lesser left yet in doubt
Deep in years a time when passions pout
Ronald C.Downie.
Passions.
Long in years when passions pout
Old's seen change heard hymn and shout
Wondering still what life's about
Fire in the belly long turned to gout
Thin's in so we shun the stout
The long haired poet termed a lout
His fervent wish to shout it out
Wisdom through thought to live without
We are the lesser left yet in doubt
Deep in years a time when passions pout
Ronald C.Downie.
Long in years when passions pout
Old's seen change heard hymn and shout
Wondering still what life's about
Fire in the belly long turned to gout
Thin's in so we shun the stout
The long haired poet termed a lout
His fervent wish to shout it out
Wisdom through thought to live without
We are the lesser left yet in doubt
Deep in years a time when passions pout
Ronald C.Downie.
Passions.
Long in years when passions pout
Old's seen change heard hymn and shout
Wondering still what life's about
Fire in the belly long turned to gout
Thin's in so we shun the stout
The long haired poet termed a lout
His fervent wish to shout it out
Wisdom through thought to live without
We are the lesser left yet in doubt
Deep in years a time when passions pout
Ronald C.Downie.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Haiku
Haiku
Solstice pauses Sun's arc
Marching toward Equinox-
Snow Fairy with wand.
Red permeates east
Morning's chill feels storm's thunder :
Anticipation.
Rouge red heavens west
Night watch alert, not anguished.
Shell fish also dine.
Porch rocking stymied
Neck hairs wind furrowed stif :
Flurries forgiven.
Ronald C. Downie
First try at Haiku
Solstice pauses Sun's arc
Marching toward Equinox-
Snow Fairy with wand.
Red permeates east
Morning's chill feels storm's thunder :
Anticipation.
Rouge red heavens west
Night watch alert, not anguished.
Shell fish also dine.
Porch rocking stymied
Neck hairs wind furrowed stif :
Flurries forgiven.
Ronald C. Downie
First try at Haiku
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