Errors

“A man's errors are his portals of discovery.” Joyce.

True. Very true.

September and School

We're back. It's been busy, getting acclimated to a new school year and its requisite crop of new students, new colleagues, new administrators, new challenges. It has been a rough ride so far, for a variety of reasons. So, on a Friday night with both of my daughters in the house with friends for sleepovers, I'm sitting at the dining room table blogging. But I suppose its better than sitting and waiting, staring at a phone that won't ring...

Here's a poem for the upcoming fall that is already in full swing despite the absence of calendar confirmation. Kind of a downer, but you gotta write from where you're at, right?

September

It’s all new now,
Starting over and moving on,
In the crinkled chill of fall.
And yet I can’t fight it,
The thin line between hope and
The not so hopeful is too thin,
Vibrating in the wind of
Dwindling possibilities,
Threatening to snap at
The slightest gust.
It’s all very sad, you know.
It just starts, gets warm, and
Then it sinks, frigid shadows
And shivering hollows,
The abyss of September roars
Open and I plummet,
Grasping at dreams that are
So far from here, so far from
The cool autumnal breeze that
Buffets me on this beach,
Looking out at the frothy Atlantic,
While I try to stay warm
And remember where it is I
Want to be, despite it all.
Despite it all.

I'll bounce, I always do, but for now I must be content to wait for that upturn to happen. Oh, and this isn't one of those whiny posts, either. It's a legitimate poem, so I guess I'm covered. Now if I can just get a story going I'll be really happy.

Goodbye Summer

This seemed appropriate, being the night before school starts and summer on its way out. I like Hair of the Dog's version, but it's traditional, so any number of Irish bands have covered it. Says a lot.

The Parting Glass

Of all the money that ere I had, I spent it in good company.
And of all the harm that ere I've done, alas was done to none but me.
And all I've done for want of wit, to memory now I cannot recall.
So fill me to the parting glass. Goodnight and joy be with you all.

Of all the comrades that ere I had, they're sorry for my going away,
And of all the sweethearts that ere I had , they wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot that I should rise while you should not,
I will gently rise and I'll softly call, "Goodnight and joy be with you all!"

Oh, if I had money enough to spend and leisure time to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in this town that sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips, she alone has my heart in thrall.
So fill me to the parting glass. Goodnight and joy be with you all.

Mike D'Angelis's voice is so raspy as he finishes their set at The Parting Glass in Saratoga that the sadness and melancholy just jump out of the speaker at you. Sadness. Deep sadness. Really moving. Like summer, too, joy is so quickly spent, and leaves you waiting for it to come around again. What a great song.

Goodnight and joy be with you all.