"Autobiographies of great nations are written in three manuscripts – a book of deeds, a book of words, and a book of art. Of the three, I would choose the latter as truest testimony." - Sir Kenneth Smith, Great Civilisations

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." - Leo Tolstoy

I have never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. - John Updike

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti


[Note - If any article requires updating or correction please notate this in the comment section. Thank you. - res]


Wednesday, November 24, 2021

R.E. Slater - T-SHIRTS I HAVE WORN IN LIFE

 


T-SHIRTS I HAVE WORN IN LIFE
MAY REFLECT ME OR MY HOPES


SOME CHEER FOR WILDERNESS, CLEAR AIR, CLEAN WATERS
OTHERS FOR ECOLOGICAL CIVILIZATIONS WHICH MIGHT BECOME



T's I'VE PULLED OUT OF THE CLOSET
MEAN SOMETHING MORE TO ME NOW
THAN THEY ONCE DID


SOME T's SPEAK TO ACCOMPLISHMENTS


OTHERS TO INTERESTS AND ABILITY


SOME TO A LIFE LONG PROFESSION
HELPING OTHERS HELPING THEIR CUSTOMERS
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND CLIENTS


SOME T-SHIRTS ARE SIMPLY,  P-R-O-F-O-U-N-D!


SOME I HAVE NEVER WORN
AND INTEND TO NEVER WEAR, EVER


THOSE I HAVE WORN WERE EARNED


AND SHARED WITH MANY TEAMMATES
DRIVEN TO EXCEL


PERSPECTIVE IN LIFE IS KEY
SOME MORE THAN OTHERS


THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED TOO:
WHETHER A WONDERLAND IN THE WINTER
OR A PARADISE IN THE SUMMER,
HOME IS ALWAYS HOME
AND LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT


SOME SHIRTS WERE HARD TO FIGURE OUT
BECAUSE SO MANY THINGS NEED MINDING


THAN THERE ARE THOSE SHIRTS
I WOULD PROUDLY WEAR
HAVING MET GOD-SENT MIRACLES
IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE


THIS SHIRT ALWAYS WAS HARD TO WEAR;
I SUSPECT OTHERS FEEL THE SAME


IN LIFE THERE ARE MANY BANNERS TO
BEAR AND WAVE; LET'S DO THESE TOGETHER


ALWAYS, ALWAYS REMEMBER:
EQUALITY IS ALWAYS GREATER THAN DIVISION;
AS IS DIVERSITY OVER MONOCULTURES


POLITICS IS ABOUT DOING THE RIGHT THING
BUT TOO MANY BELIEVE IT TO BE
A FORGOTTEN PRINCIPLE EXCISED
OVER FORGOTTEN PEOPLE


SOME T-SHIRTS JUST SPEAK TRUTH!


OTHERS TO THE EXISTENTIAL CONDITION OF MAN


NOT ENOUGH SHIRTS SHOUT THE NECESSARY,
THE NEEDED, THE MUST DO'S IN ALL THINGS


THAT IN ALL THINGS
WE ARE LOVED
AND ARE TO LOVE

IF RELIGIONS TAUGHT LOVE
WE WOULD NOT NEED RELIGION


AND WHEN I COME HOME AT NIGHT
FROM MY SEPARATE JOURNIES
I REMEMBER WHY I WORE ALL THE SHIRTS
WHICH I HAD WORN OVER A LIFETIME...

TO PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION
TO CHOOSE THEIR SHIRTS WISELY
AND IN THE WEARING, WEAR THEM WELL.


R.E. Slater
November 24, 2021