"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]


Friday, June 18, 2021

R.E. Slater - The Wheel or the Anvil?


"Time and a Fox Turning the Wheel of Fortune with People of all Ranks to the Right" (c.1526)
Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer  (c.1471–1528)



The Wheel of Time
by R.E. Slater

The Wheel of Time turns,
as ages come and pass,
each leaving memories,
birthing legends long pass.

Legends fade to myths,
till myths were long forgot,
in Ages of long ago,
becoming legends once again.

R.E. Slater
June 19, 2021; rev August 9, 2021

*adapted fr. Robert Jordan

@copyright R.E. Slater Publications
all rights reserved



* * * * * * * * * *





The Wheel or the Anvil?
by R.E. Slater

History has been shown
turning as a fated Wheel
when looking backwards,
steadily churning forwards,
slipping and grinding,
upwards or downwards,
on rising helical axial.


Ben Linus standing before the frozen donkey wheel of time at
the center of the Island of eternity, disrupting its fated grind, LOST


John Locke slipping the donkey wheel back into place upon its timeful axis
after Ben had purposely dislodged it, sending it skipping off in all directions, LOST


The Anvil too has been
a hardened, useful tool,
smashing and grinding,
unmade and made,
till all is remade
the reflecting pools
of one's Creator.







Myself, I wish to grow
life as it becomes, natural-like,
taking what is, or isn't,
forming what could be
from what can be, raising
what lies hidden within,
blazing passion's beauty.

R.E. Slater
June 19, 2021; rev August 9, 2021

@copyright R.E. Slater Publications
all rights reserved












A Tribute to Loved Ones


Corinn Linkowski



Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen (cover) by Genavieve FEAT. MY SIS
Jan 4, 2019




The Prayer - Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli (cover) by Genavieve FEAT. MY DADDY
Nov 30, 2018




Corinn Linkowski Tribute
Mar 11, 2019




You Never Said Goodbye
by Unknown

You never said I'm leaving
You never said goodbye.
You were gone before I knew it,
And only God knew why.

A million times I needed you,
A million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you,
You never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place,
That no one could ever fill.

It broke my heart to lose you,
But you didn't go alone
For part of me went with you,
The day God took you home.




Kevin Costner´s emotional speech in full at Whitney Houston´s funeral
Dec 22, 2013







I Can Only Imagine
Song by MercyMe

Lyrics

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes would see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine
Yeah

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine, yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine, yeah-yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Millard Bart Marshall
I Can Only Imagine (iTunes Originals) lyrics © Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp., Culture Beyond Ur Experience Publishing, What A Publishing Limited, Lslx Music, Artist Publishing Group East, Songs Of Universal Inc., Young Money Publishing, Inc., Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited







* * * * * * * * * *




Every mother-daughter relationship isn't perfect.
by Sherry A. Innes
October 2, 2005

A must-read for every mother with a teenage daughter. Margaret Johnson's description of Kathi's emerging independence and how it affected their relationship is honest. Kathi's boundless energy and determination, so cute in the little girl, was exhausting when the adolescent Kathi continually clashed with mom. Her choice of a best friend was a huge blow to her parents, especially her mom. It was more than the usual teenage "stuff"; there was a serious personality conflict between them. Before the book is over, Kathi has a life-changing experience that profoundly improves the relationship with her mother. Sadly, Kathi's life was cut short, leaving Margaret to sort things out. This great little book was the result. If she had lived, Margaret might never have shared Kathi's story.

When I read the book in the early 70s, it didn't occur to me that one day I would relate to so much of it. My tiny daughter and I had enjoyed a special relationship so I was unprepared for the clashes that surfaced during adolescence. Re-reading the book during that experience gave me encouragement to pray and keep being the mom. It helped! My daughter is now happily married to a mild-mannered guy who truly appreciates her strong opinions and independence.


Friday, May 21, 2021

A Collection of Stephen Hawking Poems by His Admirers




"If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph
of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God."

- Stephen Hawking

*Stephen Hawking (b. 1942), British scientist. A Brief History of Time, ch. 11 (1988),
closing words, referring to the question, "Why it is that we and the universe exist."




"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make
sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist."

- Stephen Hawking




Spark Of Life Tanka For Stephen Hawking

looking up
from "A Brief History of Time"
to the stars...
I recite his speech,
each word a spark of life

Chenou Liu




Singularity, A Poem After Stephen Hawking
by Marie Howe, In Hindi/Urdu Translation by Ravi Kopra


kya tum kabhi jaan paao gay
k kya yuksaaneeat thay hum kabhi?

itnay dos k kisi ko bhi bistray ki zarrorat na thee
kaanay peenay ki, daoulat ki zarrorat na thee -

koi bhi school k gusalhanay main chuppa hua na tha
aur na hi tha vo akela apnay ghar main

daraaz kholta hua
jahaan vo rakhta hai bemaari ki goliaaN

har atom jo mera vo tera hai. Yaad hai iski?
Koi pralirti na thee tab. Lo na thay tab
koi test nahin tha tab k jaan lay hum
kya haathi shok main paD jaata hai
apnay bachay ki maut par, ya kya

coral reef ko dard mehsoos hota hai. Gandh bharay saagar
angrezi, farsi ya french main kabhi boltay nahin hain

kya hoga agar hum samaj gayay kaya thay hum kabhi -
jab hum sab sagar thay and us se pehlay
zameen aasmaan thee, pashu shakti thee
pathar paani thay, taaray aakash thay
aur akaash kahin na tha

bilkul nahin, kuch bhi na tha

-to be continued


----- translated -----


Singularity
by Marie Howe

(after Stephen Hawking)

Do you sometimes want to wake up to the singularity
we once were?

so compact nobody
needed a bed, or food or money—

nobody hiding in the school bathroom
or home alone

pulling open the drawer
where the pills are kept.

For every atom belonging to me as good
Belongs to you. Remember?
There was no Nature.No
them. No tests
to determine if the elephant
grieves her calfor if

the coral reef feels pain.Trashed
oceans don't speak English or Farsi or French;

would that we could wake up to what we were
— when we were oceanand before that
to when sky was earth, and animal was energy, and rock was
liquid and stars were space and space was not

at all — nothing

before we came to believe humans were so important
before this awful loneliness.

Can molecules recall it?
what once was?before anything happened?

No I, no We, no one. No was
No verb, no noun
only a tiny tiny dot brimming with

is is is is is

All everything home

Ravi Kopra




A Collection of Stephen Hawking Poems
by His Admirers







STEPHEN HAWKING QUOTES & SAYINGS
So the next time someone complains that you have made a mistake, tell them that may be a good thing. Because without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.
- Stephen Hawking


---


It is all right to make mistakes;
nothing is perfect
because with perfection
we would not exist.

- Stephen Hawking


Stephen Hawking quote: Quiet people have the loudest minds.


Quiet people have the loudest minds.

- Stephen Hawking


---


The thing about smart people is that they
seem like crazy people to dumb people.

- Stephen Hawking


---


However difficult life may seem,
there is always something you can do and succeed at.

- Stephen Hawking




Its a crazy world out there. Be curious.

- Stephen Hawking


---

It is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.
- Stephen Hawking


---

One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away.
- Stephen Hawking


---





I don't fear God- I fear His believers.

- Stephen Hawking


---


What I have learned from life is to make the most of what you have got.

- Stephen Hawking


---


The more you learn, the more you know.
The more you know, the more you forget.
The more you forget, the less you know.
So why bother to learn.

- Stephen Hawking


El cuarto artículo es S. W. Hawking, «Breakdown of predictability in gravitational
collapse,» Physical Review D 14: 2460 (1976), doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.14.2460.



Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge.

- Stephen Hawking


---


The universe doesn't allow perfection.

- Stephen Hawking


---


The past, like the future,
is indefinite
and exists only as
a spectrum of possibilities.

- Stephen Hawking




When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break.

- Stephen Hawking


---

I’m not religious in the normal sense. I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.
- Stephen Hawking


---


I am just a child who has never grown up.
I still keep asking these
'how' and 'why' questions.
Occasionally, I find an answer.

- Stephen Hawking



The idea that we are alone in the universe seems to me completely implausible and arrogant, considering the number of planets and stars that we know exist, it's extremely unlikely that we are the only form of evolved life.
- Stephen Hawking


---

We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.
- Stephen Hawking


---

We are only the temporary custodians of the particles which we are made of. They will go on to lead a future existence in the enormous universe that made them.
- Stephen Hawking