FOGBOUND
Sail cautiously...
Image by Abrget47j, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. [1]
This is my first post of 2025. I was hoping for some clarity on the many issues that are facing us.
The foggy start to today reflects the deeper world/national/political fog that I sense.
I had a beautiful Christmas, probably the best in years, with all my descendants in full merriment. On January 1st I expected that the respite from news that I had instituted since before Christmas Day would continue a bit longer. However, when we woke up, we saw the message from a close member or our family that they were safe from harm— they had been in New Orleans’ French Quarter a couple of hours before the massacre.
To have tragedy of that magnitude hit so close to home drained the day of its projected happiness. We were disconcerted.
Here I am writing “Fitting the Pieces”, and I remind myself that it is not “Force-Fitting the Pieces”. In a puzzle, force-fitting pieces yields distorted pieces and no clarity in revealing the puzzle’s image. So, in conformance to the principles with which I started writing these entries I must confess that I find myself in a fog of sorts. The messaging from media sources is confusing and conflicting. It feels as if the oligarchs are in charge and that the rest of us are spinning within the unreal situation in which we find ourselves.
One thing I know for sure as I read and watch and listen to the politicians spin the yarns that entangle my mind. When sailing in a fog, the hazards multiply. Mirages of dangers and opportunities multiply. If we miss the guidance of the lighthouse we may collide with other vessels or structures or run aground on hidden hazards. It is time to carefully and slowly sail these troubled waters.
It is time to return to our basic values, take nothing for granted, cherish family and friends, support each other. When the fog lifts, as it surely will, the scenery will tell us which way to go and at what speed.
Sail cautiously guided by the lighthouse. Best wishes for 2025.
POETRY AND PROSE: A CONUNDRUM
Would've, Could've, Should've
Pepper Miller
Jan 05, 2025
In the quiet hours of dusk, when shadows whispered soft and low,
A task was handed down to me, a challenge I had yet to know.
“Go forth,” they said, “and do this deed. It’s yours to see it through.”
Yet there I stood, in silent thought, with time’s constraints and fear’s taboo.
I could’ve seized the moment then, with courage in my heart.
I would’ve woven wonders. I would’ve crafted art.
If only I should’ve braved the storm and dared to take the leap.
Instead, I watched the minutes fade, as dreams and doubts did steep.
I could’ve scaled the heights unknown and touched the stars above.
I would’ve danced with destiny, I would’ve cherished love.
If only I should’ve faced my fears and let my spirit soar.
Perhaps I’d find the strength within, to open every door.
I could’ve harnessed fire’s light and shaped it in my hands.
I would’ve spun a tale of hope on life’s vast shifting sands.
If only I should’ve walked that road, and left regret behind,
I’d find the peace in knowing, that life is undefined.
Now here I sit in quiet thought with lessons carved in time.
I could’ve chased the fleeting dream. I would’ve made it mine.
If only I should’ve held the pen and wrote my story clear.
Instead, I linger in the past where “if onlys” reappear.
But life is not a tale of woe nor chains that bind my soul,
For in each moment, I can still play my role.
I could’ve, would’ve, should’ve learned that time is always new.
And every task and every dream begins with what I do.
So let me rise with strength reborn and cast aside my fear.
I will embrace the tasks at hand, with a purpose that is strong and clear.
For in the echoes of the past, the future’s seeds are sown.
And in the journey here and now, true growth is always shown.
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I'm an eighty-year-old white man, married to my lovely wife for 56 wonderful years. I teach two Poetry and Creative Writing classes at the Senior Action Center in Greenville, SC.
Forecast is for more fog but the lighthouse is there...Very happy to hear your family were not victims in that latest tragedy...that very disturbing tragedy and a very sad and macabre start to the new year.