Hidden Words no.68

August 8, 2023

I was, at one time, posting one of these every so often & going through this little book, “Hidden Words” of Baha’u’llah, which He says is “the inner essence” of the Prophets of old, “clothed in the garment of brevity”. This next one is one of my favorites.

O Children of Men!

“Know ye why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how we were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is my counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.”

~~ Baha’u’llah (means: Glory of God) –Founder of Baha’i Faith

from google images

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in my 60s

July 15, 2023

I am going to replace this with a poem later. I’m about to transform from a person in their 60s to a person who is starting her 70s. I cannot even relate to that reality. But that IS my reality.

My 60s have not been kind,

except for the births of 4 of our 8 grandchildren.

At some point in the last decade, my body started talking to me,

and things are just not the same.

In my 60s, I started medication(s),

for various kinds of things,

moderate high blood pressure, and cholesterol,

moderate depression, sciatica,

and the latest– a non-existent cancer scare

that keeps me on another med for half a decade,

a precautionary measure that contributes to advanced aging…

not something I would have chosen at this point in time.

I get my walks in, when it decides not to rain,

a mile or two a day.

I no longer work full-time, but part-time from home,

sitting at my “office” desk in a spare bedroom,

talking to students on Zoom.

to be totally revised and reformed later………………

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Zooming

June 17, 2023

I want to write about Zoom calls. This is not a poem. Maybe it will be one some day.

Yesterday, I did a marathon of 6 zoom calls in a day. At the end of it, I was getting depressed. It is being with people, while not being with people.

You are not sitting in a room with people, you are by yourself, in your room, on Zoom. You see a screen full of faces, all looking at you. I think this is why people want to turn off their cameras. If we were all in person, we would be lounging on couches and chairs somewhat in a circle. We would not all be staring at one another as if we were on a stage & they were the audience.

On zoom, people turn off their cameras. They like to hide. It is a privilege, if allowed, on zoom. So you then take away all eyes on you. You can also mute your sound, become muted. Then when you want to speak, you forget to turn it back on and you’re talking to no one but yourself. Sometimes you raise your virtual hand and do this. Sometimes you turn on your camera & then do this. People say, “You’re muted!” Then you have to start all over again.

If we were in person, we would smile, look sideways at some, straight at people only usually when they are talking. It is a different phenomenon. I was born into a non-tech world where all we had was in person conversation, or well, and phone calls. The phone was near the kitchen & another one upstairs. If I was on the phone w/ friends, I knew my parents could silently pick up the other line & listen in. We couldn’t go to a breakout room for privacy. I guess I should write a poem about that.

But for now, back to zooming, I think it depresses people. Or more accurately, it’s a disconnected way of connecting. It’s not WHOLE, it’s partial. Though we like to see one another, like in a family zoom call, it’s sure not the same as being WITH them, with my WHOLE self. I miss my family. Maybe that’s the depression part.

I guess zooming works for getting through a college class. But it’s not the same as in person. More research is needed, as they say in academia.

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Retirement

May 23, 2023

People ask what I’ll do if I retire.

I always wonder, “Is work all there is for you?”

Once I retire, I am free to go!

Go where the wind blows,

Go where only God knows,

Go to Wisconsin and swim in the lakes,

Go to Pittsburgh and walk the hills,

Go to Raleigh and watch soccer games,

Go to Georgia and see my oldest child jump from a plane!

Free to go where the wind blows,

Free for what only God knows,

but I will be busy, that’s for sure!

Busy seeing grandkids numbering 8,

Busy seeing places I’ve never been,

Busy researching worlds of the past,

our genealogy and DNA,

busy sleeping ’till I want to awake,

taking a nap any time of the day,

Cleaning my house better than before,

having friends over all the more,

Let’s sit by the fire and reminisce,

Watch for the deer and possums to appear,

There’s still plenty of “work” to be done,

friends to have over, battles to be won,

Retiring means the time is yours,

you fill it with things important to you,

you have even MORE wonderful things to do!

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peaceful haikus

April 18, 2023

Late afternoon sun

glints at me laying in bed

for a restful nap,

—

Sometimes we need peace,

the peace of doing nothing

but feeling God’s warmth.

—

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Sometimes

April 8, 2023

People are like plants

that turn from Sun’s warmth

to wither in clay.

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haiku

March 5, 2023

A chilly morning

—
reminds us of the Winter

—
about to leave us.

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Two poems

February 25, 2023

ONE

Sometimes life seems like a bad dream

Not all sweet and syrupy

More like painful tragedy,

When you’re holding onto a life raft

Hoping someone’s at the other end,

When troubles with the ones you love

Pile up like fire ant hills

In winter,

And prayers run into one another

Like waves going out to sea,

You stop and take a deep breath

ask God to intercede,

When one son sleeps in a hospital

another recovers from surgery

And a grandson’s wallet disappears

Like magic into the air!

God needs to do His magic tricks

To bring a remedy,

The ancestors from other worlds

to blow a kiss our way,

The waters need to calm,

The healing to begin,

The pain of life to give way to

upliftment once again.

****************************************************************

TWO

When a mother’s kids are hurting

she kind of loses her mind,

When there is no answer coming

and she doesn’t know where to turn,

When her love song keeps on playing

but their troubles just pile on,

When at the same time she knows

others’ troubles far outweigh her own,

It doesn’t make sense to measure

the amount of pain we feel,

What matters is to reach out to others

and to know your pain is real,

When friends respond with loving hearts

it softens your blistering soul.

02-25-2023 cfblack

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Street lights and sunrise

February 18, 2023

Street lights and sunrise give light together,

One is dying, the other rising,

Go back inside to get my phone

but when I return, night light is gone.

Morning comes as it always does,

this one cold, I can see my breath,

32 degrees makes one hesitate to enjoy the beauty, and the

firepit sits alone, unused,

too cold to sit around a fire,

yet, memories of friends’ voices linger,

and the sun will shine today,

all day long.

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Family

February 1, 2023

My thoughts are on family,

On challenges,

tests and trials,

Job interviews,

Baby’s first steps,

Star Trek nights,

Doctor Who?

what is next.

Watching old movies

Over again,

Dinners together

Hanging out,

Taking dogs for a walk in the yard,

Doing dishes

Laughing hard,

Making time to be together,

Saying prayers for one another,

Looking back at decades gone,

Looking forward, life goes on,

The older and the new

Rainy days and the moon,

Precious time is never lost,

the gains are worth whatever cost.

cfblack 1-31-2023

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