Men, deposit your appreciation, this
I will hold secure until death do us part
that more dangerous lips are not yours to kiss
or more fiendish arms have locked away your heart
Your willing martyr, I lie in fire’s embrace
no less in chains than when I did shackled start
on a platter she still wants my head no less
but no sweeter image tears this love apart
I chose to Sampson this Delilah for you
I fell asleep d’aquel licor sagrado
awoke still blind chained to this love mill I lean
(hapless friends…) to you the conquest of amor bajado
and to love your chosen as the love you choose
My grave inscribed with this, “Victim of Charlene”
I have always been lost to the wonderful woman without whose love I would be otherwise completely lost. There are not enough words to tell you what I feel but I am sure of this – a greater and more fantastic love I am positive does not exist save the one she gives to me everyday. So for as much as the rest of you “hapless” friends who think you might have found true love – forget it. I found it you can stop looking now!
Dignity is rare. All too often we get duped by masquerading frauds like selfish ambition, individualism, and the proclivity toward the self-alienation of personal comfort. The curious thing about dignity is it is impossible to achieve in one's own efforts - we are all subject to the whim of others for its endowment in our lives. There are many things we can do to disenfranchise ourselves from receiving dignity - and unfortunately we all done enough to disqualify ourselves from it. So dignity becomes an act of grace.
There is little else that is as undignified as the prospective loss of my waste elimination system. I can't imagine a how a diaper could help me maintain a sense of personal poise. Age is feared as the harbinger of death but even more it is old age that is feared as that period of time when we will eventually lose the ability to corral the resources of our personality to cover up the ugliness we've closeted all our lives. And nastiest of all is the fact that we WON'T be dead - to avoid it all.
Some of what I enjoy most about our new life, is the stories that Char regales me with. Ever so careful not break any issues of confidentiality she tells me the sad, funny, frightening, surprising and frustrating stories of the lives of the 'clients' on her case load. She is devoted to doing her job to the best of her ability but she really is not interested in her own track record. I can tell as she talks about the man with schizophrenia who is dying of cancer that she really is an agent of dignity. It could be that case after case might eventually wear her into that jaded dark suspicion that runs rampant in the 'caring' professions. People always ask me how my wife is doing. I usually tell them that she loves her job. But I realized something today she does not love her job so much as she loves the people she gets a chance to care for - and I know she is real good at bringing them dignity.
A lot of this sorta came together for me tonight when I was doing some investigating about a new documentary I heard about on the radio today. Here's a video and some links to a few other things related to the Young@Heartoctogenarian chorus. Enjoy!
I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles In our eyes are mirror images and when We kiss they're perfectly aligned And I have to speculate that God himself Did make us into corresponding shapes like Puzzle pieces from the clay And true, it may seem like a stretch, but Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled Head when you're away when I am missing you to death When you are out there on the road for Several weeks of shows and when you scan The radio, I hope this song will guide you home
They will see us waving from such great Heights, 'come down now,' they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away, 'come down now,' but we'll stay...
I tried my best to leave this all on your Machine but the persistent beat it sounded Thin upon listening And that frankly will not fly. You will hear The shrillest highs and lowest lows with The windows down when this is guiding you home ht: Mark Willms check out this cool accapella version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dK2Qrvhh8A
