Post-Blog

B"H

Dearest Blog Readers,

It is official, this post is post-blog. There won't be a poem and the photograph is a combination of shots from yesterday and today. This project has been one of the wildest rides we have ever taken and we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for taking it with us.

A little about us when we're not blogging, today just as two ordinary citizens, Eric took over 170 photographs and Jackie, wrote 6 poems which changed and grew as we went about on adventures. Without a deadline our fingers still dash across the keyboard (but without anxiety) and our batteries dying won't destroy the world; if the internet chooses to be temperamental we won't be as tempted to curse the heavens above for taunting us so. The comments and support we have received in the past 24 hours and the past 365 days have been overwhelming and life changing.

We hope you have seen enough to have a favorite post, enough that the images are stuck in your mind, enough that words of your own blossom upon your tongues, and maybe occasionally you remember a phrase.

From the mind of the Poet: Writing on a single moment (trapped in the lenses of a camera), has drawn out my appreciation for the little things in life. The way the beach marks your trail, by inviting footprints into the sand it holds, or the joy of dancing as though nothing else in the world matters. Single moments barely exist in life, for they are linked to a chain of events before and after, so closely that our memories of them are never completely clear. Taking the time to love that truth and push it to its limits has been an extraordinary experience.

From the mind of the Photographer: : Grabbing my camera as I head out the door, my brain automatically goes into “story mode”. Walking down the street, everything I see suddenly has a story. That bird to my left is courting the one on the power lines. The dog across the street is walking his human, trying to get her to run and be healthier. The squirrel running around under the acorn tree is hunting for food to last through the winter. Upon the return to my computer, my stop-motion stories are fixed up and sent off to my poet to be told.

Thank you each from the bottoms of our hearts, to those of you in our home communities, and to those of you across oceans. Our art is the most we can give you, and in receiving it you have parts of us.

With Peace,

Jackie & Eric

Day 365

She was in love with the whole world

He was trying to find the world and saw her

The wind in her hair, the way she twirled

Free visions that began to stir

Dreams were drenched that wonder year

In sounds that only spoke in color

Side by side there, they knew no fear

Delighting in shaking the rule they were under

And so it was they were caught in an array of tales

That were not planned in any way at all

Filling the wind of their childish sails

Slowly daring to break down the wall

They made beautiful mistakes in the town

That leaked in tears across the pages of time

Started by wicked joys that pulled the stars down

Turning every moment into the perfect rhyme

He watched her with the eyes of awe, no words to speak

She lived the only way she knew, in love with the world, not a person

The day turned into many a sunshine bleached week

In those days the creativity had only just begun

So he went about capturing the moon

Just that she may reveal its strange light

All they said was with the essence of a tune

One that darkened day and illumined night

Seasons waxed and waned in time with growing

Sunflowers once green as emeralds began to droop

Less was given space, and they stopped knowing

Once inspiring moments could be found on loop

But the golden days returned in fields of hope

That flung words into the sky of freedom

Stringing beads, words and places upon the rope

That lasso-ed the wonders of their kingdom

And now the photographer with the poet at his side

Is pulling forward the messages of rhythmic deeds

Together they fade into the horizon, as the ocean’s tide

Destined to leave a healthier ground for inspiration’s seeds

Day 226 - Days to Deposit

Dedicated to Natalie Steiner

Days to Deposit

All the sunsets have turned gray

Or should, fade into the stone

Everyone sunrise that is out to play

Belongs to this, and this alone

Photographs like secret post cards

Peruse websites and mailbox bins

Poems and words like shards

Tinkle about as life begins

Coins that clatter land better

Than hours of life ever can

Ask time, the old creditor

And she will laugh at man

Yet we seize the moment again

As if sunsets came in a weave

And words only out of the pen

To be written on our heart's sleeve

But they do not deposit

So easily from the soul

So great thoughts we closet

And still call ourselves whole

Day 212 - The Way We've Grown

Dedicated to my extraordinary photographer who has held this blog together while I have been away for the entire month...

The way we've grown so familiar
Yet moved apart at the same time
The way we need no more filler
Only a shot and a rhyme
The way I know what you mean
Even before the thoughts appear
The way that we have been seen
Making it through the year, dear

We seem a little rough nowadays
But the diamond is still there
It is shown in the endless corny ways
We both like to show we care
And though they have been viewing
For quite some time our lives
Nothing goes past our always renewing
And finding ways in which art thrives

Day 197 - Two Dimensional

Life hangs in the balance of a blue sky
That has no way of mentioning that
What in the end should catch the eye
Is something simple and flat
That two-dimensions can catch it all
If you are willing to heed such a call

The image of a weeping child so lost
The words on the pages of a novel
The pieces of paper representing a cost
The eternal ability of these things to pull
In a powerful, yet simple way
The things it does not take lips to say

Each of us lay flattened against a screen
As vibrant as a green leaf and stem
With many a message to prune and preen
Before we are willing to invite the rest of them
Those who threaten us or so we think
Fully into our lives all the better they sink

Day 110 - The New Shot

The New Shot

Today everything captures a picture

For those times when memory seems unsure

Our phones do so much more you see

That is how this shot came to me

Every moment we live day to day

Gives us much more to say

Pictures help to make us feel

Some hurt, while others heal

But each has its very own lesson

Sometimes of friends, others kin

The lens we use is all our own

Featuring the world in our tone

The medium says more than we can

Capturing the very essence of man

Day 57 - The King of Random's Domain

The King of Random's Domain

The colorful spread of insanity almost smiles

More heartfelt than any stack of files

The lava lamp longs to light up the desk and play

The pens scattered haphazardly have so much to say

In the small safe are secret treasures

That hint at small and unique pleasures

Like the time taken to smell the roses

And all the pictures that need no poses

But rather naturally expressed the glee

That we found in a laughing melody

Which brings to mind Lego pyramids and towers

And the times when weed made the most perfect flowers

Day 25 - Paris Was Not Meant to Be?

My darling you made promises to me

Years ago that we would visit that city

Where boulevards are made of the lovely and fine

Where we would find joie de vivre, yours and mine

The clock behind says it is not possible

The mighty ocean without you is uncross-able

So why did you leave me here so lonely

You will always be my one and only

This was your present, you said I was the gift

That in all the world, only I could lift

You, up and high into the skies above

Together we would discover the City of Love

But you have gone to the ground they say

And all my dreams have fallen away

Yet as I walk our quiet town and small places

There is nothing that is not yours in the faces

Our little flower shop where you bought the first bouquet

That is now the path leading me to places far away

That simple park bench where you caressed my hand

None in all the cities of the world could ever understand

Why that is the place I treasure more than all the rest

Anywhere we were, will forever be the best

But darling I do not know how with you gone

They swear the City of Love goes on

That the tower still pierces the night sky with light

That there are still dreams and hopes that are bright

It has gone away forever and ever

Now that we are not together

That is the fact that remains and lives on

The only one I think of, now that you are gone

So please come back and together we will be

The revivers of the joys of that beautiful city

It is unfair that a shot to your golden heart

Could be the last thing to tear us apart

Please my love, wake me from this nightmare

No one else knows just how you and I would care

Stop lying there and quickly come with me

To the place we always wanted, that beautiful city

Day 14 - Capturing Wonders

Capturing Wonders

Look back with joy and see the dancers

We are all in a world of romancers

That brings the core of light to us

On which the camera will focus

A year marks every moment shared

All the people who have sent love and cared

Every phone call that left you breathless

All the things that keep you restless

The lenses is captures me from a thousand miles away

It holds onto all the secrets we need not even say

And from up close in my own place

It captures the endless laughter on my face

This world I have found and where I am living

Is one that astounds me with its giving

Of all the good and songs we can sing along to

It began with the smile of me and you

Looking back we see the message is in each hand

And learning together we all understand

That this year is better than all of the last

That happiness is now and in the past

Shutters click and swirl into perfect formation

Bringing about the brilliant creation

That show how we breathe in and out and live

With every moment that we can give

Keeping my heart full I trek farther along

Remember the tunes to every single song

Skipping and bouncing and dancing all around

Loving each who person who shares with me the profound

That conjures up nights of mysteries and laughter

And moments that form our forever-after

Keep me twirling it is to hard to stop now

And with all this wonder, I would not even know how

Day 10 - Deep Darkness

Deep Darkness

Where did you put the light, love?

I am trying to gradually, this darkness shove

Past shadows that seemed to have swallowed it away

All my breathing labored and this is hard to say

Once you stood behind me with a light

And lying together we spent the night

I am trying to respect the surrounding quiet

After all how could I do anything to belie it?

Yet sorcerer's play need no longer deceive

You are the traitor, in whom I once could believe

But as said before you stole my light

And now I am in a world of endless night

You will come in and show me the lesser shadows there

And once more I will be convinced that you care

About how I travel through emotional times

How many of these verses are truly your rhymes?

You were my muse, my inspiration

All the notes in my songs of true elation

But now I see that you are the dark

Even if your voice is as sweet as that of the lark

You have me feeling cold and lost

I am bruised, from being too many times tossed

I will be better once from memories you have flown

So I now journey through this darkness alone

Day 7 - Well Wishes

Preface: My sister had an ingrown toenail which became infected, so today she had surgery on it. She's been stuck on the couch all day and must keep her toe elevated. The Poet tells me that this poem is dedicated to her, in hopes that she feels better soon.

Books whisper warm wishes to the healing

As the pills hope to encourage rest

Caring mothers ask "how are you feeling?"

And the chicken soup smell is the best

It warms your soul as the heat rises

Cuddly and safe you await surprises

They come in the shape of many letters

Which tell you that we miss you so

Amongst a pile of "do get betters"

So that we can again play in the snow

But one holds special meaning its true

One that holds a list of things we'll do

"First we will draw flowers on that cast

Just to make sure you smile wide

Next we will keep you healing fast

So that you feel good in and outside

Then we will depend on your special attention

Who gets the prize and who the honorable mention

Because we will now put on a play for thee

That casts you as the glorious queen

She shall play the maid bowing to your majesty

While their is a jester juggling in-between

Now you may choose your very own king

Or prince if you prefer to rule over everything"

You smile as you see that friends surround you

Lining shelves as well as kind notes

They will go high and low to find you

Putting on jackets and long coats

Making sure that everything is just right

Until that silly cast is long gone from sight

Day 6 - Beauty Believer

Dedicated to Simone

Beauty Believer

Messages burnt into parchment so old

With hidden secrets that whisper just right

Forgotten tales that wish to be told

Of the angry and long lasting fight

Fear grows like flames in the hearth

Begging for the redeeming birth

Poetic love letters remain unread

Holding the key to the resolution

They remain within the bark instead

As time grows around, a true infusion

Of the power that love possesses

And the memory of final caresses

The circle burnt just so is an ancient brand

Making the small town's legacy

They had owned the many acres of land

And built the endless shops and famous library

But at the edges burned in the lighter shade

Was a memory that few would not let fade

It was the mark of a small family farm

That catered to those of higher worth

They kept the legacy far from harm

But were naturally of inferior birth

So when the love was made between two

There was not much the families were willing to do

So this was the last mark the lovers dare leave

Within the tree that kept them so safely hid

In a better time they could not believe

So on their memories they closed the lid

And left no other visible traces

Except perhaps the lost looks on their faces

But such stories last long after we die

And even after our children fade away

They are stronger than the word of you and I

And have a great many more things to say

But twisted in tree trunks that out live us all

That is where the final one will begin to fall

It starts with a swift glance and sweet joy

And a dance with skirts just a-twirl

With the interested eye of a young boy

And the smile so kind on the clever girl

Then the young soul comes along all aglow

With nothing but a bright heart to show

And he is then ready to search for beauty

When in his world her light is shining

He finds a story that spurned from duty

Though the language has a way of reminding

Him of the love he holds for his darling

Something so pure, he found in falling

Day 5 - Paths of Promise

Paths of Promise

Find your own way, but please do not follow

There is so much hope in the morrow

For your will can twist the path

Avoid the dark and possible wrath

Down this road lies mystery

In all that you may never see

Yet footprints wash away you know

With every fresh layer of snow

Lost is all the truth found before

When cold dwells and grizzlies snore

Shadows cannot pierce this light

That is found in layers of white

But tire tracks they smear their mark

Curves upon the road so dark

Putting life into the smooth concrete

The rules with which man tried to compete

Which never disappear from this earth

Yet we try to deny them from birth

That which makes the sun shine gold

That which has been around since times of old

It holds that the cat shall proudly walk

And that some birds may try to talk

These things we as humans shall never master

Even if our cars can go faster

Nothing is as brilliant as a proud steed

Or the power held in a single seed

So walk in footsteps made earlier today

Or the road so that you cannot stray

But know that nothing stays just so

Not on a day of pure white snow

Day 4 - Madness

Madness I say it spins all around

Never is there an inch where solitude is found

Instead we face off with our fears

Until all hope and honor disappears

We learn to fight, but not to heal

In this world we create with cold steel

Time rushes on without our permission

So we find ourselves in submission

Where we dare to keep nothing sacred

And without ritual we soon build hatred

Only to find that we cannot care more

Asking so silently “what is this for?”

Madness I say it greets you and I

When in the harmless we find a great spy

That peers in daily to watch our routine

And soon we turn harsh, bitter and mean

Only locked by the frame we have built

But drawing more in, with waves of false guilt

Ponder all this and anger you will find

Is only built within your very own mind

What was once no more than a frown

Has now turned entire worlds upside down

Instead of cowering in absolute fear

Open you ears and for once HEAR

Madness I say is all in your head

Built by yourself, not stories you read

No fable or tale I could ever compose

Would make a man doubt what he thinks he knows

You are the master that you so desperately crave

In the mirror the man to be saved, you can save

Just take a moment to look for the good

And soon you will find just what you should

That glaring off at your own reflection

Is only the path to further misdirection

Instead you must smile and say

“How best can we enjoy this glorious day?”

Day 3 - Eye of the Beholder

Whispers of dread fill the dull sky

Fading between lines of slumbering trees

Farther away you hear a small cry

That is brushed away on a gentle breeze

This wintry wonder holds not an ounce of hope

It refuses your pleas to find a method to cope

With the nightmares that never cease

Rather mere wisps of light fill your view

They are dwarfed by despair and lack peace

The darkness shrouds all else from you

But now it changes as we look for the white

You can just feel the coming of light

Far in those trees the crying has come to a halt

You find a small smile playing softly on your face

Someone has labored to stop the sad fault

And release the anger that had in kindness no place

You appreciate now the darkness as serene

Knowing the glory in what is heard, though unseen

Day 2 - Little Lady Luck

Lady luck lies just behind the glass

If only over the pillows you could pass

There is a mystery that she hides so well

Within rose pink lips we swear, “never to tell”

She gazes out at you or at least your memory

When you stood on her o so roof gallantly

And sugarcoated rose petals spilt to the ground

Spreading the joy of her smile which flowed all around

But still she has hope that you will return

Her spirit and love you can never to cinders burn

She is pure as the blue in her eyes

It goes deep like the seas, not high in the skies

Any more man would wish to fall in

To write her a symphony just to begin

She is not just luck by light o so bright

Warming and brightening the darkest of night

However you are not there to find her

No glorious entrance from just behind her

Gazing out the window is what she does

Not only for you there’s more just because

She hides so much behind those brilliant locks

Wisdom is time, and in her mind all clocks

Tick away to the allotted hold humans claim

Minutes and seconds would be the appropriate name

She knows more than what you would search for

She keeps it all in-between her breath and more

Little lady luck enjoys the secrets she can keep

Only you could ever have gotten so deep
And if you do not have the answer of his smile

Than you will be waiting forever and a while

Because she only searches and smiles for him

Remembering the days he went out on a limb

To whisper her sweet nothings, so only she could hear

That to him she was the sweetest and forever the most dear

Day 1

Stark death and crackling memories
That is all they manage to see in me

Sad story songs and pitiful melodies

O that is all the young ones can ever see

But listen young one I have stayed strong

Through all of these storms and biting winds

I have made it out through the trials so long

So even now I know that new life begins

My hardy exterior it does scream

Things that you are terrified by

It has halted many a midsummer’s dream

Catching the soft artists’ eye

I have a tale that I tell so well

In which I am the last standing hope in this place

Of a kingdom that finally to ruins fell

There I was not horrid or a disgrace

There I healed all that I could

I made a difference and strong I stood