Red Heron Review

Eulogize not

2012-02-04T21:25:00.003-06:00

Recently I had a long-time friend suffer a potentially life-threatening event,which fortunately had a happy outcome. While visiting him in the hospital it dawned on me, that I could have just as well been called upon to speak at his funeral, as be sitting there talking with him. I decided then that I would not give that speech about him to others. What good are such words. Rather, I have resolved to tell him to his face what his friendship has meant to me.

2012-01-30T21:41:00.001-06:00

Sometimes you really have to squint to see the Silver Lining.

2012-01-20T20:20:00.001-06:00

They are rare images that are forever etched in your mind and heart.

2012-01-19T20:01:00.001-06:00

Life is truly a mystery.

2012-01-16T21:13:00.001-06:00

All we have is Now...

pause

2012-01-15T19:11:00.003-06:00

I don't know what it is, perhaps my age, but I've noticed myself consciously recognizing and acknowledging small daily happenings and experiences. It's as if my mind pauses momentarily to allow me to take in the flash of a bird's wing, the diamond-twinkle on the bay, the subtle pastels in the post-sunset sky, the twinkle in an eye and joy in a smile. Little things all, but in some respects the most important.

Trudge On

2012-01-14T21:37:00.002-06:00

Put one foot in front of the other. Keep going at all costs. To stop is to die. This is good advice, and true. It is simple, but not easy. It is not important that we know what path we are traveling or even the intended destination, for in truth we cannot know. What is critical is that we keep moving.

Gridiron

2012-01-14T21:11:00.002-06:00

Football is a sport that parallels life. During that four quarter lifetime, all is experienced, ups, downs, elation, heartbreak, disappointment, glory, and, of course pain, lots of pain. Victory is ephemeral as a ghost, seemingly grasped, then gone. Likewise, Defeat a smoky specter, that cloaks like a cloud, only to be blown away by an unexpected breeze. But the game most resembles the real thing in that both share the reality that perseverance is the single most important trait one can possess.

2012-01-11T21:02:00.001-06:00

The unrelenting power of erosion cannot be ignored. Be it wave, wind or rain, its persistence simply will not be denied. You will succumb.

2011-12-29T20:58:00.001-06:00

Unimaginable as it may seem, there are moments of perfection in this life.

2011-10-29T10:44:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, when the wind is right, you can hear the voices of friends calling you.

breathe

2011-10-02T17:39:00.003-05:00

It's nice, and rare lately, to be able to simply relax and enjoy the outdoors, to watch the evidence of the wind in the trees and on the water's surface, to listen to the birds chirp and sing, to gaze into the peerless blue skies, to feel the warmth of the sun, and watch the incomparable masterpiece that is the sunset.

2011-09-20T20:08:00.001-05:00

It's an honor to be cast in the role of advisor to someone dear to you, who is at a crossroads, grappling with a decision.

Tranquility

2011-09-18T17:41:00.002-05:00

A moment of lucidity, a look behind the curtain, a clear signal burning through the static, a spontaneous slippery fish of recognition, which cannot be held but fleetingly, so rare, so precious, it defies definition. It's loss is grieved upon perception, for Life will not let you hold on.

Heaven

2011-09-18T17:29:00.002-05:00

I've found a place I don't deserve, where I am accepted and loved and not judged, a place that is not meant to exist on this plane, a place written about in ancient tracts, which people plaintively study and chant, and hope for, but which they somehow know is beyond their reach.

ink

2011-09-18T17:12:00.002-05:00

I've oft thought, if not written, about the imperative to bleed ink, to open a vein and let the blood flow onto paper or screen, to be a conduit for the unconscious, not a mediator or critic, to simply allow the ink to find its own channels, to run in rivulets and streams and torrents, for someone else to sort out, to relish, to despise. The only thing of consequence is for it to flow without cease. There have been long spells when I have dammed the urge, cut it off with with a junkie's twisted vein-bulging belt, knowing I had no choice but to give in, to open my mind and write...

Dog's Life

2011-09-18T16:57:00.002-05:00

I'm awash in a sea of dogs, rescued all, from what lives I'll never know. Loyal and true, protective and sweet, all pains in the ass at one time or another, yet I've always believed, as Kundera noted, that you can tell a lot about a person from how they treat animals, which are so dependent for the essentials of life.

2011-08-27T20:19:00.001-05:00

There's nothing like a Summer breeze on a sweltering Southern late-August night.

Sweet Tooth

2011-07-29T14:36:00.002-05:00

It is interesting how varied the Human appetite can be. To paraphrase and twist something I once read, no man is a hypocrite in his appetites. Whether bred in the bone or cultivated, each of our cravings, be they for something chocolate, fruity, salty or tart, marks us.

Heat

2011-07-24T19:10:00.005-05:00

This Summer heat is a living malignant malevolent creature. It is a relentless hunter, like a wolf pack, with the perserverance and persistence of erosive forces, like surf and wind. It's even worse when it follows you inside. It will not release you from its sweaty jaws.

2011-07-04T17:39:00.001-05:00

New simile: As irritating as yellow fly bites on the 4th of July.

brush strokes

2011-07-03T19:48:00.003-05:00

Painting this dilapidated house has been a lesson, a reminder, a microcosm of Life. Progress is not measured in large swaths, rather, it emerges with glacial swiftness, only after the disproportionate expenditure of painstaking efforts. A stroke of the brush is measured against many rasping scrapes of dull, stubborn, dead paint. The steamy clime is an aggressive sapping adversary who is rarely beaten back by thunder claps and slanting raindrops. My will is of little concern to the house, which has it's own hidden time table which it will not forfeit. It will not yield a moment sooner than intended. No, it's nose to the grindstone, steady on, find pleasure in the moment, in the imperfect effort.

Beware the Lemmings

2011-07-02T18:27:00.002-05:00

Most people are followers. I'm speaking of the bovine masses, who will follow whatever trending movement may be that day, assuming that what the crowd does must be the right thing do do, whether it be the mindless drivel that passes for "reality tv" or the fad music or fashion or product de jour. No matter how you may try to stand apart from them, know this: there are times when you will find yourself standing in the midst of a migration. The decision you will have to make is whether you will instinctively scamper off on cue, to hurtle over the mythical cliff, or brave ostracism and walk your own path.

Plans v. Spontineity

2011-06-16T20:45:00.003-05:00

Some attempt to script their lives with a micro-manager's fine point, while others prefer to fly by the seat of their pants, painting with broad brush strokes. Just as the planner's plans are likely to be dashed by the foreseeable unforeseen, so too the spontaneous one's laissez faire will result in them sitting idly on the tarmac, while opportunity flies by. Like, all things in life, the balance lies somewhere in between. Planning allows the freebooter to adapt and adjust on the fly to changing cirumstances, while embracing and the crisis, to "make lemonade from lemons", banishes the planner's frustration. We can each learn from theother.

Empty Pockets

2011-06-16T20:42:00.001-05:00

Sometimes empty pockets are best!

2011-06-14T20:55:00.001-05:00

The Summer Cricket Choir is in full throat, singing to the June moon.

gnats and flies

2011-06-14T20:06:00.002-05:00

It occurred to me today that one of the greatest attributes a person can possess is the ability to stay on task while gnats and flies swarm about them, resisting the urge to swat or cuss at them.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

ants

2011-06-14T20:00:00.002-05:00

The other day we were down on the beach enjoying the sun and summer breeze, relaxing. I happended to glance down at the sugar white sands and observed a handfull of ants frantically skittering to and fro, in search of food or intruders, or who knows what. Without rest or distraction they persistently pursued their unknown chores. I couldn't help recognizing myself in their behavior.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-06-02T18:09:00.001-05:00

Sometimes those Brussels sprouts you think you smell really is a dead rat.

2011-06-01T20:37:00.001-05:00

Sweet, hot, salty Summer is here!

2011-05-30T17:23:00.001-05:00

The taste of briny water and the sound of marimba bubbles...

2011-05-26T20:37:00.001-05:00

Awash in breaking waves; they subside in fizzy froth, a moment of silence, then the drowning roar and crash of the next.

2011-05-25T19:53:00.001-05:00

Tides ebb and flow, but they never stop. Relentless to a fault.

2011-05-25T19:32:00.003-05:00

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2011-05-25T19:32:00.001-05:00

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one

2011-05-24T17:22:00.003-05:00

Recently I have found myself gazing out across the bay towards the pass into the Gulf of Mexico, usually in the pre-dawn darkness or half-light, when the hue and tone of the sky is indistinguishable from the water. It's at these times that I can see and feel the inter-connectedness of all things. Everything is covered by the all-embracing skies, or touched by the waters of the streams and branches and rivers and bayous and bays and sounds and gulfs and seas and oceans and rain and tears.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

borderline

2011-05-24T17:12:00.002-05:00

Connotes being near a border, teetering on the brink of crossing, of edging up close to some blurry line of demarcation, in the grey area, no-man's-land, limbo, between two places,... a rock and a hard place? So much of life seems to be lived there.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-05-22T16:56:00.001-05:00

May has nearly slipped away; I'm glad I had today, to lie on sand and play, beneath Sun-rays, and swim in the bay, on this glorious Sunday.

2011-05-22T07:37:00.001-05:00

What if you knew it really was the Final Day? Would you really do anything different, or just go about your day as usual?

2011-04-26T07:15:00.000-05:00

Death comes sudden, swift and golden.

Dogma

2011-04-26T07:12:00.001-05:00

I like my dogma straight up or not at all, no ice, no water, no mixers.

2011-04-17T16:49:00.001-05:00

No need for boulders and hills, the modern Sisyphus is condemned to yard work.

2011-04-07T19:54:00.001-05:00

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I agree with that premise; however some beauty is absolute.

2011-04-07T05:31:00.001-05:00

Inky mirror, whose dark reflections are hidden in the murky shapes held within the sheen of your black pool?

2011-03-31T20:31:00.001-05:00

I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's. Thanks to those who love me, to Hell to those who don't !

2011-03-31T04:32:00.001-05:00

He steps outside into the gloom and whispers a greeting to where the sunsets and rises, bound by the admonition of silence.

2011-03-29T20:51:00.001-05:00

There are perceived "realities" which influence our choices. Then there are those un-changeable facts, the real realities, which govern us with an iron fist.

2011-03-28T19:17:00.001-05:00

Doing "the right thing" is a must to some of us, or at least doing so within the confines of Human frailty.

2011-03-28T19:15:00.001-05:00

Self-examination is essential to one's development, but it sure isn't fun.

Duty Calls

2011-03-27T14:14:00.003-05:00

You know that when you use the expression "I did my duty", there was no joy involved, only the performance of an unpleasant task.

Cutting the Rope

2011-03-26T11:31:00.002-05:00

There come times in life when the excuses and reasons just aren't enough, no matter how sympathetic or compelling they may be. What matters is survival, to live to fight another day. Mountaineers refer to this situation as cutting the rope. The scenario is this, you are roped to your partner scaling the sheer granite edifice. Your partner loses his grip and slips away from the wall, his fall broken by the climbing protection, the system of pitons and rope and harnesses. Unfortunately, your partner is dangling free, unable to reach the rock face, and the pitons above you are pulling free, exposing you to being pulled from the mountain by the weight of your helpless partner. This is it. Decision time. You either hang onto your partner with the certain knowledge that you will fall, gather speed and die on the boulders below, or, you cut the rope, let your partner fall, and scramble to save yourself. What do you do? There's really no choice, is there?

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-03-23T20:20:00.001-05:00

Green is my favorite color. It is the color of Life.

2011-03-22T19:34:00.001-05:00

Is there a warmer sound than the tinkle of ice in a properly filled glass?

2011-03-22T19:27:00.001-05:00

How many times have we withheld the un-said that must be said? There is no greater sin.

2011-03-22T19:23:00.001-05:00

When I think back, as I do, on the coaches' cliches and exhorations which have governed my life, I am drawn to one: "leave it on the field!" Don't hold back!

2011-03-22T19:17:00.001-05:00

"Passion"- my one word epitaph!

2011-03-22T18:27:00.001-05:00

Thank heavens for holy spirits!

2011-03-22T18:22:00.001-05:00

Life is about those rare people with whom you share your love, hopes, dreams, passions, vulnerabilities, and grace.

2011-03-20T07:50:00.001-05:00

The most rewarding relationships we can have are never-ending conversations whose topics and tone ever change and feed the twining roots of love.

2011-03-15T16:22:00.001-05:00

I don't like to color inside the lines.

2011-03-14T17:37:00.001-05:00

Sometimes Mondays get a bad rap!

2011-03-13T08:55:00.001-05:00

Somehow, impossibly perhaps, even with all she's been through, the Ole Gal is more beautiful than ever.

2011-03-10T05:35:00.001-06:00

Behold, the Golden bird, spread her radiant sun-ray wings and fly into her destiny.

rivers

2011-03-08T05:53:00.003-06:00

We can only expect to have sublime experiences in our lives if we are willing to leave our tranquil pools, to enter the unknown, the churning murky waters, to daily swim the eddying river.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

scars

2011-03-06T17:43:00.002-06:00

Scars are the tattoos that life etches on our bodies, hearts and souls. They are the evidence of our hard-won experience and tough roads traveled. They give us character and meaning, and are both emblematic and symbolic. Some people equate beauty with the absence of blemish. Not me. Wear them proudly.

truth and consequences

2011-03-03T05:56:00.004-06:00

We are defined by the choices we make, and are forever either burdened or buoyed by the consequences, whether those are intended or foreseen. Each of us knows the decisions that haunt us, the ones that are raw and never heal, and that when touched send fresh waves of pain. We find ways to continue along the path, to shield the tender spots from injury, to hide them from others who might do us harm. We judge ourselves or not. Rarely, we reveal our oozing wounds to those closest to us, we expose our vulnerability, not seeking pity or consolation or absolution, but only understanding, while hoping against hope to avoid their judgment. But when that judgment is pronounced it falls like an axe-blow, cutting and bruising and crushing.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-03-02T19:37:00.001-06:00

Mirrors reflect harsh light. Only a true friend will hold one up to you.

2011-02-28T20:48:00.003-06:00

Resolutely committed to the cause of living life!

2011-02-28T06:07:00.002-06:00

A fish hook moon, flashes bone-white from the cloudy depths of the charcoal sky;
The engorged South wind, laden with sexual promise, exhales from across the bay, bearing wetness and Gulf-scents, rattling fronds and whispering low in the pine tops;
Rolling out a blanket of dreamy fog in whose folds all is possible.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-02-27T20:03:00.001-06:00

Isn't it amazing how those rare people can make you burn with the fire of Life.

2011-02-24T05:14:00.001-06:00

None of us can shed the weight of this world; however we can experience moments of impossible lightness.

2011-02-23T05:43:00.001-06:00

Crossroads, by their very presence, compel decision.

2011-02-23T05:40:00.001-06:00

Details! The day is cluttered with time-blurring minutae jumbled with the chunks of weighty issues. Oh. Wait a minute. That's Life.

2011-02-22T04:25:00.001-06:00

Everyday we blaze our trails through life. Viewed from above our paths reveal our chaotic tracks, the evidence of our wanderings, unique as our fingerprints.

2011-02-21T05:38:00.001-06:00

We've been granted a stay from the Winter cold and gloom, a sunny, balmy, February respite, a joyous Sping preview, demanding recognition and celebration.

2011-02-19T21:19:00.001-06:00

There are rare people who shine brighter than the sun.

2011-02-18T05:32:00.001-06:00

What prompts the first bird to sing its morning song?

2011-02-18T05:00:00.003-06:00

Fog hangs in the cool dank darkness, a gauzy shroud, wildly distorting light and shadow, obscuring vision of present, past and future.

2011-02-18T05:00:00.001-06:00

Fog hangs in the cool dank darkness, a gauzy shroud, wildly distorting light and shadow, obscuring vision of present, past and future.

2011-02-17T20:02:00.001-06:00

You never know what you will find when you are exploring the depths.

2011-02-17T06:31:00.001-06:00

Excuses fool no one but oneself.

2011-02-16T16:48:00.001-06:00

Life is so strong. A life is so fragile.

Dawning

2011-02-16T05:44:00.002-06:00

The faint fringe of Eastern glow, full of promise, the hem of a rising skirt.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-02-15T05:47:00.002-06:00

Looking out over inky pre-dawn bay, towards the pass,the lights of the channel markers wink red and green, like over-caffeinated stars.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

The Eye

2011-02-13T16:44:00.002-06:00

The dark clouds have lifted, the slanting rain has ceased and the tree-bending howling winds silenced, at least for the moment. We gaze skyward in the eerie calm, hoping and praying that the backside of this storm never arrives.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

Sunday Afternoon

2011-02-13T16:27:00.003-06:00

The blessing of a sunny mild Winter's day in St. Andrews, oysters and beer at our favorite oyster bar, then in our funky old house, enjoying the eclectic music pouring out from the Crescent City's WWOZ, a good cigar and whiskey, surrounded by my pack of mongrels, while teasing spice-filled aromas waft from the kitchen where my woman works her culinary magic. Crazy!

Warners

2011-02-12T13:04:00.004-06:00

It's not until those too-rare occasions when I get to sit down with my parents and a few of my siblings, when the old forgotten stories bubble up and spew with popped-cork effervescence, many of which spring from lean circumstances, all of which involve the impossibly colorful panoply of idiosyncratic relatives, and result in uncontrollable tear-spilling belly-laughter, that I realize the incredible indelible richness and grace of belonging to the mosaic which is my family.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-02-09T21:10:00.001-06:00

I know the only righteous prayer is "Thy Will Be Done", but if there's any wiggle-room, please help my brother.

2011-02-08T08:45:00.001-06:00

I'm frequently wrong and constantly in doubt. Of course, I could be wrong about that.

2011-02-07T18:44:00.001-06:00

Forgiveness is not purchased. As the word implies, it is a gift, freely given.

The Final Bridge

2011-02-05T17:00:00.004-06:00

I've oft thought and commented on the reality that in the final analysis we walk through this life alone. Yes, we may have loved ones and friends who can try to salve us in our times of need and vulnerability, who can hold our hands and cry with us, but we must cross that final bridge to the hereafter by ourselves and on our own terms. Nothing is more a reminder of this condition than a conversation about impending mortality with someone so dear to you that you would willingly trade places, if only to relieve them of that ultimate burden, but knowing you cannot.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-02-01T20:41:00.001-06:00

Close your eyes, thank your lucky stars, and breathe in the sea breeze.

2011-01-31T20:46:00.001-06:00

I don't believe that flowers ever really die.

2011-01-31T20:43:00.001-06:00

Some waves seem destined to never break with a frothy roar or to roll onto a sandy beach. They roam the ocean depths, as unseen powerful undercurrents.

Bay glass

2011-01-29T11:55:00.004-06:00

This morning the bay looked like blue-green liquid glass, reflecting the dome's azure hue, alive with slowly undulating syruppy ripples.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

Gravitas

2011-01-28T15:53:00.003-06:00

One rotation on the Earth's axis, and the whole world changes. Imperceptible, but for the sun's arrival, arc, sinking, departure, and replacement by it's lunar counter-part, the Earth spins. But on rare occasions Life's events settle on an individual, a family, or a community in such a way as to single them out for burden, to exponentially and pointedly increase the force of gravity upon them, to fog their thoughts, to slow their movements as if swimming through molasses,or struggling in quicksand, so that every excruciating grinding inch of movement is experienced, and their hopes are dimmed like the pin-points of distant stars.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

2011-01-27T20:35:00.001-06:00

To me words are magical, but sometimes deeper meaning is found in the silence between them.

2011-01-26T18:56:00.001-06:00

It's hard not to protect when you are a Protector.

Bred in the Bone

2011-01-26T16:10:00.002-06:00

We all stand on the shoulders of our forebears, but sometimes they grab us by the ankles and drag us under.

copyright 2011 william g. warner

Technical Difficulties

2011-01-25T18:28:00.002-06:00

We all must rely on Technology. We just can't count in it.

copyright 2011 william g. warner