A New September's Song

[Photo Source: GOOGLE internet images]
 

(1 Sep 2012 – The Summer is just a memory -- a leaf fallen upon cooler days.  The harvest is "in" -- its bounty to preserve for feast, else fast.  Days seen passing so quickly with the shorter sunlight hours.  Time to savor the moment -- before it is Past.  What answer to the question asked by Tomorrow, "How was your Yesterday?"

 

Below is a letter written by my maternal Cousin Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, when she was only age 15.  In the letter, she weighs the balance of Time, God, worthy pursuits, and Nature's seasons. Thoughts worthy to ponder.

 

Dorothy Hazel Tarr)

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Letter to:          To the same - Mrs. A. P. Strong

Dated:               8 Sep 1846 Boston, Massachusetts
From:                 Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (age 15)
                           (birth December 10, 1830 – death May 15, 1886)
 

My Dear Friend A., ...

 

Does it seem as though September had come?  How swiftly summer has fled, and what report has it borne to heaven of misspent time and wasted hours?  Eternity only will answer.  The ceaseless flight of the seasons is to me a very solemn thought; and yet why do we not strive to make a better improvement of them? 

With how much emphasis the poet has said, "We take no note of time but from its loss.  'Twere wise in man to give it then a tongue.  Pay no moment but in just purchase of its worth, and what its worth ask death-beds.  They can tell.  Part with it as with life reluctantly."  Then we have higher authority than that of man for the improvement of our time.  For God has said, "Work while the days last, for the night is coming in the which no man can work."

 

Let us strive together to part with time more reluctantly, to watch the pinions of fleeting moment until they are dim in the distance, and the new-coming moment claims our attention.  I have perfect confidence in God and His promises, and yet I know not why I feel that the world holds a predominant place in my affections...

 

Yours affectionate friend,

Emily E. D.

 

---------------------------------------------------- 

 

SOURCE LINK (a)

By Emily Dickinson, Martha Dickinson Bianchi
Page 120 on GOOGLE ebooks

 

SOURCE LINK (b)

Letters of Emily Dickinson
By Emily Dickinson
PAGE 20 on GOOGLE ebooks

 

 

A NEW DAY

                    [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]
  

(7 Jun 2012 – When I wrote this last year, my thoughts flowed over the years passed and tears flooded my eyes with the memories of times gone by—never to return but as shadows in a surreal Heart. dht)

So, What will the hands of time say on that new day;

Where will I be when that day arrives;

When will the hand writer of destiny inevitably turn the pages towards me;

So, Is this the sunrise that will announce the first day of the rest of my new life;

Moving on is simple, it's what you leave behind that is NOT simple;

Memories are the only things that don't change;

My tears are just the words my heart uses to explain my pain;

Thank you for the giving me the best days of my life;

I'll never forget the times we once shared .. and

I'll always remember how much you once cared .. but

Now it's over and it's time to move on, .. to

A NEW DAY.

[-Dorothy Hazel Tarr]

  

MEMORIES – The Unbreakable Bonds

[Photos:   30 Nov 1963--Memories of my wedding, my spouse, my Heart. (GROOM-Dale Russell Jones Shoudy, GROOM Mom in Dark Blue and blond hair- June Grace Wolfe Jones Shoudy; BRIDE-Dorothy Hazel Tarr, BRIDE Mom in Light Blue and hat- Dorothy Helen Scott Tarr]

(The memories are fresh in my Heart, yet the images are as faded as these photos.  So many youthful hopes – unrealized and unfulfilled.  Love lost in the wake of passing years and tears.  However, for the Heart, there is no timeline.  dht-21 OCT 2011.)

As I behold all my treasured keepsakes and mementos,

my sense of déjà vu deepens. 
My Heart lives in the bosom of my past,
where memories of Family and Love reside.

If I close my eyes, I am transported once again

to a Time and Place all too familiar –
for I'm a frequent visitor
that is embraced in Welcome by my memories.

My visits are more frequent and

prolonged with each passing year. 
The simple pleasures of Hearth and Home –
strong lures.

 My memories – the unbreakable bonds of Homecoming.

REMINISCING A DISTANT DREAM

                                      [PHOTO SOURCE:  GOOGLE online images]

Submitted by:   Dorothy Hazel Tarr.

(I wrote this on 12 Sep 2011, a day just so full of thoughts about WHAT WAS, WHAT I HAVE NOW, and WHAT THERE COULD HAVE BEEN.  Now, who among you can say you have NEVER traveled down the PATH of — Could-a, Would-a, Should-a !)  [dht-2011

How innocent and hopeful my bosom –

Overflowing to Love's Waltz.

Rescued moments caught in Heart's Webb –

Blurred now by Time's Hand.

As the years drop away –

Just once more to savor Youth's Day.

Never more the flicker of Youth's pleasure –

Or taste of Youth's hopeful zeal.

Long past – Now –

Just Reminiscing a Distant Dream – AGAIN!

[dht-2011]

JUST DOWN THE ROAD OF LIFE

(I wrote this today, 1 Sep 2011, thinking about how the seemingly
IMPORTANT things and events in my Life, were but a faded memory
that only came to Call when a song, sound, smell, or visual brought
it to the Fore.)

*** JUST DOWN THE ROAD OF LIFE ***

"As I Travel farther Down the Road of Life, the view in the rear view
mirror takes on a different perspective.   What seemed a major event
at the Time, now seems but a 'bump in the road'!   I am what I am
Today, because of all the 'bumps' that challenged my Mind, Heart,
and Patience!"

{SPECIAL NOTE: Be careful what you ask for or pray for,
because if you PRAY for patience, in my experience you may
most definitely get more 'trials' and 'bumps' to weather,
to Test your Patience (and thereby give you more Practice).
Practice makes perfect - Practice makes Patience.
(AND, more Practice means you will get better at what
you strive for or pray for!!!) } !!! [dht-2011]



[Photo Source: National Geographic online images - Bodie, CA]

[Location Info for Bodie, CA, you can use this link
http://www.google.com/ to do an internet search for Bodie, CA ]

BY WHAT NAME -- TRUTH

*** BY WHAT NAME -- TRUTH ***

(On 30 Aug 2011 — Just thinking about the many perceptions that exist within my logic and Heart; then thinking about the many perceptions of others through Time and the Ages. What is absolute for one in a Time, can be known by a different name by another. "Truth" is but a myth transported by Time and borne on the 'wings' of Eternity.)  
[dht-2011]  


Truth — is as old as God —
His Twin identity
And will endure as long as He
A Co-Eternity —

And perish on the Day
Himself is borne away
From Mansion of the Universe
A lifeless Deity.
[~Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, #836]

"Yet, Truth and God exist on a different 'Plane',
Whence Time and Nature portent."
[~ dht-2011, DNA Cousin of Emily Elizabeth Dickinson]

(SPECIAL NOTE:  Emily Elizabeth Dickinson is my DNA Maternal Cousin)

WITHERED DREAMS

(I wrote this, 27 Aug 2011, thinking about the end of Summer and the withering blooms in the garden, some going dormant 'til Spring's awakening, while others gone forever more, lost to Winter's regret. [dht-2011])

*** WITHERED DREAMS ***

Sober Dreams shrouded in regrets still haunt,
with ever increasing frequency,
Transported "Home" in an enduring vision –
quietly sweeping and weeping
through the passageways of my mind.

When the "Fantasy of my Love"
turns to me with a smile,
I see through the haze of my slumber,
Spring's visage of Love's Tender Care.

OH -- for a portal through which one can return,
to a Time long passed and recoup innocence lost,
to revive a Dreamer's Fantasy long ago withered.

Yet tis ever naught, after all,
but a Dreamer's Tisane, a haunting illusion.

Naught but a Withered Dream.
[dht-2011]

                                     [PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

After the Storm – Come the Tears

(I wrote this, 10 Aug 2011, thinking of the many losses in our life—Loss of youth, health, money, safety, privilege, prestige, respect, honors, LOVE, spouses, children, and family -- as a special tribute to those in my circle who feel their loss so keenly.)


*** AFTER THE STORM – COME THE TEARS ***

The poetical world is as a lyrical preface to Life's SCRIPT,
where light illuminates the STAGE,
with a jewel-like iridescence,
flickering over the richly embroidered PLAY.

A sadness imbues the atmosphere
with a sense of time and space,
whispering of generations past and lost
and PREVIEWS of generations to come.

The PLAY rages in a tempest at Life's Zenith,
as the Storms of Life forge a Path,
leaving behind loss of Love and Hearth in their wake.

As of a sudden, the Storm passes
and the Tears fall as gentle rain upon the SET.
After the Storm – come the tears.

[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

Frolic and Tittering Waif-Flies

(I wrote this, 4 Aug 2011, as the close of a beautiful day drew neigh, thinking of all the butterflies in the garden that were done with their busy day, and were seeking their rest and maybe some storytelling with their neighbors -- purely fantasy of course.  ‎"... as falling leaves absent tree boughs ... "; this is a poet's way of saying leaves are falling. Takes a bit more thought and attention to "wordsmithing".  With that phrase, I FIRST wrote it in plain English -- "as the leaves fell off the tree branches". THEN, I wordsmith'd it so it would sound more FEY and OLD ENGLISH! (chuckles) Hope you liked it!  IT WAS FUN -- like doing SCRABBLE!   By the way, "WAIF-FLIES" is a name I made up, because I thought "butterflys" JUST DID NOT DO IT for the tale.)



*** FROLIC AND TITTERING WAIF-FLIES ***

There was a certain warm lavender peace
in the Dawn shadows,
from whence a Fey Dreamer watched unobserved,
as Waif-Flies frolicked
on soft breezes.

Time's gentle hands,  pause Future's Passage for the nonce,
while the Fey Dreamer eavesdrops
on Their discreet Titterings
in an Auburn Wonderland
enshrined in Autumn's embrace.

Reality's illusions drop away
as falling leaves absent tree boughs,
as secrets are revealed
to Whimsey's delight.

[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: Google online images]

Just A Candle's Aura

(I wrote this, 15 Jul 2011, thinking about how bright Future's venue from my youth's portal.  The visions of hope from my girlhood, were tarnessed and faded by the reality of Life with all its challenges, disappointments, and distractions.  Now, in the winter years, the bright aura of my youth does not burn as blue a hue.)

There gathered a sense of sharp anticipation
as I stepped through Folly's Door,
to find Future's Embrace.

The brilliant Aura of Youth,
now harnessed by Life's Distractions
and Time's Passage -- fades
until No More.

The Ending of the Day,
has mellowed to a fine Hue,
the sharpness of a stormy Passage.

There a momentary madness
burning high in Youth's Abode,
Now extinguished in Elder Days
of unrealized Wishes, Hopes, and Dreams.

The moment –
Nothing more remains --
Just A Candle's Aura!

[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

WHERE ONLY SHADOWS DANCE

(I wrote this, 13 Jul 2011, in a gray frame of mind, all too frequently occurring.  The "good times" in my life so far removed and their memory fading, seemed to go by too quickly.  Only now as I re-play those favorites,  do I feel I was not prepared to savor the precious few bright and clear moments. With misty eyes and wet checks, I try to recall happier times, despairing at the barriers that the 'bad times" cloud with melancholy.  SPECIAL NOTE --  My own writing offerings, I call " The Unrhyme Prose Poem Style". It is often serious, whimsical, thoughtful, fanciful, full of shadows and light, and of course Nature (birdies, flowers, and such). 

"Which of us, in his ambitious moments, has not dreamed of the miracle of a poetic prose, musical, without rhyme and without rhythm, supple enough and rugged enough to adapt itself to the lyrical impulses of the soul, the undulations of the psyche, the prickings of consciousness?”
[~ Little Poems in Prose, Charles Baudelaire])


The days at times are shrouded 
in unremitting shades of gray.

Dark shadows obscure
the corners of my life.

MELANCHOLY is as a shroud
that allows only gray scales of color –
NEVER the rainbow
rues of LOVE, JOY, HOPE, BELONGING...

The edges of memories blur –
their shape and texture mute –
with a blink of the mind's eye –
they recede.

How strange it seems
they happened Just As Quick
in their Time.

Now replaying those moments
over-and-over,
thoughts drift through Barriers
 NOT even Time's Gate Keeper can Deny.

The vast darkness
 so dense at times, 
the light cannot invade the Expanse
WHERE ONLY SHADOWS DANCE!

[~dht-2011]


[PHOTO SOURCE:  GOOGLE online images]

DREAMING – Soap Bubbles

(I wrote this today, 3 Jul 2011,  as I was thinking some introspective thoughts about life, time, and circumstance and the soap bubble seemed the perfect symbol to 'pair' them with. And, my Kindred Spirit "C" contributed this thought --  I just love these photos, so light and airy like thoughts that come and go.)

*** DREAMING  –  Soap Bubbles ***

WHERE has the time gone? How fast the years have come and gone!

The PRESENT has no more substance than SOAP BUBBLES blown from a soap bubbler (and as in this PIX).

TOMORROW is a dream, a promise, a hope for the nether.

I believed in my DREAM (fool that I am) and my heart sang with HAPPY thoughts.

Now, shadows intrude where the joy and sunlight have withdrawn.

Sometimes life takes a different course than what we plan or expect.

YES, I had been a DREAMER, full of hope and plans. NOW, such dreams are faded, never to be realized, and only live as wispy thoughts that float on the air as soap bubbles, and then burst.

In my mind, pictures flash of days long passed and flow over me in quick waves (NOT in any sequence of time).

I wish at times (all the time really) for a second chance with all I have learned--to turn back the clock, and ...

I cling to the GOOD pictures and try to push away the BAD pictures--but it seems they are one and the same.

HOW does that ole saying go? "You have to take the GOOD with the BAD." (or something like that)

SO, the soap bubbles drift -- each capturing a moment of time in my life, each a good and bad 'picture' of a time in my life.

Soap bubbles as transient as my next breath!
[dht-2011]
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ALSO see YouTube video ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMengiVFlBg&feature=share

[PHOTO SOURCE: Google online images]

THE CHANGING SEASONS

                              [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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The changing seasons

mark the passage of time

on NATURE's Landscape,

even as the lines on my cheeks

mark the hourglass

of my life's journey.

[dht-2011]

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NATURE'S HOURGLASS

                         [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]
                         (Weathered clothes pins on clothes line in an outdoor setting)

SOME OF MY WORDS

Our middle years are the best of times and proffer a chance to take 'stock' of where we have been and where we want to go. Down the road of tomorrow, the ravages of age will line the face and make us frail. However, these are but layers of time cocooning the child that lives in happy wonderment of making it to another birthday. [~dht-2011]


Each year is a special gift that you can hold and put into your Heart's Treasure Chest nestled with all the treasures and memories of yesterday. [~dht-2011]

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SOME WORDS OF OTHERS


"I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth." [~Jonathan Swift]

Old Time, that greatest and longest established spinner of all!.... his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his hands are mutes. [~Charles Dickens]

A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time. [~Oliver W. Holmes, Sr.]

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. [~Ogden Nash]

They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body. [~Author Unknown]

The other day a man asked me what I thought was the best time of life. "Why," I answered without a thought, "now." [~David Grayson]

Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. [~Author Unknown]

Father Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour. With such people, the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life. [~Charles Dickens]

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. [~Mark Twain]

It's important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle. [Author Unknown]

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. [~Samuel Ullman]

There is always a lot to be thankful for, if you take the time to look. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. [~Author Unknown]

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. [~Bob Hope]

The years teach much which the days never knew. [~Ralph Waldo Emerson]

In youth the days are short and the years are long; in old age the years are short and the days long. [~Nikita Ivanovich Panin]

A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. [~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. [~John Barrymore]

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart. [~Caryn Leschen]

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age. [~Victor Hugo]

Years ago, we discovered the exact point, the dead center of middle age. It occurs when you are too young to take up golf and too old to rush to the net. [~Franklin Adams]

Everyone is the age of their heart. [~Guatemalan Proverb]

Youth is a disease from which we all recover. [~Dorothy Fulheim]

There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going. [~J.B. Priestly]

I still have a full deck; I just shuffle slower now. [~Author Unknown]

To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. [~Oliver Wendell Holmes]

Age is a high price to pay for maturity. [~Tom Stoppard]

The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible. [~Judith Regan]

The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity. [~Mark Twain]

The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion. [~Doris Lessing]

There is still no cure for the common birthday. [~John Glenn]

Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. [~Martin Buxbaum]

You can't hide your true colours as you approach the autumn of your life. [~Author Unknown]

I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates. [~T.S. Eliot]

Whatever poet, orator, or sage may say of it, old age is still old age. [~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]

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