house of reeds
where plovers sleep
plastered with crap
Kobayashi Issa
I was going to write something all esoteric and languid about how the reeds were reflected in the lake and the sky simultaneously and was looking up some haiku to accomplish this feat, when this poem by Issa came flying up through the centuries and plopped itself on the page.
Or should I say, pooped itself on the page.
I’m sure Issa is having a good laugh.
Yes, there is a light side to things, and a dark side to things, and that is why we laugh. To get us through it all. What if we never laughed? How depressing would that be? So if you are depressed, please, start laughing right now, and it will kick start the happy chemicals in your brain.
I thought of The Deep Friar and his meditative posters. That is what got me going on all of this. Friar is very funny and I’m sure they will soon promote him to Section Humor Head at the Widget Factory. Satire is the name of his game. And isn’t satire a little dark? But it is oh so tasty and honest.
And I was thinking of Bob Younce, author of The Writing Journey, when I wrote this. Because he wrote an excellent piece on How Life in Unfair. And it is. Even when we want it to be.
But if life didn’t have this dark side, how could we know the light side?
So I quit smoking today. And it is Beltane. Day of renewal. And this is as good as time as ever. I like symbolism, and surely you get it. I will now be renewing my dark lungs.
I told my friend, Amy Derby, over at Write at Home, ’cause she has been through it all, and I’m sure she will be supportive. It all really started with her, and the synchronicity of quitting smoking couldn’t have been better. Thanks Amy!
And because I’m a bad liar? You will know if I smoke again.
My daughter and I broke the cigs over the trash can – symbolically breaking their strength over me. The same gesture I went through with my son 10 years ago.
And If my husband, Mike, is reading this – I know he will be proud.
My friend, Brett Legree, over at 6 Weeks says, “Fail Early, and Fail Often.”
So never quit quitting.
Photocredit: © Ellen Wilson