Charley on the Edge

Charley sits on the edge
One paw away from the fall
She sits easily, never tense
Not a care at all

Charley likes the edge
With the heat of the sun at its peak
She likes the view, the air
Nothing more to seek

Charley watches the birds
In the tree just feet away
On the edge, she’s as carefree
And wild as they

Charley sees the dogs below
On leashes she’s always shunned
Tied to people, to being good
Something she’s never done

Charley lives by her own rules
Makes it up as she goes
Confident of the way she is
And of the love she knows

Charley dreams of sailing
Across the sky and the sea
She loves the edge, for here
She’s as free as she’ll ever be

I see her there and wish
I were small enough to sit
Beside her on the edge
Just one more aging misfit

- Peggy Radcliffe

Stealing Light

This Chollo Cactus reflects
sunlight so elegantly
it appears to be illuminant.
It is as if this cactus
rivals the sun's power
producing its own light.
But it is desert trickery.
The Chollo steals sunlight
from that source of plenty
and offers it to us,
who have so little
illumination of our own.

- Photo & words by Rich Seeley

Wild Life Around The Home

Too many treadmill stints
left me with shin splints.

Couldn’t walk at the zoo.
Didn’t know what to do.

Confined with my Coolpix
in this apartment complex.

Dreamed of photographing lions,
a wolf or bear I might spy on.

But in this suburban bog
nothing but humans walking dogs.

Photo safari falling flat
can’t even find a cat.

Dullsville up to the gizzard
then I spot this little lizard.

But as I point the camera
lizard makes like a chimera

Before I even focus
he goes hocus pocus.

My finger on the shutter falls,
producing close up of stucco walls.

Reptiles may make some queasy
but photographing them ain’t easy.

So I revert to subjects inanimate
but I missed that lizard damn it.

It’s no use, photo shoot done.
Suddnely lizard comes out to sun.

Around the garden he is nosing
then stays still, almost posing.

He lets me focus, click bam, bam.
This lizard turns out to be a ham.

So despite my home bound strife
I’ve photographed some wild life.




- Rhymes and photo by Rich Seeley

Our Mormon Neighbors

Photo by Rich Seeley

O Give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Psalms 118:1

We live upstairs from an apartment occupied by young Mormon missionaries.

I have to admit that at 62, I am incredulous that some twenty-something is wearing a badge that identifies him as an "Elder."

The Mormon missionaries turn over every few months. One new group once asked me if I had been proselytized by former groups.

I said I am a confirmed Lutheran, hence all the beer you see me bringing upstairs.

This is bad fudging on my part. I have not been in a Lutheran Church in at least two decades.

Since 1969 I have been hanging with Hindus and Buddhists.

Is there such a thing as a Zen Lutheran?

I have no idea.

My beliefs or concepts merge Hindu, Buddhist and Christian teachings.

I am dangerously New Age.

An Irish Catholic friend believes I am a closet Catholic because I read Thomas Merton.

Oh well.

The point is I am not a missionary field for the Mormons.

When backed against a wall, I will throw in my lot with that ill-tempered borderline alcoholic egomaniac Martin Luther as opposed to whatever and whoever the Morons have to offer.

However.

I want to say something good about these Mormon missionary kids.

These Mormon kids downstairs are the best neighbors we've ever had.

They do not get rowdy and play loud music after 10 p.m. The police and paramedics don't visit them on a regular basis. They are polite and are not dealing drugs.

They do whatever they do to bring the good news of Mormonism to the great unwashed of Palm Springs, California.

The photo above shows some kind of giant stuffed animal that the Mormon missionaries have placed on their patio.

If you are not a Mormon, if you have ill-feelings about them from some childhood or adult experience, you will not love what I have to say.

I don't know where they got this giant stuffed animal, but it gave me the subject for the best photograph I have made in a long time.

Another Way To See God

“Someone long ago said that God is not a boss or a judge, that God is a purpose, and I try to live by this. My purpose was to show up and offer myself to people who were having a hard time … we should try to stay on God’s good side. It’s not hard. God has extremely low standards. Pray, take care of people, be actively grateful for your blessings, give away your money – you’re cool.” – Anne LaMott

Hello Cloud!

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen teacher, tells this story of the life of a cloud in his book, no death, no fear.

He follows the cloud as it forms through the heat of the sun on water in oceans, rivers and lakes.

The cloud floats through the sky and you see it. You say: "There is a cloud."

Eventually, the cloud comes back to earth as rain. It waters the grass in a meadow. A cow eats the grass.

The cow's milk is made into ice cream. You buy an ice cream cone and as you take your first bite, you say: "Hello cloud!"

Photo by Peggy Radcliffe

Happy Birthday Buddha!

As if reflecting on the past couple millennia, the Buddha said: "Events happen, deeds are done but there is no doer thereof."

The Answer to Why Is Because

Buddha under blank canvas,
everything that never was.

Fears about "might happen"
leading lives misshapen.

Angers over justification
forcing joy's suffocation.

We're right, they're wrong
singing a very tired song.

Events happen, deeds done,
nothing new under the sun.

-- rhymes with photo by Rich Seeley