Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 6

Ages

I am not the man I used to be not in any sense I have been rebuilt a half dozen times sloughing off my past for a new shell Top to toe each atom each molecule has been replaced like parts under warranty I raise my refurbished hand to shade my eyes and sunlight fires […]

Pathways

I have walked From land to land and star to star I have walked Through lifetimes and histories unwritten I have walked Learning living loving leaving One place one life one breathless moment For the next I have walked Though not alone For with each step each thought each dream-built notion Through crepe-hung heartaches and […]

Angle of Incidence

This week, we decided to go to WinCo on Wednesday, because, I mean, who goes to the grocery on a Wednesday afternoon? It had not been a great week—work had been a pain, our joints were aching—but our vacation was to begin on Friday afternoon, and we didn’t want to start the vacation with an […]

Garden Party

sumac, feathered fronds waving, hear it first autumn’s gentle rapping on the garden gate put on parti-colored togs to greet the arrival nearby maples eavesdrop on the reunion catch half the meaning but all the sense of joy don festive gloves on five-fingered leaves sweetgum and dogwood wake with a start having overslept in summer’s […]

T-Minus 200 Days and Counting

I’ve been working full-time since 1980 and in that time only once have I had a three-week vacation. Like most workers my age, when I started working full-time, my time-off allowance (if I had any) would only cover sick days for the occasional cold or flu. Later, as I developed my career, I accrued enough […]

The Introvert’s Calendar

Bless me, Reader. It's been three weeks since my last post. Why? Because my calendar broke.

The Persistence of Music

Walking my garden paths fingers inspecting leaves snips cutting spent blossoms I hum a tune born four centuries past across continents and seas I wonder if the author as he wove his tapestry of notes and voices imagined his music would live beyond his life persist through time as empires rose and fell I wonder […]

Notes for the New Student

do not put vowels in the dishwasher as they are made of air and intention and will likely melt consonants are built of sturdier stuff and may go in the upper rack punctuation is best stored in the garage with nuts and bolts and other fasteners words once crafted may be machine-washed and tumble-dried on […]

The Non-Event

This weekend is a milestone for us, my wife and me. It’s our 40th wedding anniversary. We’ve learned a few things over these four decades, but the most important lesson has been “How to Communicate.” Case in point: Last night I delivered a critique based on bad information. I’d misunderstood something my wife had said, […]

It’s Broke

it’s broke, so broke I wake and feel each day’s harsh edge broke like torn tin sharp and hungry unforgiving why so angry? so harsh, so cruel as if people weren’t people as if kindness had no value we want we want it’s all we know we take we take it’s all we do our […]