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Saturday, November 07, 2020

Happy Birthday, James Lee Jobe!

 

 
James Lee Jobe
—Poetry by James Lee Jobe, Davis, CA
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of James Lee Jobe



The fat candle fizzled out in the hot wax just as the fresh sunrise began to color the morning sky. Timing is an interesting thing, isn’t it? The length of a coincidence. How does one measure things that are random? James, you old white-beard, all night you sat in that chair and now it is time to get up and greet yet another day of living. What time is it? The same time as always: now.

 
 
 

 
 
You can struggle endlessly for perfection, but what you achieve is a perfectly endless struggle. As I tell you this, it is a perfectly glorious summer morning. 
 




 

Dew on the grass in the warm morning sun.
Mount Diablo, tall in the gray distance.
Summer.

Singing while I walk. 
 
 
 

 

When you can love yourself as you are, it becomes easier to love the others who are around you, and when you learn how to forgive yourself, you also know how to forgive others. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand in hand.


There are moments, not days, just moments, when I can forgive myself and love myself, and in those moments I am whole, complete, and not the mere shell of a man who has loved a son and buried him. 
 


But the moments pass.
 
 
 

 
 
It’s not too late for joy. 

The dust of the afternoon has room to spare 

and then some. 

The shallows of a human heart make for easy wading, 

it feels good on the feet. 

Open the door, 

take to the cracks of the broken pavement. 

It’s not too late to break free. 

Everything that makes a life golden 
is already in your possession. 

It’s not too late to find your own true north. 

It’s not too late for joy. 

Start right now.   


__________________


Today’s LittleNip:

The lone hunter stalking the lone deer. Just past sunrise. The sound of a footstep snapping a twig.


—James Lee Jobe

__________________

—Medusa, thanking James Lee Jobe for today's post, and wishing him many happy returns!




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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