Lagniappe

The Magnificent Leon Bridges singing 'River'

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My favorite new artist, Leon Bridges...

RIVER

Been traveling these wide roads for so long

My heart’s been far from you
Ten-thousand miles gone

Oh, I wanna come near and give ya
Every part of me
But there's blood on my hands
And my lips aren’t clean

In my darkness I remember
Momma’s words reoccur to me
"Surrender to the good Lord
And he’ll wipe your slate clean"

Take me to your river
I wanna go
Oh, go on
Take me to your river
I wanna know

Tip me in your smooth waters
I go in
As a man with many crimes
Come up for air
As my sins flow down the Jordan

Oh, I wanna come near and give ya
Every part of me
But there's blood on my hands
And my lips aren’t clean

Take me to your river
I wanna go
Go on,
Take me to your river
I wanna know

I wanna go, wanna go, wanna go
I wanna know, wanna know, wanna know
Wanna go, wanna go, wanna go
Wanna know, wanna know, wanna know
Wanna go, wanna go, wanna go
Wanna know, wanna know, wanna know

Take me to your river
I wanna go
Lord, please let me know
Take me to your river
I wanna know

Songwriters: Austin Jenkins / Chris Vivion / Joshua Block / Todd Michael Bridges

Everything Good Between Men and Women by C. D. Wright

Or what if "1984" by George Orwell was not fiction?

 My favorite Oscar Wilde quote.

~ × ~ × ~ × ~

Everything good between men and women

has been written in mud and butter
and barbecue sauce. The walls and
the floors used to be gorgeous.
The socks off-white and a near match.
The quince with fire blight
but we get two pints of jelly
in the end. Long walks strengthen
the back. You with a fever blister
and myself with a sty. Eyes
have we and we are forever prey
to each other's teeth. The torrents
go over us. Thunder has not harmed
anyone we know. The river coursing
through us is dirty and deep. The left
hand protects the rhythm. Watch
your head. No fires should be
unattended. Especially when wind. Each
receives a free swiss army knife.
The first few tongues are clearly
preparatory. The impression
made by yours I carry to my grave. It is
just so sad so creepy so beautiful.
Bless it. We have so little time
to learn, so much... The river
courses dirty and deep. Cover the lettuce.
Call it a night. O soul. Flow on. Instead.

~C. D. Wright

There is a Pain So Utter - Emily Dickinson

Two weeks post surgery.  Staples removed later that day. Ouch!

There is a pain -- so utter -- by Emily Dickinson

There is a pain -- so utter --
It swallows substance up --
Then covers the Abyss with Trance --
So Memory can step
Around -- across -- upon it --
As one within a Swoon --
Goes safely -- where an open eye --
Would drop Him -- Bone by Bone.

~×~×~×~×~×~

I'm hobbling without the walker, but with a cane.  It feels like there's an iron fence post implanted in my leg.  Trying to bend it is excruciatingly painful and feels impossible.  No pain, no gain is what they say in physical therapy.  It's very hard to cause yourself pain on purpose...almost impossible, but necessary to progress.  I get highly nauseated every time I do my exercises or walk.  This experience hurts worse than childbirth...

Please pray for me & my family.  We desperately need healing... God Bless.  ~Marion

Surgery is Exhausting!

New knee!

Looks exactly like I fell into the swamp and a gator tried to eat me starting at my left knee.  25 staples.  Trust me, you do not want to see that bloody, swollen, red, bruised mess.   No freaking pain management to speak of.  Don't get me started.  I've had a dozen surgeries in my life and NEVER suffered the way I did after this surgery.  Had it done one day, home the next after hobbling 120 feet down the hall using a walker.  Fighting a fever now, but low grade.  (This is the abbreviated version, minus profanities...)

Hope all is well with y'all.  I do not recommend this surgery unless you 're next to crippled, which I was. 

Later, gators.  ~Hop Along Marion & Trigger, my walker.  xoxo

Oh, yeah, my knee feels like it's the size of my head.

Preparing for a New Knee

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Budda admiring his pink Zinnia.

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I love Zinnias, easily grown from seed.

Reading a favorite author, Flannery O'Connor.

For weeks, red wove itself into my life:  leaves, flowers, cardinals, Mars, the moon, a red apple in the middle of an empty parking lot, a red balloon, red cars, red... Renewed desire... 

Red leaf in July?  Unheard of!  Or a sign...

~×~×~×~×~

I'll be out of commission for a while because I'm getting a total left knee replacement next week, thank God.  The pain is unbearable, so it's time.  

The state of pain management in Louisiana is now a big joke, so I'm more than a little frightened of more needless suffering.  If you suffer from chronic pain, you're just fucked, to put it simply.  After I recover, a new left hip to match will be next and then I'll be dancing on tables again!  

I will accept all prayers/good thoughts sent my way.  Thank you all...

xo,

Marion

"You don’t know pain until you’re staring at yourself in the mirror with tears streaming down your face and you’re begging yourself to just hold on and be strong."

Anonymous

"Chronic pain shatters productive lives. Chronic pain almost always is accompanied by depression, anxiety, frustration, fatigue, isolation, and lowered self-esteem."     

Jed Diamond

Rid of Me by P. J. Harvey

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Hottest female rock star on earth...

Rid of Me
By Polly Jean Harvey

Tie yourself to me
No one else, no
You're not rid of me
You're not rid of me

Night and day I breathe
Hah hah ay hey

You're not rid of me
Yeah you're not rid of me
Yeah you're not rid of me
Yeah you're not rid of me

I beg you my darling
Don't leave me
I'm hurting
Lick my legs I'm on fire
Lick my legs of desire

I'll tie your legs
Keep you against my chest
Oh you're not rid of me
Yeah you're not rid of me
I'll make you lick my injuries
I'm gonna twist your head off, see

'Til you say don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her

I beg you my darling
Don't leave me
I'm hurting
I've been lonely
Above everything
Above every day
I'm hurting

Lick my legs I'm on fire
Lick my legs of desire
Lick my legs I'm on fire
Lick my legs of desire

Yeah you're not rid of me
Yeah you're not rid of me
I'll make you lick my injuries
I'm gonna twist your head off, see

Till you say don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Don't you don't you wish you never never met her
Lick my legs I'm on fire
Lick my legs of desire
Lick my legs I'm on fire
Lick my legs of desire

Songwriters: Polly Harvey

Sound of Silence By Disturbed

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

Fools, said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence

Songwriters: Paul Simon

How It Adds Up by Tony Hoagland

I planted, grew, &  photographed this long stem red Rose.

I planted, nurtured, photographed this fragrant red Rose.

I planted the seed, watered & fertilized it, then photographed this magnificent red Dinner Plate Hibiscus.

~×~×~×~×~

How It Adds Up

BY TONY HOAGLAND

There was the day we swam in a river, a lake, and an ocean.   

And the day I quit the job my father got me.   

And the day I stood outside a door,   

and listened to my girlfriend making love   

to someone obviously not me, inside,   

and I felt strange because I didn’t care.   

There was the morning I was born,   

and the year I was a loser,   

and the night I was the winner of the prize   

for which the audience applauded.   

Then there was someone else I met,   

whose face and voice I can’t forget,   

and the memory of her   

is like a jail I’m trapped inside,   

or maybe she is something I just use   

                                       to hold my real life at a distance.

Happiness, Joe says, is a wild red flower   

                      plucked from a river of lava   

and held aloft on a tightrope   

                      strung between two scrawny trees   

above a canyon   

                      in a manic-depressive windstorm.

Don’t drop it, Don’t drop it, Don’t drop it—,   

And when you do, you will keep looking for it   

everywhere, for years,   

while right behind you,   

the footprints you are leaving   

will look like notes   

                                          of a crazy song.

“How It Adds Up” copyright © 2003 by Tony Hoagland. Reprinted from What Narcissism Means to Me.

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Y'all, It is steaming HOT here in the Louisiana swamps!  It has been over 100 degrees for a week.  I'm used to it, but it's like childbirth:  you forget the pain until the next labor comes along.  Stay cool and read lots of poetry!  Thanks for stopping by.  I appreciate you all.

xo,
Marion

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"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." ~ Albert Camus

~×~×~×~x

"Being that rare sort of old girl that she receives Good to her arms without a hint that it might be Better and catches light from any little spot of darkness near her." ~Charles Dickens, "Bleak House"





 ~×~×~×~x

"I think you are wrong to want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have a heart." ~L. Frank Baum, "The Wizard of Oz"

"I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world." ~L. Frank Baum, "The Wizard of Oz"

~×~×~×~×~

"Whatever you are physically...male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy--all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.

Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)

The Road Not Taken

Candy Rose in her new hippie jean skirt reading "Gone With the Wind".

The Road Not Taken 

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.