No.21

YOSEMITE VALLEY, YELLOWSTONE PARK

Albert Bierstadt

1830-1902

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THOUGHTS BY A SECLUDED POND

Brenda Quin

Would that I were young

again, and able to seize 

and capture the passing years, 

slow them in their 

race with time.

If I were young again and

had the gift of words that

once came easily. Words and 

time to share my stories,

perhaps, my hopes and my 

desires.

Time to rest upon the mossy 

bank, above the small secluded

pond. A place of peace

and beauty, the sunlight

filtering through the trees above,

the pond so still, no ripples 

disturb its surface.

But time passes in a flash, and

all we have is now, and

all tomorrows soon become 

today.

If I were young again, could

I make the past years ones 

of laughter, love and continuity,

without the present knowing?

If I were young again.

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Something a bit different

Activists demonstrating against the planned clear-cutting of trees at the Berkeley Campus of California University on July 18, 2015. 

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Three poems by Thomas Hardy

IN THE ROOM OF THE BRIDE-ELECT

'Would it had been the man of our wish!'
Sighs her mother. To whom with vehemence she
In the wedding-dress -- the wife to be --
'Then why were you so mollyish
As not to insist on him for me!'
The mother, amazed: 'Why, dearest one,
Because you pleaded for this or none!'
'But Father and you should have stood out strong!
Since then, to my cost, I have lived to find
That you were right and that I was wrong;
This man is a dolt to the one declined....
Ah! -- here he comes with his button-hole rose.
Good God -- I must marry him I suppose!'

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THE NIGHT OF THE DANCE


The cold moon hangs to the sky by its horn,
And centres its gaze on me;
The stars, like eyes in reverie,
Their westering as for a while forborne,
Quiz downward curiously.

Old Robert draws the backbrand in,
The green logs steam and spit;
The half-awakened sparrows flit
From the riddled thatch; and owls begin
To whoo from the gable-slit.

Yes; far and nigh things seem to know
Sweet scenes are impending here;
That all is prepared; that the hour is near
For welcomes, fellowships, and flow
Of sally, song, and cheer;

That spigots are pulled and viols strung;
That soon will arise the sound
Of measures trod to tunes renowned;
That She will return in Love's low tongue
My vows as we wheel around.

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THE OPPORTUNITY

Forty springs back, I recall,
We met at this phase of the Maytime:
We might have clung close through all,
But we parted when died that daytime.

We parted with smallest regret;
Perhaps should have cared but slightly,
Just then, if we never had met:
Strange, strange that we lived so lightly!

Had we mused a little space
At that critical date in the Maytime,
One life had been ours, one place,
Perhaps, till our long cold daytime.

- This is a bitter thing
For thee, O man: what ails it?
The tide of chance may bring
Its offer; but nought avails it!

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DELICIOUS SOLITUDE
1909
Frank Bramley
1857-1915

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Thinking about friends 

A good friend is like a four-leaf clover; hard to find and lucky to have. Irish Proverb

A best friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future and accepts you for the way you are today. Unknown

We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk. Thomas Moore

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A photograph and some verses of poetry

On such a day each road is planned 

To lead to some enchanted land; 

Each turning meets expectancy. 

The signs I read on every hand. 

I know by autumn's wizardry 

On such a day the world can be 

Only a great glad dream for me!

- Eleanor Myers Jewett

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A SEA VIEW OF CLIFFS
Guy Rose
1867-1925

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