When I’m trapped inside my head

I wonder at the possibility

That I might be the monster

Hiding beneath my bed

Reaching out in the midnight dark

To grab my vulnerable ankles

As they dangle thoughtlessly

Pulling myself deeper

Into the gravity well that is me

Lost,  deaf,  and blind

Unable to see

Waiting to wake at the dawn

in the silence
we can hear our voices
rambling along the dirt roads of our mind
rattling and making endless noises
wondering about this and that
about him and her and them
drifting from thought to thought
like a person laying in the grass
picking out clouds overhead
on a bright and sunny summer day
drifting in and out of sleep
while listening to the sounds of crickets
and the humming buzz of bees
as they wander near to see if you are a flower
and perhaps you are
but not the right kind
and so they move on
as peace begins to pervade
the conflict of your life
causing you to wonder
when did we stop the car
and step out to stretch ourselves
flat on the accepting earth
and why oh why
do we never want to get up again

They say

The first explosion is nothing;

Designed to bring people near,

To attract a crowd;

It’s the second explosion

That wreaks devastation

And creates wreckage in the lives

Of all who wandered close

In the quiet empty dark

Of the night time bedroom

There is the comforting breathing

Of the other asleep nearby

And my mind full of noise

Wishing to spill into this black void

To fill it that it might not echo so;

That it might not feel so hollow

Like a carved pumpkin

Mimicking life to onlookers

Horrified and rapt

Unable to look away

Kudos to the people of Portage-Lisgar who drove voter turnout to an impressive 67.96 percent compared to the dismal 66.2 percent in 2021.

Incumbant Brenden Leslie won 69.5 percent of the vote compared to previous incumbant Candice Bergen who won 52.5 percent of the vote in 2021.

The following states are for the 2025 election: Liberal candidate Robert Kreis received 22.7 percent of the vote; NDP candidate Lisa Tessier received 4.4 percent of the vote; PPC candidate Kevin Larson received 2.1 percent of the vote; and Green candidate Janine Gibson received 1.3 percent of the vote.

For the sake of comparison in the 2021 election: PPC candidate received 21.6 percent of the vote; NDP candidate received 13.4 percent of the vote; Liberal candidate received 11 percent of the vote; and CHP candidate received 1.6 percent of the vote.

Interesting note – if everyone who voted Liberal, Green and NDP in the 2021 election in Portage-Lisgar voted Liberal in the 2025 election the vote share would have been 24.4 – 4 percent less than the combined Liberal/NDP percentage of 28.4 percent in 2025 suggesting increased ingagement on the part of left leaning voters in Portage-Lisgar in this recent election.

Note: All stats from Elections Canada website.

It is said

Seeing is believing

But

Did you know

That sometimes

Believing is seeing?

Beware the dreams

Manufactured in the heart

A deficit from the start

A darkened cloth

Pulled across the eyes

Blinding you to art

And all good things

Life offers…

Shed such lies

As a snake sheds skin

Arise new, – fresh without

And within

Wherever I look

There is green

In the pine needles

Out the window

Bordered by rain grey sky

In the fractal fern

And the climbing plants

Scattered throughout the house

Signs that life wants life

And growth seeks growth

We yearn for the world

Outside ourselves

As warriors against chaos

For a time

A lesson that

Entropy can be fought

And nothing is inevitable

today we celebrate life –
l’chaim!
we come together to say
look – we made it this far
which says something
about existence
but more about us,
that we will stare
into the face of
this statistically empty universe
screaming
we are here
against all odds!

I see 1984 in light

Standing beautiful

Before the day

Always and in every way

A song in gold and summer

A season unto herself

Fresh as birdsong at sunrise

Like the scent of passing rain

A lyric,  a chorus, and the refrain

Victorian children

Pressed garden-found faeries

Into the nicest books

Of heavy brown leather

And thick bound vellum

To preserve their beauty

Lest it face with age

And glorious long life;

What an honour

To be crushed

For love and longing