December 11, 2021

 

 A POEM 

There are some poems
that slip into our brains
without our noticing them.
 
But not too many – a poem
or two by Elizabeth Bishop –
or by Langston Hughes.
 
We read them a second time.
We go back to them. Then we
close our eyes and say, “Yeah!”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   11,  2021 

Thought for the Day

 

“Unless we read poetry, we’ll never have our hearts broken by language, which is an indispensable preliminary to a civilized life.”

 

Anatole Broyard,

The New York Times

December 10, 2021

 

WHEN  I  GO

         

What happens when I go,
when I leave the room or
when I head home in my car?
 
We usually don’t ask that question
or give that much thought – but we
do talk when certain people leave.
 
I guess from time to time it’s good
to ask – just what I bring into the room
in the first place or when I die? Yeah ….

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   10,  2021 

Thought for the Day 

“Speak the truth, but leave immediately after.”

 

Slovenian Proverb

 December 9, 2021

Thought for today

"Industry is a better horse to ride than genius."

Walter Lippman

 December 9,  2021

TO TELL THE TRUTH 

 
We were told as kids to tell the truth
and to always try to be honest.
 
This was the message we heard
from the nuns and from our parents.
 
So what happened in these last 5 years –
or has there always been the lie?
 
And how do lies change our brains - as
well as to the brains of those who lie?
 
Will all these lies land we know not where
like all those arrows we shot into the air?

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 December 8,  2021

GLASS

 
Does everyone see
as if through glass?
 
Rose colored glasses
or stained-glass windows?
 
Dark sunglasses
or clean, clear glass windows?
 
Do we know we all
see so differently?
 
Do we consciously and
unconsciously filter out?
 
In death or hurt does the glass 
break and we’re no longer blind?
 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   8,  2021 

Thought for the Day

 

“If poetry breaks its covenant with truth and justice, it has failed.”

 

Seamus Heaney,  

The Sunday Tribune, 

April 7, 1996

 December 7, 2021

December 7, 2021

PEARL  HARBOR

 
It got us killing too.
That’s what happens
when we fight back.
 
So we know that’s
the reality  behind
war and retaliation.
 
Is that the secret
in pacifism – in
peace making?
 
Is that what we
have to do next time –
to save our lives?

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 December 6, 2021

THE BLIND SEE 

The blind see
when they close their eyes –
when they sing their love songs –
when they remember those they love –
when they disappear from each other –
when they slip into the night –
when they let go of another day –
when the world keeps spinning away –
when the blues of night – disappear –
when the red of morning reappears. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   7,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“One filled with joy preaches without preaching."

 

Mother Teresa

December 5, 2021

 

HURT

We can all sing that song ….
We can all feel those cuts ….

 
Hurt – hurting ourselves
or hurting others.  Oooooh!
 
When we discover what we thought
was gold ended up being simply dirt.
 
Hurt – a crown of thorns –
a nailing to a cross.  Oooooh!
 
We can’t go through life
without the hammer called “hurt”!

 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   6,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“I don’t ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning.  There they are, and they are beautiful.”

 

Pete  Hamill

in Esquire

December   5,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“An invasion of armies can be resisted,  but not an idea whose time has come.”

Victor Hess

December 4, 2021 

THE OCEAN 

The ocean was simply being ocean.
Wave after wave after wave after wave
kept moving steadily and regularly toward
the shore.  I did what everyone does:
I walked down to the edge of the water.
I stood there and looked and listened.
Without words – without thought –
I connected with everyone who has
done this same Holy Communion since
the beginning of time and eternity. Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 December 3. 2021

With God on our side

Song

December   4,  2021

 

 Thought for the Day

 

“The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes.”

William Davis

December 2, 2021

 

 

THERE  IN  A TOY BOX

 
There is a toy box
with wooden blocks
of letters – dozens
and dozens of them.
 
At first, I put together
a few words: house,
tree, meow, help,
God, whisper, hello.
 
Should I go on?
Perhaps a poem
will appear or a
story or an adventure.
 
Who knows what’s
just sitting there 
resting or sleeping
in the toy box of my mind.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   3,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“It is possible that blonds also prefer gentlemen.”

Mamie Van Doren

 December 2,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

“Only the heart knows how to find what is precious.”

Dostoevsky

 December 1, 2021

 

DEPRESSED

 

It’s December…. For some

depression arrives with the cold.

Memories for some

can be like blankets to hide under.

Moods – can bring dumb and numb

feelings.

 

It’s December…. For some

hope and joy arrives with the season.

Memories for some

can be like choirs of angels to surround us.

Moods – like bells can bring sounds

and Christ feelings and his arrival.

 

It’s December…. For some

depression can be a choice

or an onslaught or it can be a moment

to get help – to experience a new why –

why Jesus comes in the first place –

perhaps to experience Christ for the first time.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

December   1,  2021 

Thought for the Day

 

“You can send a message around the world in one-fifth of a second, yet it may take years for it to get from the outside of a man’s head to the inside.” 

Charles F.  Kettering

 

 

 

 December 1, 2021

I have been in the hospital since December 2. 2021.

I get out of the hospital on December 6, 2021.