when your body is full of crows
4.22.2025
Nobody can be exactly like me. Even I have trouble doing it.
Tallulah Bankhead
Yes, you did get something right.
Be utterly humble and you shall
hold on to the foundation of peace.
-Lao Tzu
You are not the hammer, or the nail, or even the board;you are the breeze brushing against the carpenter's smile.
You are not the dog, or the leash, or the master; you are the sunlight the dog sees when the front door opens.
You are the choices and the one who chooses.
It’s the road that matters, not the destination, and all those people that you love? It turns out that you are right about that. Nice.
jobe
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Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken. Take heed, do not squander your life.
Dōgen
Respect the dead, even when your body is full of crows, and coffins line the bitter streets like people waiting for a parade to pass by. Respect the dead, even when your body is full of snow and the sidewalk inside you is impassable. Tonight the crows are cawing and the snow is thick. Hold your hand out in the air, watch the snowflakes land and melt on your warm skin. Respect the dead and pray for peace. Just drop to your knees and speak your truth. When the sun returns again, you and the crows will be far away, but the snow and the dead will remain.
jobe
Many years ago a very wise man named Bernard Baruch took me aside and put his arm around my shoulder. "Harpo my boy," he said, "I'm going to give you three pieces of advice, three things you should always remember." My heart jumped and I glowed with expectation. I was going to hear the magic password to a rich, full life from the master himself. "Yes sir?" I said. And he told me the three things. I regret that I've forgotten what they were.
Harpo Marx
Something greater than this life.
Those who know do not tell,
And those who tell do not know. -Lao Tzu
You can teach a dog to fetch a stick; but can he understand the truth of the trees?
A cooper can build a barrel; but he cannot know how you will fill it. Take the key and wind the old clock; time has no real meaning.
We could start the count over at any point, if we so choose. Some people believe there is something greater than this life
And some do not. Who is correct? How could I possibly know that?
jobe
Bob Marley isn't my name. I don't even know my name yet.
Bob Marley
my name
grows and shrinks
shrinks and grows
stretching back and forth
like a sheet of rubber
sometimes it’s full and long
James Elvin Lee-Jobe
and other times it is tiny
and lower case
jobe
and when not in use
I keep my name in an old box
one day I will forget about it
and just leave it there
hell I’m getting old
I won’t need it
anymore
jobe
As I prepare this post it is sunny and lovely outside. I live across the street from a large park with tall trees, a swimming pool, a track, a dog run, softball diamonds, and tennis courts. I love it. I’m not really a suburbanite by intention, my wife pushed me into it, but I really do love this place.
By inclination I prefer the inner-city, San Francisco especially. My second choice is the booneys. I have lived in extremely rural East Texas, and it’s a good way of life. Davis is more like where Ward and June Cleaver are raising their prototypical All-American sons. The difference between the Cleavers and life in Davis is the year. Davisites in 2025 have buried Ward’s generation some years ago. The boys grew up to be hippies and are now in their 70s.
There’s a lot of free spirited senior citizens in this place (former hippies). I like them. A lot of them, like me, are a little to the Left of the late Abbie Hoffman. There’s a coffee shop every other block. People plugging their electric cars into their solar paneled homes. Electric bicycles with cargo space. A damn fine, well stocked, independent bookstore.
And did I mention the park? Right there across the street. Is it North Beach in the City? No. But it ain’t bad either. I am going nowhere, campers.
Which brings me to what I wanted to say. Today I was able to walk my dog in the park. First time since knee surgery. We loved it. My girl is a sniffer. Man, she sniffs that park out! I had to reason with her to actually to stroll a bit.
Now Zhen-Zhen wasn’t housebound; my wife took her out, and so did my granddaughter. And we have a fenced yard available for her convenience. The one who was missing the park was me. And frankly, the dog is lazy. A very willful dog, too. And if I were a little less lazy I would talk to her about it. Express my feelings.
That’s it for now. Some nice men coming toward my doors from all side. I don’t know who they are, but from their uniforms I guess they are selling ICE. Do people still do that?
All good things,
jobe
Step into the corner of night, the edge of the blue-steel future, step into those things that you have hoped for, but haven't said.
You are a field left fallow, an unanswered question, a small slice of winter that was hidden and saved for the long, slow heat of summer.
Where are your foot-prints now? What is it that you have hidden,
buried deep somewhere? How will you move at all, so badly wounded?
You are the sum and total of your every experience, your every thought. And this is the boat of your life, slicing through a choppy, shallow bay,
or the dog that just walked away, the river that laughed at the bayou and went where it wanted to go, the sun that burned and ravaged the land.
Step into the corner of night, the edge of the blue-steel future, step into those things that you have hoped for, but never said.
You wanted to know the truth? Friend, the truth is inside of you. You are the only one who ever knew the truth.
jobe
I have had fully functional hands
for sixty-eight years, and they’re helpful.
I use them nearly every single day.
I have gratitude, hands are a blessing.
But what if I could replace them
with machetes? That would also be helpful.
In the forest or the desert,
or even on a crowded city street.
High Mass on Sunday when the priest
is swinging that incense thingy around.
I find the smoke annoying, but then again
I’m not a Catholic anymore either.
jobe
Thanks for your support, it is appreciated.
Why, you’re cracker, you are!
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