somehow (for Sharon)

somehow...

i knew and my heart sank

i did not permit hope,  

so i would be prepared,

equipped to prop her up when the words

would sweep her legs out  from under her.

and still somehow...

i was not equipped.

somehow...

we looked into their eyes, we smiled, we  held it back.

we hid it for now

and somehow...

they seemed not to know.

somehow...

we gathered them and our ourselves,

onto the floor and we spoke the news

unthinkable words impossible to speak.

somehow...

we spoke just the same.

somehow...

he opened up, he poured out, melted in her arms

and it flowed on and on

as we sat still and silent

and listened to it all.

and somehow...

somehow...

he said it all.

somehow...

i see her in their eyes.

i hear her in their voices, in their laughter, in their stories.

somehow...

she is there.

somehow...

~csr

Barb Vanaman

Sharon Parsons-Bortleʼs life came to a tragic end just as she was starting a new

life for herself and her children. Sharon always strived to have a positive

outlook on life and provide the best surrounding for her family. Regarless of the

life that surrounded her, Sharon always strived to do good in the community,

her job and especially with the ones she loved.

Born and raised in VIneland, Sharon used her degree in elementary education

to nurture and care for the children in the Vineland school system all of her

professional career. She touched many childrenʼs lives and made a difference in

more families that we will ever know.

Sharon’s Story

in orbit

we all have emptiness

and it wants...

mostly what we don't have...

destroying what we do.

even so

if we can perhaps

place it in the center...

if we can learn

to balance it in the middle...

     like an axis...

it's gravity can hold

   the rest of our being

   around it

        in orbit


~csr

A supermassive black hole is the largest type of black hole in a galaxy, on the order of hundreds of thousands to billions of solar masses. Most, and possibly all galaxies, including the Milky Way,^[2] are believed to contain supermassive black holes at their centers.^[3][4]
Supermassive black holes have properties which distinguish them from lower-mass classifications:

• The average density of a supermassive black hole (defined as the mass of the black hole divided by the volume within its Schwarzschild radius) can be as low as the density of water for very large mass black holes. This is because the Schwarzschild radius is directly proportional to mass, while density is inversely proportional to the volume. Since the volume of a spherical object (such as the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole) is directly proportional to the cube of the radius, and mass merely increases linearly, the volume increases by a much greater factor than the mass as a black hole grows. Thus, average density decreases for increasingly larger radii of black holes (due to volume increasing much faster than mass).
• The tidal forces in the vicinity of the event horizon are significantly weaker. Since the central singularity is so far away from the horizon, a hypothetical astronaut traveling towards the black hole center would not experience significant tidal force until very deep into the black hole.

audacity

who among us

   possessing hopefulness,

can ever be free of

   audacity?

~csr

the water-cooler

the watering-hole
knew not danger the likes of
the water-cooler

~csr

to your door

 a cogent cerulean sky

the arraign of wind
   a smell of pine and cedar
      harangues my face
         and pulls on my heart
traversing past
   the sleepy water
    on the road to open meadows
      of emerald and gold
outlying silos
   set stoic
     amid crimson barns
and
in steady harmonization 
   of constant flow
     through the countryside
there is magnificence
   to be embraced
      in whichever open bearing
even so
stock-still
  my compass points
    to the overgrown
      and thorned path

         to your door

~csr

expressions

often
silence
embodies more
than a multitude
of expressions



~csr

the life we live

a withering rose,
the fragile and fleeting life,
is the life we live



~csr

beautiful flower

falling from the branch
at the mercy of the wind
beautiful flower


~csr

a bolt from the blue

where there is love
   there is pain
you cannot even hate
   without affection
so many perceptible reversals
i know your laughter
   and your tears
          the words you are about to speak
i see your resolve
    yet
       i  know you are weak
so  
   if i am there
      when i said i would not be
         is that such a bolt from the blue?

~csr

entirely intellectual

some things are too incredible to accept
that doesn’t make them any less real
some things are too good to be true
and it turns out we are right
now... how do we determine what is what?
i am not completely sure
but i know
 it isn’t entirely intellectual


~csr

filled with light

darkness

monsters

demons

what are they really?

things lurking in shadows

it's what we can't see that is fearsome

now and again we place things in shadowy seats

those things become larger than they truly are
there is no conflict amid light and dark

darkness has no option but to flee in the company of light

retreating behind obstacles

eliminate the obstacles

that harbor scary corners

become filled with light

~csr

woven for the weary

agent of doubt 

    colleague of my fear

you recognize my secret so well

    don't you?

what dealing do you have with me

    on this rainy day?

where light wears a veil

     and warmth evades me

bring your tidings

      to a different one

this image is not for you to paint

nor is it yours

       to fill in my blanks

you try my resolve

    use my own tongue

     to deceive myself

you inhabit the shadow's spread

    cast from petty facts

your skill is in embroidery

   and you knit misgivings

your designs are fitting

   woven for the weary

~csr

my return

relieving
an occasion to walk off
into smooth briny pools
sharp shimmering sunbeams
misty saline air

amusing
one hundred and thirty-five
includes the park and the rides
and yet this… just outside
so magnificent… and free of fee

enthralling
the clatter and screech
drowning in the breakers
the smell of six dollar hotdogs
carried away by the breeze

fulfilling  
how it stays… increases in me
like an expanding spume
filling the empty spaces
accompanying me on my return




~csr

twirling in my arms

silence is no more than

breathing space

amid resonance

as this dawdling waltz

a measure or two in length

moves steadily to a bow

forever will i cherish

the steps we took together

with you, twirling in my arms


~csr

until the sun falls from the sky

take a walk along the beach

that's were i'll be

down by the sea

here i am

i have my toes in the sand

ain't this grand

the waves they comfort me

the wind it sets me free

sailboats are passing by

just stare right off into the sky

now there you are

you are down the beach not very far

you hear my guitar

you come to me

you say "your song sounds very sweet"

i offer a seat

your eyes they comfort me

your voice it sets me free

the hours passing by

until the sun falls from the sky

~csr

diffusing the pieces

a sky
   so filled with clouds
      not unlike a puzzle
a memo of uncertainty
    twisted in milky mist
and the gentle wind
    diffusing the pieces


~csr

all else

poetry like music…

need not be difficult

or pioneering

for the sake of novelty.

what’s important is

pure reflection…

with sovereignty over dithering

and regard

for all else.

~csr

chasing it

a leaf blowing by,
tumbling in the breeze, and
my heart chasing it


~csr

believe

if we have never doubted...

     have we ever considered? 

 if we have never considered… 

     why do we believe?

~csr

inspired by

Eric The Read - Bound and Tied

fan it

there is more than
   the loss...
   the emptiness...
   the aching...
   the yearning.

and if...

if you can recall...
  the spotlessness
     of giving
        love freely...
   that original ember
       will once again flicker...
         just... long... enough...
           to

         fan it.

~csr