Fragile

For a synonym of Friable I’m picking “Fragile” . I can’t hear that word without thinking of an album of that name released by the progressive rock band Yes, in … omg … 1971. It’s got a 50th anniversary coming up. Incredible.

With the rather distressing condition of world events at the moment… with our governments, our societies, our health, our sanity and even our planet in such a friable state, the album’s cover picture reminds me how fragile our entire existence is. Meanwhile, this instrumental song, Mood for a Day reminds me of just how beautiful this opportunity of existence is, and how beautiful we are capable of being. There is a joy to it, and in the three minutes and three seconds that it plays, my mood for the day improves.

Drifting

Drifting in the cosmos
One earthbound traveler
Shipwrecked by birth
On a feckless speck of orb
Drifting through eddies
Of space and time
Within an eternal infinity
Of near emptiness

What other glories
In a vastness beyond imagining
Could I be missing

Solitude

The synonyms for privacy open up a number of tasty possibilities, words which I often use as themes in my writing and poetry: solitude, isolation, peace, quietness… they appear so often it’s possible to consider them emblematic.

What fascinates me about this collection of synonyms is the interplay of meanings for those of us in recovery or, perhaps more broadly, those of us on the path of spiritual or personal growth. These are the words of practice, a pursuit which navigates darkness and the light, seeks to know each while, ultimately, learning the balance which brings insight and meaning.

Refrain

One of Melody’s synonyms is Refrain which inspired this micro-poem:

Refrain
He thought to himself
In the moment between
Circumstance
And the need to respond to
Consequence
So that the one thing
He could not do was
Refrain