Stalactites and stalagmites in a sea cave, Bermuda
Fountain outside Caesar’s Palace Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Pacific ocean at Monterey, California
5 Day Black and White Photograph Challenge: Day One
Thanks to Cee Neuner for inviting me for this challenge! Please check out her blog for amazing photography and fun contests.
My entry for today is a vista of the city of Florence, Italy.
I now invite Retiree’s Diary to participate in the challenge. I admire photographs curated from all over the world on this blog.
Change
Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
–George Bernard Shaw
Patterns of behavior tend to recur
Behavior of others and mine
Our responses to stress may differ
But in known molds they always align.
Life, it seems, for the most part
Is lived in a fluid chain
Of patterns repeated intervals apart
In situations varied, again and again.
Creatures of habit we tend to be
Unwilling to change familiar patterns
Courage it takes to change mentality
Back to old habits we tend to run.
***
Change is the only constant around,
The world keeps changing ever so fast,
Changes in manner of living abound
Letting go of the forgotten past.
Human behavior is the last to change
Ever so resilient, ever so stubborn
But slowly, albeit in a narrow range
Change does occur in known patterns.
Change is the need of the hour
In a world shrinking with rapidity
We need to stretch our vision far,
Connect with each other with avidity.
Forget differences of race and creed
Remember we are all the same
Bound together despite individual greed
We are just pawns in Creation’s game.
Action and Reaction
Has an equal and opposite reaction
Centuries ago did Newton claim
One of the laws that brought him fame…
I feel the truth of this dictum
Navigating through life’s humdrum,
Where every action that I take
Provokes a reaction in its wake
Setting in motion a cascade
Of consequences hard to evade.
Hurtful actions from my side
Set in motion a downward slide
Of hatred, guilt, anger and misery
Distressing everyone around me.
While good deeds that I perform
Make happiness around me swarm.
Newton’s laws I was taught
As a child, but I never thought
This principle of physics applied
Also to the spiritual side
Karma obeys Newton’s laws
Effect always follows cause.
Good karma, it seems I can spread
If I help those around me instead
Of doing things for selfish gain-
My life path is now clear and plain.
Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #6
They compete with each other
For your fleeting attention
Knowing worthy of a second look they are
Even as they stand without pretension.
These oddballs represent
The spirit of freedom
Not conforming to present
Norms of expression.
A photographer’s delight
Oddballs interest us
For they bring to light
Absurdities humorous.
Pink lambs?
Man wearing the “kathakali” mask- worn by dancers for the Kathakali dance form from Kerala, India
Blowing fire trick at a party in India
Travel theme: Details
The devil, they said
Is in the detail
I countered, saying instead
God’s presence should prevail-
God has blessed his creations
With subtle details embedded
Within clever compilations,
Like cloth with a pattern threaded.
Tulips, Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia
Glass fruits, Corning Museum of Glass, New York
Bugs, Nuseum of Natural History, Philadelphia
Wild Mushroom
Painted ceiling, Vatican City
Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Scale.”
A speck so minute
In the universe so vast
Existing in the blink of an eye
Of time, moving by so fast.
I have but a moment
In the cosmic calendar
To live all my life
And enjoy the earth’s splendor.
I am a microscopic dot
On the scale of the earth
Can I leave a mark for generations
That is of some worth?
A voice inside me answered
Of course you can, it said
Being small and short-lived
Are not barriers to getting ahead.
Dinosaur skeleton at Museum of Natural history, Philadelphia
Llama family at a farm in New England
Fountains at Bellagio seen from the top of “Eiffel Tower”, Paris, Las Vegas
Maine coastline seen from Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine
ONE WORD PHOTO CHALLENGE: STRAWBERRY
Floral scorpion
Red Balls near Rockefeller Center, New York City
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Table and Chairs
May I invite you
To spend some time with me?
Under the summer sky, so blue
Sitting at a table in a manner carefree,
We would wine and dine and share
Secrets, fears, innermost desires
Of our hearts, we would lay bare;
Leaving each other to douse our fires.
Let’s sit at a table, and each other face
Let our eyes meet, let tears flow
Pour out our hearts and let us embrace
Each other, basking in friendship’s glow.
Dining by the lake
Wedding banquet
Waiting at the table-Madame Tussaud’s museum, San Francisco
Man on the bench, New York City
Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #5
The Daily Post-Teacher’s Pet
I know this post was supposed to talk about one favorite teacher, but when you have been a student for over 30 years, it is difficult to name one. So this is dedicated to all my teachers-
A teacher, they say
Affects eternity-
He never may
Know his capacity
To influence his pupils
Extends to the sky-
Inspiring fresh tendrils
To reach up so high,
A teacher’s vocation
Is the noblest of all,
To be an inspiration
Is the highest of call.
My teachers have taught me
To stand for what’s right
To never lose my integrity
In my work, take pride.
Parallel reality
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/couples/
Another life if I could live
In a universe, alternate
Maybe more I could give
Of myself, to my mate
Maybe I could love with abandon
Free from all restraints
With every muscle, sinew and tendon
Without any constraints.
Where our love would be
Untouched by anger, ego, pride
Open books we both could be
With no shameful secrets to hide.
In this parallel universe
Our souls, torn away could heal
Forever, for better or worse
Together, our souls could seal.
In another life, we could face
The world as a single entity
In the universe, the only place
For us to exist would be as unity.
***
O’ how I have longed to
Live in this different state
Just realized what we could do
To change our current fate.
Slowly, steadily, gradually
We’ll erase all trace
Of our old life, actually
With the parallel world replace.
Dispel the negative baggage
Of ego, anger and pride
Suppress emotions savage
Forever, deep inside.
Let love flood the gate
Of our life together
Leave endless gifts on our plate
And make our lives better.
Passion...unbridled 
