Ducklings of Nostalgia

A L O H A !
Definitive Version:

 DUCKLINGS!

" When Donald Duck

 traded his wings

 for arms, 

was he trading up

 or trading down? "

Douglas Coupland 

Here They Come

" Being born

 in a duck yard

 does not matter, 

if only you are

 hatched 

from a swan's egg. "

Hans Christian Andersen 

One Duckling - 

" A fellow with 

the inventiveness of

 Albert Einstein 

but with the attention span 

of Daffy Duck. "

Tom Shales 

Two Ducklings!

The Fearless Five

( I thought that the moment I saw them )

Bye Bye

" Four ducks on a pond,

 A grass-bank beyond, 

A blue sky of spring, 

White clouds on the wing; 

What a little thing 

To remember for years 

To remember with tears! "

William Allingham

=^..^=

Chestnuts roasting

on an open fire?

The smell of 

chalk

in a classroom?

What fills

YOU

with nostalgia?

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Recovery Rubric - PukaLani

A   L  O   H  A  !

Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, Waikiki

  "Better by far 

you should forget 

and smile 

than you should 

remember and be sad."

Christina Rossetti 

Land of Orange

" Only by living absurdly 

is it possible to 

break out of 

this infinite absurdity. "

Julio Cortazar 

Leaf Light / Stone Dark

"Historical evidence suggests 

that anxiety can be allied to 

artistic and creative genius. 

The literary gifts of Emily Dickinson, 

for example, were inextricably bound up

 with her reclusiveness, which some say 

was a product of anxiety. 

(She was completely housebound after age 40.) 

Franz Kafka yoked his neurotic sensibility 

to his artistic sensibility; 

Woody Allen has done the same. ”

Scott Stossel,

editor of The Atlantic

=^..^=

Cats are excellent

confidantes and

soul healers.

                              > <  }  }  ( ° >

P U K A L A N I

The sky cleared blue

As I found the clearing.

Drought functionally over,

Stream bed pranced

Delighting clear waters.

The covering over

Bottomless Well of Sorrows

Had thinned precipitously

For weeks.

Whew! I had forgotten

That foetid smell,

Seductive miasmas of

Despair.

Sooner or later it

Always closes back up.

The Smell dissipates

(Hallelujah)

Eventually the site is forgotten

Best forgotten

But for this one shit-crusted gem

That I sacrificed ages ago.

I had forgotten all about

This piece of myself;

Look! It still fits!

Bringing wholeness and insight.

So even the Bottomless Well of Sorrows

Carries gifts of sorts.

Glad the Holidays are completing

Springtime lambs of my heart are bleating.

Spoiled and chastened I go on,

Bump Bump

On these funny stairs.

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Note: In Hawaiian

 'Puka' is a hole

'Lani' means heaven.

There is a place in Maui

called Pukalani because

the geography causes 

a sunny spot there

despite surrounding clouds.

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Obama's Hawaii: Ko`olau Mountains to Kawai Nui Marsh

A   L   O   H   A  !

 Nu`uanu Street

 in Downtown Honolulu

Rises into the

 Ko`olau Mountains,

Becoming the Pali Highway.

Near Queen Emma's Summer Palace

" Every truth 

has two sides; 

it is as well to 

look at both, 

before we 

commit ourselves 

to either. "

Aesop 

 Kailua Town, Windward O`ahu 

Kawainui Marsh

I wish you could hear

the birds, waterfowl,

gently lapping waters,

and the breezes.

Yes, the Obama family

 is vacationing in Kailua.

If you paddle down this marsh

toward the beach,

you will meet Navy seals

before you get to see the Coast Guard cutter

and the other armed vessels lurking 

out of sight near the First Family's

 beach-front resting place.

The Obamas RENT the property.

There is no family compound.

Barack grew up in rental and

UH faculty housing.

During High School years,

 he lived in a modest apartment

(walking distance from here)

with his grandmother "Toot"

and WWII vet grandfather,

 Stanley.

Stanley Dunham is buried

at in Punchbowl Crater,

National Memorial Cemetery

of the Pacifc (Military)

(Below)

Punchbowl, Above Honolulu

Resting Place of Heroes

“ The most powerful

 weapon on earth 

is the human soul 

on fire. ”

Ferdinand Foch

=^..^=

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Judgement - No Towel

A   L   O   H   A  !

Sorry guys, Heh Heh

  "Do not wait
 for extraordinary 
circumstances 
to do good; 
try to use 
ordinary situations."

Jean Paul Richter 

" -a writer is working 
when he's staring
 out of the window. "

Burton Rascoe  

 Enjoying Waikiki 

" All my life through, 
the new sights of Nature
 made me rejoice
 like a child. "

 Marie Curie

At one time or another

we have all been

Judgmental.

Or others

have been

regarding Us.

Imagine!

It's the "-tal"

that we don't like.

We each must decide

which judgments

we value,

and which

to resent.

But in some shape or fashion

Sooner or later

Each of us stands

Before Truth.

Reasons are teased

Apart from

 Rationalizations.

Call it Karma,

Conscience,

or the throne of

God.

The closer you are standing

Now

Into your best Truth,

The more familiar

Heaven will Be.

Therethen

All the little 

Unknowns,

Self Deceptions and

Unpenetrated Blind Spots

Will be as

Pretty Packages on a

Birthday Morn!

Each selected just for 

You

By an 

All Comprehending

Wisdom.

Home at last

Again.

=^..^=

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Duets With Silence

A   L   O   H   A  

 Holiday Parade

  " Poets have been 

mysteriously silent 

on the subject of 

cheese."

G. K. Chesterton 

 Charade Crepuscular

   " To send light

 into the darkness 

of men's hearts - 

such is the duty 

of the artist."


Robert Schumann

Self Portrait

" Behind every failure

 is an opportunity

 somebody wishes 

they had missed. "


Lily Tomlin 

 "Self-portraiture 

is something 

one should never 

get involved in, 

since it is wrong to lie 

even though one endeavours 

to tell the truth."

Ingmar Bergman 

There is no

self portrait

of me. "

Gustav Klimt

=^..^=    <>[}:{]<>   <[(-'.'-)]>

Dear Dear Friends

The Days Have Grown

Short-

But I have it on

Good Authority

That the 

Tide Has

Turned-

In more ways than one.

Keep the spark

A`Sparkling!

Keep Hope Alive;

And Toast Unburnt!

All things great

AND SMALL

Are Grist for the Mill

of the Will O The Wisp - 

Until we smile together again;  

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Free Time

A  L  O  H  A !

" What then is freedom?

 The power to live 

as one wishes. "

Marcus Tullius Cicero 

"We are very far 

from always knowing 

our own wishes."

Francois de La Rochefoucauld 

" The opposite

 of a great truth

 is also true.” 

 Niels Bohr

=^..^=

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