"Action speaks louder than words". While that's true, we should not discount entirely the power of words. Words, the good ones, are those rainbows out on the far horizon, just waiting to touch someone's soul. Words, when they aspire for greatness, reflect the best the soul can offer. They don't even have to always be true....sometimes those words are just the "hope" that lies within the human heart.
I am long past being able to count the number of books I have read. The best ones, the ones which swept me into other worlds, where I met other people...the ones that resonated in my heart, seem almost divinely inspired. You turn to that last page in the book, and you sit there, mouth agape, and you wonder how the hell the writer assembled the alphabet in such a way that tears ran down your cheeks, or you roared with laughter, or you sat on the edge of your chair and wondered how the mystery would turn out.
You sit at the counter of a diner, or you stand with a group of men around a craps game, or you softly whisper to a friend "I'd give my right arm...for such and such". We don't really mean we'd be willing to sever an arm for some supreme reward....we just use the cliche to define our degree of want.
While I'm not ready to surrender a limb, I'd give an awful lot to write like Steinbeck, or Hemingway. Hell, I'd even settle for the pedestrian art of a Raymond Chandler.
You see, words, for me, are mighty things indeed. They afford me an expression of my longing, of my aspirations to be a better person, for the strength to wield my sword at windmills, and "Don Quixote" my way through my remaining years. When I "wordsmith" I am able to release frustrations, vent sorrows, and present my dreams to the world in a fashion not amenable, or available with the tongue.
And expressing ourselves in words reveals something about ourselves....when they are good, our better selves. And, for those who read, or hear our words, are listening clearly, they will be hearing the better spirits of our angels.
Thanks to all the readers who stop by here three times a week...and read the modest scribblings of one who so appreciates the written word.
Thanks to all the readers who stop by here three times a week...and read the modest scribblings of one who so appreciates the written word.
4 comments:
This blog of yours, sometimes a dull, angry sword, and other times a sharpened pin, sometimes making me angry (probably the point that day!) and others cry or laugh or wonder, always moves me in a tugging direction. I found you when I went through the Cancer thing and it was then I realized in my weakened state that it was your Passion that I liked. Oh, not so much when you were boiling mad but the times, most times, when you had the words in order and thought out well. We are different, share some views and not others but each time I read your blog I always get tugged. Thank you, my Friend, Jerry
Jerry, my friend, if I move you in any direction I feel I've done my job. Now go out, my friend, go drink some green beer and pinch some ass. Thanks for you kind words.
OK, I have had my Bubble Bath and like Agatha Christie, I do my best thinking there!
Over the years you have recommended a book or two, some historical books that caught my interest, so I bought them and appreciate the advice! Now I want to recommend one to you!
"West with the Night" by Beryl Markham. I is not a popular book and went out of print the same year it was published, 1942. The "Story" is not the important part of this book:
basically white girl becoming woman in Africa in the 1920's, becoming a pilot and then the first woman to fly the Atlantic from East to West. It is an interest story, but in the reality of things, it is in the telling that is brilliant. She is an extraordinary writer!
A few pages on changing the oil in an airplane engine are simple incredible. She is worth the read for her use of adjectives and descriptions alone. I guarantee you that reading this book will inspire your own writing like a shot of adrenaline. Amazon has it. Let me know! Jerry
I have come across that book many times, Jerry, most recently in my local thrift store. Upon your advice I shall go spend a quarter and pick it up if it's still there. Thanks for the recommendation.
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