<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">I love how your poems always take me through a journey, often a bewildering journey, with unexpected turns and meanders of the mind through love tunnels --Tunisian mind you— the mind always curious about where you will take it next, what gymnastic it will have to go through, until it finally finds solace in a palace of bombastic bliss . . . still wondering! <div class="">Are you an Aries???</div><div class="">Your reading/singing of Homer’s Iliad was inspired, inspiring!</div><div class="">Thank you</div><div class="">Riantee<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Jun 15, 2023, at 21:35, Ed Balldinger via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">Greetings Beloved Friends, </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I'm including the poem I read earlier this week in Pathwork class, via Zoom, called "Give." Thanks for allowing me to read and that you actually listen to me read, even if it makes ya scratch your head and say, "HuH?!" It makes me do the same, so thanks again for being tolerant. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div>So, it's a month later now than when Lyn & I participated in a 12-hour reading of Homer's Iliad at the Grace Cathedral on May 13th - what an event! I'm embedding a YouTube link of the second part I read/sang about Achilles and the River, and attaching the part I read for you to follow along if you're interested. <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne7twbq4IAE" class="">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne7twbq4IAE</a><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Many blessings, one and all... </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">~ Ed</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><u class=""><span style="font-size:18pt" class="">Give</span></u></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">What can I give the world
today </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">that would help it be a
better place? </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">I wanna hear what others
have to say. </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">I wanna say what others
don’t have </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">to wear here on earth anymore. </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">My message is no longer
clear – </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">In fact, it’s not my message
at all.</span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">If spoken, I would tumble
through it </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">like an elastic gymnast
bouncing </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">on padded mats in full extension. </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">Instead, I leave my clipboard
intact back on </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">the tracks of some
well-worn iron </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">forged like a truth rammed
into the hair of </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">an Aries man in graphic
spasms ground </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> down south through Tunisian </span></div><div style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">love
tunnels, dug into</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">death-trap doors under sea.</span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">But I await an answer with
more sense </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">than this, where terror is
turned into bliss; </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">where simplicity pacifies
a soul-saving </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">solution into a resolution
of desire fulfilled, </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">and I go stumbling
breathlessly into Nirvana – </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""><i class="">not the grunge band from
Seattle</i> – but a </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">parking garage turned into
a palace of </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">bombastic bliss that I
followed here from afar. </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">“Free all the prisoners!
</span></i></div><div style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">Past,
present, NOW – </span></i></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">not another moment of
interment!”</span></i><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">the parking garage
attendant yells at me, </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">and I pay my parking fee,
slip through the </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">up-swung gate and roll
down the road, </span></div><div style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">still
wondering – </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">what can I give the world
today </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:14pt" class="">that would help it be a
better place? </span></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14pt" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><a name="_Hlk137539324" class=""></a><a name="_Hlk37055206" class=""><span style="font-family:"Monotype Corsiva"" class="">Edgar Z. Balldinger </span></a></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family:"Monotype Corsiva"" class=""> May 2,
2023</span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-family:"Monotype Corsiva"" class=""> © Nublin’s Pub, 202</span></i><i class=""><span style="font-family:"Monotype Corsiva"" class="">3</span></i></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-family:"Monotype Corsiva"" class=""> </span></i></div></div></div>
<span id="cid:f_liy2m6ap0"><Reader 153_Word Doc.docx></span>_______________________________________________<br class="">Thespiritexpress mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" class="">Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a><br class="">http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress<br class=""></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>