Ravensong Poetry And Writing Blog by Donovan Baldwin

By Donovan Baldwin

We think, and talk, a lot about "nature" and, somehow, often seem to assume that homo sapiens, that destructive and abusive species, is, in some way NOT natural.

Oh, we do create artificial machines and devices which can do stuff, often destructive stuff, at levels previously unimaginable in the history of mankind. No doubt of that.

But, amid all the "destruction" real, imagined, revealed, hidden, lurks one aspect of homo sapiens which I feel is often overlooked.

While it may SEEM to be part of our "nature" to destroy, tear up, and use the rest of the "natural" world, there always seems to be people working to restore, repair, regenerate... often using the same mechanics, science, and technology capable of causing the "destruction" in the first place.

I put "destruction" in quotes because, often that tearing down or tearing up of things is done to make things to satisfy the rest of us who desire to have the fruits of the labors of those tearing stuff up and down.

I have no idea, statistically, who's "winning". I just know that in the battle for Earth, leaving aside attacks by intelligent aliens, there's more than one "army" at work... often just small platoons, if you will, maybe even marauders, on both sides.

It seems to be "natural" for some of us to take, and some of us to give. We sometimes even benefit from the efforts of the takers.

No answers, as usual, but, thinking out loud makes me feel better about "nature" and the "natural" process of things.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, natural, nature, progress, science

By Donovan Baldwin

Got a little nostalgic last night. Not always a good thing for me in the past, but, recently, I've been getting better at coming to terms with my past.

Some changes in my life, some internal, some external, have pushed me off the path of pity I've been on for some time.

Somebody came along and helped. Not a superhero, just a real good friend.

Sometimes, that's what we need.

Sometimes it's a big shove, sometimes it's gentle nudges. Usually it's from someone who cares. Someone who sees a different "you" than the "you" that YOU see in the mirror, or, in your mind.

Oh, it can take a while to find that person that we need, and, to tell the truth, I'm not sure what kind of bait it takes to attract them and keep them.

Gonna hazard a guess, however.

If you try to be the kind of person you want to find, I think you're a bit more likely to find the kind of person you want to find.

Could be wrong. Have been before, and will be again.

But, you know, "Somewhere out there..." They're there. You've just got to set out the bait so they can know you're looking for them.

Man, I need my coffee this morning. It's the weekend.

Ya'll stay safe, okay?

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, changes, donovan baldwin, friend, life lesson

By Donovan Baldwin

I have a family member who is legally blind. She only has peripheral vision and can hold a can of food close to her eyes in a certain spot and tell what's in it, but she cannot see another shopper in front of her.

She fears losing her sight completely, and not being able to see the faces of her children.

We take our sense of sight seriously. We buy special things to see stuff better.

My eyes are getting worse as I age. I have bifocals, reading glasses, even a magnifying glass, because I want to see stuff, and see it well. I even have a pair of binoculars in the glove box of my truck for looking out at the world, or getting close and personal with the Moon.

I want to see.

I'm prepared to see.

I make efforts to see.

I bet you do too.

We want to know what stuff looks like, inside and out. We even have mirrors so that we can see how we look, and, no matter how much we say we don't, we want to see ourselves, and loved ones, in pictures.

Sometimes being able to see depends on how hard you're trying to see. We make efforts to see.

Sometimes, trying real hard helps us see things better. Looking long, looking hard, looking deep...at beautiful, impressive things.

People are beautiful and impressive.

Maybe we should look harder at them. and in the mirror, too.

Labels: article about sight, article by Donovan Baldwin, blind, donovan baldwin, legally blind, life lesson, life lessons, seeing, sight

By Donovan Baldwin

I'm a writer, a poet, and let me tell you, friend, it's easy to be creative when you're lying in bed and don't actually DO anything, and the brain's just wandering around, peeking into nooks and crannies.

Then, you get up, and, WHAM! There's life and the world staring you in the face, daring you to do something.

Yeah, life's mean like that.

We figure we're going in some direction, or, maybe just wandering around, looking at stuff and having a pleasant time, and WHAM! Life hits us in the face with something.

Could be good.

Could be bad.

Could be, if we're lucky, somebody else's problem.

But, maybe, sometimes, somebody else's problem is still our problem. Depends on how far we take this "family of man" idea.

I take it pretty far.

Somebody in Dubai or Antarctica gets a problem, I worry about them.

Really!

Maybe that's why we read news. Maybe it's NOT because we're just nosey and want to know other people's business and mishaps. Maybe it's because we care.

Nah!

I'm gonna go with nosey.

But, you know what?

I believe that caring is something you can learn. You walk around worrying about yourself all the time. Why not spare some of that for your neighbor?

No conclusions here.

Haven't had my coffee yet, but some poor soul won't get any coffee today.

I'm NOT sad, just concerned...musing in the morning about stuff.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, creative, creativity, donovan baldwin, life, life lessons, poet, writing

By Donovan Baldwin

Warning, R-rated, mature audiences only.

I grew up reading, and attending Catholic schools, in Pensacola, Florida in a sexually repressed era.

I read from one end of the Pensacola Public Library to the other.

Read a few things that might have appalled my parents, and the nuns, had they known.

Well, maybe not.

For all their strict moral code, the nuns were pretty open about life and literature.

A nun once lifted up part of her habit and poked herself in her breast so that we would understand a line more fully in "The Highwayman". Another once told a class that a woman in lingerie was more attractive and sexually appealing than a naked woman.

Another got mad at a girl reading Macbeth because she was embarrassed to read Lady Macbeth's line, "Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums...", and, don't get me started on sex education with nuns!

Anyway, I did NOT start out to give a sex education class, and that's sort of the point.

From the nuns, I actually learned how to accept life, and sex, honestly, reviewing it openly, thinking and speaking frankly, and later, as a mature adult, about life, sex, death, love, in ways that may make some uncomfortable.

Part of that lesson was from nuns, part from life, and, part from all the mysteries, westerns, historical novels, and sci-fi stories I read so avidly and copiously.

I learned that there were different ways to look at things once you knew about them, but, that there were facts you had to face.

Thanks, nuns.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, Macbeth, nuns, Pensacola, Pensacola Public Library, sex, sex education, The Highwayman

By Donovan Baldwin

Every day I get all kinds of ideas for articles, comments, and poems.

In fact, yesterday I wrote a poem from scratch. Needs a little clean up, but, essentially done. A few minutes ago, I wrote a poem to a friend in about seven minutes because I wanted to give her a special "thank you" for something she had done for me.

At almost any time, I have between five and ten other poems in various stages of "construction".

Part of the problem being that I don't JUST construct these thins...put this word there, rhyme this, rhythm that. I am, a lot of the time, writing words that my brain, and heart, tell ME will tell the story that they see, thinking, experiencing.

I'm not bragging, because I have no idea how or why I can do this. Don't have a hell of a lot of control over it, either.

All of this is to say that not every idea immediately becomes a poem or comment.

Example: Thursday, mina stanovich gave me an idea for a comment. My idea was immediate and complete. Unfortunately, I was with my grandkids at an appointment, so, I made a quick note and thanked her. Have the note right here "Esoteric Diatribe People Online Asking What Words Mean".

Next day, The thought, and note, were still there, but Tinkerbell would have been proud of the fairy dust it became.

I'll get it together sooner or later, Mina. Hang in there.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, article ideas, donovan baldwin, ideas, ideas for poems

By Donovan Baldwin

Life has its ups and downs...like a roller coaster. I have a friend in the roller coaster industry, who reads what I write, and put that in for her.

Sometimes these ups and downs are the result of something that happens to us, sometimes, they are the result of something we do to ourselves.

Sometimes we do it to ourselves because we don't understand what is happening to us.

Sometimes I interpret something good as something bad, or vice versa.

Silly human!

Doesn't matter the source or reality, however, the "downs" feel bad, the "ups" feel good.

We can experience crashing depression, or the most wonderful exhilaration simply based on perception or reality.

These ups and downs can even happen within the space of a few hours, or, even a few moments. One second can be all it takes to change your mood from the worst part of the ride to the other.

It's fun to be "scared" on a carnival ride...not so much in life.

But, ups and downs are a fact of life.

Knowing this, you can have some defense against the ups and downs. Doesn't mean they'll feel better or worse, but, knowing an "up" is coming can help you get through the "down". Even simply knowing that a "down" will end, sooner or later, may help too.

That knowledge can also help you enjoy the "up" part even better.

Look around. Check out the view. Squeeze your ride partner's hand...assuming it's someone you want to be with, and, who wants to be with you. Don't want you getting slapped in the middle of all that fun.

Hey!

Maybe THEY want to squeeze YOUR hand...even share a kiss!

Wouldn't that be an "up"?

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, life lessons, roller coaster, ups and downs

By Donovan Baldwin

Some messages never get old, and, it doesn't matter when or how often they are repeated.

However, some "news" does get old. Sometimes we get caught up in the immediacy of the moment, and, feeling we've just received an important piece of news, post it, email it, tell friends at work about it.

Not always bad, as even old news can be instructive. But, old news, presented as new news can be confusing or just plain inflammatory.

It's even worse when it's fake news in the first place.

Odds are, if it's fake news it was put out originally intending to make somebody mad...either the "enemy" or the "followers". Sometimes it's published, or re-published, to substantiate, or add validity to, a point of view.

I often come across "news" that is two or three years old.

Fortunately, social media is getting better at monitoring and editing these things, and, many of the stories come from people who have just learned that somebody famous died...they just didn't notice it happened three years ago!

I know most of us do NOT want to propagate misinformation. We get these pieces of news on the Internet...often from someone we would normally trust...but, they got the "news" off the internet.

Paradoxically, the Internet is where the real information probably is...sometimes hidden, but usually there. Just takes a moment or two to verify before passing on.

Like most things in life today, we cannot solve all the problems, but, we can contribute a bit less to them.

Just some thoughts.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, fake news, internet, old news

By Donovan Baldwin

What is it Kermit the Frog says? "It's not easy being green."

Well, that's my complaint too. I'm not green, but, it's not easy being ME either.

Wait! Let's look at that a bit more closely and modify that a tad.

It's not easy being YOU, ME, or anybody, sometimes. There always seems to be somebody who assumes us to be somebody else...somebody other than who we are, or want to be.

Waxing nostalgic, it used to be a bit simpler, in some respects.

The people down the road, in the same town or village, or, in the same country, had many of the same beliefs. There might be a few personality bumps, but, that grouchy old guy two houses down had essentially the same belief system as you, and your happy mom and dad, extended family, and the mayor...and so on.

These days, there's more differences...politics, religion, personal philosophy and lifestyle...it seems easier to offend...and BE OFFENDED.

I bet when most of us DO happen to offend people, we probably didn't mean to do so.

That's one way we're still alike. Usually, if someone offends YOU, they probably didn't mean to, either.

You want them to forgive you for your mistakes and accidental offenses. Sounds fair to do the same for them. Even when we're trying to understand each other, we must realize that it took a long time for each of us to become who we are.

Someone else isn't going to figure it out in a day.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, being green, donovan baldwin, frog, Kermit, offending, offense

By Donovan Baldwin

Sometimes, people complain that they don't get nothing.

Double negative. I know. Writer's privilege.

Anyway, many people expect stuff to just happen...fall in their laps. They don't understand how "getting stuff" works.

To GET something, you usually have to DO something.

Even winning the lottery usually requires getting up out of the chair, going to the store, and buying a ticket...or talking someone else into doing it for you.

Step one: DO something.

Step two: do something that CAN GET you something.

I admit that includes robbing banks, or, selling drugs, but, even there, there's effort involved.

Step three; if you don't know how to do something that will get you something, learn how to do something that will.

Go to college?

Maybe.

Ever wonder how much a plumber or a good diesel mechanic gets paid? Better than some "college" jobs, that's for sure, and, there's nothing wrong with working with your hands, and taking money for it from people who can't or won't.

You can put a kid through college on a plumber's pay or drive a fine car or own a fine house.

Any idea how many fast food franchise owners started out flipping burgers?

Me neither, but, I've met a few, and, almost every fast food manager did...and, yes, I was a Taco Bell, and a Dairy Queen manager for a while.

Once you've completed step three, you're ready for step two.

That's how many millionaires became millionaires. Next one could be you.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, become a millionaire, donovan baldwin, get rich, getting rich, income, money, success

By Donovan Baldwin

My father lost an eye when he was a boy. I grew up not thinking that there was anything was odd about seeing his empty eye socket.

He had a fake eye, a glass eye, of course, but, had to clean his eye socket with a special towel.

Ever see somebody clean their eye socket?

Once, when my aunt, my mother's sister, known for her "fainting spells" visited, my Dad dropped his eye, and yelled, as you do when you drop something.

My aunt ran into the room.

He turned to look at her, and, she fainted.

He also had a huge gash down his leg, a souvenir from another childhood injury. It opened up fro time to time. When this happened, it suppurated (leaked pus) and, occasionally, the bone was visible.

Oddly, I was not allowed to see horror movies, probably for fear they would mess up my head somehow.

The first "horror" movie I ever saw was "The Tingler" (Vincent Price 1959). I was a theater usher, at the Saenger Theater in Pensacola, and saw it dozens of times until I was sick of it. (I saw Liberty Valence get shot a lot too.)


I also saw the trick they used to scare theater audiences watching "The Tingler"...which you cannot duplicate watching it on TV...unless you sneak up behind them and pop a paper bag at an intense moment.

By the end of that experience, I had concluded that "horror" movies were: Silly. Stupid. Ridiculous. Funny. Dumb.

Maybe I missed something as a result, but, I've never really missed missing it.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, fainting, fake eye, glass eye, horror movies, Pensacola, Saenger Theater, the tingle, Vincent Price

By Donovan Baldwin

I like a simple life.

I don't have a lot of rules in my life, at least not a lot of ones I actually try to live by. I do try to follow laws and customs of wherever I find myself.

Most of the rules I DO try to live by are pretty simple.

Don't hurt people.
Help people.
Keep your word.
Honor your promises.
Respect the beliefs of others.

Simple stuff, with, yes, room for modification if reality requires. I respect the beliefs of others, but, I kind of hope they respect mine.

One of these is, "My house, my rules."

I won't get angry if you don't like the way I do things in my house, but, I will if you give me a hard time about it...in my house. You're free to say whatever you want...in your house. We're both free to either try to work it out, or go home.

If I offend, and you're not sure if I intended to, then that's proof I did NOT intend to offend, mislead, or hurt. If I do intend to offend, you will know because, it will probably be private, unless you make it public, and I will make sure you understand.

"Mislead" or "hurt"?

Yeah, those are probably accidental.

I try to be honest about who and what I am, and, if something pops up that bothers you, it just wasn't covered yet. I would have told you if you had asked.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, how to live, life rules

By Donovan Baldwin

I can be pretty negative.

In fact, I'm positive I can be negative.

Two good things. I also am positive that I can be pretty positive, and, I don't think that being negative is always...well...a negative.

Positively!

We sometimes negative people are the ones who ask, "Why?", and "How?" and "Why not?"

Oh, sure constant negativity can be a downer, man, but, I just cannot feel that constant positivity can be constantly a positively uplifting thing either.

At least I'm pretty positive about that. Look at old Yin and Yang, the circle of life, my checking account. Things grow and prosper, but, sometimes because they are eating something else. If somebody wins, it's possible that somebody else lost...or, at least...didn't win...which is kind of like losing...if you're going to be negative about it.

Anyway, I guess what I'm positively trying to get at, is that we can't all have good stuff all the time....at least not in this segment of the space-time continuum we currently occupy.

That's a negative. Here's a positive: Maybe someday, if we keep working at it, we will get closer to that world, even if it's not in our lifetime.

Now, I'm not sure if that ended on a positive or negative note.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, being negative, being positive, donovan baldwin

By Donovan Baldwin

During my 72 years on this Earth, I have studied my way through college courses, and read my way through many books; technical, informational, philosophical, and fictional.

I have acquired, and forgotten, various, and sometimes esoteric, job skills.

I have learned all kinds of common and technical terms for "stuff" from abstruse and confusing, to absolutely senseless.

One thing in common about ALL these terms is: If you say any of these terms to somebody who doesn't know what THAT term means, you might as well be speaking a foreign language. THAT also means that, if you use one of those terms to someone who does not understand it, someone who may be ten times smarter than you OR ME, and they don't react properly...they are not dumb.

If we understand their confusion and take the time to explain what was actually meant, THEN, neither are we.

“If you wish to converse with me,” said Voltaire, “define your terms.”

Two people cannot understand each other, or even honestly agree or disagree, if they do NOT understand what the other is saying. Yet, so many times I have seen someone training, or arguing with, someone, gloat over their supposed superiority because they used terms the other did not understand, or was not familiar with.

Someone who intentionally uses unknown or esoteric terms to make another seem ignorant, is an ideal example of ignorance.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, how to treat people, ignorance, technical terms

By Donovan Baldwin

We are often told, that to change our lives, we need to change something in it.

Well, I suppose I can agree with that in principle.

However, it may not be necessary to change yourself.

Question: What if you are everything you need to be, and someone or something shows up that changes the dynamic of your life?

We tend to suppose that, if things are not going "right" then we are "wrong" somehow. It might not be so. Maybe you just need the right person, or thing, or thought, or whatever, in your life.

There could be a huge turnaround without you having to "change" a thing about yourself, right?

I guess what I'm trying to say, is, if things are "wrong" in your life, maybe it's not your fault. Maybe "life" is wrong.

Maybe, somewhere, there's a something, or a someone, which will make your life "right".

Don't blame yourself. It might not be you.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, change, change life, change yourself, donovan baldwin

By Donovan Baldwin

I have problems.

Of course, don't we all?

One of my problems is that I don't have much of a middle ground. Unfortunately, I DO have a middle, but, that's not what I'm talking about.

I was raised pretty much in a "middle of the road" world. Unfortunately, when I went out into the grownup world, there were a lot of ups and downs. Lefts and rights. Many seesaw swings. Not only did I not know how to handle or react to them, but, I got yanked along for a wild ride in a couple of instances. In those cases, I lost my footing, and my equilibrium.

Now, when life swings underneath me, or before me, I get disoriented. I guess, to continue the metaphor, I run to the farthest limits of the landscape, but, in the other direction of whatever the problem is...or I THINK it is.

That's another problem. I see things simply, and life has taught me, or I learned, whatever life was TRYING to teach me, that most people complicate things. As a result, I get confused, and, in an attempt to understand what others might be seeing, I add layers of complication to situations which should be pretty simple.

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Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, life, problems

By Donovan Baldwin

I like to lead a simple life.

I enjoy nature, classical art, including Greek sculpture, classical & country western music, and reading...all kinds of stuff: Sci-Fi, Mysteries, Non-Fiction. Pretty eclectic.

I don't have a lot of rules of life, at least not a lot of ones I actually try to live by. I do try to follow the laws and customs of the country or land where I find myself.

Most of the rules I DO try to live by are pretty simple.

Don't hurt people.
Help people.
Keep your word.
Honor your promises.
Respect the beliefs of others.

Simple stuff, with, yes, room for modification if reality requires me to do so.

I respect the beliefs of others, but, I kind of hope they respect mine. One of these is, "My house, my rules." I won't get angry if you don't like the way I do things in my house, but, I will if you give me a hard time about it...in my house. You're free to say whatever you want...in your house. We're both free to either try to work it out, or go home.

If I offend, and you're not sure if I intended to, then that's proof I did NOT intend to offend, mislead, or hurt. If I do intend to offend, you will know because, it will probably be private, unless you make it public, and I will make sure you understand.

"Mislead" or "hurt"? Yeah, those are probably going to be accidental. I try to be honest about who and what I am, and, if something pops up that bothers you, it just wasn't covered yet. I would have told you if you had asked.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, customs, donovan baldwin, life, rules of life

By Donovan Baldwin

Just to put the world in perspective. I graduated The University of West Florida (UWF), with a degree in accounting in 1973. I took many classes in humanities, math, English, accounting, finance, and economics. Of course, I took many accounting courses; beginning, intermediate, advanced. Accounting for managerial control. Cost accounting. Government accounting. All these courses, had one or two books. Economics tended to have big, heavy books. Finance tended to have small, reasonably sized text books. I carried a briefcase with all my books each quarter (we were on quarters, not semesters). Then came the quarter I had to take TAX ACCOUNTING! The texts for Tax Accounting filled my briefcase and I had to carry the books for other classes in my arms. That tells you something. Either taxes are the most important thing an accounting student has to learn...OR...wait for it...taxes are just too damn complicated. I think citizens should pay taxes to help the government do important stuff (another discussion), but, the citizen should be able to put his or her tax information on a tax return the size of a post card, and, it should take a citizen about one minute more than it takes them to gather their data, to fill in that tax return. Somebody is getting rich from complicated tax laws, and, it is not the citizen.

Labels: accounting, article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, tax accounting, taxes, University of West Florida, UWF

By Donovan Baldwin

Here's a comment for the "wannabe writers" out there. For every post of mine you see, there are several that have been deleted before I hit "post", or saved somewhere else. For poets? I have about five poems in various stages at this moment. One was started a day or two ago, two were started today, one is about a month old, and the other has been driving me crazy since 2005. I have been published. I can honestly say "I am a published author."

I cannot say I've ever been paid.

You know, that part does not mean a thing to me. "I write, therefore I am." Or, perhaps, "I am, therefore I write." When I stop writing, I am NOT anymore. When I am NOT anymore, I stop writing. People will pay you for certain things you write and for certain forms of writing, but, a writer writes because he or she must write. It is as much a part of my, our, existence as eating, breathing, or making babies. It is an ecstatic thing. I find it almost Freudian, that, a lot of times, when I type, "write", my fingers type "writhe" as if in passion.

Gotta have it. Gotta do it. Gotta love it. Gotta take a cold shower now.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, writer, writing

By Donovan Baldwin

Most of us have been told since childhood to love our neighbors. We are told that by parents we usually love. We grow up and fall in love, love our girl friend, boy friend, friend-friend, get married, love our partner, and love our children.

We "love" our pets, our homes, our jobs (maybe), our country, city, neighborhood.

To look at the world, it might be assumed we love everybody...except "them", of course.

Who are "them"?

Those others, usually not like us somehow, which for some reason, which we often do not know, we are not supposed to love.

But, all of that's another topic.

I want to ask, "Who loves you?"

More specifically, "Do YOU love you?"

It has been said you cannot dip from an empty well. The implication here being that, if you do not love yourself, how will you have love to share with others?

I know that most of us can "fake it", including love, often because we really do love the person, it's just that we don't feel it somehow.

Maybe a start is to love yourself.

I know that when it comes to love and other feelings, we cannot simply tell others, or ourselves, "Feel like this...", whatever "this" is.

However, you can try to be the sort of person you would love to love. You can do things for yourself, the things you would do for someone you love.

You ARE worth love, you know, but, you may have to show others that you are, before they can feel it. One thing you can do is love them first.

Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, love, love yourself