Ravensong Poetry And Writing Blog by Donovan Baldwin

But, what I didn't learn about fishing, I sometimes learned about life.

One morning, fishing off the Pensacola Bay bridge, a derelict old skeleton of a man, with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth, shambled up and politely addressed Daddy, asking in the time-honored fashion of fishermen around the world, if he was catching anything.

My father replied politely and for a few minutes they chatted about fishing, where to fish, what was biting, what bait to use, to fish the bottom or not, etc.

After a while the ragged old man politely took his leave and wandered off down the bridge to have more conversations on fishing with other strangers.

I had noticed during the entire conversation, my dad, a normally taciturn man, had been open, cheerful, and polite... even going so far as to consistently address the decrepit old soul as "Captain", and speak to him with deference and respect.

The following conversation is as I remember it, probably not word for word...

Surprised at such familiarity in my father, especially with such a ragged, snaggle-toothed fellow, I asked,

"Daddy? Do you know him?"

"Nope. Never saw him before in my life."

"Then how did you know he was a Captain?"

"Did you see the hat he was wearing?"

"Yes."

"That's a captain's hat."

"So he's a captain of a ship?"

"Oh, I don't know that he's the captain of anything, but, he wears the hat. He apparently likes to think of himself as one, and it doesn't hurt me to call him 'Captain' and make him feel good. An old man like that doesn't have a lot, and it probably means a lot to him when somebody treats him with the respect he would like to have."

I don't remember what fish we caught that morning, but, I did get a free lesson from my dad. Respect people. A lot of time that's all they want... sometimes, that's all they might have.

Labels: donovan baldwin, fishing, kindness, life lesson

By Donovan Baldwin

beneath old ashes

a single ember ignites...

she fans into flames

-----

sweet infectious smile

soft eyes aglow with kindness...

words create desire

-----

the secrets she shares

once done only in private...

now part of their love

-----

ebon and silver

light and dark hills and hollows...

hidden and revealed

-----

intimate embrace

sharing intense sensations...

beyond our bodies

-----

wicked wet kisses

and intimate embraces...

delicious delights

-----

from dawn's unveiling

daring mother nature in...

her naked beauty

-----

dark petals folded

her garden's single flower...

opens at his touch

-----

beach too far away

fifty years or more ago...

when i was a boy

-----

innocence staggered

by storms of her emotions...

gales of wild desires

----

beneath the blanket

we read each other by touch...

re-read the best parts

-----

two lovers sharing

sunset's orgy of colors...

though a world apart

-----

#donovanbaldwin #poems #poetry #love

Labels: donovan baldwin, flames, kindness, love poems, poems, poetry, smile

By: Donovan Baldwin

Where my mind wanders, I must go,
Down darkened alleys,
With wet cobblestones,
Reeking of the garbage,
Of the human race

Into the blazing light,
Of the most glorious
And wondrous thoughts,
And actions of,
That same strange species.

One moment, ink to angels,
Another of the most demonic breed,
Brothers and sisters,
Capable of the sublime,
Or of slaughter,
Of innocents.

My torn mind is one with
All of theirs, and,
So, I must follow
Recording, for history,
For myself,
And for all others,
Of our breed.

Able to choose kindness,
And love, we choose,
Destruction and pain.
Able to choose the worst,
We choose the best.

Oh, what a tangled mass,
Of humanity and inhumanity
We are, and yet,
Somehow, with fits and starts,
Moving forward into some
Unknown oblivion,
Which will be recorded,
By the historian of man,

This unblind poet, who follows,
Blindly, recording all
The humanity and inhumanity
Of fellow man,
Doomed to write about,
All that is seen and sensed,
Where my mind wanders. 

November 2017

Labels: donovan baldwin, humanity, inhumanity, kindness, mind wanders, poem, poet, poetry, sadness, slaughter, sorrow, sublime

By: Donovan Baldwin

"Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it."
~ Akan proverb.

I see much on many social media sites, and the internet in general, not to pick on any one platform or group of people, about how to be wise, be great, be happy, be... well, you pick the virtue or reward.

The problem as I see it, or, at least ONE problem, is that wisdom, kindness, greatness, happiness, comes to us, unique creatures that we are, as huge masses too large to be completely understood, defined, or embraced, by one person, or, encapsulated in just a few words and images.

Still, just because we cannot have ALL should NOT mean we give up and simply don't try to have ANY.

I try, and sometimes (often) fail to be as wise, as good, as kind, as happy, as I desire to be. But, each day, I give it my best shot.

No matter how much I personally reap, I also try to share whatever happiness, kindness, goodness I can spare.

After all, I might not always have a lot myself, but, at least I can remind people that good things are out there, and they can claim their share.

Funny point about good things such as wisdom, kindness, and other such things...taking some for yourself, even hoarding them, never seems to diminish what is still available to share with everybody else.

In fact, finding some for yourself seems to create more for others.

Labels: donovan baldwin, happiness, kindness, rewards, virtues, wisdom, wise