Category: selfie

Landscape by Patrick JenningsOct 11, 20228:36 pm

Shadow Selfie

I have to admit there are an overabundance of road pics in my catalogue, photographs in which various streets, highways, byways and gravel tracks from my travels serve as the primary subject of a landscape. Mind you, I’m not apologizing for that. We photograph and write about what we know and love, and I love few things more than being behind the wheel of a car (or pedaling a bicycle) through unknown country. Over 40+ years of driving and cycling I’ve amassed several hundreds of thousands of miles wheeling on just about every road surface imaginable.

Safe to say, I know roads.

Poetry by Patrick JenningsAug 9, 20227:00 am

Stoney Embrace, Zion National Park, Utah, United States of America

Timeless Cycle

Embers
spark of life
renews within the valley

Enveloped
in the warm stone
of canyon walls

Emerging
as if from the womb
new life partum

Embraced
by the Earth
matron of time and being

Evermore
the cycle plays and plays again
birth, life, death, rebirth

Poetry by Patrick JenningsAug 7, 20227:00 am

Shadows

In the bright sun of day
I am shadow

A mask without a face
A smile without a reason
Laughter without glee

A sign of existence
Without presence

So I breathe
Bury my hand
In the hot sand

Shout out the pain
Of heat and grief
And emptiness

Give voice
To the being
Which once cast
The shadow

Until the voice
Becomes being
A vessel
For the light

The pain and grief
And emptiness
Become the shadow

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJun 29, 20203:05 pm

Patrick, Vagabond, Seman Hotel, Kashgar, Xinjiang, China

Vagabond ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #238

Note:
Rule change this week!
See below.

To move
Through time and space
By act of will

Undeterred and
Undirected by
Duty or responsibility

Led not by
Leash or force
Nor beholden to another’s wish

But to stay
In just one place
So long as restless heart desires this

Then move along
To some place other
There to find what’s there to see

Poetry by Patrick JenningsDec 10, 20182:48 pm

The Wind, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, United States of America

Steady in the Wind

I recall the wind
Insistent
Pummeling
Leaning into it
Just to stand upright

I recall the sun
Hard
And hot
Burning through
The cold air coursing

I recall the sea
Singing
Its white noise crescendo
The roar
Of a planet alive

I recall this moment
Blissfully
Unattached
Firmly rooted to ground
In the grip of experience

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJul 19, 20183:02 pm

Vintage Selfie, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, United States of America

Selfless Selfie In Between

I climb the stairs
Get turned around
Wonder which
Up or down
Light’s everywhere
Caught between
Transitioning
Where do I
Belong

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJul 2, 20188:48 pm

Authentic

Quiet mind
Breathe

If nothing comes
Find a prompt
(Photographs usually work.)
Start again

Breathe
Quiet mind

Write what comes
Don’t argue with the words

It’s OK to not like what they say
Write them anyway

It’s OK to not have the right words

Write down the wrong words
The right ones can be found later

Wait or pause whenever it feels
Like the words aren’t coming… yet
Or the meaning isn’t right… yet
And the right way isn’t present… yet

Quiet mind
Breathe

Take the time
To let them come
To let them flow

When they flow
Don’t stop

Stop, when it feels OK to stop
Stop, when the words feel true

If the words feel true
They are authentic

Whether or not they seem beautiful
Whether or not they seem important
Whether or not they seem angry
Whether or not they seem loving
Whether or not they seem … whatever

This is the hard part

Whether or not they hurt a little to read
Or hurt a lot

It seems, though
Authentic words are never hurtful
Nor bitter
Nor righteous
There is no deceit in them
Nor guile

The ego is not authentic

Not all words which come
Need to be shared
Even authentic ones
Some words were only ever intended
To speak truly to a readership of one

But, consider sharing them anyway
The word could use a little more
Authenticity