Then and then

 

Source

Life is a chain of events, I know that is true.  These happenings link up to form the past.  That is how it works, and wonderfully so.

What I desire for a while is a period of time in which the weeks are filled with simple day-to-day activities:  laundry, going to a movie, reading, and such. 

This past few years have been labeled “…And Then…” years.

When my mother started to decline, “…And Then…” started.  Each phone call and each visit always led to something more.  When Mom died in April 2011, I thought life would resume the laundry and movie routine.  But, it didn’t.

All those “…and then…” events occurred:  A broken ankle.  A fall/sprawl (broken ankle betrayed me).  Trips to far-off places.  Christmas and birthdays.  Serious illness and surgery (for my husband’s mother).  Subsequent care following. 

Then...my daughter fell, broke bones in her foot, had surgery, was ‘laid up’ for two months.  Then…my other daughter had a baby boy!

More trips to far-off places.  And then…

Maybe I am whining about life in general.  Maybe I am like my wee grandson who cries when he needs something, and it is up to his parents to figure out what that is. And then I would like to be picked up and cuddled by Mom. 

If I could push a “pause” button, I would. Should I?  Would you? 

 

Then and Now...Then......

To capture the City of God

Journey of holiness

Painted by in a thick

Line of religion and inquisition.

A quest, a crusade

To rescue what is and is not

Sacred.

Jerusalem and spices.

Gold and silk.

To kill and take.

To kill and take more.

Painted line

Grows wider,

Becomes stronger,

Killing in the name

Of ?what? whom?

Finely penned ink on parchment,
moments captured for history to see,
to judge. 

“Then you might have seen many a banner and pennon of various forms floating in the breeze—helmets with crests, brilliant with jewels, and shining mails, and shields, emblazoned with lions, or flying dragons in gold.”

Geoffrey de Vinsauf, itinerary of Richard 1.

To do what is right...  Then....

Bloody...Bloodier...Bloodiest

Line painted

By a thick brush

And red paint

Of hate and heretics.
New ideology.  New horror.
Live for all to see,
To judge.

...and now

What will be written?  What will be said?  What will be done?  Who can even quess?