Hello I Must Be Going

I can't believe it's been two months since I returned from Ibiza. Wow. Things have been busy. It was a great trip. We relaxed on beaches, we saw hours of the night that I haven't seen in years (at least not having been immediately caused by a crying child), and we got to see people we haven't seen in years.

Here is the man who was the reason for the trip. Or rather, the birthday boy.



And all the ladies who came from around the world to help him celebrate:




The theme of the party was "white and bling". Because that's what he wanted. Here's me and hubby at the villa where most of the people stayed. (We stayed in a nearby bed and breakfast that was wonderful)




And here I am with my two childhood best friends. I've known the man on the left since the day he was born, and the man on the right for about 30 years. And when we saw each other again (after 7 years since our last meeting), it was like we'd seen each other yesterday. I love that.




So, yet again, I don't have much time for posting and this one is just a quick overview of pictures (and it has taken me a week to put this together).

On this note, I am going to put this blog into retirement. I may resurrect it at some point (and those of you who visit here will know as I will come and let you know on your blogs), but life is too hectic these days (in a good way) for this kind of thing. The blog will stay up, but I probably won't be posting to it unless I get time and inspiration to write more poetry (which was the whole point of this blog in the first place). Thanks to all those who have read my words, I appreciate the time you've spent here.

Take care of yourselves. ~Joni

I'm baaaaaack.....

Ibiza was wonderful. Unfortunately, no good vacation goes unpunished so I am swamped at work and will need a few days before I can write about my time out of the country.

Ciao!

If a Tree Falls in the Forest...

Standing Deadwood

It was the possibility of her that he loved.
Not the conquest, nor the acceptance. Her life
lay out before her like a grass carpet through a forest.
It was the promise of her life that drew him.

Even as his own path narrowed to darker stands
of trees hers was light and full of options.
Entwining with her was renewing his own potential
giving himself again a life he'd already squandered.

He tasted it within her as his tongue traced the shallow crevice
of her spine, he inhaled it in her scent like wildflowers blooming
after rain. He felt it as he touched the strength of her jawline.
He looks at the hands that once caressed her. His hands

fresh with new creases. The furrowed lines dug deep into them
and drained her away. The younger hands that had
touched her were gone. Replaced by his father’s hands.
There was coldness in the calluses that she would never know.

Life. To live again under a blanket of potential with
a sky of wonder, sheltering. He clung to it, then only to the dream,
then finally was forced to let it go for the many things
neither could control yet were thrust upon them.

Now he wanders the standing deadwood of the thicket of his heart
past former loves and more former friends, seeking the sapling of
young love again, and again, and again.

Joni
1/4/2006

Life is Popping!

Wow! I have been BUSY! And, of course, this place has been a bit neglected of late. Ah well. Such is life.

The good news is I have about a month with most of my family out of town so I can do all the things I've been meaning to do for years and haven't gotten to yet. My closets have been warned.

So I have a lot I want to get done in the next month (including some vacation time with the family) and then after that, I get to REALLY relax. On a small island in the Mediterranean called Ibiza. Just me and my hubby....and about 15 other people who will also be attending a birthday party for a friend.




I'm so excited to get things done, and so excited to go to Spain. So forgive my posting slow down here, but I expect after Ibiza I will pick this thread back up more regularly again. In the meantime, I'll post here and there (and maybe even from Ibiza), so keep checking in!

In Memoriam

James

A soldier was killed in Iraq yesterday.
Major James Ahearn.
A friend to my husband in peaceful times.
He didn’t know James particularly well,
but enough. We are not to be
pitied anymore than all of us.

He was a good man.

He used his pay to buy toys for the
children pummeled by aggression.
He married a local and brought her to
Carolina so their family might know peace.

He was a good man.

And this is the problem with war’s blindness,
it kills both the bad, and the good.
Someone once said Heaven must have needed another hero.
But we’re short on good men right here.
In the end war doesn’t care what I think.
And today all that matters is that James came to say:

Remember me. I was a good man.

Joni
7/11/07

Festival Performance

This past weekend, my bellydance troupe performed at the Festival for the Eno, a local festival where they use the proceeds to purchase land around the Eno River to keep it protected and maintain the park there.

Here are a couple of shots from the two performances we did. I decided to go with bold colors for this outfit as you can see (I'm in the bright yellow and red).

We performed a zil (finger cymbal) piece and a double veil piece. Both went well and it was a total blast performing. To the people who came to see us, a thousand thanks!

Another Night, Another Moon



Riding Silent

I watch a late moon rising on an early night.
I look to her cycles for answers to the walls
in my mind. But tonight she rides in silence,
keeping her counsel well guarded. These are
my ramparts to climb or tear asunder, not hers.

Through treacherous trajectories and
pummeled paths she has emerged
beautiful and strong without backward glance.
Her example is not lost on me.

This night she will trail her paned light past
rooftops and I will be left to blanket
my own hush in lullabyed sweetness
and feigned sleep knowing that
tomorrow my maze winds on.

Joni
7/3/07