a personal touch

this thread

this post

this most obnoxious host

now here is the button

i wish to make a toast

commercial #1 ChapStick

i'm picturing a chapstick commercial:
- 10 seconds
- a bunch of clips of tongue out athletes
- finish with napolean dynamite "my lips hurt real bad"
- then bam: a cool pic of a chapstick tube, a loud lip-smack sound effect and a monotone voice "win."
- done

i can't stoop to poop

i squat and i trot
then i cry on the pot
the weight that i lifted
has me inflicted
and i hope
dear god
this is all not for naught

where the spirit leads

the spirit leads and we find true religion 
not within the confines of a particular system of faith 
but along the way 
in the valley 
on mountain top

here we negotiate
with creation 
and that which is written on our heart 
Creator meets us there 
weak, vulnerable, sickly
strong, confident, bold 
the choice is left to us
love or hate
follow or fall away
and the choice is difficult
never clear cut
ease and destruction
or pain and gain
  

success

it's easy to focus
on the unknown
letting slip
the here and now
tangible occupation
suffers
as my mind wanders
and I realize success
is getting up and
doing what I know
tomorrow will look after itself
and i'll move forward
leaving a trail

peek a boo

there are things that cannot be unseen
you sir
and your naked lower half
are one of those scenes

tails

my wife and I run
but she broke her bum
and I've messed up my lung
inactivity is toxic
a severe pain in the coccyx

Cheers

Sometimes you want to go
Where nobody knows your name...

forward

there's this urge to control
to be validated
but letting go
lets me go
places

sharing stairs

five flights
143 steps
calls for high fives
sweat, tears, laboured laughter
lead me
to a better view
a better life
a well deserved beer

movement

recycled information abounds
we're so eager for that sound bit
that will change our days
but again and again
we're reminded
the secret to a well lived life
is simple
hard work and letting go
keep reading if you wish
but change happens when you flip the switch

we move along making decisions and getting into shit at the speed of life and then wake up old. 

fellowship

table full
of
food and love
prayers go up
with eyes wide open
cause we need to see
be sober
drink wine
eat bread
dine
remember me

leaving dust

it's a building
not the Church
investing in the material
ignoring the spiritual
you look so pretty
with your lovely noose
unable to enjoy
incapable of living
always at war
with flesh and blood
while devils steal, kill and destroy
nose up
you miss what's happening
weep with those who weep
laugh with those who laugh
cry me a river
immature baby
i'm walking ahead
catch up if you wish
arms wide open

Destination Square

Goderich is a gem.  Location is second-to-none, and our downtown core is getting dressed to the nines.

What we don’t have is an identity.  Bayfield is the Quaint Village With Money.  Grand Bend is the Happening Spot for Twenty-Somethings.  St. Jacobs is The Market.  St. Mary’s has The Hill.  Blyth and Stratford scream Arts.

Goderich, well… we’re a conundrum.  Blue/white-collar, a PeeWee town with a beach, newspaper with no freelance, skate park vs. bird sanctuary… We lack an identity.

Attracting retirees to the most beautiful town in Canada? Done and done. It’s good for our economy and worth investing in. Easy.

Now that the Industrial Revolution is over, what do we do for the sweet moolah?  Attract the dinks… dinks as in Dual Income No Kids!  Those are the people we want here spending ALL of their expendable income.  But they’re not here. Why? What are these people looking for?  An experience.

Dinks need to know our name, then come here and see some effin’ activity: people selling cool shit, cooking cool shit, playing hard, beaching in style, crowding into pubs, smiling and laughing under lots of lights. They need to crave the status boost that a weekend in sexy ol’ Goderich offers.

Check it: Classy fire pads, benches, a bar and waterbike rentals – all down at a freshly-sanded beach.

Boaters out into the evening with the lights on, triathlons and races of all sorts, pompous trail signs and tours, bike rentals for a dollar, basketball nets all over the place – random outdoor workout equipment, even.

Fireworks for no reason, buskers, retro outdoor movies, tons of live plays and comedy, tours of local shops that make yummy stuff like jewellery, guitars and chocolates.

Farmers’ markets, sidewalks sales, bathrooms, food carts everywhere, stores open late.  Get those walking street plays back… a vineyard or two on orchard line… outdoor massage; cool-looking taxis; a fabulous mayor who scraps antiquated bylaws..?

Physical fitness and emotional wellbeing are all the rage – and for good reason!  We’ve got what city-dwellers need!  But where are all the big, brassy advertisements telling them so?

“Destination Square”.  Peeps should cry themselves to sleep if they miss a day in Goderich.  They need to be packing up their laptops, moving here and telling their friends.

It wouldn’t take much.  If locals go crazy enjoying this town and honking their own horn on social media – with a few tweaks from council – we’ll land ourselves on the dinks’ GPS as Destination Square: The Place to Be.

take me out to the...

it's a snowy spring morn
and we're up with it
he's waiting at the door
ball cap grin
small town boys
city bound
home runs
parking lots
and hot dogs

bringing light

holey red barn
full of life
stories of old
you stand strong
through thick
and thin
we talk
as sun sets
through boarded
grin

next

journey's ending
body's sore
planning begins
shortly
stoked to the core
first things first
a little rest
meditation to
bring out my
best

My Goderich

if i could live
anywhere
with geographical pros

i'd need a
lake
trails
a unique downtown core
farmers
selling produce
and a candy store

i'd want
4 golf courses
a marina and
sand
i'd look for a boardwalk
and multi-million dollar building plans

it would be nice to have 
10 churches
2 arenas
maples and birches

only the best medical care
and
a committed cousel
with a dedicated
mayor

a splash pad
a horse track
a museum
for my lad

oh
and schools
and pools and
mennonite made
stools

it's a lot to ask
but...
dog parks
2 sunsets a day
all kinds of resturants to feed my hungry

now i shouldn't
but i'll go on

close access to cities
with airports
a must

i do have a snowmobile
and a triathlon lust

places to use my racket and pole?

it's an extensive list

but that's how i roll

hard

pushed around
he hits
for survival
subconsciously fighting
for his right to
equality
options exhaust quickly
limited by
a meagre repertoire
of coping skills
his pockets shallow
his connection to power
nil
the taste of control
short lived
now caged like an animal
he regrets decisions
no choices at all
salt stings wounds as
tears find way of least resistance
he wipes them
envious of their
freedom
purpose