THAT OLD HOUSE ON CAMBAY LANE

Written for all that exists within a childhood home - the memories, the experiences, the love.  Picture above of the kids of Cambay who made front lawns a place to play. Picture below the kids of Cambay today.

 

The old home

Where we came from

The front lawn

Leaves, snow, red-light, green-light, hide and seek

Dear Lord, don’t let me wake from this sleep

 

The old home

All the folks are there

For the moment, they are still out in the back

Around the side, in the den, in their favorite chair

Memories that - locked away - I will always keep

Don’t let me wake, dear Lord, from this sleep

 

The old home

Voices call us from down the hall,

Call us for dinner; call us out of hiding

Call us back to a family that once and forever cared

The kind of care that the truth could never really dare

But these memories - like old molasses - drip, ooze and seep 

Dear Lord, don’t let me wake from this sleep

 

Don’t wake me to a world where voices stop their call

When careless eyes don’t show any feeling at all

Where family members pass to old age and beyond

Where magic elves in the front yard lose their magic wand

Where hide-and-seek leaves us lost in a grownup confusion

Where we’re left with despair, denial and delusion

 

Let me sleep for now – with the folks in the old home of yesterday

That’s the haven where I wish to– in childlike eyes - forever stay

 

The old home

Where we came from

The front lawn

Leaves, snow, red-light, green-light, hide and seek

Dear Lord, don't let me wake from this sleep

IT'S GREAT TO BE ALIVE

Written for my dad - born February 28, 1928 and passed March 15, 2021 - far left, who put up with this motley crew and loved them in his own certain way, with memories that could fill a piece of prose, found below.

And so the sentiments are clear; the affirmation set

Knowing what we put out there is what we will ultimately get

Recalling glimmers of visuals out of the murky haze

Holding close to heart all of our previous nights and days

Dreams of the past and future, memories of a life

“The universe is perfect – it’s great to be alive”

Coming into focus, names of yore from so far back

George Coulton, George Hutchings, Norm Zauchin, Jerry Kanack

Ricky Smith, Dick Sullivan, John Tyson, Marc Reymont

Friends and family – what more could anyone really want?

 

History: born in Detroit, father James and mother Mary

Sisters Amy and Barbara, later came the military

A reluctant student of economics, still you passed the test

Then came the unlikely insurance – it even took you out west

But first came destiny, God’s good grace, fortune and luck

All from a stapler in a drawer … it was stuck

A vacation, the same weekend, taken together

A marriage – July 31, 1954 – that would last forever

1959 Redondo, 1962 Cambay Lane – following the road traveled less

Mary Lynn, Jimmy, Kathy, Emily, Monique, Emmett, Grace and Tess

Christmas mornings – waking up to half-eaten cookies on the hearth

Lawrence Welk, Hee Haw, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart

Slurpees, Jack in the Box balloons, McDonalds, Cocos, Carrows

Skinny Buffet, Apple Appeal, Jon’s, Tijuana Tacos, Sambos

Japanese Dear Park, Santa’s Village, Mt. Wilson, Jungleland

Sea World, Knott’s Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Wild Animal Park, Disneyland

 

All the places, every summer, in and out of traffic, where we’ve been

Familiar stories told over and over ... and over again

Meditation in the 70s, circle star one thousand and three … relax

Farmers Insurance, claims and fraud, each and every photostat

Coming home with boxes, angry at the ringing phone while “on call”

Concerned over sniper fire at the front door and protecting us all

JFK, Coast to Coast, Art Bell and mystic Dollee

Doing the picks, bags of scratch offs, the winning lottery

Prairie Home Companion, Celtic Thunder, cassette tapes, ON TV

Bowling balls, bags, leagues, tournaments and trophies

The carwash donuts, Black Panther fireworks, the “Family Pack”

Ragamuffin, Cosworth, Nicky, Rags, Fidrych, and Lucy the cat 

Dan Meade over for football, the Miracle on Manchester game

The Rams always losing to the Vikings in bad weather – so lame

 

Long drives in the car, everyone asleep but me in the back seat

The habit you had of cleaning your ears with a car key

Cooking chicken noodle soup all the way to the end

Super Bowl VII, in 1967 and 1973 the trips to Michigan

Since I was sick, you took me to a store to get sherbet and some pop

Once got me a Dodger t-shirt after collecting those Pepsi soda tops

The amazing homerun by Kirk Gibson – man, what a shock

A call from Bete, those late night metaphysical talks

Each memory – a gift from a surreal world, so sublime

Tears when Mary Lynn left home that very first time

Yes visions of the past, present and future, memories of a life

Remembering always: the universe is perfect … it’s great to be alive

SENDING AN ANGEL TO MY DAD

 

Written for my father, James Arthur Ellis ... February 28, 1928 - March 15, 2021. Safe and peaceful travels.

 

What can you do when there’s nothing you can do?

Where can you be when it seems you can’t come through?

What can be accomplished when you’re supposed to let it go?

What is there to know when there is no way to know?

What can be done when you give it up to the glory on high?

What can you trust so that you and family can get by?

When the love is bigger than any actions that can be taken?

When mortal time and space makes existence seem forsaken

What is there for me to do, when feeling downcast and sad?

Perhaps simply … sending an angel to my dad

 

Yesterday in hospital bed, he laid in wait

Vitals were good, but other signs not so great

The morning came, and the text gave harsh news

Now there was something I knew I had to do

Get on the wet and rainy road, as fast I could

Crystal clear, taking action, hoping for the good

As I drove, I still questioned what I could truly bring

Like the drummer boy, I didn’t think I had anything

But focused on my mission, I brought what I had

Perhaps just a prayer and … sending an angel to my dad

 

Sending an angel 

Standing tall as we must

Summoning the faith

Surrounding ourselves in trust

 

Arriving at the hospital, it was a surreal scene

Something you see on TV or movie screen

Nurses, hospital room, hospital bed

My father prone … and my sister gently touching his head

Memories, concerns and tears arrive in times of life and death

With my eyes closed, I barley noticed his last breath

What can one do in moments when there is nothing left to do?

When the immensity of love is all that can come through

Perhaps just be, stay calm, and remain in the presence

Rekindling what exists in the still eternal essence

Peace would come in knowing there would be nothing left to add

Just this poem and … sending an angel to my dad

Sending an angel to my dad

 

The Lives You Do Not Know

 I wrote this for my wife for Valentines Day. She provides yoga online to people she has never met. How unconditional is that giving? Lovely. 

 

As they zoom on in with only a name
You’re simply glad that they came
You do not make their acquaintance – after or before
Yet, you lead them through the proverbial door
You guide them to their balanced health
Their physical well-being, their body’s wealth
Allowing their stress to simply and gently melt
Into a serenity and a peace gently felt
And since they may come and they may go
These are the lives you do not know

But these are the lives you will touch with love
When daily existence comes to push and shove
Your light and your care go across airwaves
The aches and the pains, your guidance saves
It’s not about notoriety, riches or monetary gain
It’s nothing you need to really explain
It’s about the growth you have experienced over time
It’s about the gifts you’ve received, conscious and sublime
It’s about not needing to know the receiver or sender
It’s about the proverbial door we all need to enter

These are the lives you do not know
The ones you reach in hopes they’ll grow
These are the lives you want to improve
So bodies relax, stretch, expand and move
From sukhasana to savasana, you reveal the way
With printouts of itinerary for each of the days
With microphone hookup so they can hear what you say
From namaste to namaste to namaste
Meeting your own divinity in effortless flow
Which may be one of the lives you do not know

So as they zoom on in with a name and blank screen
Spirit will know what’s happening behind the scenes
Spirit will know what this all really means
And in time we’ll know, through what we have seen
Gifts are given and received – all at once, by all who share
By those who go for their goals … those who dare
By those who dream a dream including everyone
Knowing God has a plan and God’s will shall be done
Into the mystery, into the void you now willingly go
All for the sake of the lives you do not know
The lives you do not know

James Anthony Ellis is a writer found at www.LegacyProductions.org.

 

 

The Foundation of Unity

Point to that unifying force and you have a chance at unity.
Point to anything else, and you are just trying to get your way.                                                        

Unity. There is a desire for unity in this nation.   

 

Yet it will not come as a proclamation, or a demand. It won’t even come as a request. It will not come as a plea for peace and mutual understanding from some leader – religious, governmental, inspirational.   

 

It won’t come from any dogma, policy or political stance.

 

It will not come from the right. It does not come from the left.

 

And it does not even come from standing in the “middle” as some may mistakenly believe. And broadcast.

 

Unity arises from the foundation on which we all stand.

 

For those cheering on a football team, they needn’t “half-heartedly” root on the other team in order to remain unified with the sport of football. For those in a boxing match, they needn’t try a little less and allow the other boxer to get some advantage in order to remain unified with the opponent. 

 

Opponents are opponents. Having various sides of a sport, an argument or a political spectrum is natural and part of what could be seen as a harmonious whole … as long as … there are underlying principles, rules of engagement and a justice system.

 

In football, there is the integrity of the game – rules and impartial referees.

 

In boxing, there is the integrity of the match – rules and an impartial referee.

 

As long as there is no special treatment favoring one team or another, such a balance keeps everything unified, even if there are fans and participants on polar opposites of the equation. With a unified foundation, the love of the overall sport can be secure and celebrated.   

 

So when baseball’s Houston Astros cheated and screwed with the rules in the recent past, they were completely disrupting the game – the entire game – because it took away the foundation that makes the sport what it is. And a lot of people were understandably upset, mostly because there didn’t appear to be a real consequence from a fair system of justice.

 

In our nation, we may not have rules and referees but there is the promise of a Republic – holding law and order, and an impartial checks-and-balance system of justice, with judges only looking at the law and not personalities, platforms or platitudes.

 

It’s a promise only powerful when it is kept and held to account. By everyone.

 

Everyone. 

 

If anyone in our nation wishes for unity, do not look left, do not look right, do not move towards the middle. Look beneath us all. If you want to unite or reunite around something, why not start with the foundational principles of liberty, life, inalienable rights, the pursuit of happiness, equal protection under the law, and the US Constitution?

 

Let us pledge – as all our public servants have pledged, from the President to our law enforcement – to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States, so help us God.

 

There is our true common ground.   

 

There is our integrity with a foundational force.   

 

There is our unity.

 

James Anthony Ellis is a writer found at www.LegacyProductions.org. 

PRAYERS FOR DAISY

My father-in-law told me his pooch was hurting a bit. 

We all have a Daisy.

We all love someone so much.

We all hold so deeply to the connection of a dear one.

This is a prayer for Daisy.

A prayer for her well-being, her health, her healing.

Yesterday, the word came from my father in law. His dear Daisy has been hurting with a troubled esophagus. And so we pray. And we hold out for the best.

For we all have a Daisy.

A dear, soft, sweet spot in our heart where there is room for another.

It's as if how our loved one feels, we feel ... how our loved one is doing, we are doing.

It's not a co-dependency; it's a connection, an extension of our selves with another self. It is our expanding to include the health of our dear one, be it a spouse, a child, a sibling, a parent ... a family pet.

Little Daisy - a faithful Boston Terrier - was located as a rescue by Roger a couple years ago.

Since then, they have been inseparable. A boy and his dog, no matter the age of either. If ever my wife and I receive a holiday card from my father in law, it's always signed "Dad and Daisy."

And so we pray.

For Daisy. For her full recovery.

Knowing that there is one power in this universe. Not two powers, but rather one.

And this power is infinite in knowledge, peace, joy, abundance and health.

In that perfect state of health, we are all connected.

We know and accept that anything unlike this perfect state is released at this very moment.

And we are well.

Daisy's body is in pure alignment with oxygen flow and blood flow, enriching her entire body.

The unlimited source of energy is alive and well within her.

As it is alive and well within all those who have their own Daisy ... in their own life.

For this vision, we do give thanks, in gratitude.

As it is being made manifest right here, right now.

We let it go and let it be.

And so it is.

Amen.

And so it is, for my father-in-law and his pooch.

In a beautiful vision, no matter what the surface appearance displays.

In a time of need ... and connection.

In this prayer for Daisy. 

 

James Anthony Ellis can be found at www.LegacyProductions.org.

YOUR VOICE

 

I heard that my friend recently lost his mother. His story was moving and inspired some prose. 

 

 

Along my path, we had parted our ways

We had squandered the time in distance and delays

On my journey, there was separation at times

Yet there was a pull to unify our separate minds

In my sojourn, the beginning could start with none other

But the bonds and the beauty of a son and a mother

In my dreams, I embrace the freedom of one choice

In my dreams, I'll always be able to hear your voice

The voice was kind and sweet, always wanting my best

The voice that could put this boy to the test

The voice that was soothing for a soul on the path

The voice echoing memories of a rich and deep past

The voice that mended the hearts and healed the sores

The voice that will, in eternity, always be yours

Time moved along, the call came yesterday

Rekindling the pain that we had parted ways

Reminding me of real connections that can truly stay

Even as I hear the news - last night you passed away

In waking hours, I continue the tasks, all in stride

Yet in dreams, I reach out to where you now reside

In my dreams, all distance dissolves and I see you smile

In my dreams, the love has been here all the while

In my dreams, I embrace the freedom of one choice

In my dreams, I'll always be able to hear your voice

Your voice

 

James Anthony Ellis can be found at www.LegacyProductions.org.