Reflections

Gazing at the reflection of my life,
there before me,
I wonder
why the picture
has so much remained the same.
Trying so many different ways...
attachment,
detachment,
loving,
anger,
meditation,
action,
art,
work
friendship
oh...the pain of that
so often betrayal by the one
most trusted.

Still, the reflection
remains,
full of color,
and beauty,
through time and space
and living years.
I give myself to
completion,
to this moment,
this hour,
this day,
until the image fades away.

What else is there to do
but to paint on this canvas of pain
marred by my own mistakes
my own missteps of trust
and even honesty?
--------------------------

Good theater is a powerful means of reflecting to society its absurdities, cruelties, injustices, as well as the things which human beings do right, which is love and humor, forgiveness and pulling together in crisis.

This past weekend I had the good fortune of seeing a Tennessee Williams play I have seen before.  Its message seems timeless, as so many things have not changed in the 66 years since the play was first done.  It was well received.  People seemed to embrace its message.  And perhaps to be fair, some things have changed a bit.  But young men who are gay, are still often shamed and bullied and some end up killing themselves.  And those who make terrible mistakes, especially women, are condemned and labeled and excluded from the society of the "righteous", whose own crimes are often much worse than the one whose life is put on trial by friends and family and community.  Funny, how the "righteous" are simply the ones with the power to exclude and condemn.  And the ones with the power, are the ones whose voice seems to be the voice that counts....even when that voice is rooted in lies or vengeance or brutality.

Mr. Williams was a brave sort.  His work still speaks.  And his own life was fraught with difficulties...but then, that is how one becomes a good artist of any sort.