About 20 years ago I met a well-dressed older man sitting alone on a bench at a mall on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. I sat next to him and we began discussing life, triggered by some light comment or other. Within moments, I felt myself to be in the presence of wisdom. I joked that I felt in the presence of God. He chuckled and replied he’d only “been around.” To this day I remember his presence and how this stranger made me feel, both comforted and very much alive.
I knew Albert. Once he gave me some poems he wrote. I was working at a tiny grocery in Austin way back when. I've lost the poems but I have them in my heart. This one made me cry.
I’m from Austin too, this resonated really well. Painted a beautifully real picture of existing here, the people and the experience. I fucking loved this piece.
Yes! Wherever you are you might have to go inside your heart to find the Divine before you can recognize it in your brother or sister. But it’s there. Show them the Christ in you and relate to the Christ in them!
I grew up in Austin. The place is in my bones, not as much as it is now, but as it was before all the high rises came. This poem captures the essence of what that experience was like more beautifully than anything else I've ever read.
Made me smile and made me wonder. I like how god bummed a cigarette and apparently his lighter as well. Poems that ask the question 'who or what is god and how would it be to meet him/her in the flesh' just fascinate me!
It just occurred to me, if Substack ever published a book of poetry, and people could choose which poems were in the book they bought, "I dreamed I lived in Austin" would be one of them.
So I read this again, and again, and again… It occurred to me that it was not God he met. It was Death. The People with missing body parts were dead already and new the path he was on. Finally, at the edge of town in darkness under a ‘cold’ moon. He is presented with the end of his life. Cigarettes are a sign of death in many dreams. And death representing lack will take everything when you die… the Quarter (money), Cigarettes (being the means one uses to Kill oneself) and finally, the lighter (the Light that signifies Life). All things of the world. It was with a ‘bony hand’ that assured him the only thing Death cannot take away is Love. the caveat here is that he is destined to repeat the dream (as represented by him telling it again) until we find the only thing worth living for is Love.
The one thing that never dies is love. Either take on this poem and it ends and ends up exactly there. Take care all, ot will be okay in the end, but not just yet...
Fifty-four is a good time to find love. Regardless of how long would one wobble around receiving ham sandwiches, it worth the waiting.
What puzzles me is how would one feed a hungry heart when the heart has callouses all over, holes and missing chunks? I imagine that such a heart would require a lot of love to fill itself, for a lot of it would be waisted through the holes. Should one ask for love or better yet, for a younger heart which could temper its hunger a lot faster? ☺️ But perhaps I’m just drivelling now...
I loved this. Reminded me of how I tried to give a ham sandwich to a homeless person outside the convenience store on 6th and they yelled at me to give them cigarettes. Love how god stole the lighter too.
It just occurred to me, if Substack ever published a book of poetry, and people could choose which poems were in the book they bought, "I dreamed I lived in Austin" would be one of them.
About 20 years ago I met a well-dressed older man sitting alone on a bench at a mall on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. I sat next to him and we began discussing life, triggered by some light comment or other. Within moments, I felt myself to be in the presence of wisdom. I joked that I felt in the presence of God. He chuckled and replied he’d only “been around.” To this day I remember his presence and how this stranger made me feel, both comforted and very much alive.
God is in all of us !!
Yoooo so true!!!! We are Gods. 🌟
I knew Albert. Once he gave me some poems he wrote. I was working at a tiny grocery in Austin way back when. I've lost the poems but I have them in my heart. This one made me cry.
I am from Austin…loved reading this. If Austin is the place for you, you’ll certainly find your heart. You’ll have to go inside to find the Divine.
I’m from Austin too, this resonated really well. Painted a beautifully real picture of existing here, the people and the experience. I fucking loved this piece.
Yes! Wherever you are you might have to go inside your heart to find the Divine before you can recognize it in your brother or sister. But it’s there. Show them the Christ in you and relate to the Christ in them!
I grew up in Austin. The place is in my bones, not as much as it is now, but as it was before all the high rises came. This poem captures the essence of what that experience was like more beautifully than anything else I've ever read.
we need more sweetness like in this our world. Thank you
Made me smile and made me wonder. I like how god bummed a cigarette and apparently his lighter as well. Poems that ask the question 'who or what is god and how would it be to meet him/her in the flesh' just fascinate me!
It just occurred to me, if Substack ever published a book of poetry, and people could choose which poems were in the book they bought, "I dreamed I lived in Austin" would be one of them.
So I read this again, and again, and again… It occurred to me that it was not God he met. It was Death. The People with missing body parts were dead already and new the path he was on. Finally, at the edge of town in darkness under a ‘cold’ moon. He is presented with the end of his life. Cigarettes are a sign of death in many dreams. And death representing lack will take everything when you die… the Quarter (money), Cigarettes (being the means one uses to Kill oneself) and finally, the lighter (the Light that signifies Life). All things of the world. It was with a ‘bony hand’ that assured him the only thing Death cannot take away is Love. the caveat here is that he is destined to repeat the dream (as represented by him telling it again) until we find the only thing worth living for is Love.
The one thing that never dies is love. Either take on this poem and it ends and ends up exactly there. Take care all, ot will be okay in the end, but not just yet...
Gave me the chills this one. It's ghostly and warm and so lovely to experience 💓
The poem is challenging and made me think.
Fifty-four is a good time to find love. Regardless of how long would one wobble around receiving ham sandwiches, it worth the waiting.
What puzzles me is how would one feed a hungry heart when the heart has callouses all over, holes and missing chunks? I imagine that such a heart would require a lot of love to fill itself, for a lot of it would be waisted through the holes. Should one ask for love or better yet, for a younger heart which could temper its hunger a lot faster? ☺️ But perhaps I’m just drivelling now...
I loved this. Reminded me of how I tried to give a ham sandwich to a homeless person outside the convenience store on 6th and they yelled at me to give them cigarettes. Love how god stole the lighter too.
Ya but then you woke up and found out you where surrounded by Texas.
Ahhhhhhh so good!!!⚡️⚡️⚡️
Albert rocks the word.
It just occurred to me, if Substack ever published a book of poetry, and people could choose which poems were in the book they bought, "I dreamed I lived in Austin" would be one of them.
I've lived in Austin twice always took a wrong turn and never found love... great poetry