Tag Archives: Manhattan

ANOTHER TUESDAY: Red White & Blues

My friend and colleague Joe is also a poet. I always enjoy the work he shares. When I had read and re-read this one, I finally got up the nerve to ask him if I could post it. I am grateful he said yes and grateful for his writing.

ANOTHER TUESDAY: Red White & Blues

Another Tuesday indeed.
Bright shining spectacular morning sun rising.
Fresh almost autumn breezes.
Another wonderfully grateful start the day.
Calmly remembering.
English friend’s prayer from across The Pond.
Knotting key stripes tied to anniversary.

Rush run catch express bus into Manhattan.
That Tuesday changed road ride to work til now.
Like US flags half-staffed commuters conscious.
Where we were where we are now then again.
Quiet movements search hopes, peace, hope.
Words not needed facts speak for themselves.
Carefully conscious going forward together.

Through urban cavern slice of Freedom Tower soars.
Rising up, shining rising new, far, tall beyond beyond.
Stirs so many so much living monumental memories.
Large tear freezes moment reminding roots + links.
Decade plus red, white blues color considerations.
Uptown Midtown pause respects at US Mission to UN.
Holy Family Church steel relief Easter Christ soars too
Deep stained glass blues, saints letting light through.

Candles in calm reverence seeing all naming names.
Echo arrives Ground Zero officer speaks his heart.
Praying prayers rising up here everywhere today.
Family first, friends too, neighbors, near/far colleagues.
Beyond morning rushing other side of silence rises up.
Day’s works here & around spinning universe challenge.
Seize the Abundance, hold on, stand firm, reach out.

Still Tuesday.
Still NYC, Washington, Shanksville, our world.
Still hopes carrying losses courageously.
Still fears unpredictable, uncertainties, unknowns.
Still amazing graces given, shared, treasured.
Still paths to peace possible – necessary all.
Still – HOME.

joseph cornelius donnelly
tuesday, september 11, 2012 – new york city

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Manhattan morning moon

6 August 2012
Platform of 125th Street 1 Train
Manhattan, New York

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Tulips in motion

The tulip theme continues.
I took this photo of tulips in a planter
on Third Avenue in Manhattan.

I recognize the photo is blurry:
simply blurry:
unintentionally blurry:
blurry because I used the wrong setting
or because I failed to hold the camera steady
or both.

I do not pretend that I tried for this effect.
But I enjoy pondering the illusion
that the tulips are
moving!

30 March 2012

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79th Street smile

Headphones surrounding her ears
like metal rubber earmuffs,
she leaned her head against the car wall,
eyes securely shut.
Seeking sleep?
Pursuing escape from the noise of the 1 train?
Concentrating?

The train jerked to a stop at 79th;
her eyes fluttered and opened.

For an instant, our eyes connected.
I smiled.
I always smile.

For an instant,
an even briefer instant,
a nano-instant?
a tiny smile danced across her face until,
as if she realized what she was doing,
the smile turned wry,
she squeezed her eyes tightly shut,
and sank further into her seat.

I looked away as the train pulled from the station.

3 February 2012
Shire on the Hudson

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Ribbons proclaim hope on September 11

Today I sent a 9-11 “Ribbon of Hope” to Ground Zero to mark the tenth anniversary of September 11. I used the online option.

To commemorate the anniversary, Prepare New York and partner groups are sponsoring the Ribbons of Hope project. People are invited to bring a ribbon to Battery Park in New York City between the hours of noon on Friday, September 9 and dusk on Sunday, September 11. On the ribbon, write a thought or prayer or hope for the healing of the city and for the whole world. In Battery Park, ribbons of all colors, shapes, sizes and textures will be joined to form a large tapestry symbolic of the marvelous mosaic that is New York.

How can I participate?
Individuals, families, groups and organizations can gather ribbons in neighborhood settings, in clubs and congregations and can then designate a messenger to come to lower Manhattan and afix the ribbons to the tapestry. People of all ages can participate. There is no fixed size or shape or width or length. The diversity of ribbons received is a large part of the point. This walk of healing to downtown Manhattan is symbolic in that it reverses the fear-filled path that so many experienced as they fled Ground Zero a decade ago.

I don’t live in New York, how can I participate?
People from across the country and around the world are invited to also collect ribbons in the weeks leading up to 9/11 and send them to Intersections International. They will be included in the tapestry as well. Send ribbons to:

Intersections International
274 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10001

Be sure they arrive at Intersections by September 7. Include your name and contact information, the name of your organization and any interesting story about making your ribbons that you’d like to share with others.

You can also participate by “sending” ribbons online through Groundswell.

Find additional ideas for observing the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

See you along the Trail.

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The Name

I am sure that everyone has been anxiously awaiting this news.

Following some valuable and valued input; following the testing and weighing of several possibilities; following deep thought and careful reflection, I have decided for a name for my new abode.

At times this seemed a difficult decision. One that might not ever be made.

But then, suddenly, things crystallized. It became clear that for all the good options, for all the creative possibilities, there is only one choice. As clarity snapped into focus, peace descended.

And now it can be revealed. The name, the only possible name for the new abode is:

The Shire

There is a practical reason that this is the only name. I have realized that it is the name I am going to call where I live. Whatever other name I might try to apply to the place, I will call it the Shire. I have already found myself doing that. Why fight it? It is what is.

But there is another deeper reason – as I have worked through the naming process and reached this conclusion, I have realized that the Shire may be a place, but it is also a way of being – an attitude – an understanding – an ethos – a vision and practice of living. In affirmation of that reality, I proclaim my new place:

The Shire

While there remain two primary abodes for the Shire (Louisville and Manhattan), I will try to distinguish between them in writings to help people know where I am. Of course my practical side immediately tells me that I will not succeed at that. So be it. That is part of the reality of being a resident of:

The Shire.

In usage, there will be the Shire West (Louisville) and the Shire on the Hudson (Manhattan).

See you  along the Trail.

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