The Past Becoming Present

Photograph from Zen Master Bon Yo (Grazyna Perl) of Paris Jan 18, 2013

In black and white, 

these pictures take me back 

to a time and place

long since gone

where the ghosts of

Simone de Beauvoir,

Albert Camus and 

Jean Paul Sartre

gather in a sidewalk cafe

to discuss the meaning life.

or on a more romantic level

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

steal moments of bliss

while bundled tight

against winter's chilling cold.

these were times 

when my parents,

long since gone,

were young and vibrant and alive

and I was not even a dream

for either of them.

the sanctity of our present

when it meets with our past

brings forth a flood of emotion

for a bygone age

I was never part of.

yet here - it is now

alive in these B & W Photographs

from my lovely friend Grazyna Perl

posted on the internet.

thank you for a glimpse

into the present

by way of an emotional link

that brought the past 

clearly into my heart tonight.

I have not been back to Paris 

since 1978

I remember the cafes

the bread and the beer

the vibrant life on the street.

I was young and skinny 

back then

I smoked too much

but I loved fully.

now I am a hermit

living in the desert

old and fat

and knowing that 

life is brilliant 

wherever it appears,

it is a gift of love

that the universe

puts forth each moment.

don't wait

for anything

follow your bliss and the doors

of the universe

that once seemed 

to block the way

will fall away like a bad dream.