And This Is Life

Life
A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double.
And this is life!

A crust and a corner that love makes precious,
With a smile to warm and tears to refresh us,
And joy seems sweeter when cries come after,

And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter
And that is life!

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

I enjoyed this poem recently in a novel I was reading. The ideas matched well with what we learned in our writing workshop today. Raymond Pert explained that the basic thing every writer needs is"to be awake". We need to pay attention, open our eyes, and listen. I was reminded of this poem as I reflected on my learning later. Whether it is thinking of a corner to sleep in , an Ode to Socks, or a favorite childhood food writers need to be awake to it. It is so simple.

Dexter pictured above is a perfect example a creature that enjoys life. His owner works at the camp and this dog pays attention to the lake, the squirrels, the guests, and just wears a smile that says, " I am awake."

I had to take a series of pictures of him because his face reminds me so much of my dog Annie. Dexter is a Springer/Chesapeake Bay Retriever mix.