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Dennis Cardiff

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Dennis Cardiff

Monthly Archives: July 2015

i do what i can

24 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Buddhism, Christianity, compassion, despair, desperation, emotion, empathy, kindness, loving kindness, Psychology. Sociology

IMG_4797

 

i’m sitting on the sidewalk
as a woman, huddled in a blanket,
a patterned do-rag on her head,
sobs on my shoulder.
i put my arm around her
and say, “it’s okay.”
knowing that nothing is okay,
it will never be okay.

i’m beyond my depth.
i don’t know what to do,
or what to say…
anything that comes to mind
is shallow and meaningless.
this woman’s experiences
are completely foreign to me.
what do I know —
about alcoholism?
about motorcycle gangs?
about sleeping on the streets?

all i can do is let her cry,
tell her that she has forgiveness,
that what saddens her,
what keeps her awake,
or gives her nightmares,
is all in the past.
it’s time to forgive herself
and love herself
and live
in the present moment.

she can’t go on.
she can’t stand the pain.
she can’t do this any more.
drink is the only thing
that numbs her mind;
enough to endure,
enough to pass out at night
and do it all over again
the next day.

i can only do
and say so much.
it’s always a pleasant surprise
to see her sitting on the sidewalk,
knowing that she’s made it
through another night;
that she hasn’t been taken
by violence, sickness
or the police.

i do what i can.

 
 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 

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Street Justice

23 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Abuse, Buddhism, Christianity, compassion, empathy, homeless, kindness, psychology, Sociology, unconditional love, violence

IMG_4797

I sit, in sadness,
holding hands with an injured friend;
her ribs broken and fractured,
her breathing painful and difficult,
her head aching and dizzy,
her face bruised
and scraped.

Another friend
is absent, in hiding; yet
he has no sanctuary,
there is no place he won’t be found.

At last, he had his life
in some semblance of order.
Two months sober;
he had an apartment, furniture;
his pride and self-worth had returned.
Then, he spent his rent check on booze —
starting with triple tequila shots
at a biker bar.
The universe
had given him a fresh start —
he threw it away.

Street justice will prevail;
sentence has been passed:
a bruise for a bruise,
a broken bone for a broken bone,
and something extra
so it won’t happen again.
Punishment will be exacted
with ruthless,
emotionless
efficiency.
 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

 

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Street Angel

20 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Buddhism, Christianity, compassion, despair, desperation, emotion, fear, homeless, kindness, Sociology, unconditional love

IMG_4797

 

I met a woman
who lives on the streets.
All her belongings
fit in her backpack.

She has sparkling blue eyes,
a smile that would light heaven itself.
She looked cold.
I asked her how long
she’d been on the streets.
She replied, “I don’t know….too long.”
She is forty-four,
but looks older.

She told me her story.
I won’t repeat it,
but, to give you
some idea,
recall your worst fears,
your worst nightmares
rolled into one.
That’s the way
her story starts,
it only gets worse
from there.

I brought her a sandwich
and a coffee.
She said, “God bless you.”
He did
immediately,
A wave of joy spread
throughout my body
and stayed there
all day long.

I have been blessed
by an Angel.

 
 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 

 

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Take My Hand

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Buddhism, Christianity, compassion, desperation, empathy, homeless, humanity, kindness, loving kindness, psychology, Sociology

IMG_4797

 

There you are
an almost stranger.
Who am I to take your hand?
What I give is nearly nothing –
but the heart to hear
and understand.

You tell me
you’ve been beaten,
stabbed with a machete,
made some choices
now regretted.

Sparking
eyes of azure blue
show a spectrum of emotions,
happiness, frustration,
pain and sorrow,
but, always
love.

Arisen
from behind a dumpster,
to living in a clean, safe house,
your life in order,
independent —
a miracle.

Inspiring
to me, and to everyone
fortunate enough to know you.
I would like to introduce you
to a wider audience
so that they too
may take inspiration
and see the miracle
that is your love,
that is you.

Please,
in friendship,
take my hand.

 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 

 

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future

18 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Buddhism, Christianity, compassion, dreams, empathy, free, kindness, love, personal, philosophy, spiritual

 
url
 
 
each sunrise
brings me closer
to the self
of my intentions,
choices,
disappointments,
failures,
perseverance.

dreams
can be deceptive.
truth is never simple.
i work with what i have
and go from there.
the trail winds
sometimes, back upon itself.
i proceed.

with each breath,
i learn, or unlearn
truths of my existence.
an unseen hand
beckons me forward
into the unknown
of self discovery —
my future.
 
 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 

 

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Playful Spirit

16 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

compassion, destiny, emotion, eternal, forever, longing, love, nature, romance, sighs, spiritual

 

spirit

 

Playful spirit behind an oak
laughed and flirted but never spoke.
Eyes of onyx, raven hair,
I marveled at her standing there.

Brilliant sunshine — could barely see.
Had my eyes played tricks on me?
I stood in reverence and awe
not sure of what I thought I saw.

Fluttering soft, the poplar leaves
perhaps, had caused me to believe
I’d seen someone who wasn’t there —
eyes of onyx, raven hair.

The nimble spirit deftly danced
from tree to tree and lightly pranced.
I didn’t know quite what to do
about this vision in my view.

I had no knowledge of such things.
What does one do when nature brings
such beauty, grace and winsome mold
who, I could see but could not hold?

I could have watched her all day long
her movements sang just like a song.
She beckoned me with backward glance
down flowered pathway of romance.

I had no choice, I was entranced;
induced to follow where she danced.
The woods had changed, were foreign now,
colors brighter, surreal somehow.

I saw some spirits on the way.
They went about their normal day.
They took no notice of my form
contrary to their spirit norm.

They were at home among the trees;
conversely, I felt ill at ease.
Abandoned, then just like a snare —
eyes of onyx, raven hair.

She drew me close and hugged me tight;
we kissed, caressed throughout the night.
Not a wisp of evanescence,
but a real woman’s presence.

Wood smoke, sweet-grass, musk and cedar —
I took her hand, she let me lead her.
Beneath the boughs we made our bed
while stars shone brightly overhead.

 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 

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Heaven’s Daughter

06 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

compassion, death, despair, destiny, forever, free, lifetimes, longing, lost love, romance, sighs

 

woman

 

Sitting near the water weeping,
lonely maiden in deep despair.
Whippoorwills are snugly sleeping.
Willow weeping, yet unaware.

Flowing gown of melancholia,
gentle goddess softly sobbing.
Moonlight mist and sweet magnolia,
tears like diamonds dripping, dropping.

In love’s embrace, friend and lover,
their cheating and their lies unveiled.
Double blow, she can’t recover;
her hopes and dreams at once curtailed.

Betrayed, dismayed, spirit shattered,
all is lost by cruel deception.
Without the one true love that mattered
death arose in her reflection.

Slowly walks into the water,
footprints soft upon the seashore.
Ripples radiate heaven’s daughter,
sorrow departs forever more.

Sitting near the water weeping,
her lover mourns in deep despair.
His true love forever sleeping;
his only thought to join her there.

 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 

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Acceptance

03 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Buddhism, Christianity, compassion, empathy, empowerment, kindness, mankind, philosophy, psychology, unconditional love, world

 

acceptance

in my nearly seven decades
on this earth
i know some things to be true.
if there is a key to life
it is ACCEPTANCE.
this is a goal that i aspire to,
i’m not always successful,
but with each slip
i affirm that i can do better;
i will do better.

i don’t have answers.
i don’t have solutions.
i don’t have resources.
what i offer is a safe haven
where YOU can come home.
i will ACCEPT you —
no questions asked,
no explanation expected,
nothing requested
in return.
i open my heart
to YOU.
 
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 


 

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Roman Holiday by Rebecca Branch

02 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Prose

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

compassion, destiny, empowerment, eternal, fantasy, kindness, psychology, romance, sighs, unconditional love, world

25802790

http://ow.ly/P63tO
 
My 5 Star Review
 
Having read the first two novels in this series I was most anxious to read A Roman Holiday: Third in the Art Historian Superhero series. I was not disappointed. This fast paced adventure had me captivated from start to finish. The characters of Max and Sally I was already familiar with. Ambrosia, the ever apologetic fembot, was a new revelation. I fell in love with her and her Superwoman powers. Since she had been recently constructed, everything was new to her, everything was a learning experience. Max and Sally were very compassionate teachers and Ambi was welcomed as one of their family.

Although time-travel, ancient wars and historical fiction are the vehicles of these novels, the theme is unconditional love. We grow with the characters and learn, with respect and acceptance: racial, gender, religious and sexual equality. Molly and Max are philanthropists. This, and the two previous books, are thoroughly engaging and leave one feeling good about the world.

Rebecca Branch is an acclaimed scholar familiar with guiding visitors around Rome. Join her and her characters in this fantastic adventure.

Book Description
 
This is the third book in the Art Historian Superhero series. In Summer of 71 you were introduced to Max DuPont, a young American who spends his summers in Rome, split between two continents and shared by divorced parents. That summer Max had the romance of his life and was introduced to the mysteries of women by Molly, the dream lover of any young man, a down on her luck actress and model ten years his elder. Theirs was a romance which defined who they were and who they were to become.
Seven years later, in my second novel, Great Caesar’s Ghost, Max found himself again in Rome, this time an adult, working on the curatorial staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Together with his father Edward, an American archaeologist, Max discovered a long lost treasure, the personal artifacts of Gaius Julius Caesar. Amongst the relics was a ring which had the ability, when worn by one of Caesar’s descendants, to transport the bearer to any time and place. Max started his journey to uncover the past and ultimately to visit with Caesar himself.

Waking from her near-death experience, having survived the sinking of the Titanic, Sarah Goldsmith (Sally) saves Max and accompanies him in his travels. Brilliant and resourceful, a Harvard educated art historian, she awakens from a frightening era of anti-Semitism to champion the fight against injustice, intolerance and barbarity in all its forms. A natural feminist, Sally finds her match in Max, and two lonely lives come together as one.

This third novel in the series takes the time travelers from the modern world to the ancient past. Travel with them to California in the year 2050 to gather together their team and to New York in 1980 where Max lives his current life. Visit Studio 54, the court of Theodoric the Ostrogoth in Rome in 494 AD, and be present at the epic battle of Alesia where Caesar battles the Gauls in 52 BC.

Ultimately a love story and also a tale of discovery and self-awareness, join Max as he sheds the loneliness he has endured since his teenage years and finds the girl of his dreams who travels at his side. Then be prepared to admit within your circle one of the strongest and most attractive characters I’ve written…Ambrosia, a combined product of Apple and Google, and the most capable heroine in this series.

These are all adult books. They are written for a mature audience, suffused with observations of history, art history, Roman culture, contemporary New York, and many other locations. They are also a story of attraction, commitment, discovery and self-awareness, loss of innocence, coming of age, love and lust. They are often erotic but always loving, respectful of both genders, upbeat and satisfying. Although adult themes abound, they do not dominate, and these books are romantic time-travel historical fiction first and erotic adventures second. Come along for the journey in this sequel to Great Caesar’s Ghost.
 
 
Author Biography
 
I am 49 years old, a wife and a mother of two young women. I live near New York City. I am an architect by trade but an art historian by education having attended UC Berkeley as an undergraduate and Columbia for post graduate degrees. My father was an American archaeologist and my mother an Italian Lady. I worked as an assistant to the curator of Greco Roman arts at the Metropolitan Museum before leaving to take on my profession for need of income which the art world did not provide.

I began writing on a dare by friends who have encouraged me for years as I am a good storyteller and an avid reader. My first novel was Summer of 71, a story of romance and discovery set in Rome, a city with which I am very familiar and a place where I lecture on Roman history, architecture and culture bi-annually. My second book is Great Caesar’s Ghost which continues the story with my hero Maximillian DuPont and is a time travel romance skirting time periods from the first century BC through the modern day. My third work is titled A Roman Holiday and continues the series and has just been released. There will be at least two more books beyond these in this series. I also write short stories and a collection of these will be released shortly. They are about motherhood, romance and office affairs and escapades.

Although placed in the adult, and sometimes erotic category, my work is far more about self-awareness, relationships, coming of age, loss of innocence, personal development, reclamation, the culture of Italy, art and architectural history, an examination of the passage of time, food, and humor. I write as an adult to an adult audience and do not bury physical relationships behind closed doors. But what I write is loving and respectful of both genders, light and upbeat, fulfilling and satisfying. No one gets hurt, no one degraded. You should walk away from each of my books with a smile and an increased knowledge of the western world, Rome’s influence, politics, the social revolution, religion, and the inimitable wonder of a loving relationship between a good man and woman.
 

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loner

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

compassion, destiny, dreams, empowerment, eternal, forever, free, kindness, longing, love, philosophy

images

 
i don’t like
to say i’m a loner —
the label
has antisocial connotations
that cause me
discomfort

it’s not that
i don’t like people
but, sometimes
they get under my skin.
i don’t mean to offend anybody
you haven’t done anything wrong,
you’re not inadequate,
or lacking in social skills

it’s just that
i live in my mind,
it’s not a big mind,
sometimes, two’s a crowd.
i’m not hiding anything,
i’m trying to figure things out —

sometimes,
i’m not too quick at that,
i have to mull things over,
imagine the consequences.
often,
i decide not to do anything
(‘a rebel without a clue’),
leave the ball in someone else’s court,
let them make the decision.

i’m not proud
of this attitude
but, it’s the only one i have
so, it’ll have to do,
until i find a replacement;
that’s not going to happen —
so live with it,
or leave me alone.

.

Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

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if we listen

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by DennisCardiff in Poetry

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

compassion, destiny, empathy, empowerment, eternal, forever, kindness, lifetimes, loving kindness, mankind, spiritual

 

white-buffalo-calf-woman

 

A wraith was writhing in the air,
its undulating shape so fair;
just like a woman slim and tall —
I followed with no fear at all.

She wafted, led me through the trees
under branches, upon my knees,
until I found myself quite lost —
my folly gained, but at what cost?

I sat upon a log and thought
of this misfortune I had wrought —
from the mist, to my surprise,
a female form materialized.

A lithesome beauty, to be sure,
approached me with a gaze so pure.
I sat transfixed, afraid to move
expecting that this shape would prove,

perhaps, to be a daylight dream,
evanescent, not what it seemed —
a vision that would fade from sight
as quickly as a beam of light.

Yet, she remained and held my hand,
explained, so I could understand —
the holy earth is our Mother,
the deer and trees are our brothers.

We all share a common root
though each produces different fruit.
Our Mother Earth gives birth to all —
the things that walk, fly, swim and crawl.

This planet here for us to use
to grow our crops, not to abuse.
Winds and rains and things that glisten
each have stories if we listen.

 
 
 
Image by Cher Lyn  http://ow.ly/P2GaT
 
Read about my friends here  http://buff.ly/1wyjiKS

.

 


 

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