Categories
Ireland Musings Poetry

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

“The Lake Isle of Innisfree”- William Butler YeatsI will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,And live alone in the bee-loud glade.And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,Dropping from […]

Categories
Adventures of the Elders Food Poetry Work-Life Balance

Goodbye 2025

At WLBOTT, we’re not welcoming in 2026. We just want to get rid of 2025. Elder JimZim is a Bit More Optimistic Elder G consolidated all of Elder JimZim‘s optimism in a single image: WLBOTT Looks to 2026 WLBOTT Cafatorium We had originally intended to serve Chicken Parmesan for New Year’s Eve dinner, along with […]

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Adventures of the Elders Animal Kingdom Poetry

Elder JimZim’s Katz

[We have a guest blott today from Elder JimZim] Gentle People – as may have  been blotted, my spousal unit and I have the privilege of co-parenting two young orange cats. They have a real affinity for our laundry room sink.  It is their safe space where they can ponder the world they have been […]

Categories
Poetry

Boolean Enumeration

Let Us Enumerate the Enumerations Hate the sin. Hate the sinner. Hate the sin. Love the sinner. Love the sin. Hate the sinner. Love the sin. Love the sinner. (WLBOTT’s favorite)

Categories
Brotherhood/Sisterhood California Poetry

We are not afraid of steel, nor the lies dressed in law

We Will Not Be Moved [ed. note: images in this post are AI generated] “No Nos Moverán” (“We Shall Not Be Moved”) has deep roots in labor movements and civil rights struggles in both the U.S. and Latin America. In Spanish-speaking communities, it became a hymn of resistance—against fascism, against dictatorship, and now, against state […]

Categories
Poetry

Lilacs out of the Dead Land

April is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain.[…]What are the roots that clutch, what branches growOut of this stony rubbish? Son of man,You cannot say, or guess, for you know onlyA heap of broken images, where the sun beats,And the dead tree gives no […]

Categories
Heros Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Poetry

Mother’s Day 2025

Today is a reflective day. It is Mother’s Day in the USA, and, as you can imagine, it often times brings up bittersweet memories. Mother’s Day can be a time of warmth and gratitude, but also of longing and reflection. Memories of our mothers, grandmothers, or those who nurtured us can bring both joy and […]

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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Music Musings Poetry

Cain and “Every Grain of Sand”

Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistakeLike Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break– Bob Dylan / Every Grain of Sand Cain, according to Christian mythology, is the firstborn human, the son of Adam and Eve, and older brother to Abel. According to Genesis 4:1–16, Cain treacherously […]

Categories
Music Musings Poetry

Every Grain of Sand

Bob Dylan’s 1981 song Every Grain of Sand reads almost like a prayer. Every Grain of SandWritten by: Bob Dylan In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed There’s a dyin’ voice within me reaching out somewhere Toiling […]

Categories
ENGin Heros Poetry Ukraine

“Wings” by Lina Kostenko

My Ukrainian ENGin buddy, and Friend of the BLOTT, has shared one of her favorite poems with us. Крилаby Lina Kostenko Kryla (Wings)by Lina Kostenko(Translated from Ukrainian by Elder G) А правда, крилатим ґрунту не треба. Землі немає, то буде небо. Немає поля, то буде воля. Немає пари, то будуть хмари. В цьому, напевно, правда […]