Joseph Elijo

Saturday, November 23, 2024

(In Protest of the use of explosives for terrorism)

Paris, France. Wednesday September 17, 1986 Tati Discount Department Store 3:28 pm

Blast. 53 wounded 5 dead mothers and children.

The report of a one hundred and five millimeter recoilless rifle

echoes through Big Cottonwood Canyon of

The Wasatch National Forest of Utah

gently awakening avalanches

rumbling through snowfields

above the timberline

of a sleeping Brighton and Solitude mountain sides

snow shifting, sliding, slicing, slamming, snapping

down among hundreds of year old pines.

Loose Items O.K.

So Listen!

The National Centers for Disease Control

unveiled a $20 million “hot lab,”

a super-sealed facility

for the study of

The World’s deadliest viruses,

including pathogens “far”

more dangerous than

AIDS.

Morning Light

Morning light,

revealed the gently falling snow.

Darkness unveiled,

Stole silently, stubbornly, assured of resurrection.

How It Should Be

Some men grow

and they go away to war.

My friends and I

we went to ski.

It is how it should be.

Disco Bars

I am

just a child

of the sun, moon, and stars.

Sitting with my beat up brown,

Stetson hat in

Buffalo Bill’s Disco Bar.

Fox

He said,

“My name is Vondall- but

you can call me Fox,

been all over the world.

Lived in Germany in the service.

From Oklahoma, if

Ya ever been there

you’d know why

I live in the Vail Valley,

but everyone calls me Little Joe.”

Jaguar

Been living here

. nie on ten years

separated from my wife

for the past two

tho I still love her.

Wolf

Been to Alaska

where the nights are long.

You get into alcohol

or Jesus

Restless Spirits, Harnessed Spirits

Wyoming, early morning prairie dews
seep deep enough, pooling and reflecting
a wild chestnut stallion's eyes.

His hooves kicking pebbles rippling
little waves, flowing and trickling in to streams
of mirages dissipating into noon day vapors
and pastured greens of rattle snake plains.
Today's Song
"Wild Horses," Rolling Stones

Sunday, August 18, 2024

196-Prometheus And The Reversal of Fortune

The Universe will turn in the direction of the majority no matter how we individually feel. Our Cultural Enlightenment will progress at it's own pace. Speaking of that topic this blog will cease being a Form of Political Activism. It will also keep my Personal Revelations and Religious beliefs out of the forum. They are what they are and they are not a source of good reading to a general audience. The purpose of my work from this blog will be to Celebrate the path forward and to give thanks to the Great Masters that have gone before including my mentor, who recently passed. There is more to someone's existence on Earth than just a Plaque on an Empty Dwelling. There are those of us that are left to raise the awareness of all who remain. The Inspiration of this work stems from Evenings in the State University of New York at Albany and Union College in Schenectady New York and a part time mentorship for 8 years through poetry, memoir and autobiography writing. Being a disposed Mountaineer that could no longer pursue my first love, the ski mountains of North America, I needed a new view on Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness. It was to be given to me by my writing mentor. The Poet and Writer Lyn Lifshin. I did not know, then, at that time, how very great of a gift was to be bestowed upon me, until the event of her death. Seeing the fires dormant and the the dwelling empty except for a metal remnant tacked to a wooden wall is unacceptable. We all are temporary visitors of this world, this I know from my former life. However, those of us that remain are given a task and that task often is not realized or goes unused and collecting dust in a basement or a closet. My closets are now swept clean and my doors and windows are now wide open and my flag is being unfurled and the banner of Heaven will again wave. It is a righteous reckoning and one that is long over do. It is with the determination of any work of any substance that we move forward today to what I know is a destined conclusion. The work will be my Thorn Bird song to right an injustice that is far greater than any I could have previously imagined. It is my mantle to accept and to wear proudly, visible for all the world to see. The coming months weeks and years for however long I am dwelling, shall be with with every stoke of the key toward that end. May this journey be as fruitful as my foray into the mountains of North America. They were a gift given to me among many others and now they shall be returned with Great Reverence to the ones who gave me this craft. The ending will be what is shall be. The Path forward has never been clearer to me than any Summit I have sought. I now carry the Light and the Life deep in my heart and I will hold it brightly and raise it high to illuminate for all the world to see.

May 17, 2024

Joseph Elijo

Sunday, August 11, 2024

193- 200 East Main Street- Aspen, Colorado- Prometheus and The Reversal of Fortune

Night Right For Love-Robert Earl Keen

Queen Of The Light Of Life
***

200 East Main St, Aspen Colorado

Winter of 94

Welcome to the Dream Academy
The Aspen Athletic Club and Katarina's

Made for the Denver Bronco's

Ski Conditioning

Writing in the Office

Shared with Katarina

My Love for her

Clearing my 8 year

Post Sobriety

Appletree Lane letter

Writer's Block

Breaking the

Incantation Spells

Skinny Skiing to

The Pine Creek Cookhouse

Up Castle Creek

Katarina driving with

Teamster Boone

Sid and Sam

Percheron Behemoth's

Christmas Celebration

Being Crowned

Aspen's King of Light

For changing the dull white lights

To a dazzling spectacle salsa delight

Enduring the uproar

Of the stogy local business owner's

The delight of the tourist's

Noted in the Aspen Time's

The Lady of the Lamp

Unwrapped by Katarina

Sealing my Destiny

Friday, August 9, 2024

192-A Brief Lesson In Showing And Not Telling

Scene 1

“Honey I’m Home,” Bill said.

“How was your day Dear? His wife Joan asked.

“It was O.K. I met Charlie for lunch and we discussed the possibility of a new account. Sally called and we ended lunch early. How was your day?”

Joan hesitated before answering. How could she tell Bill her mother was coming for a week long visit. How would he react?

“Fine Bill, I have a Hungry Man T.V. dinner in the microwave.”

“Sounds, Great, Joan! Just let me get my slippers on.”

Scene 2

Bill turned his Infiniti into the driveway of his sprawling Ranch Estate. He turned the key off of his new electric E series and was taken by the silence. He still had a difficult time with the silence of electric vehicles. He was old school and remembered the throaty rumbling groan of the big V-8 combustion engines of his youth. Although he did enjoy not watching the gas gauge drop every time he accelerated quickly. He was enjoying the smell of new, the newness of his car and the newness of this sprawling five-acre estate in a new development. Bill stepped out of the vehicle and was surprised to see his lovely wife Joan in her tight riding Jodhpurs holding the horses already saddled and waiting. He wasn’t sure what excited him more, the fact he would soon be riding the wonderful Equestrian Trails along the river, or that he would be beside this amazingly attractive middle-aged woman, he completely adored.

“Hi Bill! I thought you might like to take a short ride before dinner. I baked a lovely Lasagna Dinner and its on the counter waiting,” Joan smiled brightly.

“I’ll change in the barn quickly,” Bill replied.

“Oh, Bill,” Joan grinned,” I filled the hot tub with some essential oils and thought we might get cozy before dinner,” Joan smiled devilishly.

Bill hesitated before answering. He might look too obvious if he pinched himself, but was this really his life. To have such a gorgeous loving wife, beautiful estate, with horses and amazing life, he wasn’t sure what life he had stepped into, but it surely suited him.

“Sounds, Great, Joanie! Just let me get my riding clothes on,” Bill said with a twinkle in his eye and a spring to his step.