Tip Duval

#vss365 #poetry #Commitment   She was a dancer a great dancer breathtakingly beautiful   who competed in couples ballroom dance contests around the world   our first several dates did not include dinner, drinks, movies, or even haunted houses around Halloween time    instead we went to the dancehalls in DC   with large crowds filled with women and a few sharp dressed men possessing insanely exceptional dancing skills (maybe the most confident men I’ve ever seen)   who went from one woman to the next with hands extended to bring them out on the floor   whenever one of the men selected my date usually within the first five minutes of our arrival I had to stay on the sidelines sulking feeling small out of place out of sorts   she never said it out loud but it was clear that if I was to have any chance of making it I had better get with the program and learn to dance bringing her roses from my garden wouldn’t cut it   within weeks I found myself in a dance studio with this beautiful woman and a private instructor attempting to learn to tango   after the third lesson it must have been obvious I was a non dancer   she was none too pleased with my ineptitude and lack of commitment   she thought it best to cut her losses and move on   it ended with some very nice kissing fogging up the windows of my car outside the dance studio   proving that the old saying “it takes two to tango” is absolutely true   📸 me

#vss365 #Poetry #Ghoul   There’s great beauty to be found amongst ghoul-haunted woods   on morning strolls as the leaves reach peak color   in November chill dressed in fleece with hiking boots   pondering where joy is coming from when it comes   seemingly down from on high peaks but I suspect   it’s coming up from deep within some hidden reservoir   that lies dormant most of the time inaccessible to us   until some magic  like the presence or the memory   of old friends and favorite pets who hold keys   of unconditional love opens the lock then the door   allowing the joy to flow out in all directions   so we can feel it in all its glory   📸 me

#vss365 #Poetry #Bonfire   I’ve never gone to smoker’s corner outside behind the building at work because I don’t smoke   other than the occasional cigar with a band that says “It’s a Boy!” or “It’s a Girl!” handed out by friends whenever a new member of their family has a coming out party    but I do hear wild tales told by hardened smokers of the many adventures experienced by those brave souls who do go to smoker’s corner religiously several times a day   like the time a guy named Carmine was struck in the forehead by a flying rock kicked up by a weed whacker operated by a groundskeeper working adjacent to smoker’s corner   Carmine was knocked unconscious carried off on a stretcher loaded into an ambulance and never seen again   “he could have lost an eye if it was one inch lower,” one old smoker told me    or another time when the smokers started a fire in the dumpster to keep warm in winter   they kept it going for days inviting other smokers from adjacent buildings to join them  roasting marshmallows and hotdogs on sticks causing my office to smell like a festive bonfire   until a non-smoker called the fire department who came immediately with sirens blaring and red lights flashing  to put it out   the fire chief admonished the smokers for violating a number of laws and regulations then enrolled them all in a fire safety program designed specifically for recalcitrant smokers   📸 me

#vss365 #Poetry #Reward   The warm sun is going down on the autumn trees leaving them soon in total darkness    to fend for themselves like old men who have lost the battle with the light gone from their eyes   burning with regret about the things they could have done but didn’t   wishing they’d made more art and less war loved more and more deeply    yet somehow still holding out a splinter of hope for an eternal reward relying solely upon the mercy of the Lord   📸 me

#vss365 #Poetry #Phantasm   Sluggish bumblebees barely moving in the chilly autumn air   rest and sleep on bright orange marigolds at the entrance to the formal boxwood garden where I pause to admire the flowers   before setting off on a long strong walk in the verdant rolling fields and nearby woods of the gorgeous Virginia countryside   clearing my mind (and heart) of phantasms living and dead that are all the rage these days   to get back to real things that have the power to sustain us through the dark cold winter months   in the midst of death until spring comes once again bringing new life bubbling up from within   📸 me

#vss365 #Poetry #Illusion   Autumn leaves  deep in the woods nearing peak color all alone  on the outskirts of town   spreading east across the land  still warm enough to be wearing shorts with a light windbreaker and a lucky hat   everywhere I look could easily be an oil painting hanging in a museum of fine art masterpieces   shattering one illusion of scarcity after another on the road again to good fortune and inner peace   📸 me

#vss365 #Poetry #Wolf   Taking an evening stroll through the woods on Halloween with a former work colleague   who I came to visit in the old town I left behind years ago   alert for the big bad wolf that might jump out and eat us whole at any moment   but the reality was simply a strange ghost and two people on bikes zooming past us on the trail awakening the wild untamed parts of myself that come to the surface whenever unexpected things happen in remote locations   we spent the rest of the evening drinking red wine with her neighbors outside the condo handing out candy to spooky trick-or- treaters   before going back inside to get more wine and devour the delicious dinner we had cooking in the slow cooker   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #exhilaration   I once owned a cow   not the whole cow but part of it what part I never actually knew other people owned the other parts    on Saturdays I used go to the farmers market to pick up my share of raw milk butter cheese and yogurt produced by my cow delivered by farmer Tom Farmer   this morning I returned to the farmers market exhilarated to see my old friend:    “hey, farmer Tom,” I said   “how are you sir?” he said “haven’t seen you in donkeys years”   “I’m okay, just visiting  for the weekend, thought I’d stop by to say hi”   “glad you did,” he said “what can I do you for?”   “I’m curious about my old cow,” I said “how’s she doing?”   “oh, your cow didn’t make it, she died shortly after you fled town”   “I didn’t flee town, I just moved,” I said   “apparently she was broken up when she found out you left without saying goodbye,” he said   “what? I never even met her,” I said   “exactly, she produced all that good milk for you and you never once came by to thank her,” he said   I didn’t know what to say   “now, if I ever did sell you another cow, and that’s a big if, you’ll have to promise to be more responsible,” he said   “okay, understood,” I said “how’s your sister doing?”   “don’t even think about it,” he said “the way a man treats a heifer tells you a lot about how he will treat a woman”   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #ravenous   I was ravenous for the autumn woods   outside my old town where I had lived for years   and was having second thoughts about leaving   while I was recovering from a miserable roadtrip being snarled up in a pocket of agitation   stuck behind a woman possibly texting while driving  annoyingly slow   and a guy from Texas doing an illegal U-turn in an area designated for emergency vehicles only   causing traffic to stop suddenly on a 65-mph highway   even my great playlist didn’t seem to help things   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #elated   It took a good year or two before I started missing the old place   I tried hard to convince myself that leaving was for the best   this went on for a while until eventually I started to really miss the old place   wishing I’d never moved thinking about ways I might get back there   finally I drove three hours back to the old town   I was elated when I pulled into the old neighborhood and saw my old neighbor (still looking real good)   who used to teach high school then went back to school herself to get a PhD and the promotion that came with it   she’s out in the yard with the same insanely short brown skirt she always wears when raking leaves in autumn   she sees me  as I drive up the old road then pull over to chitchat   she reminds me of all the good times when had when she came over to visit for dinner and wine   now I’m really missing the old place questioning why the hell I left   I take some perverse solace in the fact that the new guy painted my old house in a hideous color that looks like death   and my old cute neighbor doesn’t visit him for dinner much less for wine   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #cheering   The legendary Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow fame  has nothing on the scary headless hawk   perched now on a low branch cheering taunting madly   within arms reach   barely above my own head that I can only assume is still there and intend to keep attached (God willing)   on the edge of this late-October forest filled with strange creatures as night approaches beside the ancient lake   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #Start   I was trying to imagine the sheer horror of growing up in the city   never getting to visit the woods in autumn as the leaves were turning yellow  orange and crimson   then as an adult finally ready to start going    but going too close to Halloween   not knowing there’s another type of horror in those woods this time of year    something spooky haunting terrible that keeps even lifelong nature lovers and ardent tree huggers of the highest order cowering safely at home with hot chocolate   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #travel   It wasn’t until the next morning, as I traveled through the woods   picking beauty berries for an experimental wine I’ve been planning to make for a long long time   that I noticed I had a sore throat and was barely able to speak to the birds as a result of staying out late   laughing drinking telling war stories with some of the fellas after the homecoming game   thankful for our cute waitress with a magical smile so gracious to put up with such a wild bunch possibly twice her age   who was extremely happy with a 100% tip I made sure she received after she pulled strings with the chef   known to be of foul temper to get me breakfast food  they officially stopped serving at 3pm   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #taper   We gathered in late-October  under a huge white tent near the football field surrounded by colorful leaves   it had damned good energy stocked with food and drink    one person after the next I haven’t seen in eons  comes up to tell their life story and inquire about my own shrouded in mystery as it is    my sweetheart rumored to be married with kids enters pretty as when I left her to go west     so strange is the bond that still exists somehow  the unknown and unknowable linger in the air   as questions about happiness arise then taper off to disappear   just in time for the Homecoming game to begin    📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #Miles   I had no intention to buy wine when I stopped by the health food store   but when I heard the woman who runs the wine and cheese department   explaining wine characteristics  to another customer including how sweet wine is metabolized by the body I had to stop and chitchat:   “it sounds like you know your wines,” I said   “I try my best,” she said “do you prefer whites or reds?”   “red, for sure, whites give me a headache, although I’m always nervous about the sugar content,” I said   “sugar isn’t an issue with a dry red wine,” she said   “I see,” I said “what’s your favorite?”   “I like the saperavi grape, it’s one of the healthiest wines you can drink,” she said   “I’ve never heard of it, do you have any in the store?”   “why yes, we have an excellent organic red from Georgia,” she said   “Georgia?”   “Not the state, the country,” she said   She picked up a bottle and handed it to me   “this wine is so deep dark purple red you can’t see through it in the glass,” she said   “I’m interested although it’s a bit pricey,” I said   “It’s apocalypse wine,” she said “worth every penny”   “apocalypse wine?”    “absolutely, when the shit hits the fan, you should have some wine on hand, I keep a bottle of this in my go bag,” she said   “okay, in that case I’ll try it”      of course I did try it as soon as I got home not willing to risk missing out should I not have as many miles to go before I rest as I anticipate   which apparently is usually the case in matters such as this   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #doubt   “Bad birds,” she screamed “bad birds”   Little Bob her chihuahua who was napping in the October sun near the privacy fence sprang to life and ran into the house through the doggy door   fearing he might be snatched by the hawk (now screeching) and held hostage high up in a nearby pine tree    with no doubt that if the ransom was not paid   only a faded collar with it’s metal dog tag would be discovered in the nest by a tree company trimming branches years later    they will call the phone number on the dog tag to notify next of kin:   “it appears Little Bob didn’t make it, but we can’t be certain”   📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #fueling   She had eyes that see through the darkness   to glimpse what’s coming in autumn   she stayed in a large communal house   drinking beer before dinner with artists   poets hermits sailors   after a long day painting trees and clouds   fueling the fire of love we seek to find    📸 me

#vss365 #poetry #nervous   There’s no doubt that being a CEO is tough to pull off effectively but being a beloved CEO is next level tough   it takes a caring and charisma that goes way above and well beyond what’s written in the position description   one of only three beloved CEOs I’ve had the pleasure of knowing was a former professional football player   who drove a black Corvette with a Batman sticker on the back window and kept nunchucks under the seat in honor of his idol Bruce Lee   we could often hear him coming from a block away blasting Real Wild Child by Iggy Pop or Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones    he would speed into the parking lot then pull smoothly into his reserved spot   where a handful of us hand-selected employees were gathered  waiting for him at 0700 when he arrived each day   “pain is weakness leaving the body,” he’d always say “be like water my friends”    before we all set off on a trail through the woods for a two or three mile run that doubled as his staff meeting   “give it to me straight, no bullshit,” he’d say   as each of us in turn would surface issues to discuss   he’d listen deeply always wanted to hear our thoughts and recommendations   then usually make a decision on the spot   “I’m getting nervous about that proposal due tomorrow, let’s meet at 10 to discuss pricing”   by the time we returned to the office we were energized and ready to go we worked hard and literally played hard looked forward to his Friday happy hours at a bar owned by one of his NFL buddies   and the annual family picnic where he would dress in some outrageous costume   tell jokes so funny everyone would still be laughing months later   and remembering him fondly with a smile years later   📸 me