Back in the Saddle again...

Hoskins has returned. First blog in ages. Since early August, at least. Here's one from MySpace, hoping to start again another place to post poetry and prose about the world we live in.

Napkins & Notes

Buried in an office file cabinet, a beat up old black tri-folding folder keeps safe some of my written memories going back to high school. A decade old, the poetry and prose alike hits at the high and low moments I've had in life. From my grandmother's death, soured friendships, late night coffee and conversations, smoking, drinking, college and post college tales... even most recent as the first C&C with my wife (before we were married), and the move to Indiana in early 2004.

All encompassing. Many old scraps of notepaper, and diner napkins with blue ink from that once-infamous Corner Booth at Linda's Place. Quotes, thoughts, poems, stray prose.... You name it. One napkin outlines a conversation Suzi and I had pre-marriage about the epic struggle between Coke and Pepsi - "the eternal battle that wages on over the ages, conquering time and space...." - and how our college was switching between the drinks years ago. That's the good stuff.

This wasn't supposed to be a late night with coffee and reflection - sleep was preferred. But the flood of memories kept my review going, forcing my attention as the hours whittled away toward dawn. Still, I sit pondering some of my darkest days when my writing eerily focused on "death and darkness," or when in college I wrote about all-night drinking adventures that included smoking. Not the most pleasant times in life, by any means.

Yet, you can find certain smiles about old stomping grounds, tales of those dated, and just fun times of the younger days. The poetry is often awkward, but you can see the progression from youth to adulthood. Quite revealing and inspiring at the same time. While it isn't by any means a compilation of all I've written, not even everything from those teen and early 20 years, but it does show the depth and range I've manuevered - not even touching the journalism and newspaper writing. That's a completely different storybook of work, but another worth delving into.

Every piece of the folder is telling, but one quote stands out at this point of the early morning: "The hour means nothing; it's the manner in which you spend it."

So true. Especially when it comes down to finding old napkins and notes that can spark memories. Lesson: Experience it, write it down, read it later, remember....That's what it is all about.

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