Old Age Casts a Bright Light on the Worth of Friendship

Being a poet at heart, I am so often struck by the depth and beauty of the souls I find at the Writer's Cafe. We come here to belong, seeking creative outlet, validation, and interaction with our kind. We make our mark, mind our manners, and meld our minds around what it means to be mortal. We return again and again to this gathering of kindred spirits to help us feel worthy, to rekindle our own divine spark, to freshen the winds propelling our leaky vessels through the ripples and torrents of life's currents. 

We find a feast of friendship. We shiver in fine metaphor, festive mood,  faithful renderings of conviction. We harvest great truths, let our spirits soar -- and roar. We go away striving to emulate these strikers of such fiery imagery. Their spirits must surely glow with courage, faith, and enlightenment. Such intensity rekindles our faith in friendships to sate our hunger for understanding and to bathe our brains in grace, joy, and talent. 

Great contentment comes as little swirls of love, pride, and elation that fill the quiet moments long after our we return to our solitude. I for one ache to give back to that bounty that my coffee klatchers -- or cocoa coterie  -- bring to me. New friends and old ones look back from the heart, shining forth with blessings to brighten our day. Recalling our times together casts my mind a-reel with fondness and warmth. Our lives blossom from birth, reach full flowering in midlife, and then fade in the penumbra of time. I know those bountiful reveries will sustain me forever. 

As my memories live in my mind for myself, my humble writings shine forth for others to share. We each curry favor of loving family, fine friends, and affable strangers who can alter our very life essence and perspective. Our dear soulmates will be forever precious. Such memories will enrich my spirit long past the moments that my zest for life lifted my mind to rhyme and my wrists to write. The spotlight they cast reminds me of who I am. That identity will sustain me into the afterlife. These transcendent joys will travel with me long past this mortal construct of time. 

Author's Note

Did I hear someone say Friendship Day? I can say with certainty how pile-up of years deepens the importance of such things.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Hello Doug. I have to agree and to also celebrate with you the existence of this writing site. Wonderful to be able to drop in and read the work of fellow writers and poets. Our soul sisters and brothers. I am fortunate to have you as a friend and thank you for sharing your work here. All good wishes

Chris

[bigfootprint]

As are we fortunate to have you here with us. I have participated in about six writing sites. So far, this one is among the best for its people and their works.

[Lorry]

Firstly, I am impressed that you took the moral high ground on the annoyances of such things as glitches, fake and multiple accounts, trolls and those who should be in a big, nice bouncy room, with a rather fetching jacket with wraparound sleeves. That is a lot now that I write it down, so kudos for that.
Secondly, although we have only known each other a short while, I will take that as your reason for not mentioning me in along with said nutters (that I mentioned, not you.) but give me a little time and im sure you'll soon know that how can I put it politely? I dance to a different tune that no one else can hear :)
You are of course correct. Its not all bad and without it, I would probsbly still be writing like s six year old. But thanks to friends and advice, im almost up to ten year old standard :)
Like life, it takes all kinds to make up a group or collective, and we find it all and more right here. There are far worse places to hang out of a Friday night :)

[Lorry]

Ps... Apologies for adding this to Chris' comment, have no idea how that happened.

[bigfootprint]

Thanks for the comments, Lorry, You have been nice to me. Anyway, sometimes our best intentions fall short. You are a writer, that is all I note in my observations. I get a little feisty sometimes when warlike personalities come into play. At 77's door, I notice the springs are getting week on my own steel trap mind. No doubt, other issues might rear their ugly head soon.

[UncleFossil]

I came from a historic era and the thing with WritersCafe.org they sometimes ignore the short story roots that gave it the identity it has. Wordman for example saw that when he found Boycotting Truth -- the article became something of a validation of the website. You may have something to play around with and flesh it up where the thing that sucks now is you cannot link in articles if you were newer here.

[bigfootprint]

Insightful comments, Uncle. I have found much competence and identity among the writers here. Your point about "never here" escapes me, though. You come across as very keen of observation. Lots of good postings here to touch the toughest of critics. Thanks for sharing.

[UncleFossil]

The aspects that I am giving a tip about is providing a few HTML Tricks in the commentary about the pieces especially when you have a piece like the one I am passing along. I was here during the 2006-2008 years as my given name. Then was tossed off by a troll then returned as UncleFossil which became a moniker with my blog.

[bigfootprint]

Good luck to you. Thanks

[Onlyme]

Doug, Beautiful and eloquently expressed Sir. To our fellow soul sisters and brothers. Here on Writerscafe. Amen to everything you so articulately said.

[bigfootprint]

You are very kind, Dawn, thanks for your comments.

[barleygirl]

Today I read a review you left for me & I thought - wow! What a caring soul! Not becuz of your comments about my writing, but becuz of what you wrote to express your wholehearted way of looking at life, as sparked by my message. I came here to read more of you & I found this one, which perfectly matches the caring soul I sensed had written that review which caught my notice. I do find the friendships at the Cafe to be rare & organic & true. I prefer this to social media anyday. My favorite thing is when writers inspire writers & there are tributes & collaborations & more. This is a great tribute to the reasons for enjoying our writing community here (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[bigfootprint]

Yes, Margie, we writers feel inspired when we delve into others creativity. Inspiration is like sharpening a knife. We suffer when we feel blocked, as if we lose our link to the ethereal.