Author: davestankowicz

Dave Stankowicz is a retired educator who lives on an island off the coast of Portland, Maine with his wife Debbie Jordan and their dog Cody. Liberated from the responsibilities of teaching he has found the space and time to pursue so much that interests him. Dave is the former host of the WMPG radio show Palm Wine Radio, and currently hosts Next To Silence - an hour long show that explores different themes, genres, artists and record labels. Next to Silence can be streamed live on Peaks Island Radio at https://peaksislandradio.com on Mondays and Fridays @ 7:00 PM EDT, and Tuesdays @noon. You can also stream archived shows at his site (category: next to silence) He continues his lifelong efforts to master space and time.

Transcendent Solo #1

Sid Page -violin – “I Scare Myself” – Strike It Rich – Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks – 1972 – Solo @ 2:20

Sid Page takes risks here, expanding the hipster country swing of the band, reaching into the to extend beyonds the bounds of fiddle playing, propelling his technical skills into the stratosphere, creating this spectacular solo.

Stolen Slippers

Footloose,
Untethered,
Stolen.

Or if you believe such things,
Simply slipping through
Invisible portals,
Vanishing without warning.

Worn out steps of dancing feet.
Previously confident ,
Across the path of practice,
Passages of musical time
Indefinitely suspended.

Once loved evidence of  
Masterful pointes and whirling pirouettes,
Retired by inevitable exhaustion.

Hiding in plain sight,
Consumed by the greengrass cloak
Of enigmatic loss,
This mystery of misplacement
Happens to us all.

Like the consequence of stolen moments,
Disrupting the order of things,
It produces a void,
And a haunted memory of things
That can never be replaced.

Dead Whale – July 1, 2023

Saturday
on the southern side of the island,  
just past Leviathan Cottage, 
a dead minke whale washed ashore. 

Word traveled fast;
a steady stream of locals
stopping to gaze,
a sense of awe
permeating the landscape
of seagrass and rocks.

The shape and size,  
contours and textures
of the corpse, 
its briny scent 
not yet replaced by decomposition, 
and especially 
the grand stillness 
of this once living creature, 
emanates a peaceful spirit.

Beached in the bardo state
before body parts disconnect
and dignity surrenders to putrefaction,
there remains
in this plangent reverence
a reminder of what awaits us all,
and the hope
that we too
have lived in grace.

Bloomsday – June 16, 2023

A day in the life
From the morning’s first inklings
Ending with kindness,
Patience,
Forbearance,
And with such comfort and equanimity,
Wandering through life’s many twists and turns,
Perhaps thinking you’re escaping, but run into yourself.

Love loves to love love.
Walking through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love,
Always meeting ourselves,
To remain humble to learn.

To awaken from a vision as to be born.
Can’t bring back time. Like holding water in your hand.
Can’t change the world, but we can change the subject.

Thought is the thought of thought.
Me. 
And me now.
Be just before you are generous.
Be kind always.
Even in the darkness of your soul,
A darkness shining in brightness which brightness could not comprehend;
As I am. As I am. All or not at all.
…and yes I said yes I will Yes.