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.

Of Everyday



Fluctuations of everyday 
fall through the grates
that hold the weight
of heroic quest: 
a sequence of mundane limitations
and responsibilities
checked off
or stacked up
for tomorrow, 

leaving its afterimage
of limitations,
small pleasures,
and being home.

Exuberant Plunge

               Taking an exuberant plunge 
               over the junk nostalgia
               of order,
              doing this, doing that
              with the intimacy of a dog’s breath,
              documenting the change
              in my pocket,
              oblivious to epic ambitions,
              while a yellow flower breaks free
              from the mundane weeds.

Darkness

DARKNESS

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

― Mary Oliver

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”

― Carl Jung

“There are different kinds of darkness,” Rhys said. I kept my eyes shut. “There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful.” I pictured each. “There is the darkness of lovers, and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good.”

― Sarah J. Maas

“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,

Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,

It lies behind stars and under hills,

And empty holes it fills,

It comes first and follows after,

Ends life, kills laughter.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

We are in the midst of a terrible cyclone of conditions:

  • Civid-19 pandemic
  • Enabled racism
  • Economic collapse
  • Rampant unemployment
  • Social injustice impacting the most vulnerable citizens
  • Police violence and mass shootings
  • Polarization of Americans and the decline of civility
  • A country without competent leadership; a country that continues to lose its way.

This is a dark time in our nation’s history, yet darkness is part of the human condition.

Musicians have approached darkness from many different points of view. Here is an exploration of a few renderings in song of the many facets of darkness.