Have I not walked without an upward look
Of caution under stars that very well
Might not have missed me when they shot and fell?
It was a risk I had to take -- and took.
-- Robert Frost
I believe friends are Nature's masterpiece.
Spirit and ideas have more beauty than things. I can be immobilized by a work of art or a brilliant philosophical concept; a passionate and brilliantly performed movement within a symphony; a sonata, the sound of the river, a bird singing, a pas de deux or a boogie woogie piano solo can transport me to an alternate dimension.I am in search of revelations of the mysteries, epiphanies as it were, in the concrete and ordinary world. Constructs of my explorations as filtered through my active internal world(s).I have tried to teach my children that mediocre or disdainful people gossip about people; average people talk about possessions and exceptional people talk about ideas.I am interested & opinionated but not a dogmatic or proselytizing man (well, maybe a little, but I will try to persuade from logic, facts & heart; never just blind faith.) I can be convinced that I am wrong and apologize. I am a devout iconoclastic catalyst. A Humanist of the Secular persuasion. At the same time I support the individual search for truth and meaning as I respect the individual's understanding of spirit.I try to behave like wherever I am is the small town where I will live for the rest of my life. This doesn’t mean I am reticent or withdrawn or not occasionally outrageous but respectful. As a high self monitor I will always be outspoken with my beliefs, joys and concerns; for silence is the voice of complicity. I am a fearless advocate of stray dogs, bullied kids and the downtrodden-in-general. I have been told by many friends that I am the calmest person they know.Vegetarian but don't proselytize. I cook flesh, just don't eat it (or kill it.)I am highly political and active about it. I listen to every point of view and honor the source even when I vehemently disagree. I will argue the point however...I write for film, Poetry, Short stories, nonfiction and fiction. I am on the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe Farmer's Market. I am also an on the feet director of the Santa Fe Film Festival. I am a certified Master Composter (but not a Master Gardener yet.) I build furniture and create art both by hand and on the computer. I am designing and will build an solar powered electric trike this year. Much more.I strive to be creative, understanding, compassionate, kind, self-reliant, nonjudgmental (well...I make a real attempt), respectful, adaptable, expressive, curious, sensual, passionate, & loyal. I don't criticize what I don't understand (I do make a serious attempt at understanding.) I will always be forever young & self-confident (vs. self-absorbed or cocky.)Cheeeez, I sound like a Boy Scout with Bob Dylan, Ram Das & Noam Chomski as Scout Leaders.I like to make music and talk with friends old and new well into the wee hours. I am not an accomplished musician but have fun playing anyway.Because I believe most play involves friendship as most friendship involves play of one sort or another. A playful attitude is what I'm talking about here; the sense of awe and wonder that a child brings to new friends and experiences. I am a magnet to children and dogs. Kids seem to know when the respect offered is true. They also instinctively know that pain shared is diminished and pleasure shared is magnified. Dogs always know your truths that cats don't care about (not to diss these great feline companions.) Kids and dogs both show their joy. I like that.I'm invariably polite to the wait staff and tip well to boot. Someone who is nice to you and mean to the wait staff is not a kind person. Kind is an always attribute. I'm always up for a road trip to nowhere or anywhere. I nurture and support the hell out of people I care about. I have kind green eyes. I smile readily, laugh freely and dance when I am moved (with or without music that anyone else can hear.)I move to my own rhythms & dance the wild rumpus soulfully, solely and on rare occasions, solipsistically...I appreciate the evolution in a person as the chrysalis bursts and the imago is realized.I’ve been told I am a walking contradiction but I prefer to think of it as being multifaceted.My dear friend and ex-wife writes this about me: When people ask me to describe Tom I just tell them to think of a hot ice cube, deafening mime, an ephemeral mountain. Slow lightning, liquid sound, tropical tundra and spherical needles. What really gets the idea across is when I suggest a tiny skyscraper, desiccated seas, annual sunsets, a domesticated earthquake, or silky stucco. He loves like a tender hurricane; a gentle, peaceful, passionate and calm warrior. Always ready to laugh at his own foibles. He can bring a little Tom Waits into your Joni Mitchell life.“Meet Me Under the Stars,†she said.
Golden concentric
ripples of hours
spread away
from her whisper,
our meeting.
I could smell her
allure like
quiet scent of
new mown clover,
a rain storm coming.
Under pine,
spruce, juniper
by river of
yesterday, we met,
imagining tomorrow.
In her throat
a rattle like
late afternoon
mourning doves,
settling in for night.
A fleeting glance,
like dragonflies,
her eyes sailed away to
transparent surface
of world.
Consulting with
Great Bear beneath
unsullied heavens
I was blinded
by starlight.
This was written after a painting by my friend Darren Vigil-Grey (painted for his wife, Jill Scott-Momaday.) The painting obviously moved me deeply.
