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Sue Ferrera's avatar

Perhaps as it should be. 💜

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Sue Ferrera's avatar

I love the poem. Glad you are on the mend. 💜

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

Thanks! All is almost well although I do find myself being a little more wary of street dogs.

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Anita Perez Ferguson's avatar

I had to look up the spelling, but now that I have, I can say that you, Joyce, are a voracious reader. Thanks for sharing your 2023 Favorites and your dog bite/health care story. There is something very special about your curious mind.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

Anita ... thank you so much, my friend.

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weedom1's avatar

Yaaa, it really does seem like we might war ourselves back to nothing, all over nothing.

Wondering about that tetanus series.

Normally it's a rabies series with immune globulin and a series of rabies vaccines that would be given if an animal was not known to be vaccinated.

Normally the Tetanus jab (a toxoid) and possibly TIG, tetanus immune globulin would be given if it was not thought that YOU had been sufficiently 'vaccinated' for Tetanus. (It's not exactly a 'vaccine' for tetanus in the traditional sense.)

It's cool if the out of the way medical facility could immune globulins for such things. They are $$$$ and in the U.S. we sometimes had to borrow from other facilities.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

With all the street dogs down here, they may be overly cautious. Rabies wasn't even mentioned ... I don't think I've had a tetanus shot since childhood so I'm glad it wasn't a requirement, Thanks.

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Medha Murtagh's avatar

Ouch! I do wanna say though, that quote at the start was pure gold!

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Deborah Brasket's avatar

It is so interesting how connected we all are genetically. And then there's the collective unconscious. Sometimes I wonder if our fascination with whales and dolphins, or even that wild primitive feel of wolves or coyotes howling, stem from that, a lost ancestral memory stored in our DNA or collective consciousness.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

That would explain a lot of things, Deborah.

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Aussie Jo's avatar

Just want to say I liked this, although it made me think of when I was bitten by a dog as a child

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

A dog bite as a child could have been traumatic. Sorry it reminded you.

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Hermann J. Diehl's avatar

It’s a fascinating account of the dog bite, and I love the poem.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

Thank you, Hermann.

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Malcolm J McKinney's avatar

"we... Began as bits of stardust, single cells"

The salt in my blood

Talks to me in soft

Rhythmic syllables

Reminding me pulse on pulse

Of the long low low dream

Rememberings of sunning in the shallows

With flashes of silver

Deflecting the slow descent

Of sunlight

Settling below the warm

Wash of shorebound waves

That far away memory

Stored in my cells

Of diving in the deeps

Beyond coral crowns

Beyond the shelf

Guarding the coastline

That far eventual

Frontier

We crossed with tentative flips

Eons later

Where

We learned

Gasping

To catch

A breath

Out of water.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

thank you for the beautiful continuation ...

"That far away memory

Stored in my cells

Of diving in the deeps ....

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Malcolm J McKinney's avatar

I had posted it wit very little response and I realized I had to make it more clear as a connection with ancient fish.

Perhaps I should have titled it

" The ancient fish in me."

Thanks for your post and your poem's scale of time.

And we are all prey to the bite from behind.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

"prey to the bite from behind" ... that's a profound thought.

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Malcolm J McKinney's avatar

I should expand that into something.

I am always looking for this kind of "spark."

Example

Jacknifed on the Highway of Fate

Many thanks to Jonathan Potter's poem Sunrise 11/29/2023

This project was inspired

By a poem I had read

So I wrote some words to steer on

What thoughts might come ahead

Love, responsability, and

Working thru the pain

Heavy emotional trauma like

The wrecked husk of a train

On the highway of love,

Jacknifed, I sure liked the sound

But when I wrote that second line

It all got turned around

A truck and trailer jacknifed

Taillights red red red

I quickly, gently eased my brakes

Danger just ahead

Woman sits beside me

Rocking on the seat

She got muffins in the oven

And the asphalt's paved with sleet

Brother don't get jacknifed

On the highway

Of fate

Hello central hospital

I've a delivery to make

My 19 year old's water broke

My heart's bout to break

I pull up to emergency

Nurses coming on the run

My baby got a gurney ride

But she ain't having fun

Girl we just got jacknifed

On the highway

Of fate

Oh brother don't get jacknifed

On the highway of fate

Scan the scene just ahead

Before you take the bait

Be careful who you lie to

Don't bet more than you've got

Make sure your aim is true so

Your piss don't miss the pot

And maybe you won't get jacknifed

On the highway

Of fate

I park the car and jump right out

Fall flat on my face

Face ok but broke my hip

Guess I'll have to like this place

I awake from crazy, crazy dreams

In a semi private room

My doctor says don't worry

You'll all be leaving soon

But be cautious don't get jacknifed

On the highway

Of fate

We got home last evening

Both the girls just fine

But now they call me Grampy Gimp

And I'll hear that for all time

So brother don't get jacknifed

On the highway of fate

Scan the scene just ahead

Before you take the bait

Be careful who you lie to

Don't bet more than you've got

Make sure your aim is true so

Your piss don't miss the pot

And maybe you won't get jacknifed

On the highway

Of fate

Malcolm McKinney 2023

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Mark VanLaeys's avatar

BTW, I'm sorry you had your misadventure but I'm glad you're a seasoned traveler. I'm just a tad bit jealous that you're getting to take in Mexico. I hope you're back to a limp less gait soon. Happy Holidays.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

Thanks ... I'm better already but taking advantage of the situation to justify some downtime.

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Mark VanLaeys's avatar

That's good to hear -

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Jeanine Kitchel's avatar

So glad the dog’s paperwork was found! OMG! Looking forward to the next story in your Nexican saga.

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

You, of all people, know how these things go.

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Jeanine Kitchel's avatar

Asi es!

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Andrew Smith's avatar

Joyce, I'm so glad I've given you a little bit of inspiration this year. I can't wait to see what we both come up with next year!

I also look forward to those pics. :)

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

What shall we write on the blank slate of the coming year? And what will the year write on us?

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Andrew Smith's avatar

I reckon it remains to be seen, but I have 365 pieces heading out into the universe!

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

I like that metaphor of each day being a piece with its own direction.

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Andrew Smith's avatar

It's a metaphor AND it's literal for me!

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Mark VanLaeys's avatar

I love the poem! So very simple and yet on the money. How small we actually are and yet how royally we can mess things up because of our pettiness is crystal clear. Thanks Joyce

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Joyce Wycoff's avatar

Thanks, Mark!

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