by Bela Johnson | Jan 15, 2026 | Uncategorized
(Note** This is a poem about a lie spread sixty years ago, that Beatle Paul was dead. This is not, in fact, what happened. Paul McCartney is very much alive today, as of this writing in 2025.) Paul is dead.A most beloved Beatle. I was in junior high school, bussed...
by Bela Johnson | Jan 13, 2026 | context, dreaming, Uncategorized
It began as a modest house.The kind you rent because it’s in your budget.Brown floors. Plain rooms.We needed shelter — and yet. Even then,I was already measuringwhat I could hold. I felt tenderness for the older man who owned it —he could not afford to live there...
by Bela Johnson | Jan 11, 2026 | gardening, patience, Uncategorized
The garden waits,its pulse separate from mine—a thousand roots threading throughtheir own decisions. I have pruned too much,watered from lack of rain,guarded what would havedone better left alone. Too much,even when well intentioned,is still too much. Now, I watch the...
by Bela Johnson | Jan 9, 2026 | authenticity, belonging, consciousness, Uncategorized
I was conditioned to hyper-attunement when young.To notice — for how could I not — the vagariesand inconsistencies of the humans around me.And so I sought answers — which now seems absurd,as if there ever were any. Instead of realizing — a thing learnedlater in life,...
by Bela Johnson | Jan 8, 2026 | belonging, compassion, Uncategorized
Daily writing promptWhat are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?View all responses Because thoughts become things.Intention is essential.— Laureli Ivanoff At seventy-two, my thoughts on living a very long lifeare necessarily differentthan they...
