Darian G. Burns

Young Men in the Streets by Darian G. Burns

*This one is for Andy

Young men in the streets,

Youth’s eternity is not forever,

          Shadows hide their pranks,

High-fives in the morning.

Beers and belches accompany

Moisture in the nights air,

          Settling upon the faces

Of young men in the streets.

On the edge of ruin,

Over the ledge to freedom!

          This moment is only now,

Grab it – youth’s glory.

Your innocence like…

The Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson, MD

Since my heart attack in 2010 and my stroke in 2014 I have been on a quest for better health. I began biking, walking, working out and trying to eat healthily. One of the things I am most proud of is kicking my 30 year Dr. Pepper habit. There were many days that I was easily drinking a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper before I gave it up last summer.’

Another aspect of my quest has been reading books on…

Skip “The Burn” by Haylie Pomroy

Excited would best describe my emotions when I received “The Burn” by . Having had a great experience with Bob Harper’s Skinny Rules and Skinny Cookbook I was energized and ready to try something new. Disappointed, sick and exhausted would describe how I felt after just one week trying to live with “The Burn.”

The book is problematic for a number of reasons:

It is not a sustainable lifestyle of…

When I began reading Bob Harper’s “Skinny Habits” I had no idea that he had already published three previous books on the subject of dieting. However, “Skinny Habits was so good that, once I was finished reading it, I immediately when out and got copies of “The Skinny Rule,” “Skinny Meals,” and “Jump Start to Skinny.” As I sit here and write this review, I m drinking an Apple Pie Shake from one…

Ferguson, Injustice, Truth, & Peace

Ferguson, Injustice, Truth & Peace

Frustrated and sad. But frustrated above all things. That is how I would describe my thoughts about Ferguson. It should come as no surprise that my opinion of Ferguson falls somewhere in the middle and therefore likely satisfies no one. That is the story of my life whether it be theology, politics, people. I tend to not see things dualistically. Instead of…

Bill Cosby, say It Ain’t So

Billy Cosby has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. In a sense, my generation are his children. In our childhood, we rushed every to our television sets every Saturday morning to watch “Fat Albert” and his gang. We have seen countless jello and pudding commercials, and we ate the stuff by the case, because Bill told us to. Then, as we entered High School and headed for college…

Turn Down the Volume! Turn Down the Noise!

Turn Down the Volume!  Turn Down the Noise!

Have you noticed how loud it has gotten? Am I the only person who feels as if I am being shouted at during commercials? Does anyone else get distracted in movies by the noise seeping through from the adjoining cinema? I have a friend in his 30’s who has to wear hearing aids because of the damage done to his hearing over decades of attending concerts.…

I have known this poem by Robert Browning Hamilton as long as I can remember and it has been a wise remainder for me during difficult times.  So simple.  So beautiful.  So wise.  So true.  Enjoy!

A Long The Road

“I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow; And ne’er a word said she; But, oh! The things I…

Beauty and the Soul

*This is the first part in an ongoing series of post dealing with the topic of beauty. You can find the ongoing discussion following these links: Beauty Part 1, Beauty Part 2, Beauty Part 3, Beauty Part 4, Beauty Part 5.

Rome, GA

Rome, Georgia is amy hometown.  I think it is one of the most beautiful towns in the country. Unfortunately, like so many of our towns and cities it used to be much more…

Why Beauty Matters

What images, either through words, film, art or music, have changed you? If you stop and think about it you may be surprised how much beauty has shaped who you are today. Possibly the most powerful image to shape my life came first from written words and later the same image as it was produced in film. It is the image of Atticus Finch, from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a…

I believe one of the most beautiful pieces of art hangs on the wall of my office. When I saw it seven years ok through a picture on the internet, I immediately knew what represented. It spoke powerfully to my soul and spirit. I had to have it and within weeks it arrived. There is only one in the world, and it hangs in my office. There is no way to measure the hope and beauty it has brought to my…

How to Understand a Poem & Beauty

When it comes to beauty one of the most misunderstood art forms is poetry. Our culture has bought the lie that words are only for understanding when they are also to be experienced. Words – writing – can be beautiful but, more often than not, many of us miss their beauty because we are so consumed with their meaning.

The number one thing you can do to enjoy the beauty and art of poetry is relax!…

Beauty Writing & Poetry

Beauty – Writing – Poetry

Things are getting ugly. No, I’m not talking about the political season, although the statement certainly could apply to our political culture. When I say things are getting ugly, I mean everything. I define ugly as the absence of beauty. It is not that beauty is not around, it is more that it has been diminished, ignored, and overlooked. It seems as if the average…

A Poem for Autumn

After Apple Picking by Robert Frost

MY long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree Toward heaven still, And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill Beside it, and there may be two or three Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough. But I am done with apple-picking now.

Essence of winter sleep is on the night, The scent of apples: I am drowsing off. I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight I got…