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BrainSwitching out of Depression (Part 1)
2007-10-09 09:01:00
Yesterday was the most stressful day of all in a month of prolonged stress. It wasn't due to all of the effort (which was significant) that my mother's caregiver and I expended getting my mom back to her assisted living facility from the hospital. Rather, it was caused by the behavior of my siblings.Still, I have vowed not to let other people make me sick. The new skill I'm developing that is truly a lifesaver is from the book, BrainSwitch out of Depression : Breaking the Cycle of Despair by A.B. Curtis who is a licensed cognitive behavioral therapist.While I'm only on page 67 and it's a 306-page book, I've got to say that it's the only helpful book I've ever read on depression. The basic concept is that when stressful situations occur, part of our brain reacts in an automatic mode (usually this is called kindling), and our neurons travel the same paths they have before.To be more specific, if a situation occurs where a lover, spouse, or sibling is dishonest, disloyal, or ab...
More About: Bipolar , Part , Witch

Harmonica Healing
2007-10-08 09:01:00
With the last month being so extraordinarily stressful, once again I have turned to music as a source of relaxation. Everywhere I go, I carry my Lee Oskar "C" harmonica. Quite honestly, I'm still not sure why I've learned no songs whatsoever; I've been teaching myself to play for a few years now.But blowing in and out on the harmonica is one of my best ways of reducing stress. There is a Zen quality about it. I stop focusing on the stressful events--whatever they may be, I calm down, and I only focus on the sounds I am producing.When my mother, her caregiver, and I spent 10 hours together--much of it in the ER--and the caregiver finally left, and my mother was sedated because of her broken knee, my stress level was only exceeded by my level of exhaustion.So, I asked the nurse if we could turn off the light so that my mother could rest, I put two chairs together so I could elevate my feet, and I began playing my harmonica. For the first time all evening, I could feel the tension ...
More About: Healing , Harmonica , Heal

Mama's Poems
2007-10-05 09:01:00
In appreciation of my mother, Marjorie L. Schwartz, I'm sharing a few more of her poems. What do I love about my mother? Among other things, her sense of humor, her passion, and her joi de vivre. She and my father were a match made in heaven and they deeply loved each other until he died in 1989. These were poems my mother wrote for my dad.marriage is... (1960)sharing...both joys and sorrowscaringfor now...and our tomorrowsloving with warmth and true compassionunderstanding each other...in his fashionempathy...one for anotherthe wonders of being a father and mothermutual trust with a love for livingbut mostly marriageis the joy of giving.Color Me Blonde (1973)Helene Curtis has kept me blondefor more years than I'd care to saybut the problem has grownmy cool has blownnow that my pubic hairs have turned to gray!A Diet...Try It (March, 1974)We burn 200 calorieswhen we screwbut what in the hell am I going to do?i'm so sad that I could weepi get hungry and you go to sleep.Happy...
More About: Poetry , Love , Poems

Ask Me
2007-10-04 09:01:00
Ask Me by William StaffordSome time when the river is ice, ask memistakes I have made. Ask me whetherwhat I have done is my life. Othershave come in their slow way intomy thought, and some have tried to helpor hurt: ask me what differencetheir strongest love or hate has made.I will listen to what you say.You and I can turn and lookat the silent river and wait. We knowthe current is there, hidden; and thereare comings and goings from miles awaythat hold the stillness exactly before us.What the river says, that is what I say.
More About: Poetry

Mama and Me...Again
2007-10-03 09:01:00
Yesterday, I saved my mother's life. It was as dramatic as that. My mom has been ailing. She's gotten horrific medical care. Family members told me to "let her go." But I knew it wasn't her time. So, when her knee starting swelling, she stopped eating, and everyone else was sure it was due to the build up of calcium in her system, and she shouldn't return to the hospital, but should be put on hospice care, I kept my own counsel, followed my heart, and sought help.Because her beloved caregiver and I spent 10 hours at her assisted living facility and the hospital, I'm bushed. But let me share the highlights.1. As I suspected, the doctors who said she would die of high calcium due to parathyroid disease were wrong. It's treatable by medication.2. The hospital technicians who took two x-rays (Last week they sent her home from the hospital twice and said she didn't have a fracture.) of her leg after she fell, somehow missed the fact--both times--that she had broken her knee.3. The...
More About: Mama , Wellness , Medical Malpractice

The Impact of a Diagnosis (Part 2)
2007-10-02 09:01:00
When the psychiatrist diagnosed me as atypical bipolar II, and told me this was a "mental illness," I was stunned. Despite my semi-annual six week depressive episodes, I was one of the most "normal" people I knew.In that first meeting, the doctor not only didn't provide very much information on bipolar disorder, but she prescribed Zoloft (for which she had no written material) rather than trying a mood stabilizer. Since all of this was pre-Internet, I had to hunt all over to find material on manic-depression and on Zoloft.The details of my story are included in my upcoming book, Bipolar Depression Unplugged: A Survivor Speaks Out, and because it's copyrighted material, I can't repeat here what I've written. Suffice it to say, it was a terrible experience.After a decade of illness, and extraordinarily bad experiences with four psychiatrists who prescribed 25 different medications in different combinations and dosages, I often wish I'd never been diagnosed.I sincerely believe tha...
More About: Hope , Part , Psychiatrists , Diagnosis

The Impact of a Diagnosis (Part 1)
2007-10-01 09:01:00
When my father was diagnosed with an advanced stage of prostate cancer--more than 18 years ago--I still can remember the look on his face. It seemed like the moment the doctor said the word "cancer," my father's face turned gray. It was as if a dark spirit invaded his hospital room, and robbed him of his spirit and zest for life.Because I am a researcher by avocation as well as by vocation, I knew that the best way to help my dad was to find success stories that would give him hope. After a tremendous amount of research, I found a book, Recalled by Life, written by Anthony J. Sattilaro, M.D.Dr. Sattilaro, who was the medical director of a major hospital, had been diagnosed with an advanced case of prostate cancer that had metastasized throughout his body--and was given no hope by traditional medicine. My father's prostate cancer wasn't diagnosed until it, too, was at an advanced stage, and he, too, wasn't given much hope.In Dr. Sattilaro's case, he had to go outside tradition...
More About: Cancer , Part , Diagnosis

Healing Food
2007-09-30 09:01:00
I'd like to thank Sydney, Marja, JayPeeFreely, and Tery for their thoughtful comments during my absence.While I had hoped to spend my week doing fun things, writing, and renewing myself, I had the flu for three days and I'm just beginning to feel better. For me, physical illness is just an inconvenience. Still, I was feeling so lousy that my only pleasure was eating.I assume that everyone has healing food items that work for them. In my case, it's matzo ball soup, although I must admit that the matzo balls are more important than the type of soup they're in. I like them in everything. Last night, I had them in potato leek soup and earlier in the week I ate them in Sapporo Ichiban.So, what you you eat when you're sick?
More About: Food , Healing , Heal

Appropriate Emotions
2007-09-24 01:53:00
I've got an ailing mother, an ailing family friend, and an ailing dog. Quite frankly, I'm feeling overwhelmed. While I'm ordinarily upbeat and when I'm well I can effectively deal with crises, these days my shoulders feel bowed from the pressure, and my heart is heavy.Since I love Ken Brown's stamps, I've decided to pick two to illustrate my moods. I alternate between feeling like the woman moving the Maytag washer (upper left) and being competent and capable of handling everything, and the woman Brown calls "The Sobber" (upper right), who undoubtedly cycles in and out of crying spells.While it would be easy to "blame" the bipolarity of moods on my illness, I prefer to see the intensity of my emotions as a sign of my humanity. Given the circumstances, feeling competent and capable and sad is "appropriate." For me, the best way to deal with stress is to seek joy and spiritual renewal. So, for the next week, I will spend more time outdoors, take walks and hikes, play music and...
More About: Emotions , Stress , Bipolar , Prop

Seeking Wellness (Part 2)
2007-09-21 09:01:00
I agree with my friend that people who seek wellness are more likely to find it than those who don't. I have also learned--mostly by writing this blog and reading other people's blogs--that some people don't seem to want to get well.Quite honestly, I have been stunned by the number of bipolar blogs where people dwell on the negative aspects of life, ruminate about all the bad things that have happened to them, and act as if they're powerless to make changes.I've spent years reading about healing and wellness and all the literature confirms that dwelling on the negative without finding the positives will only make you feel worse and worse. While we all have bad days and unhappy thoughts and feelings, and I do believe it's important to "write them away," I also believe that keeping a sense of humor, putting things in perspective, and finding the "good stuff" is a critical part of healing.Unlike my friend, I do believe in miracles. In my case, the miracle was "hope." For years...
More About: Healing , Hope , Part , Wellness , Seeking

Seeking Wellness (Part 1)
2007-09-20 09:03:00
I was talking with a friend who suffers from clinical depression and he said, "Don't you think there are some people who just don't want to get well?""What do you mean?" I asked."Well, you know how hard you worked to try to get well when you were so sick? You read everything there was to read about depression and manic-depression. You took your medication religiously. You tried mega-vitamins, acupuncture, therapy, naturopathy and a host of other activities that didn't work. But you didn't quit. You found that doctor of integrative medicine, and continued your research, and starting exercising regularly and playing music, and well...you get my point.""Yeah," I said."I did the same thing, and now we're both well--most of the time.""It's a miracle, isn't it?" I said."It is," he answered. "But I don't believe in miracles. I believe that if you work hard enough, and are willing to pursue every available option, and you use all of your energy to try and get well, then the odds of ...
More About: Healing , Bipolar , Part , Wellness , Seeking

Travel Therapy
2007-09-19 09:01:00
For the last 14 years or so, September has been a difficult month for me. I'm sure it has to do with the changing season--even in Los Angeles. But...in anticipation of this and trying to stave off a possible depressive episode, I'm spending much more time outdoors and trying to walk every day.Ordinarily, some of the stress that has been on my plate--an aging mother who was hospitalized for five days, a beloved uncle who was hospitalized for three days, a sick dog (we're waiting for the biopsy), and now a very sick friend--might trigger a mood swing, but I vowed not to let this happen.So, I'm not pushing myself in any way. If I'm tired, I take a nap. If I feel stressed, I spend time doing my own relaxation exercises, which usually involve playing music, or reading uplifting books that help me look at the world in a new way.Also, my husband and I rented a slew of DVDs from the library, featuring Rudy Maxa, who hosts PBS Smart Travel s, and is a contributing editor to National Geog...
More About: Depression , Stress , Bipolar , Therapy

Bipolar Etiquette (Part 2)
2007-09-18 09:01:00
The second thing I used to do to maintain friendships was to contact my friends when my depressive episodes were over. Whether it was an email or a telephone call, I would say, "I'm back," and meet them for lunch or dinner (or talk on the telephone) to catch up on their lives. I made it a point to send birthday cards (even though it might be months later).I let them know that even though I may have missed important events or milestones in their lives, it wasn't like I didn't care about them. And I focused on letting them talk.I think that one of the worst aspects of this illness is that it causes people to become self-absorbed. At least, that's how I felt. Of course, when I've been really sick, all I could think about was how I was going to get better. And...the everyday matters of other people's life weren't very important to me.But once I was well, I realized that it's not acknowledging the small stuff that hurts people's feelings and makes them feel like you don't car...
More About: Friendship , Etiquette , Behavior , Bipolar , Part

Bipolar Etiquette
2007-09-17 09:01:00
A friend who's bipolar and I were discussing some aspects of our illness when I mentioned how solicitous I used to be of my friends when a depressive episode began and ended. Since she hadn't thought to engage in what I consider Bipolar Etiquette , I figured that maybe others haven't as well and might find it useful.I have written before about how sad and hurt I have been by friends who have deserted me because of my illness. But I should also mention the love and gratitude I feel for friends who have not only stood by me, but have helped in various ways.A few friends were particularly sensitive to the financial devastation of this illness and were always there to offer freelance writing assignments once I recovered. Some would leave sweet voice mail messages just to let me know that they didn't need a call-back but they were thinking of me. During one particularly bad depressive episode, one friend came up with a list of potential support groups in case I needed to talk to other...
More About: Friendship , Emails

Prayer Therapy
2007-09-14 09:01:00
When I was really sick and my son was in Sunday School and later Hebrew School, I realized how much I dislike organized religion. Or maybe it just was the people at our temple. The two families with whom we carpooled kicked us out of the carpool because they said I drove too fast.The truth was that they drove too slowly. In fact, I'm a terrific driver and I haven't had a ticket or an accident since I was a teenager (and perhaps had one of each).I believe they chose not to carpool with us because of my illness. It hurt my feelings, made me angry, and was truly a hardship. Once we no longer had a carpool, it meant that I had to drive my son on Wednesdays and Sundays (although my husband helped out when I wasn't feeling well).What bothered me most was that here we were, participating in religious activities, reciting prayers about "loving our neighbors," and their behavior toward me was as uncharitable as any I've experienced.Once my son was finished with Sunday school, I quit the ...
More About: Prayer , Judaism , Mental Illness , Therapy , Raye

Rosh Hashanah
2007-09-13 01:22:00
Tonight and tomorrow are the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah . What differentiates this holiday is the blowing of the shofar, a ram's horn. According to Wikipedia, "The sound of the shofar is intended to awaken the listener from his or her "slumber" and alert them to the coming judgment, which is Yom Kippur."I don't blog on my religious holidays! See you on Friday!
More About: Hana

How to Deal with Family Members Who Won't Help
2007-09-12 18:17:00
At the end of yesterday's post, I promised to address Chas' comments on Bipolar Anger (Part 3). He wrote the following:"I am so f**k**g (this is a PG blog) pissed at my mother. I am 42 and was diagnosed when I was 21. I have never been able to accept that she cannot handle learning about the illness and helping me. When I push the issue (I recently suggested a book), I get hostility and criticism. When I try to avoid my mother, I feel guilty and fearful that I am hurting her. I have siblings and a father but really do not care as much about their ignorant, inhumane approach. Anyway, I do not see how to let this go. Right now I am worried about having to go home for Thanksgiving."* * *I'm hoping that those of you who have had a similar experience will share some of the things you've done--hopefully that have worked--with Chas. As I've mentioned before, despite my disappointment with many family members and friends, my mother and husband have always been wonderfully supportive. ...
More About: Holidays , Family , Deal

Sharing Other People's Writing
2007-09-11 14:02:00
First, I'd like to thank Gay Bipolar Guy and Jay Pee Freely for their lovely welcome back comments. They made me feel good! Also, last night I spent a lot of time reading other people blogs and I'd like to recommend some particularly enjoyable posts.My dear friend Sydney from Bipolarity has been writing some pretty wonderful stuff. I'd recommend reading all of her new posts but I particularly liked A real-time exercise in forgiveness and What does it mean to be "black enough?A few weeks ago, the Gay Bipolar Guy posted a very painful but beautifully honest post, What Took a Livetime to Write, about childhood abuse in Ohio that every anti-gay politician should read. Staggo has not only survived but flourished and I salute him.Jay Pee Freely loves baseball. If any of you do too, I'm sure you'll enjoy his Timeline from the Baseball Project. If you're not a baseball fan, he does write on other topics. One of his pieces that touched me was Milestone or Millstone: Being 35 and Ha...
More About: Writing , Sharing , Shari , Hari

Vacation Therapy
2007-09-10 09:01:00
My husband, son, and I spent a glorious two days in Santa Barbara , CA--although I took an entire week off from blogging.It's amazing how wonderful new vistas are for the soul. It's not only a beautiful beach community but our favorite motel, the Franciscan Inn, has a lovely little pool where I went swimming every day--which is a real tonic for me.We ate at wonderful restaurants, the Paradise Cafe (always a favorite with its oak wood grill giving the oh-so-fresh fish and vegetables a unique taste) and Arigato, which is the best sushi restaurant I've ever been to (and this is the third time we've eaten there).Our first evening, there was a terrific Farmer's Market on State Street, which is the main drag. Also, I shot some wonderful photographs at the Marina, and I went to Chaucer's Books, one of my very favorite bookstores.We also went to Elings Park, which has a very touching Veterans War Memorial, I bought a few photographic items (for my class) at Samy's Camera, and we shopp...
More About: Swimming , Vacation , Therapy , Erap

Gone Fishing
2007-09-03 06:40:00
We're on vacation. I'll resume blogging on Monday, September 10th. Health and happiness to all!
More About: Fishing

Disappointing Others
2007-08-31 17:25:00
As I have mentioned repeatedly in my blog, I've spent the last few months rewriting and re-editing my manuscript. Actually, some of my fellows bloggers and friends reviewed it and made some great comments. I'm fully acknowledging them in my book so I won't do it here. But it was truly extraordinary to have fellow BIPS give me their thoughts about this illness and let me know if my perceptions resonated with them.During this period of intense work--concentrating on sickness (Bipolar Depression Unplugged is the memoir of my illness) more than on wellness, I had to insure that I wasn't overwhelmed by sorrow, loss, sadness, and any number of other negative emotions that reliving a decade-long disaster can elicit.For that reason, during this period, on the days when I finished writing (or the days when I didn't write), I only did those activities that were stress-free for me (other than worrying about my mom and fulfilling family obligations), fun, uplifting, and perhaps "selfishl...
More About: Time Management , Sapp

Know Thyself
2007-08-30 18:13:00
I finally finished my manuscript and sent it off at almost midnight so I'm pooped today. Instead of writing about my September plans, I want to share a few quotes from and a few photographs by Ralph Steiner, a photographer whom I'm just learning about. (The photo on the left is Typewriter Keys, 1921. The one on the right is Ham and Eggs, 1929.)"Fledgling photographers in considerable numbers drift up into Vermont to show me their work, as if to ask a blessing from the patriarch or to seek a key to open the door to successful creativity (whatever "successful" means to them). I am far more able to tell them where the key does not lie--certainly not in technique nor in aesthetics nor in clever self-promotional ideas for photographs."If there is a key, it is of Greek manufacture: "Know thyself." Obviously no more valuable photographic ore can be mined from a man than is in residence, and it is helpful for a photographer to know where to dig or where not to dig."The painter Edward Hop...
More About: Photography , Edward Hopper

Staving Off Seasonal Affective Disorder
2007-08-29 09:01:00
Before I talk about one of my best ideas for September--to try and stave off seasonal affective disorder--I' d like to welcome An Untreatable Army BP to our community. Also, in case you didn't know, Howard Freeman of SurfCountry is now writing a new blog, Mead on Manhattan. And Syd from Bipolarity has written a wonderful essay on The Power of Perspective (Part 2) that I recommend to everyone.Okay, since I spent three hours with my mom yesterday when her caregiver, my sister, and I took her to a new doctor who specializes in gerontology (the additional time was spent in drive time and having some tests taken), I'm even more tired than I've been--if that's possible.So, I said to my husband, "Even though it's a stretch financially, can we go to Santa Barbara for two days?" And, saint that he is, he said, "Yes."For those of you who don't live near Los Angeles or even in the United States, Santa Barbara (photo on the right is by Galen R. Frysinger) is just wonderful. Perhaps my fa...
More About: Seasonal , Seasonal Affective Disorder , Seas , Sona

Seasonal Affective Disorder
2007-08-28 09:01:00
Yesterday for the first time, I could feel my mood changing due to the weather. I know that my normal September depression is partially caused by seasonal affective disorder. But I've vowed to stave it off. So, I'm planning fun activities for every day of September.On Fridays I'll be taking my second photography class, Darkroom Photography. The upside is that I'm so excited about it, and I'll be able to spend lots of time outdoors shooting photographs. The downside is that it meets inside for 4 1/2 hours, three of which are spent in the darkroom. So...I plan on sandwiching the class between different outdoor exercise programs--in order to minimize the effect of spending so much time indoors.On Friday mornings, I plan on walking 3.2 miles around my neighborhood park. In the afternoons after class, I plan on swimming laps at the Santa Monica College Swim Center. As you can see by the photograph, it's a great place.Also, I'm reading this wonderful book, French Women Don't Get ...
More About: Seasonal , Seasonal Affective Disorder , Seas , Sona , Diso

Depression
2007-08-27 19:04:00
In his book, The Wisdom of Depression : A Guide to Understanding and Curing Depression Using Natural Medicine, Jonathan Zuess, M.D., writes:"Depression is a quest for vision; its essence is transformation. Depression wells up and encompasses us for a time in a state of painful, dream-saturated formlessness, but its true purpose is to provide the opportunity for healing insight, renewal, and reintegration...""Depression is one of the basic responses of human beings, produced when we encounter a difficult emotional challenge...it is a natural and healthy response, and is actually specifically designed to help us deal with problems. It only becomes an illness if something goes badly wrong."I must admit that when I first read this book, I was in a severe depression and there wasn't one thing this doctor recommended that "helped" me get out of it. However, after all these years, philosophically I believe there is a reason for--and "value" of--depressive episodes.For myself, I know th...

My Mother, The Poet
2007-08-24 17:45:00
I was going to going to write more about Mama and Me but I decided instead to share a few of my mother's poems that she wrote while I was growing up. For 40 years, my mother wrote a column, Speaking from Cheviot, in a neighborhood paper. But everyday it seemed, she wrote poems...on scraps on paper, in her telephone book...in fact, she wrote them wherever she happened to be in our house.Years ago, I gave my mother a small black three-ring binder for her poems. On the cover, I had an artist write: In My Life by Marjorie L. Schwartz. My mother typed her poems on her IBM Selectric and put them in her book. These are a few of my mom's many poems.For Susando you have the problem of a middle child?the consensus is...you doif you've an older one and a younger onepsychiatry says you're through.in our house...the big oneis the very first grandsonand the little one isprecocious and wild.but...our one in the middleplays the fiddleand her charm has uscompletely beguiled.On a Sad DayDon'...
More About: Poetry , Mother , Mothers , Poet

Mama and Me (Part 2)
2007-08-23 17:24:00
By the time I arrived at Casa Del Mar, I was calm and in my problem-solving mode. I listened to what the administrator and nurse had to say. Over the years I have learned that there is a great value in letting people vent. I confirmed that I, too, do not abide hitting (more like pushing away) or scratching.When they had finished, I said, "It would have been helpful for us to have known about this behavior earlier. As you will remember, I was the person who asked her doctor (a few weeks ago) to recommend a psychiatrist for medication. We have also set up a meeting next Tuesday with a well-known gerontologist.""My question is why is this happening? Is it a progression of the illness? Or is something occurring that is causing my mother to act this way? While it wouldn't be okay in any event, why did it escalate this weekend when a new nurse was on duty?""I'm not sure if my mother has Dementia or Alzheimer's," I said. "I've just read two books about both illnesses and the s...
More About: Mama , Stress , Part

Mama and Me (Part 1)
2007-08-22 09:01:00
Yesterday was a terrible terrible day! At 11:00 in the morning, my sister called to say that the administrator at Casa Del Mar (the pretend name of my mom's assisted living facility or as Staggo says, "home") called her four times. The upshot was that mom was allegedly hitting and scratching people who were trying to bathe her and change her (she's incontinent). And if we didn't take immediate action, she couldn't continue to live there.While I wasn't sure why my sister didn't go there immediately to solve the problem (she evidently didn't have a car), I showered, and drove over. I had been working on my manuscript and hadn't eaten breakfast. On the way, I decided I needed a Jamba Juice (with a non-stress boost; wouldn't someone become rich if they could develop one?).As I drove to Casa Del Mar, I did slow breathing exercises in the car to reduce my stress. I found the entire incident to be distressing and confusing. The administrator said this behavior had been going ...
More About: Mama , Part

Multitasking and Leisure Time
2007-08-21 18:11:00
In the last few years, I've recognized that I no longer choose to multitask. I'm not sure I consider it a disability, but I do feel the need to write about it.For weeks now, I've been concerned about finishing the final edit of my manuscript. I had asked a number of friends and acquaintances to read it and I needed to input their recommendations, copy-edits or edits that I agreed with. Working from a few different versions of the manuscript took way more time than I had anticipated. And although I sent a version of the manuscript to the publisher 14 days ago, I suddenly felt the need to make some significant changes. I'm almost done--but not quite.At the same time, I had been asked (or I volunteered) to write reviews of two books, to make comments on two others, and to help a friend evaluate her plan for a new website. Although I feel guilty (not a usual emotion for me), until I finish my manuscript I have put all these projects on hold.Why? I'm not sure. What I do know ...
More About: Time , Leisure , Leis , Task , Multitasking

The Rock and The Bubble
2007-08-20 09:34:00
I'm pushing to make some last minute changes to my manuscript: Bipolar Depression Unplugged: A Survivor Speaks Out. So, since my last post was about Bipolar Bubbling, I thought I'd share a poem by Louisa May Alcott.The Rock and The Bubble Oh! a bare, brown rockStood up in the sea,The waves at its feetDancing merrily.A little bubbleOnce came sailing by,And thus to the rockDid it gayly cry,Ho! clumsy brown stone,Quick, make way for me:I'm the fairest thingThat floats on the sea.See my rainbow-robe,See my crown of light,My glittering form,So airy and bright.O'er the waters blue,I'm floating away,To dance by the shoreWith the foam and spray.Now, make way, make way;For the waves are strong,And their rippling feetBear me fast along."But the great rock stoodStraight up in the sea:It looked gravely down,And said pleasantlyLittle friend, you mustGo some other way;For I have not stirredthis many a long day.Great billows have dashed,And angry winds blown;But my sturdy formIs not overthro...
More About: The Rock