The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
William Butler Yates
86 West
It’s a location to be sure, but then again it’s not just a location. 86 West was derived from a physical address. Georgia Highway 86 WEST, Lyons, Georgia. A spot outside of town, out the country In a little unincorporated community called Blue Ridge.
86 West is physical. It’s a home, It’s a tract of land with planted pines and hardwood branches. A place to hunt and ponds for fishing. A place where young boys can ride four wheelers and have paintball shootouts. Home to Poco the Christmas pony, and BJ the Tennessee Walker gelding. A place of countless childhood dogs like ol’ Yeller and Sheba. Then later in life our beloved Mr. Big and Allie girl, who taught us to love and when they crossed over the rainbow bridge they taught us how to grieve. Home to my family and over the years home to goats, chickens, cattle and even a couple of pigs sent from heaven.
86 West is emotional. A place where one learns to dream. It’s a place of vision. A life lesson really. Learning to see something not for what it is but what I can be. It’s a place that holds memories of joy, like when a child or grandchild is born. A place of promises like “Till death do us part”. Place of peace and stillness. A place where a family can gather and celebrate life and sometimes even mourn death.
86 West is spiritual. Rooted in a multi generational faith in GOD. A place where you can sometimes feel HIS PRESENCE as you take a morning walk and see the sun rising over the pines, or when you discover a vine of wild muscadines and eat from a vineyard you didn’t not plant.
It’s a place where God’s promise is whispered quietly into the depths of your soul, time and time again,
For I know the plans I have for you,
plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future“.
Jeremiah 29:11
86 West is more than a physical address. Much more.
I am honored that you are here in this place with me at 86 West.
