The Grout Between the Tiles

Keeping it Together I love movies. Not all movies but many. I have a particular fondness for movies with a rogue main character who does the right thing despite having desires that would take him (or her) elsewhere. (Think Casablanca.) What really fascinates me about movie production is that the stars are what everyone focuses on but when the credits roll by, there are dozens of names. Most of these people would never be recognized walking on the streets of Hollywood, New York, Mumbai, or Montreal. They are the grout that holds the whole thing together. It is easy to notice the tiles on the floor or the pieces of a mosaic on the wall. They are the stars of the show. However, without the grouting that holds them all in place, the floor cracks and the mosaic falls apart. Much of the details of life are handled by unseen people. The prep cook in the kitchen, the bus company maintenance technicians and payroll clerks, the baggage handlers sweating it out at Heathrow, LaGuardia, or Pearson, the assembly line of nimble-fingered people putting our latest mobile devices together, billions of people just doing what they can to stay alive and feed their families. As I travel the world and wander from place to place, I enjoy finding busy cafés, putting myself into a quiet corner, and watching people. I find the lives of "ordinary" people compelling. There is really nothing ordinary. It is all special. Each of us is made of the same basic elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur (the bulk elements), and a little sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chlorine, and phosphorus (the macrominerals). Literally, stardust. Somehow, magic happens, life sparks and we hear babies cry, children laugh, parents dream, and widows cry. Books are written, movies produced, plays played, music explodes from stages and boomboxes - yet all of it wrapped around the miracle of ordinary lives.
My poetry is a tribute to the humbler moments in life. There is beauty in the lines of grout that keep the shiny tiles in place. There is heroism in doing a simple job as well as one can. There is courage in waking up every morning and doing that thing that feed your children. There was a time when I would look to the movie stars, the millionaires, the public figures and think, oh to be like them and live that life. I no longer do that. Of course, I admire success, but I now know that behind every public celebrity are hordes of people who are working hard to make it all appear like magic. As I write this, I am aware that so many lives have been welded together to make this device I am using, to create a network that connects me to world, to maintain the taxi I will take later, who assembled the airplane I will board, who grew the food I will eat onboard, so many lives, and so much energy, all connected to each other. We really are one world. What keeps us apart is important to see but it is less important that what keeps us together. I thank you for taking the time to read this work. I am so pleased that you have included me on your journey through this life. Hope you enjoy. All my best, Peter