Artwork by Bruce Zboray    www.bruce-zboray.artistwebsites.com


My grandmother on my father’s side lived with us. Well, it was really her house, so I guess we lived with her. She came from Hungary when my aunt and uncle were very young. She spoke only Hungarian.

Every Sunday she would put on a small, flat brimmed hat, a black floral dress, and walk two miles, to the Russian Orthodox Church, which had seven spires shaped like candles. It looked right out of Russia.

We were at a mall of factory outlet stores the other day. It was a sunny, early autumn-feeling kind of day. Many street vendors with small carts were there for the Labor Day weekend sales.

We came by one vendor selling singing bowls.

I was certain I was going to buy one of those bowls. There had been other times when we saw singing bowls. But the certainty was absolute that I was going home that day with one of those bowls.

In fact, one stood out immediately, a small golden one, like it was calling to me. I started playing it, and liked what I heard and what I felt.

Artwork by Bruce Zboray www.bruce-zboray.artistwebsites.com


Did you ever have a place that you keep going back to, again and again, because it makes you feel so good? I mean, it’s like the land itself is calling, like a friend.

One of my favorite places is the grounds of Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Ct. In the 1950’s and 1960’s this was a very popular theater. It seems like the joy of that time still lives on the grounds, or perhaps some deep joy was there already, even before the theater.

Did you ever walk through a place and feel that it was watching you?

Like in the woods where you walk at the foot of tall trees, far out of reach above. And if you are really lucky, you come upon a sea of green moss, furry and emerald green, tinting everything it lays upon. Or you come upon a patch of bluebells covering the forest floor – just happening to be there.

I own two Amazon Alexa devices that I use around the house, mostly to listen to music. This is a little story about how my life has been enriched by this still relatively new technology.

Pathways appear unannounced.

Whole spectrums of realms come into focus.

A higher ground is common.

The pleasantries of everyday increase.

New views appear everywhere.

The ground seems alive.

All pressures relent.

The birds seem synchronized.

A new kind of joy appears.

It is easy to be satisfied.

Whole dominions unite.

Inspiration opens minds to new discovery.

A picture of peace paints itself.

Willingness to change is rampant.

Beacons of light hold sway to the New Earth.

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

Response by John:

The last GEM you listened by Phil was entitled, A Married State of Mind.

I love the opera, a musical called Les Meserable.

In Les Meserable, there is a love story between Marius and Quisette.

And the song, these lyrics, while falling in love, says “I am lost’ and she says, “I am found.”

And that reminds me of the love between a man and a woman.

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

About the Author

Phil Gross has written poetry and turned them into songs since he was about 19 years old. Many people write in diaries or journals.
Poetry and songs are his journals, documenting his life, strife, loves and the passing of his years.

The woods were filled with many sounds that day: birds singing, leaves rustling, squirrels moving around.

I was painting a picture beside a stream in the late morning. The stream flowed around many large boulders. This view of rocks and water is what attracted me to this place.

Suddenly, everything was quiet. I mean absolutely quiet. Even the water became quiet.

Everything became unexpectedly still. A great hush came over this place. You could hear a pin drop. And so it continued for about 2 minutes. It reminded me of how it is right before a storm.