It’s passing through time
moving on time
gotta go time.
It’s we’re through here
all done here
wrapping up here.
It’s wear the gown time;
cross the stage time;
toss the cap time;
No more waiting!
Celebrating
Graduating.
poem- valley May 31, 2017
Valley green like velvet in the morning light
waves rippling, sun twinkling;
sun stars captured on water,
dazzling.
Everywhere are lush reminders
of blessing
rising with the water,
over-flowing with the creeks,
sliding with the mud.
Blessings and curses.
It could be worse.
It could be worse
than being trapped in paradise.
poem-light May 30, 2017
You’re a beacon, baby
Oh yeah.
You flicker like a flame
and I come to you.
I’m a lost ship.
I’m a moth.
You’re a candle
when the power’s out.
You’re a flashlight
slicing through the night.
You’re a beacon, baby.
Bring me home.
.
.
.
Hmm. Sounds like it wants to be a song, doesn’t it?
Quote-untold stories May 29, 2017
There is nothing so terrible as a story untold.
~Victoria Aveyard in Queen Song
poem-cure May 26, 2017
The demons are hiding around corners
lurking in the shadows
watching you.
I know you feel the weight
of their gaze
hear the clink of their weapons
every day.
On the sunny days,
you outrun them
find smiles to return to those
around you
in their circles of care.
Other days,
smiles are barred growls,
the glow of sinister eyes pacing
around you,
squeezing life and hope
as their circle crushes in,
suffocating you.
Your demons on their unwitting backs
Your demons in their unwitting smiles
Your demons on their unwitting feet
Your demons in their expectations
Your incessant demons
invisible to others,
writhing,
circling,
just
there.
poem-just when May 25, 2017
Just when I think there’s been a change
Just when I think the brain’s been rearranged
Just when I think obstacles have been constrained
There’s a smash, crashing return to the old
The opening petals refuse to unfold
The rebirthing story will not be told
Just when I imagine, my hope’s short-changed.
Reality is bitterly cold.
My expectations are really what’s strange.
quote- Desmond Tutu on writing May 23, 2017
If you want to be a good writer, you are not going to become one by always going to the movies and eating bonbons. You have to sit down and write. Which can be very frustrating, and yet, without that, you would not get that good result.
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu in The Book of Joy.
poem-sparkles
The light of you
twinkles on your skin
sends shooting stars crackling from the top of your head.
The light of you
glows blue green like phosphorescence
attracting, inviting.
You are bio-luminescence
shimmering on an ocean,
trails flowing after you like an evening gown.
I reach to dip my hand into the water and watch the light
die in my palm.
I long to live in your light,
bathe in the beauty,
float in the flotilla of the mesmerized, microscopic worshipers
flowing after you.
But you go your way
and I go home.
I gaze after you, and wonder if you’ve shared enough of you,
for me to generate light
of my own.
.
.
.
(for Sheri-D)
It’s always a let down at the end of a conference to leave the like minds of other writers, and return home to quotidian life. This was a particularly good conference for me, with lots of messages from the universe (or rather one that just kept coming up over and over). I am hopeful the words will be off on interesting journeys as a result of the learning.
quote- word spirit May 22, 2017
Speaking of how the Dalai Lama can fill a stadium of people to hear him speak, Desmond Tutu observed,
It’s not the words.
It’s the spirit behind the words.
(in The Book of Joy.)
When I read really great writing, I sense the ‘something’ that takes it from good to phenomenal. I was recently judging poetry, for example, and for most pieces, it was easy to set them aside as pretty words to something worth a second look. Others grabbed me and were set in the possible winner pile. My co-judges ended up with piles that included the same pieces. They were special.
I just spent the weekend at the Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival in Salmon Arm. I have reached the place in my writing where I have many skills. I am shortlisted for many competitions. But I often feel that ‘something’ is missing, and judges must too, since I have never won a first. What is it? This is the year I’ve been specifically searching for the answer. Through the course of the weekend, I found a familiar refrain through many workshops. The universe was answering my question.
It’s about intention.
We need to know WHY we’re telling the story. We need to know the audience and we need to know why we’re telling the story to THAT person (different things, possibly). Knowing these things puts a point of focus on the work that can elevate its power.
So I have this newfound knowledge in my pocket, and the next day, Desmond Tutu tells me this. It’s the spirit behind the word. What is that if not intention? I think personality is spirit, but fundamentally, it’s about intention. The Dalai Lama’s intention is spreading peace, love, and acceptance. It’s the spirit of the words he speaks, and the truth behind his intention resonates deeply within those who hear him. I’m not sure, precisely, how to do this, but I am fairly certain that like dealing with addiction, acknowledging it is the first step.
When the universe has a message for you, it can get quite insistent.
Well then.
Let’s begin.
quote- home May 21, 2017
“Wherever you have friends, that’s your country.
Wherever you receive love, that’s your home.”
Tibetan proverb quoted by the Dalai Lama in The Book of Joy (I highly recommend this book!)
This quote brilliantly summarizes my experience of life with and as an exchange student. Half your heart has moved to a new location.
Shawn L. Bird 