Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

poem- universal messages June 1, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:40 am
Tags: , , , , ,

Strangers in the mall.  Abridged.

“Excuse me?

Can I just say, you look beautiful?

You’re so vibrant and joyful!”

“Why, thank you.

I was just told at a writing conference

that I am colorful and songful.”

“Oh yes! What a perfect description! You are!

What writing conference was this?

I’ve always wanted to write!

The universe has brought you to me

to give me this message!”

“I hope you’ll join us next year,

please say hello.  I’ll still look like

this, but hopefully there’ll be less of me.”

“Oh! There’s less of ME!  I just lost 40 lbs,

just walking and cutting out chips.”

“Well done!

Clearly the universe brought you to me today.”

 

 

poem- greeting May 31, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:31 pm
Tags: , , , ,

So welcome are you

the eagle soars to your window

and grebes dance across the water,

all eager to hear your

words on the lake.

 

Those Bloody Teachers Seem to Go on Strike Every Year May 30, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:57 pm

So well said!

jimnelson806's avatarSchools, Politics and Other Stuff

 

The teachers are on strike again? It seems as if they go on strike every year and make our kids lose school days.

Actually, they don’t. Never mentioned, in headline or media, is that since 2001, B.C.’s Liberal government has caused the loss of many more school days than the B.C.T.F ever could.

One media outlet, not untypically, screamed;

“3 strikes, 14 school days lost since 1995, because of the B.C.T.F., one of B.C.’s most “militant” unions.”

While it’s true that teacher strikes resulted in the loss of 14 school days since 1995, such headlines are inexcusably misleading and inflammatory.

Teachers had the right to strike from 1987 to 2002 when the government declared Education an Essential service, outlawed strikes, and removed working conditions from the collective bargaining process.

Ten of the 14 aforementioned 
lost school days resulted from a single strike in 2005, a strike in response to…

View original post 248 more words

 

poem- halo

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:44 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

You glow

with a joy

that makes my heart heal

that makes my soul sing

that make me glimmer

 

poem- procrastination

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:09 am
Tags: , , , , ,

I plainly do not wish to write

the essay I had planned tonight

Instead I filled the night with song

but at midnight I think that was wrong

No work to show for hours gone by

My eyes are sore, I’m prone to sigh

The essay will not write itself

The due day looms like Dante’s hell

I greatly fear procrastination

has thwarted my determination!

So wish me luck, just one day left

The due date rises like my stress!

.

.

.

I arranged a tune.  I made a video.  I did not work on my essay.  Plainly I’ve been absorbing too much from the teenagers all around me!  lol  Tomorrow is the last chance.  Wish me luck!

 

music-Skye Boat Song on harp May 29, 2014

Filed under: fun,Harp,OUTLANDERishness,projects,video — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:38 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s a little break from ranting poems or pugilistic poetry!  In honour of the upcoming Outlander TV show, here’s an ‘arrangement in progress’ I’ve made of The Skye Boat Song, which I’m betting is incorporated into the TV show theme.

.

.

For the technically curious:

I am playing a double strung harp.  (This was definitely easier before I had bifocals, though it was challenging enough then).  There are three octaves on each side of the harp, tuned to the same notes.  44 strings in all.  This is a low-head Celtic harp, in the style of the famous Irish Brian Boru harp or the Scottish  Queen Mary harp.  It is also known as a Scottish clarsach.  Specifically, mine is a Brittany harp, built for me by Stoney End 15 years ago or so. (When I bought it the Canadian dollar was around 70c US, so it was pricey!)  It still has its original strings!  This says it’s a tough little harp, and that I’m a lazy harpist (some people change strings a couple of times a year, to keep the sound bright).  It is made from a lovely, shimmery grained cherry and has a Baltic birch soundboard with a pretty inlay strip at the base of the strings.  It keeps its tuning brilliantly- rarely needing more than a titch of adjustment here and there.  This is a rare blessing in a harp!

Here are The Skye Boat Song lyrics as I say them to myself while I’m playing (which does not in any way imply they are the correct lyrics!)

Speed bonny boat like a bird on the wing

Onward the sailors cry

Carry the lad that’s born to be king

Over the sea to Skye!

Loud the winds blow

Loud the waves crash

Ocean’s a weary bed

La la la la

la la la la                           (< < < < pretty sure those aren’t the right lyrics)

Watch o’er your weary head

oh                                        (That’s the soft D sounded to start back into the chorus)

Speed bonny boat… (etc)

I always thought somehow Flora McDonald was on this boat with him, but I think that’s just me.

 

I promise OJ the standard poodle is only sleeping, though he certainly does look dead.  He is snoring now, in the exact same position.

 

 

poem-not me

Filed under: Poetry,Teaching — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:07 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My last pay cheque came

with a 10% fine,

because I belong to a union,

and somewhere in the province

someone else striking.

Not me.

I’m at work today,

my strike day was yesterday,

but I am fined today anyway.

A government that has twice

been told by the courts that

its actions are illegal,

that it bargains in bad faith,

that it tries to provoke problems,

simply ignores the judiciary’s order that it owes teachers

ten million dollars it took from them illegally.

Nope.  This government

continues to bully its educated citizens,

labelling scape goats and whiners.

Setting its propaganda machine in motion.

Sure that no one will believe what it is really doing.

Why is the public not up in arms?

Why are they not concerned

to see a government stripping rights

from its citizens?

Perhaps people are distrustful

of the well-educated,

so it’s easy to manipulate them?

Truth: 10% is off my pay cheque,

because someone else is demanding the justice today

that I marched for yesterday.

Sixty years ago,

our boys were fighting against

injustices like this.

They are likely turning in their graves

at the new chancellor

of British Columbia

and the apathetic

citizenry

who avert their eyes,

pretending not to see,

and mutter, “At least she’s not after me.”

 

poem- eviction May 28, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:05 pm
Tags: , , ,

The ospreys

have reclaimed their

towering nesting boxes

evicting squatting

Canada Geese.

Their raptor eyes

study the horizon

and I wonder

if they raptured

over goose eggs.

.

.

A corollary to an earlier post:  

poem- real estate

One commenter was concerned about goslings hurting themselves falling out of the nesting platforms.  That was the least of their worries, apparently.

 

poem- last May 27, 2014

Filed under: Poetry,Teaching — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:06 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

You are the quiet voice

who never asks for help.

You struggle to work it out while

the loud kids,

the needy kids,

the busy kids

demand the teacher’s time.

You never cause a stir

so you are rarely served

when funding’s cut

and more needs surround you.

The teacher will

always get to you last

if she can get to you

at all.

We’re not okay with that.

But the government

says teachers

are just greedy.

 

poem- dead horse

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:14 am
Tags: , , , , ,

You rode your high horse

to water, but you couldn’t make it drink.

You beat that horse

until its flesh was pulverized

and the putrid rot rose in a stench,

repulsing people you wanted to impress.

Still you keep beating

that equine cadaver,

imagining the rattle of its rib bones

is dressage music

for your one trick pony.