Shawn L. Bird

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

star dust March 11, 2012

Filed under: Commentary,Pondering,Reading — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:13 am
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“The secret has been within you since the day you were born.  We are all children of the stars–everything is.”

Martin and Carranza in The Gaudi Key

Where did I read that this is literally true?  Our nature as “carbon based life forms” shows that genetically we are full of star dust.  Crazy, isn’t it?  What secret is within us when we emerge bloody from the womb, open to the infinite possibility that is life itself?  What secret waits to tell us our purpose or destiny?  What is yours?

 

One day March 8, 2012

Filed under: Friendship,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 4:00 pm

A few posts ago I mentioned the talented Catherine Novak and how she’d adapted my poem, “My Tribute,”  into a song back in high school.  I sang in a gospel musical group called Koinonia with Catherine , and she composed a song that we loved to perform.  It was bouncy and rocking and our audiences always loved it as well.  It’s another one that only exists in our memories, but this is what I recall of Cathy’s Song.  The lyrics are great, too.

One day a long time ago

When I had lost my soul

I knew I needed someone who would come and make me whole.

I looked around me and I saw Him standing there

He said that He would help me

my burdens He would bear;

and He said, I’ve got the time

If you will only follow me.

Come to my house, I will teach you to be free.

And you’ll become a part of one great family

and I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

We talked a long, long while, I told him of my fears

He comforted my soul, He wiped away my tears.

He said that he love me and save me from my sin

and if we just knock but once, you know He’ll let us in.

and He said,

I’ve got the time

If you will only follow me.

Come to my house, I will teach you to be free.

And you’ll become a part of one great family

and I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

And now I live my life in  h a r m o n y with G o d ….

and He said,

I’ve got the time

If you will only follow me.

Come to my house, I will teach you to be free.

And you’ll become a part of one great family

and I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

I wish there was a recording for you to hear this, because it is really quite a wonderful song.  It’s good as a poem, too, though.  ;-P

Thanks Cath, for some great musical memories!

 

Seven Deadly Sins March 5, 2012

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 7:30 pm
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I am the best man you will ever find
Give me everything you have
I’ll wait here on this couch
hating that idiot who is the reason I’m not rich
Come here, baby. You know you want me.
I’m the sexiest man you know.
despite my size 60 jogging pants

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In case you’ve forgotten, they are Pride, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Lust, Vanity, Gluttony

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As shared with the Poetry Garden http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot.com/  If you’re here from the Gooseberry Garden, please leave a link to your own poem in the comments below.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

standing up to bullies February 28, 2012

Filed under: Pondering,Teaching — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:57 am
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All around my school are posters advertising February 29th as the day students are to wear Pink Shirts as a way to take a stand against bullying.

We teach our kids that they need to stand up for themselves and for their friends when they are under attack.  We teach our kids that it is wrong to try to force ideas and opinions without reasoned discourse.  We teach our kids to show respect to those who are different from themselves, whether they agree with them or not.  We teach our kids how to negotiate a fair solution when they have a disagreement with their peers.

In light of this week’s anti-bullying message, watching the BC Provinicial government’s bullying tactics toward teachers is rather ironic.  This week they are trying to force teachers to accept an imposed contract, refusing to either negotiate or to have neutral mediator negotiate on their behalf.

It’s a  lesson in irony.

Teachers believe in equity.  We stand up to bullies.  We have to, in order to be role models for our students.  When we stand with our friends against bullying behavior, bullies back down.  Right?

My pink shirt this Wednesday, February 29th is going to have several layers of meaning, as I do what I can to stand up for those who are bullying me and my colleagues.

 

consideration vs acceptance February 24, 2012

Filed under: Pondering — Shawn L. Bird @ 3:46 pm
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

~Aristotle

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I fully agree with this statement.  The ‘what if’ that allows a person to look at the unknown, the different or the strange is a powerful tool for knowledge.  Seeking to understand another perspective only strengthens your own wisdom.  Your own perspective may be different, but by understanding the cultural, historical, or experiential background behind the point of view of someone else, you grow.   You don’t have to believe the same thing.  You don’t have to accept the conclusions made by others.  However, considering other perspectives helps you to understand your own beliefs and values.  Learning about yourself is valuable.  Learning is a good thing.

 

sonnet 61 shoes February 17, 2012

Filed under: Poetry,projects — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:54 pm
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When we were in Paris last March, I found a shoe sale. I ended up buying a pair of black leather wedge shoes (for just 12 Euros!  John said, “How much?  Why don’t you buy the brown pair, too?” lol) Now, I don’t really believe in plain black anything, and those wedges seemed to me to be a black board just waiting for something to be written upon them.

So I looked for some fine tipped, permanent opaque pens.  I couldn’t find them anywhere within 100 km, so bought the Sakura pens on eBay direct from Japan, and waited for the day when inspiration would strike.

The day has arrived!

My plain black wedges are plain no longer! They sport the complete Petrarchan sonnet Canzoniere 61, in Petrarca’s original Italian. You might remember that this is the poem I translated for Grace Awakening.

Where there are inadvertent spaces (like where I needed to even up a line, and where the next word didn’t fit) I added roses. For each line of the sonnet I switched colours.  I completely free-handed these, and I was quite delighted that the entire poem fit EXACTLY between the 2 shoes!  Lucky fluke, eh?

I am quite contented with the result, and even more content that I did manage to get the project done before a year was up!

 

not quite spring February 16, 2012

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:48 am
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Spring’s promise whispered,
a twilight song warming me.
Buds broke joyfully
from bare, dead, winter branches;
Now they wear a snow blanket.

 

Warrior February 13, 2012

Filed under: Alpha-biography,Pondering — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:37 am

Warrior

There are a lot of warriors who fight in all sorts of wars. Sure, there are the traditional kinds of warriors: soldiers battling with guns and tanks, or arrow, swords and shields. There are also those who battle injustice using words: reporters, essayists, comedians, Amnesty International. There are those who fight disease: research scientists, doctors, nurses, labratory technologists, among them. There are those who battle ignorance, like teachers, scientists, philosophers, professors, students. There are those who battle poverty, like Rotary and other philanthropic groups. There are those individuals who battle addictions, loneliness, or mental illness.

Wars are fought on many fronts, and those who fight are warriors and worthy of respect for their efforts to conquer the evil that they have been called upon to fight.

 

My tribute February 9, 2012

Filed under: Friendship,Poetry,Pondering — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:30 am

I wrote a lot of poetry as a teen, to sort out my feelings about a variety of things, but usually about a boy (the particular musical boy, my obsession toward whom was the beginnings of Grace Awakening, in fact).  For his 20th birthday I gave him a book of my poetry (about him) all done in calligraphy.  At the end there was extra space, and so I created a rambling poem to fill 3 or 4 pages.

To celebrate his 21st birthday, I had another musical friend compose the music and adapt that rambly poem into a song.  During graduation weekend, on one rather emotional Saturday afternoon, after a swim in her pool, we performed for him (I had the descant part which I’ve essentially forgotten), she sang the melody and played the piano).

I find myself singing this song now and then, and it is strange to think that there are only three people on the planet who’ve ever heard this song, and I suspect of the three of us, I’m the only one who still knows any of  the words and the music, since that performance is now  far away in the murky mists of the past.

I could sing this for you, but you’d probably prefer it if I didn’t.  I assure you that it’s quite lovely though, and I’m thankful to the talented Catherine Novak Schulmann for her efforts to take my poetry and turn it into a very meaningful moment of music, lo those many years ago.

Over the years, I’m sure I’ve mis-remembered bits and re-constructed others.  Somewhere there might be a single cassette tape recording of it, but I doubt it.  That means there’s no way to check if I’m wrong, but this is the way I remember it:

In my small way, I have tried to capture
The many facets that I know are you
And in doing so, to discover myself
And the boy with whom I grew.

Beyond the images, we conceived of each other
Honestly, fictiously, subconsciously
What me mean to each other
Beyond our concept of love (whatever it may be)
`til we accept the facets ingrained in you and me.

When I say I love you I say it with my heart
`cause this feeling is not fleeting, untried, or new
And even when I’m angry
Or when I’m crying and lonely
That doesn’t weaken my trust or my belief in you.

For you have always made me feel important enough
To care for, to share with and be there for
When times got tough
And I thank you for your friendship
I’ll thank you `til the end
It’s a joy and a blessing, that you should be my friend.

You have given me many gifts
Your friendship, music,  and love
And these are gifts I’ll cherish for all time.
I thank you for giving me the greatest gift I’ve ever known
And this is my tribute.

♥

♥

Submitted for Poetry picnic on the theme of song, poetry, and art.   http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot.ca/2012/04/poetry-picnic-week-29-art-music-and.html   If you’re here from the Gooseberry Garden, please leave a link to your poem in any comment you leave!

 

Young love February 2, 2012

Filed under: Alpha-biography,Pondering,Writing — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:44 pm
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This is the second entry in a  section called an “Alpha-biography.”  The exercise is to work through the alphabet, commenting on a word that connects somehow to your world.  My students are doing this in English 9 this semester, and I am modelling it by creating my own alpha-biography.  For myself, I will be focusing on how I am interpreting, synthesizing and contemplating the Greek/Roman gods as I’ve been exploring them in the process of crafting the Grace Awakening series.  (I’m working backwards, so that in the blog they’ll eventually appear A-Z instead of Z-A, as they end up ordered by time).

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Young Love:

Sometimes I feel like young love coloured my entire world. I am not alone. I speak to a lot of women who are very nostalgic about the first person to whom they opened their heart. Some had negative experiences, I suppose, but I seem to meet a lot of people whose first love set them on a course of self-respect and happiness. I hope that means the negative experiences are fewer than the positive ones. Perhaps it’s just that with the span of years, one begins to find the positives, even if they hadn’t been noted previously?

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I think a good young love is one that remains a fond memory throughout your life. If you take the issues and troubles, and learn from them, future relationships can be stronger.  It can become a fuel for creative endeavours, like perhaps a novel series…

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Nostalgia can be a snare though, and if you build up a young love into impossible heights, a current love that must be worked around children, mortgage and bills, can seem as if it can’t measure up. Sometimes we idealize romance from the time when we didn’t have responsibilities, and forget that maturity requires change.

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There is nothing like the intensity of a new love, young or old. Awakening passions make everyone young when they’re first in love.  I remember giggling phone calls from a senior lady, a widow, soon after she accepted a marriage proposal.  Her giddy joy was no less than the girls in the college dorm.  Love is a happy thing, whenever it occurs, but the small space in our hearts that is occupied by that first love remains through the years, forever young and precious.