Can You Please Let Me?

Not asking for much
If anything, at all
Just asking to open my eyes
And face the call
There's more I know it
Beyond the darkness that's around
Everything's out there
It just needs to be found
For as long as I'm held back
With both hands tied
When I am able to step out
I might get scared and hide.
Here's what I say,
Small steps first
You can even hold my hand
It's not solitude I thirst.
Then when I'm ready
And you feel it too
Trust me, trust your heart, let go
I will always come back to you.
And so this way
Small steps will lead to strides
I will have confidence
To go out and come back, as do the tides.
And then when I'm thrust forward
Or take a leap of faith
Both I and you will be ready
For that day that dost awai'th.
For you see I believe fully
In the wisdom from above
Even Noah, having only two,
Had to send out one dove.
Out of faith, and he believed
That God knew what He was doing
And he would be caused once again
To hear the gentle dove's cooing.
So believeing that, God is watching over
And I'm ready to step out
Let me open my eyes
Look out, have not fear, and no doubt.

Midnight Composition

It's past midnight. a hot summer night in the city where the only comfort to the awkward heat is to think cool thoughts while the sheets tangle at the foot of the bed. With a window open I hear the darkness of the city. whizzing cars and the distant but audible hum of the street lights. I feel the warmth of the city night as I lay back listening to the darkness. In a state not quite slumber but not fully awake I listen to the whir of the hot city night. Doors of houses open as late comers lounge in. Windows open to refresh summered houses and let the night air in. A distant siren blares to save a life. And the summer city night rolls on. Planes overhead fly into vacation and take off to leave this city summer. A soft breeze dances with the trees, shaking their leaves to the melody of the city night. The sound of cars in the distant- places to go, things to do, a home and comfort, join in the chorus of the summer city night. the temperature now right and the city singing its lullaby, I slide into my dreams. my gentle breathing and warm body caressed by the summer city night.

Michael Ondaatje

I read this book the first time for one of my english classes, and as most material read for a class of any kind, i didn't pay much attention to it, just enough to be able to express some opinion on it. but after i read it a second time, it quickly became one of my most favourite books, not just for what it's about but because of the emotion, tone, and setting it emits. it's a book/autobiography by michael ondaatje- Running in the Family. it's about him going back to Ceylon to uncover his family history.
it's not so much the words that are encapturing, it's the imagery that is so drawing. the minute i open to it's pages, the words wisk me to a tropical paradise, where i'm sitting in a chair that has just been re-threaded, on the porch of a house that has been lived in for generations, all around is green luxury of tropical and exotic species, and ground covered by natural earth and stone that has seen the lives of all who came before me. where warm monsoon rains drench everything under the sky and nothing is left dry even to a single drop, where all you can smell is the sweet scent of jasmine, magnolia, and vanilla orchids carried into the air by wafts of rain soaked breezes, and the thunderous bellow of a thousand raindrops fall to the ground in a symphony of sound that can only be heard in complete silence.

this is the opening of ondaatje's autobiography:

Drought since December,

All across the city men roll carts with ice clothed in sawdust. Later on, during a fever, the drought still continuing, his nightmare is that thorn trees in the garden send their hard roots underground towards the house climbing through windows so they can drink sweat off his body, steal the last of the saliva off his tongue.

He snaps on the electricity just before daybreak. For twenty five years he has not lived in this country, though up to the age of eleven he slept in rooms like this- with no curtains, just delicate bars across the windows so no one could break in. And the floors of red cement polished smooth, cool against bare feet.

Dawn through a garden. Clarity to leaves, fruit, the dark yellow of the King Coconut. This delicate light is allowed only a breif moment of the day. In ten minutes the garden will lie in a blaze of heat, frantic with noise and butterflies.

Half a page- and the morning is already ancient.

A Touch of Wit Goes a Long Way

This was a while ago, but it's still as funny and witty as ever.
We had a "soup fellowship" at the church, where parents of our youth bring in different soups and the youth group organizes and puts on the fellowship. The congregation gets to donate money towards youth convention and have some lovely soup. So i was part of the after event clean up crew and we were washing and drying dishes in the kitchen. while i, and some others, washed the dishes some of the other youth dried and put them away. Well, there was this one spoon that was scratched or something, it looked dirty- but wasn't. i kept washing it and the driers kept picking it up and dropping it back in the sink thinking it wasn't clean. we did this about 5 times until i finally said, "i've washed this spoon five times already, it's clean already!". one of the youth leader/pstor/volunteer person, standing off to the side heard my comment and said, "you have to dip it seven times in the Jordan".
if you don't quite get the joke, open your bibles to : 2nd Kings 5.

Shel Silverstein

i've loved the poems by Shel Silverstein since i was first introduced to them in grade 2. it's a well deserved break from the lofty, cynical, and no-nonsense literature we read too often in this world we take too seriously.

Captain Hook
Captain Hook must remember
Not to scratch his toes.
Captain Hook must watch out
And never pick his nose.
Captain Hook must be gentle
When he shakes your hand.
Captain Hook must be careful
Openin' sardine cans
And playing tag and pouring tea
And turnin' pages of his book.
Lots of folk I'm glad I ain't-
But mostly Captain Hook!

Early Bird
Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early bird-
But if you're a worm, sleep late.

Smart
My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes- I guess he don't know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head-
Too proud of me to speak!

Point of View
Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless
Christmas dinner's dark and blue
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.

Sunday dinner isn't sunny
Easter feasts are just bad luck
When you see it from the viewpoint
Of a chicken or a duck

Oh how I once loved tuna salad
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too
Till I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view.

Magical Eraser
She wouldn't believe
This pencil has
A magical eraser.
She said I was a silly moo,
She said I was a liar too,
She dared me to prove that it was true,
And so what could I do-
I erased her!

A Ding

my car has a ding. it's sad. it looks as though someone doesn't know how to open their door, because its a small dent and scratch, one of those that say, "it was another car's door". it's sad, i'm sad. my car is so shiny, and black, and now, dinged. it's a couple of hundred dollars work, and i'm sad. well, not pathetically sad, it's just that i like my car, and would rather have no dings on it. i wish people would be more careful when they open their car doors. ie. i was at safeway yesterday walking back to my car, and this woman opened her car door, and it flung open and hit the car next to hers.
people need to be more careful around cars, they're metal, and paint, (with engines and stuff), they ding easily. so please be careful around other cars, especially pretty ones, exotic ones, clean, shiny, black, beautiful ones, and mine.