quote of the week

"A goal without a plan is a dream" - project management workshop

the mistress of spices

I have met the mistress of spices herself
she was pregnant and happy
and the spices were bouncing on their shelves
to a music of their own in a joyful dance

she had just returned from a trip
around the world
and when she opened the door
of her newly reborn store the spices knew

she had come to stay
to settle around them, spices and dahls
of many colors, incenses and flower petals,
she had returned to them

the joy was great, as was the price to pay
for they - keepers of secrets would have to share
for the better part of the day
their mistress with a baby so pure and so fair.

anniversary

photo belongs to Brant Avondet
Wise things have been said about the passing of time
we acknowledge at anniversaries for most of our lives.
As I age I recall the joy of birthday parties when I was a child
the gathering of friends and opening of presents
the cake with candles happily burning, occasionally dripping
on my favorite chocolate frosting;
and also Mom the best dessert maker,and party organizer ever.

As I grew up and left home I took over the role
my Mom played for so long: the cake building, inviting the friends
placing the candles and counting the years.
As the candle number grew higher, to high to fit them all confortably
on any reasonable cake I plainly stopped making them
in the secret hope that ignoring the yearly event
will make the passing of time ignorable too;
but the years still kept coming, shading a sort of dust which made my hair graying.

I bake cakes again, and enjoy childrens' birthdays
as for the grownups I like to compare them with good aging wines
and there are so many I like to remember.
Some like the ubiquitous retsina
have a bitter feeling about them, like those tired days after which
you want to get fresh again to prepare for tomorrow.
There are white wines from Kefalonia clear like a summer morning,
oily golden ones from Samos, and the thick red wines from Santorini
sweet like a romantic summer evening,
and the perennial favorite the reminder of carnival nights
Mavrodaphne of Achaia - from the hills around the city of Patras.
Wish my friend that there enough days for us to taste
the variety days can have in a lifetime of all sorts of events;
live, drink and enjoy the presence of friends.

monday morning

when morning comes
be ready to start the day
you can choose to endure it
or to really enjoy it.

breath in, breath out
listen to the nature outside
it can help pick a song for your heart
and go on right foot forward.

rise and shine
Monday morning is here
like any new beginning
it can be full of surprise.

invest

Invest in the future
invest in your children
the bearers of the torch
burning the essence of hope;

invest in the joy
they will be bringing
if they grow up right
loving the light.

invest in clear water and foods
they'll drink and eat to get strong;
invest in good books
forming their thoughts

let them build their own future;
but educate them well
so they can take care of this world
and of you - one day when it is their turn

the ballad of the lonely boy

My name is John and I feel lonesome
It's raining out and nobody has time to play with me;
I only have my hands to build, my eyes to read
my feet to run with but I have no company.

I wait for friends to show up at my door
I wait for mom to come from work;
I have some homework on my desk
and can decide from what I have to do what's best

I have to lift myself from this sad mood
I start to count by lifting up a finger:
Mom she calls me "my good boy", she says I am hers;
that is not really true because - on the count of two
I realize my father says I'm his too.
I also have two grandmothers and a grandfather,
a godtmother, a good cousin, a couple aunts and uncles
that all say they love me so.

They are my family and they are many;
although they may not live close by
they all say that I'm theirs and love me so;
and when I think of them my soul gets warm.

if one could figure out today a way
to turn love into heat we are so many
in this family that we could keep tho whole world warm;
until then I think I am not lonesome after all.