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.

needs/wants/dreams

what do we need today?

perhaps to forget about greed

and to remember the joys of simple lives;

perhaps we need to remember the times

of our grand fathers, when time used to run slower,

kids had fewer toys but more time with their mothers.

we still need to work on solving our conflicts

and learning to love our neighbors

even if they are different.

we still need hope and faith

and to search for a good direction of thoughts

and a coffee table or two at the edge of the street

 to allow for public debates.

do I really need perfect fruits even if they poison the kids?

do I really need fast growing chicks, cows or pigs;

are they not allowed to grow at their own pace any more

because of our greed?

do I really need 10 pairs of pants, and a shiny new car?

perhaps, but give me a friend to talk and think with 

in my free time I spend  around of the coffee tables

that line our street. 

give me time so I can take a trip 

and see other people 

and feel their needs

my boat needs to go 

my brain wants to see

my heart needs to dream

of people, places and rules

that allow for healthy simplicity.

pink buds

One of the wonders of the world

descended right from heaven onto mother earth

she smiled and from her smile were born

pink buds onto the trees who line the street

this  january in medium cold Durham,  NC.

The spring like air I breath and both my lungs 

expand with joy anticipating sunny spring

but winter's here and snow has fallen.

the pink buds blush at their mistake

cause they were born one month or two too soon

and thus gave us an unexpected winter break.

hope and virtue

"Hope and virtue" : keywords from the presidential inauguration discourse.
How does my memory compare with the computer generated analysis of the discourse?

prayer

photo courtesy of David Orias: photo.net/photos/orias
I pray that the skies will clear out
light will win against dark;
hope will grow
green shoots from healthy soil;
logic will prevail
love will stay strong, and patience
will heal;
while memory will preserve best
the sweet aspects of life.

poem of the day

Hope; An Owner’s Manual
By Barbara Kingsolver

Look, you might as well know, this thing
is going to take endless repair: rubber bands,
crazy glue, tapioca, the square of the hypotenuse.
Nineteenth century novels. Heartstrings, sunrise:
all of these are useful. Also, feathers.

To keep it humming, sometimes you have to stand
on an incline, where everything looks possible;
on the line you drew yourself. Or in
the grocery line, making faces at a toddler
secretly, over his mother’s shoulder.

You might have to pop the clutch and run
past all the evidence. Past everyone who is
laughing or praying for you. Definitely you don’t
want to go directly to jail, but still, here you go,
passing time, passing strange. Don’t pass this up.

In the worst of times, you will have to pass it off.
Park it and fly by the seat of your pants. With nothing
in the bank, you’ll still want to take the express.
Tiptoe past the dogs of the apocalypse that are sleeping
in the shade of your future. Pay at the window.
Pass your hope like a bad check.

importance

some people look important and rush
about their business
some people sit back and relax
at the same times;
who's right, who's wrong
I do not know;
there is a time for everything
if you try hard enough
probably;
keeping the balance
between important matters
urgent ones
and loved ones
matters
most

the sacrifice of the mosquito detective

for very low pay
but much fun through the day
the mosquito detective
worked for the police in his special way

this morning you see
while still being sleepy
he smelled the warm blood
of a car thief starting his fraud

the thief having closed the door
the detective was left in the situation
to postpone his attack
until he had finished his act

because of his size
arresting the thief was not on his list
he used however a much more advanced
while still classical technique

the mosquito detective
bit the arm of the criminal
then gave out to sample of blood
for DNA tests - and with this his life

the human police investigator
followed with the genetic analysis to unveil the identity
of the suspect, and subsequently
honored the sacrifice of their formerly buzzing collaborator

time

time is what we have in our hands
to do what is important
for today as well as tomorrow;
the treasure within reach
how will you invest it today?

you can spend it with your friends,
parents and dear kids;
you can spend it learning
or relaxing on a beach
time is still within reach.

if today were to be
a unique gift given to me
I'd need to think
where would I rather be
what would I do differently?

love

Love this world for it is the world of your children.

prayer

in this cold and rather gray winter day
for love and patience and light I pray;
for the power and inspiration
to ask meaningful questions

I pray for the enthusiasm to get up
and help others get up and heal after a fall;
for the awaited calm after the storm
for hope and the power to keep a home warm;

I pray for strength and resilience
on battlefields of the mind when we try to bring change;
but also for forgiveness and acceptance
for dreams that can take us one step beyond revenge

into a world of peace and harmony
we shall live as brothers and sisters;
distances shall not matter
because love can sail us over any amount of water

butterfly migration

they were born at a time
when the world was aching
with pains imposed by old rules;
invisible chains were limiting dreams;
silence was a golden treasure
and words were to be shared
between trusted friends only.

they grew as the chains were breaking
they were the ones in which hope was budding;
and the old wise ones looked at them in wonder
and pushed them gently to fly out of the box
right at the time of the equinox
when night was to turn into day
and day was gonna stay longer with them

there were larvae into magical boxes
waiting to turn into beautifully winged butterflies
and they were told they had to fly
even if they themselves will not make it to the edge of the sun
the group and surely their babies will make it
the chain - they broke it!

Fanny Giraffe

- this one for a Banana-

Fanny Giraffe was a tall girl
with a long neck
and a dog for a friend
by his name Townsend

Fanny easily gets hungry
so she lengthens her neck
to grab some leaves
from the zoo trees

she bumps into a squirrel
with her soft muzzle
apologize and then goofs again
bothering her ear while munching on the leaves.

so much about manners
protests the squirels
while Fanny Giraffe burps and leaves the branch,
which snaps just as the squirrels start running for their life

Fanny then remembers about her little friend
who startled by the argument
had found shelter right behind her front legs
where Fanny cannot see since she cannot bent

where is her friend hiding?
look him up for me!
he came out yapping asking her attention
will you play with me?

hands

when times are tough
laugh needs not be rare
when times are tough
we need kindness everywhere

this is when I see hands
helping hands reaching out
helping kids stand
for themselves and move forward

this is when you need to share
think of others as your friends
how can you help them
this is your problem.

snow

photo courtesy of Kasper Rehnman

it happens as the angles shake their wings
when dusting them,
it often happens when the night maid sings
as she is combing her long hair

it happens when grandma's chicken are so happy
that they jump high in the sky
and then their feathers fall back down
lying a blanket on the ground

it happens mostly when the winter comes
and sometimes late in fall
and if it happens even after lambs are born
then we're ready to say good-bye snow.

Quote of the day

Don't give up, cause you have friends!
Peter Gabriel

the days of the yellow ginkgo

it is now when the days of the yellow ginkgo are here
it is now that we must open our eyes and feel
the last golden lights caressing the eyelids
the warmth from the red heat stored in the leaves;

before they fall, before winter and the possible snow
it is now that we live, laugh and learn
from the bugs, from the trees and the rivers
from the love we receive from others,

it is now we exchange little gestures
like the shaking of hands, and he twinkling of eyes
it is now that we must ban sorrows and be strong
and blessed in the golden days of the ginkgo.

beginning

Wake up and open the window
to let the fresh air come in
take a deep breath cause we're gonna begin
a new life despite how hard the winds blow

Now

Love when things happen
when one hour is not like another;
when without conscious effort
you immerse yourself in the passing of time;
when what you do
matters and not just for you;
when you add value to the minute you live
by being there, in the NOW simply active

selma

http://news.duke.edu/2008/10/harvestofblossoms.html

selma was herself a flower
about to bloom like any other
but in her times the lives of many men
were rather short
and not all had
the chance to bloom
as nature meant.
she planned her blooming
with a pen on paper
writing what life would be like
what it was like, and where
her dreams would take her
if they could grow wings;
and very far indeed they took her.
today we've learned abut her joyful soul
selma's who would have been a grandma now
is young, and fresh as her poems' lines
have kept her
flying brave on the wings
of her very own dreams.

(Selma was born in the city where one of the greatest romanian poets Mihai Eminescu went to School - Cernauti)