Words and Ping-Pong

Words in my head bounce like ping-pong balls in a closed room.

Words, on scribbled pages, hide in my journals.

Inside, I know there are poems, stories, even essays.

Clumsily penning words simple or complex, 

I try to make contact and connect, 

but ....

they take their own course,

ricocheting through lined pages.

Random wordy ideas and thoughts

fly away through open space 

before I can make sense of them.

“The task of a writer consists in being able

to make something out of an idea.”

~ Thomas Mann

The Legend of the Ancient and the Faeries

The Legend of the Ancient and the Faeries

Faeries, like flickering fireflies, visited the Ancient until he could stand. The Ancient, now awake during the day, helped these beautiful, delicate faeries in return for help that had been given so freely. The Ancient still had some nights that were very long and heavy. Dust still lay heavy in many of the cracks and crevices of the his heart and mind, so faeries continued to arrive each night, unbidden, with their magic winking wands, and like tiny archaeologists, brushed away newly settled dust from all these deeply filled cracks and crevices.  

                     ********

This long and uncertain excavation had started in the distant misty past with one lone faery. The faery had been off flying a solo trip away into the dark that she loved so very much. It was quiet and peaceful in the dark. Deciding to land and rest her wings and her energy, she chose a high mountain. Her tiny wand lit only a tiny pinpoint of light, but as she rested it glowed more strongly, spreading bright light in the forested glade.  Looking for a comfortable notch in an old gnarled tree or in a bed of spongey moss to rest, she came upon the fabled Ancient she had heard about from the elders of her faery clan. Sleeping for so long, trees with mossy branches had thickly grown around the giant. Dust of many ages thickly disguised the ancient’s features and life itself. Blowing gently from the palm of her tiny hand, the faery scattered a tiny sparkling puff of faery dust that misted across a heavily bearded face.

As the dust settled, the light from the sparkles lit up a kind, but worried, face. Breath came thin and slow from between barely parted lips. Tiny clouds of dust puffed up around the ancient’s cavernous nostrils with each exhalation.

The giant seemed to have a kind face, so the faery began dusting gently, trying to clear the Ancient's eyes in hopes that they would open. It was too big a job for just one small, and very tired, faery.  Knowing that she was too tiny to awaken anyone so very large, she stepped back until her light was strong again and in the early dawn, flew back to her faery glen, spreading word to other faeries of the ancient gentle giant that lay asleep at the edge of the mountains and near the end of the great river that flowed past the fern filled faery glen.

*******

It is said that since that time long ago, there have always been faeries with this gentle giant, just as there are for all the people in the land.

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, 
but I can do something. And I will not let what 
I cannot do interfere with what I can do."        

~ Edward Everett Hale 

A Life Force that Cannot be Destroyed

In times of trouble

our soul gathers tightly within ~ the one piece of life

that cannot be destroyed 

by this life’s many outside forces.

Spirit, through raging emotions, 

can become crazed and cracked,

a broken shell surrounding our soul.

Our mind asserts it's power and

clicks on

takes control

runs the show 

when spirit and emotions 

churn wildly away into chaos.

Our mind attempts to logically

solve 'the puzzle' step by step,

pushing our bodies to 

keep on going

look good,

act correctly

be a robot ~ while deep inside 

wild thoughts and emotions 

rage to gain control.

When life becomes too much for our minds to sort out,

our body slips away to a corner

curls up, and with head covered,

rests away from the noise of living.

All the while the light and energy of the soul 

seeps through the cracks of our spirits

to infuse our minds, bodies and emotions

with the will to survive.

"The soul is indestructible and its activity will continue through eternity. 
It is like the sun, which to our eyes, seems to set at night; 
but it has in reality only gone to diffuse it’s light elsewhere."

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Grounded in Family

Early each morning

my family grounds me in 

communication - electronic these days

memories - china, photos on walls, in albums

practices - grace at breakfast, daily readings 

because I know that

from birth to death

our families - biological or not - 

are the soil supporting our being.     

Each cell of our body, a

development of biology.

Innate intelligence

expanded by lessons learned

informal, and formal.

Behaviours, responses so like

a close or distant relative

Is it nature or is it nurture?

Spiritual practices 

beckon the soul within,

no need for the dogma of religion.

Early each morning

all of my family grounds me.

“Other things may change us, but

we start and end with the family.”

~  Anthony Brandt

The Soul Knows ....

The soul knows. 

Our bodies are vehicles 

of expression and movement.

The soul knows. 

Our minds are vast storehouses 

of sensory and intellectual data.

The soul knows.
Our emotions are banners, flags, or barriers that point us toward our own truth.

The soul knows.  

Our spirit is energy that choreographs our lives.

"Begin to see yourself as a soul with 

a body rather than a body with a soul."

 ~ Wayne Dyer

Employment vs Days off

"Fruits of Labour"
Hazeldell Orchards Fruit Stand
Kelowna, B.C.

“I wish I didn’t have to be at work today”

A phrase oft heard and wondered about.

There are 

schedules

tasks 

duties

within our

jobs

employment

careers

quite boring and tedious at times.

I would like to say

‘be grateful for that job’

‘that pay cheque pays for life outside of work’

But what about those that must work at 

any job

seasonal or not

dead end or not

interesting or not

just to put food on the table

keep a roof over their heads

in sickness and in health

or those who do not have a job

for many, many reasons

but still need to have food on the table

keep a roof over their heads

in sickness and in health.

Have I ever said 

“I wish I didn’t have to be at work today”?

I am certain I have.

Likely because

a sunshine-y blue sky beckoned

outside interests called me

personality conflicts at my workplace pushed me away

or maybe I was just tired:

physically

mentally

emotionally

spiritually

I wonder if anyone has ever said:

“I wish I didn’t have to stay away from work today”?

Days off from paid employment are employed by

work and fun with family, friends and community

opportunities to develop a personal life to

warm one's heart and free one's mind 

from the blinders of dulling routine

creating a life from all available.

“Family and work. Family and work. I can let them be at war, 

with guilt as their nuclear weapon and mutually assured 

destruction as their aim, or I can let them nourish each other.”

~ Ellen Gilchrist, The Writing Life

Going for Groceries

Going for groceries Friday at three,

strolling down aisles, I can choose what please.

After decades of practice, I’ve learned to stay 

on aisles outside where freshness holds sway.

Inside this circle, shelves tempt me, I know,

with bread, jam, honey, and cookies - oh no!

Quick! I can steer to the aisle for a mop,

for toothpaste, soap, then a tin of cold pop.

Alas, there are goodies galore like ice cream.

The stores are so bright; the food is so clean!

I can get cereal, creamer and dark roast coffee, 

and of course in that aisle I can pick up some tea.

After Friday if needing milk, flour or sugar

I can stroll to the store or drive in my car

for an apple, an orange or maybe a steak

to get what seems missing from off of my plate.

"The test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those 

who have much. It is whether we provide enough to those who have little."

~  Franklin D, Roosevelt