Moving South . . .

One by one, the migration begins
at first,
unnoticed
     subtle
         unminded
             but still constant.

It leaves quickly,
           hides for a time
      slowly appears, rearing its little head
quickly chopped off, hidden beneath the surface
but still present.

It likes its new locale,
      helped by gravity
           it will resurface

Until that time that it is given freedom to grow,
seeing, finally, how many of his comrades have joined him
           softening with the days
      showing he has a new place in this world
sifting through the food that passes nearby,
and, in general, remaining defiant,

so close to his original home,
      yet so far from where he was born.
changing his landscape, aging his host,
from head to chin.

(Hope you didn't see that one coming until the end! I hope to post a photo to go along with this)

(And if it still confuses you, I was talking about my hair.)

Rolling

    Trying hard to sleep
Waves of the ocean rolling
    I fall out of bed.

(I love Haiku -- so quick a point, but still a vast image created.)

Tale of the Sunken Sub

Once whizzing through the murky depths,
    our mighty little Lynx,
responding to the controllers commands
    but that is where it got jinxed.

You see, the yellow submarine
    got wedged beside a beam
The tether then was pulling taut
    and the driver thought it seemed

that something was up with the small submarine
    Surely it would fit
It got into that tight spot once
    it should get out of it.

Unfortunately he didn't know
    the tether had been moved
by current and by motion of the sub
    now it would be proved

That the tether pulling tight
    was only causing the sub to be
cemented deep down inbetween a pipe
    and the bottom of the sea.

And once the sub was cemented in
    the tether began to be cut
By a beam of metal slightly above
    the subs oceanic rut.

The winds began to howl,
    and the seas began to roll
The rocking of the boat
    was working only toward one goal

Suddenly the cameras died,
    The lights went immediately dark.
And somehow everybody knew
    The tether had caused a spark.

And now the sub was lying dead
    at the bottom of the mud.
The tether had been cut clean through,
    sub functioned like a dud.

Our swimming camera was sunk,
    our tool was far too deep
to easily extract from the bed
    where for a week it would sleep.

But it was going nowhere fast
    and soon we would return
to recover the small yellow submarine
    and from this experience learn

That knowing exactly where you have been
    will help you to get away
from the clutches of possibly dangerous pits
    and back to the light of day.


(I may edit the verses slightly if I think of better wording, but I wanted to get this down while it was on my mind.)

Live Life to Match Your Prayers

Sorry it has been a while.

Lord, please bless me when I pray
as I kneel down day to day
     that Jesus' love
     which comes from above
is mimicked through all I do and say.

Please don't let me just kneel down
for that short time upon the ground,
     for it is not right
     not to try with fervent might
to aid in helping those whose torments abound.

Did we not pray for that same one
who through the day we mock, tease or shun?
     The Lord did say
     when in service today
we are really in service to God's Son.

Jesus once said to a righteous rich man
"Today I will visit thy great land."
     The man killed a beast
     and made a great feast
and through the day gave not one helping hand

to the poor man at his door, or to that person who is lame,
to the blind man or deaf man that came.
     He did not know
     and no kindness did show
but the afflicted and Jesus are one and the same.

So when Jesus late that night did come
and was disappointed about what had been done,
     "Why did ye not see
     service to others is to me?
Why served ye not the blind, deaf and dumb?"

So tonight when you kneel down to pray
don't shortly think about what you say.
     It is through man
     that God shows his hand
to those that have waivered and gone astray.

So you need to try with all your might
to holp those who aren't going right
     so at the end of the day
     you can easily say
"Through this day I've been sharing the light."

A German Poem

I speak German as a second language. The following poem was composed in German. I will give a brief summary of the poem afterward.

Ein kleiner Augenblick

Wenn man sich auf den Boden legt
    und schaut die Sterne an,
Fuehlt man doch eine Verkleinerung
    meint, man hat wenig getan.

    In dieser grossen, alten Welt
       steht jeder ziemlich klein
    und zu oft werden Menschen meinen
       Sie stehen doch allein.

Ein Tropf von Wasser sieht so aus
    als ob er nichts tun kann.
Der Tropf wird aber immer wieder
    zur Erde fallen, und was wird getan?

    Die Berge werden zur Erde fallen,
       Die steine werden Sand.
    Tropfen brechen sie alle nieder
       und veraendern das ganze Land.

Gott wird uns immer wieder sehen
    und versteht was wir alle tun,
hat immer Geduld, immer Hoffnung,
    und weiss, dass wir ingendwann bluehen.

    Er sieht in uns einen kleinen Tropf
       und weiss was wird getan.
    Die Steine, die in unserem Pfad liegen
       zerbrechen werden, und wir gehen voran.

Quick translation:

1st stanza -- When someone lays down and looks at the stars, they feel small, and think they really haven't accomplished much.

2nd stanza -- In this great old world, everyone seems small, and sometimes they think they stand alone.

3rd stanza -- A drop of water looks like it can't accomplish anything. However, the drop falls over and over again to the earth, and what happens then?

4th stanza -- The mountains fall down, the rocks become sand. Drops break them all down, and the whole landscape is altered.

5th stanza -- God looks at us again and again, and he understands what we do; he always has patience, always hope, and knows that at some time we will bloom.

6th stanza -- He sees in us a tiny drop, and knows what will happen. The stones that lay in our path will be broken up, and we will keep going.

With Only One at the Roots

A tree once grew behind our fence,
      it wasn't a very large one.
It's branches within were not very dense
      But of growing it wasn't quite done.

      You see, it was a nuisance to us,
           we didn't much care for its life.
      As it grew, we would put up quite a fuss
           'cause it gave us nothing but strife.

Against our fence its limbs would constantly push,
      eventually the fence it would break.
The loppers we would take out to cut that bush
      and the branches to the trash we would take

      Yet the plant, it would seem, would always grow back.
           It was reluctant to die.
      Even if branches it usually lacked
           all its roots under the dirt did lie.

We consistently were found attacking the top
      but never once did hurt the tree.
Its growth underground we never did stop,
      and soon our mistake we would see.

      As the roots all throughout the ground did grow
           the fence's foundation got weak.
      And even though the post's rotting was slow
           our fence's life the tree did seek.

So one night when a strong wind did blow
      the fence did give up its fight.
Over to the ground it did loudly go,
      it was a saddening sight.

      See, the roots had pushed clear right through the base
           of the fence we were trying to save.
      Although we had cleared branches from the fence's face
           the large roots no consideration we gave.

If just one person would have spent the time
      to cut the roots instead of top,
our fence that was on the ground would've been fine,
      the damage could have been stopped.

      See, without one attacking the base of the tree
           the problem you cannot solve.
      You make strike at all the symptoms you see
           but the source you will not have resolved.

Yet with only one striking down at the source
      the solution quite soon can be found.
You will be saved from a lot of remorse,
      Your fence will stay strong in the ground.

Wave

A Rise, a fall.
A churn of bubbles.
A pulse driven by wind.
A constant plague to shore.
A reminder of natural boundaries.
A pattern of monotonous repetition.
Unnoticed for hundreds of miles.
Influenced by heavenly bodies.
Ever withdrawing, returning.
Erasing the days events.
Wiping the sand clean.
Rising, Falling
Wave

Willow

Wee babe
   Insulated from the world,
     Loving and
       Living for attention,
         Only a year old,
           Watching her parents always.

New Beginnings

An Outlet Opens

Compositions of My Mind

Poetic Writings

This is a Haiku.