At Sea

With the sway of the boat, the moments tick past
like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.
I count those moments,
and lose track,
and count again,
my focus flowing and ebbing like the tide.

And with waves washing over my already wet boots,
my waterlogged toes gasp for a breath of air . . .
only to have another wave bury them again.
Fingers grab at the yellow rubber coat,
begging for relief, searching for some reprieve
from the onslaught of water and salt.

But as rain drops from the sky, the waves wash up the legs,
laughing at the inane thoughts of keeping dry,
The wind sneezes in my face
like an infant with a cold,
not realizing how inconsiderate it is being.

And yet, I find a smile on my face,
for the waves,
and rain,
and ocean wind are close friends,
able to get away with the snide remark,
able to have the hurtful actions looked over,
able to just be themselves, and be accepted as they are.

And as I near the time to join my family again,
I know that I will again visit my friends.
And they will tease.
And they will taunt.
And they will tell me of my weakness,
and I will smile, with wet feet and wind blown hair,
and joy in my heart for the company I enjoy,
when I am away from home.

(Don't know where this one came from. I don't normally write free form, but this just felt right today.)

New Year's Resolution

     The New Year begins,
Hope Blossoms for the new start . . .
     a clean slate for use.

A few new Haiku, interactions between siblings

1st Haiku (Clearsteel), in response to a comment about lack of sleep due to new babies.

Oh, the joy of sleep
Unbroken, continuous
A rare event here . . .

2nd Haiku (brothers response)

Words ever so true;
And from the mouth of a babe,
A whole new meaning.

3rd Haiku (Clearsteel), after reading someone elses comment about how brother will have grey hair by the time the 6th child graduates from high school.

Carol's Dad was there
At the birth of his last son
With a grey haired head.

(
Too much Haiku fun,
Participation allowed
and encouraged, too!
)

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."