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Thursday, June 28, 2012

My Best Friend

I have more than one friend and I am always looking to meet new friends.
I have one friend, who is not as tall as all of my other friends.
She is a bit brash when we are alone together or in public.  There is a constant demand to be the center of attention.  That is, until she gets tired of being ignored then she will go off and sulk, or take some quiet time and nap.

We take meals together, we take walks together.  I seem to always clean up after her, though.  She has a serious side, but most times there is much play in her.  I was quiet upset last year when there was an emergency, my thoughts were quite dark, about losing my friend as a result of this urgently needed and unexpected surgery.  Any less of a surgeon and we would have lost her.

She survived, and the road to recovery was long.  It has been almost a year, she is now back to normal.  Out of respect for her privacy, I have not used her name.  We travel together by car.  Enjoying shared outings will, always bring great joy.

She is not young and in her middle age she takes good care of  herself, and she is a confident communicator.  Especially when things don't sounds just right, she lets her opinion be known.
There is a special place she fills, and I try to reassure ev er y day, that it is there when I leave and
I kept it hers when I was gone and until I return. Still I see the doubt in hers eyes when I go, she thinks I am never coming back, each time I leave alone.

I do each day return home, and though she may live for many more years, there will be a day, when I go, she will not look down from the top of the stairs. Then I will return, but she won't be waiting for me, there will be walks or runs that  I will go on alone, as she won't be able to join me and lastly there will be car rides, that we normally share, that I will take alone.

I hope that she will know at that time that she has always been this mans' best friend. 

No Comment

Under the cover of major darkness, they took.  They did not look evil.  
They did so without getting permission, so it makes their act stealing.
Had they done so in broad daylight, maybe someone would have yelped STOP!
They were dressed in the rights clothes, and talked to people when they had too.

They outnumbered everyone else.  So maybe they felt it was their right.
I thought it wouldn't, couldn't happen.  I was wrong.  I was naive, to trust.
It hasn't happened to me yet, but that is not to say it won't.  There is no shame with your name on it, you were defenseless!

To those who are the victims   =  .....   -   { , find strength in all of your friends and family.  You will be amazing.

Monday, June 18, 2012

I have seen the face of Evil, He is in the neighbourhood.


There was once a man who lived near others.  Whenever he met his neighbors he would smile in a tight lipped manner, a grimace or maybe a smirk that meant he was fooling the world.  And he liked it much.  His eyes were almost always behind sunglasses, and there has been much rain, but he still wore them.

He seemed to be very busy, many people coming and going, but none stayed to visit.  The visitors always parked their vehicles near the garage, the man with the shaven would appear immediately after their arrival, like he was waiting for them. 

The visitors were not guests, they were there to buy and the man always was ready to sell.

The local gendarme would visit in varying degrees of regularity, but even when they knocked and rang his doorbell, he did not answer, if he was home and often he was.  I think the man thought that the gendarme were vampires, he never opened the door so he would never have to invite them in or worse.

Sometimes it was machinery, all kinds, sometimes it was things moved in and out only after the night sky absorbed the light which would have shed a light on the dishonesty there.

There was once man who parked his vehicle at a coffee shop just down the road, he had many friends, there were days when business was quiet, oh not the coffee shop, his business he ran out of his truck with his cell phone and circle of family and friends.   Much laughter and joviality goes on they do enjoy their all day coffee breaks.
 
The gendarme thought he was involved in the drug industry, maybe that was a side, but they did not know what he really did.  Very few people did and if you did you were involved.  Maybe it was precious metals, like copper wire… just an example, or better a possibility.

He had people coming and going too.  You never saw very much actual “business” a lot of coffee and tobacco, many people sat in the back of his SUV, young girls and women, mostly.  Young men and older men would hang out and talk at his driver side window like some fast food takeout joint.   They might wait their turn at the front bumper passenger side, patiently, like it was worth their life to just wait.

The gendarme had noticed too, the bearded man spent much time both inside and outside, he had his granddaughter and son there too.  He was well connected, the most casual CEO, with a thriving corporation, or maybe a thieving corporate body followers.  All ages welcome!

There was a theory that this man knew the other man, but if that was wrong they were affiliated by crime and evildoing.  Never met and in the same line of work ruining lives for personal gain.  Stolen property was the crime, tormenting souls their real expertise, but if you asked either of them, they would say “Nah, just all in a days’ work” meaning night or day, whenever their victims were most vulnerable.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Dare to Dream

 The place you live may be called home.  The area that home is in may be called a neighbourhood. Neighbourhoods, bordering one other join together and may be called villages, towns, cities and several other names or titles.

 Then there are regions and provinces and countries.  They all have names that have national significance, but without one thing, one very precious thing... they would be as common as dust and ancient history.   There is at least one heart...beating, then another and more, lungs breathing in hope and completing the cycle of respiration by exhaling ... dreams, and seeds of dreams.

 It seems easier times in parts of the world that do not have war but have only strife. How is your heart tonight does it beat LoVe or ImAgInE ... or PeAcE to dream.  There are heroes you have never met and soldiers that have saved you from what they see even when their eyes are closed, dare to dream for the sake of those whose dream is freedom ...one day.

Wake up tomorrow ... with Peace on your lips and Imagination as your vision and Love from the heart.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Golden Years

He did not want a dog.  However in his view a dog was better than a cat.  He knew that they had bought a home; his wife and two boys were hopeful to get a dog.  A companion for one and for all.  Dogs were expensive, dogs took time to train, who would take on the responsibility?  They talked to some friends and the their neighbours and went for a drive.  It was all a blur, after they had arrived at the breeder's.

There was one puppy that stood out.  The puppy was a boy, and that appealed to the man.  The puppy was gentle and self-assured.  He did not demand attention, yet showed appreciation when attention was given.  His fur was golden with a wide white fur collar from ears to shoulders and the legs were white too.  Several weeks later the puppy was allowed to leave its mother.

The man took great joy in puppy training and massaging the ears.   Where ever the family went the dog - Goldie - a sheltie, went too.  Much brushing of the the sheltie's fur kept it fine, more walking kept Goldie fit.  The family did long walks, local hikes and camping trips.  Goldie liked to go camping best.  The neighbourhood was seldom disturbed by a bark from this amicable family pet.

Goldie would, as commentary, howl when the clarinet was played by any member of the family.   It was a woeful sad howl, in the exact same key that was being played or misplayed.  As Goldie got older, the boys began to move away; first the oldest and then the youngest, but Goldie remained with the man and his wife.  One of the boys had moved to the East coast then to Ontario.  The other boy completed a year of local college and then onto university at UBC.   Goldie never wandered far, if and when he wandered off.  Goldie always like the shade of the back yard, under the branches of any leafy trees and the cool plush green grass beneath.

Goldie like the neighbours' large blue spruce tree best.  The neighbour however, was often seen chasing Goldie away from the cool respite, even on a hot August day.  As Goldie had gotten older, walks became shorter, veterinarian visits increased.  Goldie had gotten old.  Maybe it was cleaning the plates of human food.  Maybe it was that he was a pure bred sheltie and he hadn't herded any sheep his whole life long, and with the 2 boys gone, there was nothing left to care for.  Then one day, 12 year old Goldie, disappeared.  Goldie had wandered off walking.  One young man was in shock as he tried to absorb the information over the phone.  The other young man was just silent.

The man and his wife had gone walking and searching, the neighbours all kept an eye out for the valued member of the pack.  The man and his wife returned that night and the next with out finding Goldie and without his companionship.  Two days later -  Goldie returned, they found him, under the big blue spruce; out of the hot September sun, lying down asleep in the coolness he always loved best.  Goldie had returned home, returned to the shade, but this time there was no waking him to chase him away.  For Goldie was, now running, on forever fields with the wind in his face and fur; herding the largest herd of sheep ever seen.
  

 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Moisture

I am dried up, like a well.  Dry and dusty, a neglected old deep void; which no longer serves the purpose it was originally intended for.  The walls which were solid, hard and impermeable, have become a disjointed rock staircase for roots seeking both water and a place to secure the trees above.

All they found is the crumbling foothold with nothing to drink.  So.... they too are dying... just as this well appears dead.  It will happen inexorably over time.  Further below the well there is life giving water.   Some things require digging deeper.

Those who dug the well have long since gone.  The trees which they planted; have grown tall, wide and their roots have grown deeper too.  The country folk who lived here, boarded up the well after their house burned down.  They could not abide with living on a place which now represented such tragic loss.  They tore down the cupola which shielded the well from debris. This debris consisted of large branches or smaller twigs and smaller leaves from the older trees. They were dying, as they had been there so very long.

No one had lived here for decades.  The branches that had fallen from these graying trees, had been cut to length and dried for firewood. The same firewood, that had caused the fire which had engulfed this family's home, charring their dreams and leaving their future in ashes.  That is when they had run to the well to get water to put out the fire.  The fire that climbed up the side the house and lifting their hopes and dreams out of reach.

They found the well that had been full that morning and again in the afternoon, was suddenly emptied.  The life saving contents, gone; but where and why now?  The stood helpless, with the only moisture around, was on their faces, that too dried up from the heat and light of the flames which shot higher than the trees, right to the stars or so it seemed.

Now many years later, dark angry clouds were building over that very spot.  There was going to be heavy rain.  Droplets gained speed and size, together they became rivulets, erasing the dust clouds that the swollen drops had made on landing.  The rain came and the wind continued to increase.  The volume was so much there were now streams.

Streams joined and some dry slopes appeared to be river beds.  Underground the dry well no longer appeared dry or empty.  The well began to sardonically fill, not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

The river deep below was rising, wicked by the amount of moisture at the surface.  With the lid on the well, no one would ever know it was at one time empty; nor would they know how vulnerable this source of water might be.  The storm had been intense enough to thunder down and wash away what little lumber had remained.  The elements had erased the last symbol of the deep sadness which scarred both memories and this beautiful place.

 Refreshed, waiting once again to fill the dreams of those who dared to dream.  All that was of any significance was a rough-hewn refuse pile at the foot of the hill.   Like me.  Some cast off piece in a refuse pile.  Dried up.

Burnt out.  A void, starving to be filled and refreshed too.  Alive deep inside, more than what the superficial signs of life allow to be seen.        

Monday, March 12, 2012

1 -2 -3 Times a Gambler

Denise went in and stood back; as to not be apart of the line or not be like a cork in the narrowing space, trapped.  A man waited to the side while she took her place in line.  He looked at here and kept his distance, trying not to look at her patchwork coat. Her scarf blazing bold and bright with colour.  Her gray brown hair which randomly found their way out and around the scarf.  She followed, the others and listened to what they were ordering.  It was very foreign, the only words she recognized were "coffee" or "tea" and as many variations she could imagine.  As she got to the till. She tried to open the cup, unsuccessfully.  She handed the shinny mug to the cashier.   The Barista, then said, "please remove the lid."  " I can't " she mumbled, not making eye contact.

There was an awkward moment as the Barista looked at Denise, she looked toward the outside for an escape route, and the man behind her looked at the mug saying "can I try?"  The cashier and Barista both said, "Thanks."  Denise barely made an attempt at eye contact and move her weather worn lips, mouthing, "thanks".  The lid was off and the barista said, "Bold or Medium," Denise had no idea how she was going to pay and said, "Bold, please".  The  looking inside the cup as he spoke there was a plastic card, "Good place to keep your gold card, Denise."

Denise was gobsmacked.  She could not speak. There were no words, mumbled or otherwise that fit what was happening, in that moment.  "Would you like your receipt with your balance, Denise?"  As she reached for the card the receipt and the coffee mug and lid, she mumbled "Yes, please."  Weakness filled her legs, her knees buckled only a little, placing one hand on the counter to brace her self, she blew out deeply, knowing that air would come rushing into her lungs to refill that void.  She saws stars for only a moment.  "Where is a chair?" she asked quite clearly.  "Look around" the barista was looking at the next guest.  The gentleman was no longer behind her.  The focus was off Denise now, so she turned to look across the coffee shop.  There in the corner of the bookstore, was the man form behind her.  He was waving for her to come over there and pointing at a chair with two arms.  He had found her a chair.

She looked at his chin, saying "thank you".   "No problem" came the reply.  "I'll be right back, with your coffee."    Soon she settled with her chair facing a bookcase with more books than she can remember seeing, she used to read much.  Like her life those days were in the past.  Too far distant to help her now.  She picked up and flipped through book after book, sipping her coffee in small amounts, just as she was taking only glimpses of the bright pictures and reading a few lines here and there, she paused for a moment,
not daring to listen to the thought trumpeting loudly.  "I sure could get used to this!"

That was it, the moment was gone, she left the chair without to much fuss, and walked along the shelves which aimed in the general direction of the door, the way out her escape, coffee cup in hand. Gold card with her name on it in an inside pocket over her heart.  She had for but a moment met her Happy, and she hoped too, once again. For now she needed fresh air, the outdoors, any air, before she could not breath, before her fear paralyzed her.  She had gambled this time, and she had won a tidy sum.  Yet there was so much mystery, that she did not know the answers too, again the wave of fear pushed her toward the ground, stopping her in her tracks...... so she quickly found the only bench on this side of the park, and sat right in the middle of it, like a stanchion, that had found the support it had needed, and it took her breath away.

I'm balance or Imbalance

The difference is simply a comma and a space.  Punctuation and distance. I do not suppose to know more or downplay experience, I can only observe that to go from a statement; to a goal or a dream in some cases, can be disheartening, if one flounders.  Is it the left stronger than the right?  I am not speaking the language of politics.

Some say chemical, some say wires are crossed, others live it and do not know what to say as the lips, tongue and words are not in sync with each.  One would sound ideal while the other sounds lacking. One is replete with completeness and the other is isolated and the want or need to be fully alone, goes unanswered.  Do they have to balance one another brain 1 and brain 2 or is it one brain, in charge of chaos, in charge of bodily harm?  Then ....what are you waiting -  for sound the alarm!

Every step taken further in to get to the cure, is likened to walking blindfolded into a blackberry mass of many thorny vines embrace. When I AM is in full vigor, there is peace and poise, but when iambalance collides; only an "a" is lost and it becomes an IMBALANCE, what is in that "a" that, is lost, that, they don't know, for each is so unique,  each is so complex and so precious and so individual.    So.... where does that leave us and them?

Distrusting and ashamed.

Let them find peace in doing the one thing; they find hardest to do around others; in the expression of art and music and creativity and life. When they are by themselves, they can hear their thoughts and they make sense, without Others assertions to prove; They are better or right or Their problems are more important; as They can be louder or have some piece of paper of privilege.  It is not considered helpful, if they did not ask, for Your help or any help at all.

So pause before you speak and give them their space, "punctuation and distance",  common sense and dignity;  watch and wait for the peace to fall 'round about them and light up the place, and their face only..... until the clouds will close in again.... you wait, I have seen it.  It comes.


Friday, February 17, 2012

Moving On

There is no tomorrow for some.
They live in the moment and the next,
Looking ahead brings despair, while
Looking back; life only looks unfair.

They made decisions and choices,
but now they are moving on.
In a crowded walkway they are lonely
and alone. The street they walk on has their
name on it.   People.   Street People.

But they are moving on.

Life no longer is better or worse,
There is no rhyme or reason, unlike
this verse.  They have this moment.
It is what it is. And the next one too.

Moving On is how they see some success.

They all don't do illegal things all the time.
There are some who have never broken a law but
they appear like they break one, the law of nature.
They are weak yet they survive, surprise yourself
say HI to someone and thank them for being alive.

But we are all Moving On.

There is a struggle for one and all, it happened shortly
after the FALL.  Chaos corrupts each new day, so how can we
appreciate life with a dark cloud in the way?
There is beauty in the rise and more in the set of  the orange
disk called the Sun.

The sun is Moving On too.
 
Miracles happen I have seen and believe,
But in a world with such tear filled eyes that grieve.
Blurred vision from so much pain and loss.
Please see the cross, let them see the cross!

But the dark clouds are Moving on and on.

There is an awesome plan and more in the cross and tomb; empty,
stone disc rolled away eternally there is a risen Son. This emptiness
brings everyone a chance to be fulfilled, I don't talk in riddles
but of precious blood spilled.

For you.

Are you Moving on..... from where you are
share, lend a hand, lend an ear shed a tear with
an others sorrows ........... deep seated hurt and harm
leaves them scarred, could you do this; if you were asked,
even if they stared at you hard.   Unforgiving. 

Move on, get moving on, no judgement hereafter
Get past the past, the richest treasure
awaits you, all of you, me and everyone.
Name it, say it, pray it ......live like you .....
know the ending of an eternal story.

What treasure do you seek?
Watch the horizon........let that
promise lift your head...... wait now
in this moment and the next......




Thursday, February 9, 2012

Gambler Two - Denise Comes in from the cold

The first blogstory I wrote was titled the Gambler this is Part Two, or maybe Part Too?  Twice as long?

Denise tired from her attempted rest in the almost warm sun, decided to walk toward the pet food store,
she so badly wanted a cat or a dog, but she could not feed herself good food or everyday, so how could she keep a pet.  She was hoping they would let her in, just to look, and dream.

She did not have a home, the back door of an an unused garage in a trodden down neighbourhood was where she lived.  A long pallet kept her 5 foot frame off the cold cracked concrete.  There were several layers of cardboard and hidden in a concrete pillar tube mold was her blanket for winter.  She kept it wrapped in a plastic bag.  This had worked for the last three years. She was near her favorite park, her favorite store and the Salvation Army Office was further but well work the walk, when she was able.

As she was walking she pulled the bright purple scarf, over her graying hair, it made her feel warm, and the colors brightened her mood, even if it was only for a little while.  The brown tones in the scarf  picked up the dirt patches on her coat.  She had found the scarf, on the bench she always sat on.  Someone had left it there, she still did not know if it was okay to take it, she just was not sure if it was right or was it really meant for her?

The family never came out to the garage. There was a tap in the garage, that never had been turned off even in winter.  She was always able to get water to drink or was up quickly.   She was surely blessed, despite not having lived in a normal situation for twenty-three years. As she walked there was a catch in her ankles and her knees; carrying the weight she had, she was overweight, she knew and everyone thought street people were slim or under fed.  She had a poor choice of food all the time, too much sugar or to much fat or both.  She craved meat every day.  Some days there was nothing at all.  She had lost track of where she was and had walked past the pet store, she was about to turn around and go back when she saw it, leaning against a wall.  There was metal coffee mug.

She paused looking carefully around.  No one had noticed the mug, sadly too no one had noticed her.
She picked up the stainless steel mug and was not sure what to do should she hide it?  Should she open it? It felt empty.  To her right there was the entrance to a well known coffee shop.  She tried to pry the lid off, her hands were not able.  She halfheartedly went to the door, and hesitated entering a world she had only watched from the outside.  Trapped in her fear, frozen in indecision.

A man broke the spell pulling on the handle and gestured she was to go first saying, " the next cup, is the best cup of the day at this place, you go ahead and get it, eh?"  Her fear washed by the wayside, the coffee aroma and sounds of chatter poured out the opened door to meet her; all together an invitation for her to step inside.  Denise for the first time, joyfully accepted.  

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Get your violence here.... Get your .....

Violence sells, sex sells,
but why?

WHY?
Do we have a greed as a society,
greedy need to feed insatiability?,
from East to West and North to South,
Watch carefully what spills from my mouth.

I can not digest what I divest to the disheveled remains of my day.
I know they are not supposed to end or begin this way,
with tears instead of raindrops falling on my face, rolling down to...
to my paper covered desk, absorbed and lost drying the instant they were
spilled.  Have you had your fill with what the world ills your way?

Take time to exhibit patient poise, in all that you face,
you are not alone in your lonely place, some say feel it,
I say try to pray and seal it!  Away, oh Lord, away!  Take me.

All this which is not the world's best will target you as a test, not the same
day or the same time, but sometimes, it will seem so as  it comes all down the funnel
cloud of darkness of heavy woe and the gravity of your circumstances; pulls
at your hair on your head, plucks your nerves till your limbs feel heavy and dead
as your heart pumps red liquid poorly through the frozen pipes that circulate
oxygen with red tincture flowing that could be spilled like the tears and cover
the ground sorrowfully, bleeding ......

heartfelt loss
embarrassed as it is emptied,
from your vessel, with more cracks and
holes, pass me the plumbers' putty please!

Seal it and pray, each crack, each hole, each day,
C'mon!
It is not about how low down and into despair you go.
It is about him, Him! You might not agree, you might not
see, you may not believe, but He believed in you and me,
FIRST, so if things get bad or go worse,
look up from a position of pain, move to a place of
strength, to the rock, to the cleft, to the shadow of
an eagles' wings and then see what His mercy brings.....
Take what His mercy brings hold it close by your heart,
in your face.............your scars......the ugly...... will one
day BE gone........may my hollow sounding words tremble
like a tree-trunk under the weight of many birds that take flight
with your plight, your harsh existence, be carried away in flight
on the echo of "no more tears, no more tears" sends the winged
prayers to flights of  spoken freedom........ heard higher and higher.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I will not stay silent!

I am the husband and friend of someone who experiences depression.

I know IT is not a choice.  IT is not a weakness. self-inflicted or a result of not trying.
Sometimes you can't get over it, IT won't just go away, pretending it is not happening
doesn't help either. 

Talking about it does.

Getting support early can make the difference.  Helping someone we care about, or love a lot,
is not a burden.

I PLEDGE - to learn the signs
                   - I will not to judge
                  - I will  have compassion
                   -I will reach out,
                  - listen;
                   - talk, help and
                   find help.

My name is Darrell and I will not stay silent.

For more info go to   http://www.mindcheck.ca/inonevoice

Choose to speak out in one voice.
Thanks K.B.
Thanks 'Nucks
 37
RYP

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

For You

Colour, I have FOUND colour!  In an otherwise drab, dreary existence, I want it to splash me when I paint and get some on me.  I need to wear IT.  I need it not, to cover up my struggles, my warts and my cracks but brighten them, draw them into the light, to be seen for what they are: there is my salvation, in full light.

A salvation once fully believed and fully lived, will be able to be shared through my art, my life through the peace I achieve; will not only stop the dark clouds from closing in, but evaporate and leave, joyous tears falling like raindrops from my eyes.

For when it rains, the dark black cloud; lightens, raises up to climb and expose the mountains.  God's Footstool they are!

I want to dance at His throne around His footstool. Harmonizing with Him as He sings over me.  I know there is joy - I know the light is so pure, the colours will have a richness. I will paint with enthusiasm. I will laugh and giggle, even as I sing and paint!

This is a dream, my wish, my affirmation - my prayer.
There may be help for others for I am not alone; others struggle too.
Maybe they need to find colour, find an art, find then salvation.

That would make all of these moments of struggle, joyfully tolerable, in THE MOMENT.  And in knowing - that each day I have not only seen black clouds but white clouds too.  From both black and white; all  colours come from and with out both, my life may have been complete but not as rich from all those pieces of art, paint used up, words spilled on paper, projects yet to be done too.

To be shared with others, some have received joy and others have enjoyed, reflected back colour, in their smile and in their eyes.  There are those who have not seen and not saw and not been able to open up to the feelings caused.  I hope for them that their cloud will evaporate as mine will.
I hope, to .....

I hope, to continue to make words my art form; a forum to challenge any one who reads, to bring tears of happiness or tears of emotion, letters spilled and spread so that sounds evoke something, rhythm allows the reader to move and be moved.

I hope to,
"Reflect the forever love that is always there; burning brightly to be seen, waiting to be held, shared like a fine fragrance, and sung by all who feel it, in unison, a love that refreshes once tasted"
D Elverum 20120104