Concrete Poem.

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015Leave a comment

A friend inspired me to write “a concrete poem” after she handed one to me for my Birthday, instead of a Birthday card. For those of you who don’t know, which I didn’t, but now I do, a concrete poem is a poem in the shape of the object it describes. Her poem to me was a swirled cup of tea. I thought it was a perfectly creative way to give someone a gift, which for me meant a box of lemon tea. Quite beautiful, artistic, and you can literally write about ANYTHING. Which, I am good at after re-reading some of my very random blog topics. So, I attempted this new form of writing, and started with something I love, though they are quite simple in shape.

L

I

G

H

T

The way it flickers to and fro

Like the twinkling stars I used

To watch when I lay on the sandy

Beach. It invites soft conversation

And long kisses. Just imagine sitting

In a dark room, with a book, a lamp

And the soft light, flickering neither

Here, nor there. Like the twinkling

Of stars. As old as time itself. Yes,

I whisper. I can hold your secrets

In the night. Shining brightest in the

Darkness. I flit and fly. Like a firefly!

Or is my light more like a dance?

Flirting with the shadows I make

On the wall. Even so, with the flying

And the dancing, I boldly stand. I’m

Strong against the black all around.

Sweet smelling. Soft dripping. Try

Dipping your fingers in the wax

That builds on my smooth sides. The

Wax that casually nips your finger

Tips. Keep me around I say. Do not

Snuff me out. For when you do, the

Transparent smoke that rises will

Last but a moment before Disappe-

aring. And it will all be just a memory.

Especially when I am sitting on top of a Birthday Cake. The

Wish that you thought before pursing your lips and letting out the

Stream of air that whisked away my soft light. It is all a memory now. Puff.

Internet Adventure.

March 5, 2015March 5, 2015Leave a comment

I was just thinking to myself about how the Internet is like a good book, taking you places you never knew existed. You could be sitting on a bed or at a desk, but your mind is elsewhere and the Internet can let you access true and untrue worlds of the past, the present, and the future.

Let me explain further. I am an avid reader. I savor literature, historical fictions, and romance novels. I treasure history, culture, business, and theology. I am curious to learn and love that I can use my imagination, reading about the life of a cowboy winning the heart of his lover, one day and an American girl in India running for her life, the next. And for someone with somewhat of an “old soul,” wishing for the days when TV was not the focus of the room and conversations didn’t manifest over texts, this was a rather inspiring thought. “What if the Internet really was an adventure waiting to happen?” like The Forgotten Waltz starting at Page One with, “I met him in my sister’s garden in Enniskerry,” and ending with…?

This was the process that took me to “Internet Adventures”: Who said the quote, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”? Oh yeah, It was in Invictus and Nelson Mandela said it, I think. Well, who said, “May the wind be always at your back”? Oh yeah, that’s from an Irish blessing. I wonder what would come up on my computer if I just typed it in? What other Irish blessings would pop up and what time period would they come from? Suddenly, my curiosity was so great. I opened up my computer willing this “adventure” to take place, so I could escape reality for a few moments and be inspired with great words of the past. Words from other cultures and times.

Like I said, I am an old soul and Reallllly wish LCD screens didn’t monopolize our attention, so this is all very new. The Internet has been a place of work for me, to research, to write, and to read and respond to emails. The Internet has been a place of procrastination for me, to stream movies, or to check out the latest pics of my friend’s fast paced lives on Facebook. It has been a place where I can easily lay in bed and window shop for clothing trends and my newest cravings, or to find fun and useless facts about life. I have never gone to the internet to get inspired and even now, to write a blog post dedicated to the Internet is… eerie. I go outside, pray, sit under the stars, people watch a coffee shops, walk in the woods, drive through the countryside, read a book, call a friend…

Tonight, I was hit with a new concept of the world of Internet that has changed how our culture perceives life and our interactions with people around us. The Internet is more than a shallow place to spend time or easy way to get info for our questions. It is an Adventure. And a simple Google search can take me to Ireland in .42 seconds with other Irish proverbs, inspiring quotes, and pictures of places my heart yearns to visit. SO, here I am, baring my old soul and turning the corner from viewing with disdain the addicting, monopolizing, and distracting nature of the Internet, to re-framing the Internet as an “Adventure” with so much of life and others’ stories at my fingertips.

Past meets Present- Marching into 2015.

January 20, 2015January 20, 2015Leave a comment

New Years is over, and I notice my friends and families lives transitioning from Holiday parties, Christmas music, and New Years resolutions- like hitting the gym more often, to busy work schedules and fresh calendars waiting to be filled. It is an exciting time, getting back to the daily grind, as we look with anticipation to this coming year.

My personal journal is filled with hopes and dreams of the places I want to see, the things I want to do, and the person I want to become in 2015. Joy, hope, and freedom are at the forefront of my mind, and are markers for why my recent trip to Washington, D.C. is so critical. Yesterday, I was blessed to walk the Reflection Pool where on one end, the Washington Monument stands guarding the city, and the other end houses the stately Lincoln Memorial. Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday- a national holiday. Yesterday, I stood and looked out from where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have A Dream Speech” in 1963, during the March on Washington. As I type, I sit in my friend’s apartment in D.C., reliving those moments and I realize that the city is iconic to a wonderful history that I get to be a part of. My history, my dreams, my goals for 2015 collide with the dreams of men and women past, who influenced this country before me. I couldn’t have planned a more inspiring start to this New Year. And I pray for more moments of being in the right place, at the right time for everyone, as we move through January into the rest of the year.

Check out this link from HISTORY.com. This short video, about the “March on Washington” from the History Channel, is inspiring. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

A Christmas Poem.

December 17, 20141 Comment

It flew in so fast, it’s that time of the year…

Tinsel, music, decorations, and good cheer.

The tree is up, the lights are tangled.

Stop little brother! Now I’m getting strangled.

Mom! He pushed me and is pulling my hair.

Hunny, be a lady, you’re acting like a bear.

But I… But he…

I don’t even LIKE Christmas tress!

The stockings are lined up all in a row.

Wood fire is crackling, the fireplace aglow.

Did you wrap all your presents? Who are you forgetting?

I did Mom, I did! Okay, hun, just checking!

Sugary sweet, candy canes.

White candles burning in windowpanes.

Christmas cookies for Santa, all of them bright green.

But the best decoration of all is the Nativity Scene.

Oh right, it’s Christmas!

It’s about remembering Jesus.

The Christmas spirit, that time of the year…

Tinsel, music, decorations, and good cheer.

Coffee.

November 29, 2014Leave a comment

I have a vivid picture of drinking my first cup of coffee. I was socializing in a conference room with a group of a dozen middle school children, who were chosen to be leaders of some sort for our 7th grade class. I was 11 years old, and loaded the Styrofoam cup with about 5 sugars and 6 creamers. This was the only way I could choke down the bitter beverage. It was great. We grinned at each other as we drank our milky, almost white, cups of coffee. And we laughed at our Dad’s who actually liked drinking this stuff black. It wasn’t till I was 16 years old that I tasted my first cup of coffee that wasn’t sweet like a dessert- straight black. Visiting a Costa Rican coffee farmer in his kitchen, I learned about the back breaking work of owning a coffee farm and the process of how the beans evolve from his back yard to a cup of java at Starbucks. I didn’t know how to politely ask for milk in Spanish, so I took a hesitant sip out of courtesy to his hospitality. It was probably the best cup of coffee I ever tasted. Sweet and hot. The coffee grounds came from his finca de café that sloped over a whole mountain behind his house. His outdoor kitchen was simple, with a wood burning stove and rough wooden table and benches. But I laughed over that cup of coffee as much as in the polished conference room 5 years earlier.

I hold many coffee dates, coffee conversations, coffee shop memories dear to myself. A cup of coffee with the cream that swirls gently into the black liquid. The earthy, sweet aroma that you catch as you walk down the stairs to your kitchen in the morning. The intensity that your friend starts speaking as the caffeine charges her system. And I’ve been lucky enough to do this coffee thing all over the world- Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, across the USA- What a cultural gift!

I took a break from coffee for a few months, but recently I started drinking it on the daily. I am back to coffee highs, caffeine buzzes, and continuing traditions of centuries past. Now that I can drink it again, I can’t help but share my pleasure in the simplicity of a cup of coffee. Comforting when getting me through a long day of work, but best enjoyed in the presence of others. It’s the little things like coffee that I’m most thankful for in this Season of Thanksgiving.