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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Editor's Corner
Sometimes at Night
I step out on the deck
Behind our house,
Silently shut the door,
Glance shyly up
At all the glowing stars
Above the tracery of trees
And take a thoughtful walk
Into the darkened yard.
I find my way
Along the weathered path
That splits the garden
Half from half,
Legs brushing
Pots of herbs, flowers,
Feet feeling bumps
And rough spots
On the mossy bricks.
And then the path
Abruptly stops, unfinished,
Blocked by piled materials
That many months
I’ve neither touched nor cared
To use, held back by pain,
By indecisiveness.
I stand there
As if looking at my life,
Knowing the parts
Are still at hand, the plans.
I ought to start again,
Complete the pattern
That I hold within my heart,
Frame the peaceful space
I had intended as my goal,
My road’s end, my resting place.
But choose to wait for light.
©2007 John I. Blair
Click on John I. Blair for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Royce Union
Were short and dicey;
At first too small
I later showed a lack
Of judgment that collided me
With curbs and cars.
My teens were spent
In someone else’s auto,
Bumming lifts and always
Thrall to others’ needs.
But when I left for college,
My Dad decided I could use
A bike for transportation
And bought a drab two-wheeler,
Three-gears-in-the-hub
Royce Union, built in Holland.
This contra-cool creation,
Designed for Dutch commuters,
Stood steady on the road and strong
(To carry loads of cheeses I supposed).
Just to find a parking stand
(When dreams of cars for everyone
Were not yet faded) had me foxed,
And the hilltop campus
Made it slick to coast downtown
But hell to pump back up.
* * *
And then one autumn day
I found a way to ride
Into the golden countryside
Along a shining river.
My wheels were wings
Flinging me beneath the trees,
Beside vast pastures
Filled with doe-eyed cows,
Up stony slopes,
Down gurgling glens,
Wind in my hair, my ears
Singing from the rush of air,
Eyes in tears, nose flushed
With dusty autumn smells.
My dumpy bike, so black and plain,
Transfigured to a magic steed,
Speeding me to adventure,
Taking me to uncharted lands,
Making me rejoice at my
Royce Union.
©2007 John I. Blair
Click on John I. Blair for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Irish Eyes
It's August!
I lost my watch in Doneraile.
My Dublin watch, my chain and seal,
Pilfer'd at once in Doneraile.
My Fire and Brimstone never fail
To fall in show'rs on Doneraile.
My all the leading Fiends assail
The thieving Town of Doneraile.
As light'ning's flash across the vale,
So down to Hell with Doneraile.
May Beef or Mutton, Lamb or Veal,
Be never found in Doneraile,
Lines written, exactly 200 years ago, by a travelling rhymester called Patrick O‟Kelly. Of course it was all a mistake. The good people of Doneraile didn‟t steal his watch. It was lost or mislaid and he got it back. And fair play to him he wrote the following stanza;
I found my watch in Doneraile
My Dublin watch, my chain and seal
Returned to me in Doneraile.."
Doneraile Literary and Arts Festival 2012 runs from July 30th to August 05th. Following the highly successful inaugural festival last year the committee have decided to expand the festival to include a week of workshops. This year‟s festival has attracted the cream of Irish literary and artistic talent with a variety of existing and new authors covering such topics as general fiction, autobiographies, literary fiction, history and much more. Workshops are divided into artistic and literary fields. There is also a Children's Day featuring guest readings by children's authors and a puppet theatre in the magnificent Pleasure Gardens of Doneraile Park. The town will come alive in the evenings with numerous plays, impromptu poetry and song in the pubs of Doneraile as well as music concerts.
I did MC at their open mic sessions last year and they looked after me very well and presented me with a beautiful painting by local artist Karen O'Shea. I mustn't have made a total eejit of myself because I'm invited back this year. So, by the time you read this I should be ensconced in the “Rebel County.”
I even made a feeble effort to compose a bit of a rhyme for them:
It's show time now in Doneraile.
Now you, like Raftery, heist your sail,
If you can write, hit Doneraile.
If you want to sing or tell your tale
The place for you is Doneraile.
If your partner's left and you're a male
No better place than Doneraile.
If you're interned or locked in jail
Break out and head for Doneraile,
If on remand then try get bail
And meet your friends in Doneraile.
The Philistines can whinge and wail;
They have no place in Doneraile.
Of the action here you must avail
At this culture-fest in Doneraile.
Not wind or rain or driving hail
Will keep the scribes from Doneraile.
And farmer/poets will leave their kale
To reap the fruits of Doneralie.
To Chareleville they'll go by rail
And head with glee to Doneraile.
If your inspiration has gone frail
Rejuvenate in Doneraile.
If your Muse has gone and your talent stale
'Twill be revived in Doneraile.
I watched as Gandal fanned his tail
When he heard mentioned “Doneraile.”
His boss then smartly hit the trail
With Failte Isteach, for Doneraile.
Speaking of Literary Festivals, Larry Burke, from Minnesota, a stalwart, for many years, of Listowel Writers' Week passed away last week. He was buried, at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, on Monday. (The mayor of St Paul's declared Friday 27th July “Lar Burke Day.” When I passed the sad news on to Billy Keane, writer and all-round entertainer he paid a laconic moving tribute to Larry. He said, "He was the nicest man that ever came to Writers' Week." Last December the Irish Music and Dance Association honored him as their 2011 Honoree. He loved his Irish heritage, as an actor with the Na Fiana Players, and a fiction writer.
Fort Snelling Cemetery, looking Southeast
As an accomplished actor (among other things) Larry made the part of Captain Boyle his own, playing it like a true Dub. Sean O'Casey would be proud of him. And when he recited The Stolen Child by W. B. Yeats, there wouldn‟t be a dry eye in the house. And as I write I know in that great open mic session in the sky Angels have left down their harps to listen to that Minnesota voice reciting:
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There we've hid our faery vats,
Full of berrys
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
The dim gray sands with light,
Far off by furthest Roses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles And anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand.
Larry Burke at John B. Keane's statue
God rest you Larry.Click on Mattie Lennon for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church
It witnesses across the fields
That Simon Menno’s faith
Still thrives in Kansas.
Refusing to bear arms,
Denying violence and war,
Led these true believers
To Russian steppes
And earlier than that
To Prussian floodplains
And the windswept coast
Of Holland. How often
Have they fled their homes
And moved to strange horizons,
Stubbornly in search of peace
Wherever it survived?
They’ve lived here now
As long as anyplace,
But still don’t own
A guarantee.
©2006 John I. Blair
Pic: the church that inspired the poem.
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Eric Shackle's Column
By
Eric Shackle
Online clocks, ticks and chimes
A similar clock with human figures instead of hands is shown on a Persian website: Persian Clock. Nakamura (born 1970 in Nara, Japan) is one of Japan's leading web designers. He has exhibited and lectured in Asia, United States and Europe. His artwork has been shown at Centre Pompidou (Paris), Vienna Künstlerhaus (Vienna), and the Design Museum (London).
ArtandCulture.com describes Nakamura's mind-boggling website: "For those of us who are still slightly baffled by the Internet -- and even for jaded digerati -- the MONOcrafts site is magic. It's the bunny that disappears into a top hat to end up squealing in the third row. Magic. "Even the front page of MONOcrafts' site provides potentially endless entertainment. To the tender sounds of keyboard tapping and computer bleeps, a series of text-filled gray boxes wraps across your screen and grows, shrinks, slows down, and speeds up in perfect accord with the movement of your mouse."
You can hear more of those tender sounds on these videos:
ticks;
chimes.
Here's a kingsize clock.
And here are more online clocks (alarm, wall etc., five colors).
In line with London's Olympic Games, our Gold Medal goes to the : Dandelion Clock,
the Bronze Medal to the Persian clock (linked above),
and the Wooden Spoon to this : potato clock video.
Posted by Eric Shackle From ERIC SHACKLE, in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, 21 July 2012, at 22:26
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online
Author's Blog.
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online
Author's Blog.
Cookin' With Leo
By
Leocthasme
Penny Pinchin’ Breakfast Treats
Here’s what ya need to start:
- 1 can large sz biscuits
- Various nearly empty jelly jars
- 2 Tbsps spiced Rum or Brandy (or fruit juice)
- ½ stick of butter
- 2 Tbsps granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsps Cinnamon
Here’s what ya do with it:Melt butter in 8 or 9 inch pie plate Click on Leocthasme for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online. |
Cross Country
I have glimpsed the undersides of elephants
Swimming in a pool as clear as air,
Their mighty legs waving back and forth,
Stately as the pitman rods
On the Natchez IV at New Orleans
Driving its massive hull
Slowly across the Mississippi.
The grace, the power,
The fundamental rightness
Apparent in this ancient motive method
Misled me into ill-conceived comparison
With “cross country”
As executed by the women
In my water aerobics class
Last Wednesday evening.
©2005 John I. Blair
Click on John I. Blair for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Introspective
The original Star Trek series lasted only three seasons and it was canceled just prior to the historic moon landing in 1969. The shows reruns became extremely popular though in the 1970’s due in part to the U.S. lunar landings.
In the early 1960’s the space race between the old Soviet Union and the United States was a top priority between the two superpowers. Landing men on the moon and returning them safely to earth was not an unrealistic goal for America back then. The reason being we had the vision and the drive to make it a reality.
The first lunar landing on July 20 1969 by the historic Apollo 11 mission captured the imagination of the entire planet and showed the world the power and ingenuity that we Americans possess. The images from the moon were broadcast for the world to see. That extraordinary event not only put us ahead of the Russians in the space race it was also a huge achievement for humankind. The famous life magazine photo of the earth taken from the lunar surface revealed for the first time just how precious and beautiful our planet is.
It’s unfortunate though that manned space travel is no longer a priority in the U.S. we seem to have lost the vision we once had to boldly go where no one has gone before. Private contractors are now doing what NASA once did in terms of research and development. The goals of private contractors seem to want to commercialize space travel for the wealthiest rather than for scientific discoveries.
The United States will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017 and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority.
China the second largest economic superpower in the world announced its goal of building a space station on the moon by 2020. A space station on the lunar surface will be a huge technological achievement not just for China but for all humankind.
In 2007 China launched its first moon orbiter and it was a big deal for the Chinese government. However, last semester some of my students in my cultural diversity class in Suzhou, China laughed when I brought it up. They commented that China’s space agency is five decades behind the U.S.
I told them quite honestly that the United States seems to be losing its leadership role, especially, when it comes to manned space exploration. Most Americans would agree that the U.S. should have had something in place prior to scrapping its shuttle programs because it sends the message that manned space exploration is no longer necessary.
China plans to launch an unmanned space probe to the moon by the end of next year to survey the lunar surface and it will be followed by an unmanned lunar landing. They will take soil and rock samples back to earth by 2017. Their ultimate mission however is to send astronauts to the moon and land the first female astronaut on the lunar surface by 2020.
China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft returned to Earth last month, ending a mission that put the country's first woman in space and completed a manned docking test critical to its goal of building a space station by 2020.
I told my students that China is far from catching up with the established space superpowers, the United States and Russia. But the Shenzhou 9 marked China's fourth manned space mission since their first in 2003. They are moving fast at a time when budget restraints and shifting priorities have held back the U.S. manned space missions.
China has a deep vision and huge ambitions to establish themselves as the world’s number one superpower. With their booming economy they are spending trillions of Yuan. They are using that money to build up their infrastructure, military, and now their space program. Economists are saying China’s economic growth is slowing down but that doesn’t seem to be slowing down their ambitious projects. The United States economy is limping along with a 1.5 percent annual growth rate. China’s annual economic growth rate is roughly 9.7 percent and our fiscal restraints in the U.S. have shifted priorities toward austerity.
On the other hand China wants the world to see that they are on the rise and one way to achieve their goal is through manned space missions. Fifty years ago such human endeavors were merely entertained in the minds of the science fiction writers but now science fiction is coming of age. If China keeps up its pace perhaps the world focus may soon shift from the U.S. astronauts to China’s cosmonauts.
Hopefully, Congress in the U.S. will recognize the benefit of increasing funding for a manned space program. If that were to happen China and the U.S. could share a common goal and work together toward building a space station on the surface of the moon. This is something that has not yet been achieved not because it’s beyond our reach but rather we lost the vision to make it a reality. We must once again draw on our American ingenuity to bring our vision of what can be achieved to fruition in doing so we might reveal once again what made America great in the eyes of the world.
Always with love from Suzhou, China
Thomas F O’Neill
U.S. voice mail: (800) 272-6464
China Cell: 011-86-15114565945
Skype: thomas_f_oneill
Email: introspective7@hotmail.com
Other articles, short stories, and commentaries by Thomas F. O'Neill can be found on his award winning blog, Link:
http://thomasfoneill.blogspot.com
Click on Thomas F. O'Neill
for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
http://thomasfoneill.blogspot.com
Click on Thomas F. O'Neill for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
The Word Of Praise Cathedral
Word of Praise
Cathedral today.
For a breath of time
I felt as if
My light did truly glow.
Hosts of angels
Had not knelt
To chant hosannas,
But I sensed at last
They might at least
Know where I live.
For I had shared a poem
With a stranger
And got back compliments.
©2007 John I. Blair
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Life Is Like A Camera
By
Bud Lemire
A picture book of photos, counting down the days
The beauty captured, and held still
Of all things within...without...until
Time keeps moving on, never does it hold
Only in a picture, do we not grow old
A digital camera, with a card to hold each scene
Capturing life's moments, and all things in between
Focus on what you see, then give it a click
You've captured another moment, and it happened quick
It is like a memory, captured on a card
You can see it any time, it isn't very hard
Just like your mind, holding many memories
The camera and its cards, holds everything it sees
That is, as long as you remember to click
You can delete the ones, that you choose not to pick
I love my camera, I take it everywhere I go
I love my life, and seeing the beauty that I know
I enjoy capturing the beauty of everything I see
Life is like a camera, of all things it can be
©July 25, 2012 Bud Lemire
Capturing the moment and holding onto it your whole life.
With one picture, it can hold so many memories.
With many pictures, it can hold the memories of a lifetime.
Click on Bud Lemire for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Angel Whispers
By
Peg Jones
August Angel Message
Here are some of the ways you can do this going with in:
1. Listen to music that is relaxing and soothing. As you listen to the music take some deep breaths and some breaths out too. Closing your eyes try to think of nothing for a few minutes. Let the thoughts go in and let them go out without any sort of attachment to them. Do this for a few minutes to totally close off from what is around you or outside of you.
2. There are some really good audio meditations that you can purchase and listen to. They bring you to a place of peace and relaxation. They will help you as you visualize what you are hearing and focusing on the meditation.
3. Going to a place that safe in your mind and imagining what it is what you are seeing as a place that is safe for you. Imagine what you are sensing using all of your senses in getting to a place of relaxation and peace.
4. Pick your place of where you would like to go and just visualize being there.
5. Imagine you are going to your heart place. A place within you where your God and your angels reside and there is nothing but peace, serenity, clarity. You can choose the color of your heart place and who is there with you in the heart place.
6. Go for a walk on the beach or in the woods or a place you love to be at and just go within taking in all of the senses of what you are feeling at the particular time.
7. Do something creative such as crafts or writing, painting, collage making. Write what is deep within your heart and paint what you are feeling. You could also draw, sketch what you are seeing. Knitting and needle work is another type of meditation. As you are going within to the heart place…
8. Imagine joy and how you would be when you feel this way…. Let the pain fall away and let the joy show through…. Put on some meaningful music to do this exercise.
9. Make a vision board of your wishes and dreams for you. Use magazine pictures and photos and words for the board.
10. Put on some music while cleaning and let yourself go and take notice as how you felt when partaking in this activity.There is so much you can do to help yourself go within, to take time for you in a meditative manner. The possibilities are endless. What ideas do you have for going within ?
A simple meditation for helping you to go within is to imagine you are with your angel, or guardian angel. You are having a conversation with them and asking them questions. Then you just go to the place within where you are able to listen to the answers that your angels have for you. You might want to try to write down what it is you are hearing from them.
One other to try when you want to connect to your angels or to God, is to write a letter about your concerns, dreams, etc. and then write a letter that is from them with their answers to your questions. It can be a very cathartic experience and very healing too.
Start out small and don’t have too many expectations when trying to go within. It’s the tiny steps that help the process to be successful. Have fun with this and enjoy the process.
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Found Object
By twelve, scratched, stained
And slightly warped
It stood there at the curb.
I do not know its history
But swear I heard a plea
As I drove down the road:
“Consider, please consider!
My usefulness is not yet done.
I’m solid wood, pure oak.
My boards are strong;
They’ll hold; they will not break.”
So I stopped, stepped up
And asked the house.
“Eight dollars cheap,
And yours to take.”
Banished to my office lest
It shame the others,
Here it stands
All packed and loaded.
Photos, stacks
Of paperbacks,
Duct tape rolls, a file
Or two, and on the top
The printer this just issued from.
My trusty bookcase, partner
To my desk and chair.
It never spoke again.
©2007 John I. Blair
Click on John I. Blair for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Live a Little
- Your life that counts,
- Not how long you got.
- Come for a Good time
- Not a Long time
- Live a little,
- Love a lot.
Click on Phillip Hennessy for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Lost in The Dark
And your days are all Night
Just follow your Heart,
And follow your Light.
When you think it's all over
and it's time to leave
And there's nothing to go for
And nowhere to Be
Be with your Self
And rest from it all
take a deep breath
Bring life to your soul
The Spirit is living,
the body feels weak
we all need forgiving,
but the dead cannot speak.
Your spirit shines bright,
through all your despair
In the darkest of nights,
It will guide you there.
Follow your heart
Follow your light
Shine to the dark
Bring day to your night
The dark is only in your mind
You got to be brave, be bold
don't leave us all behind
with your story still untold.
©2012 Phillip Hennessy aka Phillipo
Click on Phillip Hennessy for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
The Circle's Getting Smaller
The friends are getting less
The few of those just left behind
They know and love you best
Respect don't come for free, you know,
You got to Earn it, fair and square
And tho it may take Long to grow,
We lose it quick, when we don't Care.
Care for Self, and do for others
keep what matters in your mind
Don't be thinking no one cares
Because they Do, most of the time.
There could be days spent all alone
And nights so dark they hurt
No sleep, just dreams of union
and nightmares, coloured dirt
Then in the light and cold of day
The love you dreamed shines long
It's so, so mad, when love is here
and so, so sad, when it's all gone.
©2012 Phillip Hennesey aka Phillipo
Click on Phillip Hennessy for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
A Passing Of Time
By
Bud Lemire
Of a place and time that belonged to me
The caring of the people, smiles on their faces
Of a time years ago, in several different places
A childhood that was fun filled, of a life I had
Great friends that I kept throughout the years
Many stood beside me as I battled all my fears
A passing of a life, a passing of time
Touched deeply upon this heart of mine
Spiritual Awareness is something that I learned
I found messages of those passed, everywhere I turned
Those who passed who I thought were no more
Were in a Spirit form, stronger than before
They come around to let us know they're there
Yet so many times we aren't even aware
They want to let us know their love never dies
And to let us know they have heard our cries
They send us love and guide us on our way
And watch over us as we live day to day
I think of life and death as similar to a video game. Once we've
finished this part of our role on Earth, we then go into our next level
which is The Spirit World. We on the first level (Earth) can not see
those on the next level because we are so involved with everything on
the level we are on. Their level connects with our level. Sometimes in
our greatest calmness, when we forget the worries and problems, we can
feel their love strongly.
Another similar thing I can compare it to is when on the old Star
Trek series, when Mr Spock went to beam over and found himself still the
Enterprise. He was moving much faster than Captain Kirk and all the
others. So fast, that the others couldn't see him.
I know those who have passed are doing much better and are
walking when they couldn't before, because our souls have taken on the
Spiritual form and can do many things we couldn't before. Our lessons
here on Earth have brought us back into the Light as we continue on our
Spiritual Journey there.
Click on Bud Lemire for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Coo-Coo Crazy
The other side of 'sane'
It's all gone coo-coo crazy
Now here we go, again
It's up and down and round and round,
There's nothing will make sense
This whole charade of seeming straight,
Is one big fat pretence
"Is all OK, and, are you fine,?
- You're looking really good,!"
I'm sick to death, my brain is dead
I'd kill me if I could.
Though what do you care anyway,
You're busy being you,
And nothing I say changes that,
You got too much to do
And as my nothing slips away
See, I'm just wanting Out
No-one cares and no-one shares
Its all a roundabout
"You're spinning out, get out of here,
...You're getting on our nerves,
The helping that we do for you
is more than you deserve"
It's All your fault, so get it right
the fun is over now
Now they want you out of sight
They just can't figure how
They'll lie to you, pretend it's safe,
the drugs You used, weren't clean
Take some of these, instead, they say
'we know where they have been'
Don't take drugs, it's bad, you see
Now here's some more for you...
Swallow this, four times a day
You'll never have a clue,!
Feeling angry,? Stay away,
Or we will call the feds
Shut your mouth and swallow
Now, here's your Legal meds.
And when you're numb, and gone, they'll say
"what more could we have done,?"
He's just another basket case,
Look,...here's another one...
On the brink of madness
The other side of 'sane'
It's all gone coo-coo crazy
Now here we go, again...
©2012 Phillip Hennessy aka Phillipo
Click on Phillip Hennessy for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Hear My Prayer
Within these thoughts of you
Can love keep me here, and stay
Within my heart, so true
If only, all those things you said
weren't engraved upon my mind
and I could be so cool, instead
My love, had been so blind
I could not see, I could not think,
I didn't feel I needed to
Because my love, it was the link
From my soul, unto you
And now I see it was a dream
That came true, within the night
The mourning after, now it seems
So different, in the light
And even though my love is here
And you're a Life away
I just love you, that is clear
Your happiness is here, today
To you, I ask, please wait for me
If you can hear my prayer
My love is here, for you, today
And every night, it's there.
©2012 Phillip Hennessy aka Phillipo
Click on Phillip Hennessy for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Time For me
and
(Authors collaborated on this: Bruce Clifford and Lisa Albano-Musto.)
I'm stuck in time
I feel like I've lost my mind
Why has this world been so unkind
I need to find a place to unwind
Why does life seem so unfair
I've reached the point where I don't care
Even when I close my eyes the noise won't let me be
I need to find some time for me
Time for me
I need a place to rest my mind
Time for me
Why has this world been so unkind
And every time I try to speak
Someone's made a fool of me
Now I'm searching within my heart
To find some time for me
My head hurts
My mind aches
When is it my turn
It's time for me
I'm stuck in time
I feel like I've lost my mind
Why has this world been so unkind
I need to find a place to unwind
Every time I try to speak
Someone's made a fool of me
Now I'm searching within my heart
To find some time
To find some time
To find some time for me
©7/5/12 Bruce Clifford & Lisa Albano-Musto Lisa's bio can be found here: Bio: Lisa Albano-Musto
Click on Bruce Clifford and or Lisa Albano-Musto for bio's and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Broken Over You
All I want to do is to make everything okay
All I wish I could do is to take all of your heartache away
When you're in pain
My heart feels broken into two
I stare out at the rain
I don't what else I can do
When my heart is broken, so broken over you
I don't understand how anyone could disappoint you
I can't comprehend how anyone could hurt you
When you're in pain
My mind tries to tell me what I should do
It's so very hard to explain
I wish I could take all this hurt away from you
When my heart is broken, so broken over you
It's so unfair when everything in your world gets turned upside down
I wish I could turn everything around
When you're feeling low
There are so many words I wish I could say to you
I wish your smile could once again show
I would do anything thing to help you through
When my heart is broken, so broken over you
©7/8/12 Bruce Clifford
All I wish I could do is to take all of your heartache away
When you're in pain
My heart feels broken into two
I stare out at the rain
I don't what else I can do
When my heart is broken, so broken over you
I don't understand how anyone could disappoint you
I can't comprehend how anyone could hurt you
When you're in pain
My mind tries to tell me what I should do
It's so very hard to explain
I wish I could take all this hurt away from you
When my heart is broken, so broken over you
It's so unfair when everything in your world gets turned upside down
I wish I could turn everything around
When you're feeling low
There are so many words I wish I could say to you
I wish your smile could once again show
I would do anything thing to help you through
When my heart is broken, so broken over you
©7/8/12 Bruce Clifford
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Rabbo II-Chapter 7, Part A
Rabbo II-Chapter 7, Part A
By
Mark Crocker
Tomorrow Never Knows
- Off in the distance he saw a hill with a half built building
that looked like the building he had seen once when he had been to
Athens.
- “They are taking there time building it” Rabbo thought to
himself. “And this whole place stinks. It’s not right. Why would they
let it stink so much? How could anyone live with such a stench”?
- Rabbo turned and started to hop up the hill. As he looked
around he saw the familiar shapes of the hills but no house. There were
olive groves and trees but the woods were gone and the ground looked old
and tired as if it had been too long in the sun and used too much.
- There was a stone wall were the house should be and a small
house with smoke coming out of the chimney. As he looked at the house an
old man pulling a donkey came around the side of the house. The donkey
had a huge bundle of wood on its back and moved slowly.
- “That’s not Merwyn” thought Rabbo. “What is going on around here? What’s happened to my home”?
- Again there was a roaring sound overhead and Rabbo turned to
see another huge metal long thing with wings scream overhead towards the
black long thing down in the valley.
- Rabbo turned to watch the huge long metal thing with wings
pass overhead before he turned to look back to were the house should be.
He shook his head trying to understand what was going on.
- This was his home or it was where it should be. But it was not
there and something was very wrong with the air. And the noise was just
unreal.
- “What’s going on” thought Rabbo.
- Rabbo hopped across the dusty field were the barn should be
and headed towards where the warren should be. But there was only dust
and olive trees and a horrible stench in the air.
- Rabbo reached where the warren should be and there was nothing just a pile of rocks and stones.
- He climbed up on the rocks and stones and looked around for
were Athena’s rock pool should be and there was nothing just more dusty
used up ground.
- Rabbo turned and looked around in horror at what he knew was a
very beautiful area. Yet now it was dirty dusty and the stench was
unreal.
- Rabbo started to hop off towards where he could see some trees
knowing that it would be cooler there and he could sit down and try to
understand what had happened to his home.
- A panic started to well up inside Rabbo that Merwyn and Athena
were gone and he was all alone in the strange yet familiar place. He
stilled his racing heart and continued his hop towards the trees.
- The hop was much further than Rabbo realized and by the time
he got to the trees he was so thirty that all he could do was croak a
few sounds at being cool and under the trees.
- Rabbo sat looking around for water to drink and all the time fear and panic started to build in him again.
- “Where are Athena and Merwyn” he thought. “They would not let this happen to out home. Where are they”?
- He turned and looked at the trees and they looked like they
were dieing and that they were not getting enough water. He looked down
at the ground and saw that the pine needles had built up way to high and
that if there was a fire the trees would burn up.
- As he sat under the trees he saw two men walking up towards
the woods. As they got closer he saw that they had little white sticks
in their mouths and smoke coming out of their mouths.
- The two men walked up to him over him and past him.
- As Rabbo sat still trying to understand what was happening he heard soft hopping steps come up behind him.
- He turned around and looked at a young rabbit.
- The young rabbit stopped and looked at Rabbo and then made a
sound that sounded like help. But it was not spoken the same way that
the rabbits in the warren would say help. It sounded more like yelp than
help. But it was clear that the young rabbit was in need of help.
- The young rabbit turned and started to hop away and then
turned back and looked at Rabbo and said the word that meant help again
and then added another word that Rabbo did not understand at all.
- So Rabbo followed the young rabbit that was now hopping fast.
- After a couple of minutes Rabbo spotted another rabbit lying on the ground wriggling with something around its neck.
- Rabbo looked closer and saw that it was some kind of looped
wire that had caught around the rabbit’s neck and each time the rabbit
moved the wire was getting tighter and tighter.
- Rabbo place one paw on the rabbits body and pushed it towards
where the wire was coming from so that it would be loose then he reached
down and loosened the wire and helped the rabbit pulls its head out
from the wire.
- The young rabbit looked at Rabbo bowed his head said something that Rabbo did not understand.
- The other rabbit stood up looked around and started to hop off towards a meadow that Rabbo spotted though the trees.
- Rabbo followed along behind the rabbits in totally misery as
he was so thirty that his throat hurt and his eyes hurt and even his
ears hurt.
- Once in the small meadow Rabbo saw a small stream with dirty brown water running though it.
- Normally he would not drink something that horrible looking
but his thirst was such that he drunk the horrible brown water and
winced at the brackish taste that it left in his mouth.
- From behind him Rabbo heard a soft cough so he turned around
and looked to see a very old rabbit sitting behind him with two younger
rabbits on either side.
- Rabbo looked at the old rabbit and realized that it was blind and very old.
- “Hello” said the very old rabbit. Then it spoke some more words that Rabbo did not understand.
- Rabbo looked at the old rabbit and said “hello my name is Rabbo. What has happened here”?
- “Rabbo” said the very old rabbit. The very old rabbit turned
and spoke to the two rabbits next to him and one ran off as fast as it
could run.
- “Long no speak these wording” said the old rabbit. “When young
talk of you as story where you of being. But you of being true I always
think. When you said you of going and coming. We last here of our kind
but all over we are now. Far we have gone. I now happy I can rest as you
return to us”.
- Rabbo opened his mouth to speak as other rabbits start to show
up. Then one stepped forward and said “Rabbo wake up you sleepy head
its time for breakfast”.
- Suddenly the meadow faded away and sitting on the side of the bed was Athena.
- Athena picked up Rabbo and looked at him at arms length. “You ok Rabbo”?
- Rabbo wriggled until Athena let him down and he leaped up and
wrapped his front legs and paw around Athena’s neck and held tight.
- “Hey hey not so tight” said Athena. “What has gotten into you Rabbo”?
- “I had a horrible dream a nightmare really” sobbed Rabbo.
- “I can see that you had a rough night you are all sweaty” said Athena looking worried.
- “I was here but the house was gone and there were olive trees
and the woods where gone and the air was brown and smelt wrong and there
were huge metal things in the sky that made a lot of noise and the
ground look sick and the air was sick and there was no water and what
water I found was brown and tasted horrible and there was a rabbit
trapped and I helped it out of the trap. And another rabbit came that
was very old and spoke to me. It was horrible” said Rabbo sobbing on
Athena’s shoulder.
- Athena rocked Rabbo making a shushing sound to calm him down as he sobbed on her shoulder.
- Merwyn came walking into Athena’s room and looked at Rabbo.
- “Hmm a nightmare. Do you feel like talking about it Rabbo” asked Merwyn.
- “I don’t think now is a good time dad” said Athena. “I can still feel his heart beating very fast. Let him calm down first”.
- “Ok bring him downstairs as breakfast is ready” said Merwyn as he looked over at Rabbo with one eye brow raised.
- “Dad I think a shower might be a good idea as poor Rabbo is all sweaty from his nightmare and I need to shower too” said Athena.
- “Ok when you are ready” said Merwyn as he turned and left Athena’s bedroom.
- Athena stood up and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. She reached into the bath shower and turned on the water.
- Still holding onto Rabbo she slipped out of her robe and reached into the shower to check how warm the water was.
- Athena waited a moment or two then stepped into the shower
still holding Rabbo. Soon they were both wet and Athena put Rabbo down
and soaped herself before kneeling down and soaping Rabbo. She then
started to rinse Rabbo off making sure that all the soap was out of his
fur.
- The warm water on his fur felt so good that Rabbo started to relax and enjoy the feeling of it running though his fur.
- Rabbo sat in the warm water and watched as Athena washed her
hair and body. As she was rinsing off she suddenly got a far away look
in her eyes and stopped in mid rinse.
- “Darling can you hear me” said Bastet of Athena’s private mode.
- “Yes I can best beloved” answered Athena in the same mode.
- “What are you doing”?
- “Showering my lovely darling. Wish you where here with me” giggled Athena.
- “Really! How warm is the water” said Bastet.
- “Warm but I am about to turn it up so that my skin tingles before I step out of the shower” replied Athena.
- Bastet voice echoed in Athena’s head as Bastet laughed “Good nice and hot!”
- Suddenly there was a bright glowing ball of white light that
had a black center. The black center was not so much black is in the
color black more the color of the night sky when there are no stars.
- Out of the blackness stepped Bastet holding a small stone box.
- Bastet fell to the floor naked and shivering and looked up at Athena. “Drag me into the shower I need warmth”.
- Athena leapt out of the shower and dragged Bastet into the
shower and started to massage her frozen body as the hot water poured
over them both.
- Rabbo looked at Bastet in confusion as she was almost blue with cold.
- “Merwyn, Bastet is here she does not look well” said Rabbo on the general telepathic mode.
- Through chattering teeth Bastet looked up “I am fine Rabbo just cold” Bastet stuttered.
- Merwyn came running into the bathroom ignoring the fact that
both Athena and Bastet were naked. He closed his eyes and Bastet let out
a soft moan as she felt warmth spread though her whole body as Merwyn
warmed her up from the inside out.
- “Dam you Bastet. Self teleporting in summer is bad enough but
it's winter. Where is your brain girl” said Merwyn not hiding the anger
in his voice.
- “I had to come” said Bastet her teeth still chattering but noticeable less than she had been when she first arrived.
- “What’s so dam important that you risk your life?” asked Merwyn.
- Bastet pointed at the box on the floor as she sat up. “Careful
as you pick it up the cold may of made the stone box brittle and it
could break. What is inside is important”.
- Bastet started to close her eyes. “Stay with me now girl” said Merwyn his voice changing from anger to near panic.
- Bastet opened her eyes and looked at Merwyn. “I’m not going anywhere, so stop your worrying”
- Bastet sat up and looked at Athena. She slid a hand around
Athena’s head and pulled her down and kissed her deeply and
passionately.
- Bastet released Athena from her kiss and pulled away. She
slipped weakly out of the shower and wriggled over to the stone box that
was still lying on the floor. She opened it and as she did the lid
started to break apart.
- Inside the box was a small silver disk about two inches wide.
- “If the cold had not damaged it this could fix our fertility issues” said Bastet weakly.
- Rabbo slipped out of the shower and hopped over to the dryer
and pressed the button to start to dry himself off. Then he looked over
at Bastet “Come and sit under the dryer to warm up”.
- “Great idea” said Merwyn.
- Merwyn reached down and picked up the naked Bastet and put her
next to Rabbo on the dryer pad and turned the nozzle to wide so that
Rabbo could get dry while at the same time warm Bastet.
- As Bastet warmed herself Helena came walking into the bathroom carrying a cup full of a warm steaming liquid.
- “Drink this, my goddess” said Helena as she bowed and offered the steaming cup.
- “Oh knock that off” said Bastet weakly. “I am no more a goddess than you are”.
- “As you wish. But still drink this it will restore you to vigor” said Helena still bowing.
- “Thank you” said Bastet as she took the steaming cup and sipped.
- About an hour later Bastet sat at the kitchen table eating porridge and looking at Helena who was sitting in Merwyn's lap.
- “So Rabbo I understand you had a nightmare last night” said Bastet turning and looking at Athena.
- “Yeah” said Rabbo shyly not sure if he should talk about his nightmare or how Bastet had find out.
- “You told her” Rabbo asked Athena on her private mode.
- “Yes I did” said Athena on the same mode.
- Merwyn Athena and Bastet all turned and looked at Rabbo.
- “Close your eyes drop your shields and replay in your mind your nightmare” said Merwyn.
- Rabbo did as he was told and felt a very strange and odd feeling as Merwyn, Athena and Bastet entered his mind.
- For the next half hour Rabbo relived his nightmare up to the point where Athena woke him up.
- “Pity you woke him up” said Merwyn looking at Athena.
- “What do you make of it Bastet” said Athena.
- “It’s not a nightmare that’s for sure” said Bastet. “Rabbo were you astral traveling last night”?
- “No” answered Rabbo.
- “It’s a future dream or you really somehow slipped between
times in your astral form. But that would not explain why only the
rabbits saw you and how you got the other rabbit out of the snare” said
Merwyn.
- “Is Athens really going to look like that” asked Athena.
- “Yes I think so” said Merwyn thoughtfully.
- “How far ahead do you think Rabbo went” asked Bastet.
- “I don’t know. Maybe a few thousand years” said Merwyn almost lost in thought. “What I can’t understand is how he did it”.
- “Did what” asked Rabbo.
- “Jumped ahead in time and I mean far ahead” said Merwyn even more thoughtfully.
- “So you mean that is what Athens will look like in a few thousand years” said Rabbo rephrasing Athena’s question.
- “I don’t see how Athens could end up looking like that in two
thousand years” muttered Athena. “Unless Ra had something to do with it.
I would guess that it would take at lest three or even four thousand
years to reach that level of pollution and technology. You saw the
ground transport and the air transport. That takes a long time to reach
that level of technology. Dad how much had the hills and mountains
changed around this little area”?
- “Hmm good point if you are thinking the same thing I am” said Merwyn.
- “And that would be” asked Rabbo
- “Erosion” said both Merwyn and Athena.
- Merwyn got up and walked off to the library and closed the library door behind him.
- Helena reseated herself in the chair that Merwyn had been sitting in and looked at Athena, Bastet and Rabbo.
- “I really don’t understand what you are talking about. Could you explain it a little clearer” said Helena.
- Rabbo explained to Helena about the dream he had in such
detail that Helena sat still with an intent look on her face as she
listen hard and let all that Rabbo was telling her sink in.
- Final after twenty minutes Helena sat back and looked
thoughtful “It’s nice to know that Athens will survive for however long
into the future your dream was”.
- “I don’t think it was a dream” said Merwyn standing in the
doorway to the library “Isis and I think that Rabbo went about three
thousand five hundred years into the future give or take five hundred
years”.
- “So you think that I jumped ahead in time some how in a dream state and I created a body for myself in that time” asked Rabbo.
- “Pretty much. It would be interesting to know how you did it” said Merwyn looking thoughtful.
- “Dad don’t you dare try that” said Athena looking worried.
- Merwyn laughed at Athena and sat on the edge of the table. He
turned and looked at the children who had just walked in though the
kitchen door carrying Cat on a plank of wood.
- Cat looked around as if he was lord and master of all that he could see and that the girls where his personal slaves.
- The girls walked over and placed the plank next to the fire and Cat got of bowed to the girls and curled up next to the fire.
- Merwyn walked towards the opened door to close it and Rabbo’s
mother mischief and the rabbit kittens came racing in towards the fire
place.
- There was still much that Rabbo did not understand about his
dream time travel but it was clear that neither Merwyn, Athena nor
Bastet had any idea on how he had done it.
- “Now about your disk that you found” said Merwyn to Bastet.
“Let's see what you have on it that you would risk your life to bring it
here”.
- Bastet got up holding the small disk in her hand and started
to walk to the library. Merwyn followed along behind her and closed the
door.
- Rabbo hopped down from his chair and hopped over to Athena and
jumped up into her lap. He walked around in a circle before he lay down
to relax.
- Athena started to stroke his fur as she stated to talk to Helena about Rabbo’s dream.
- “What worries me is that Athens won’t be the Athens we both
love. I have this feeling that Ra will be behind what it turns into”
said Athena.
- “But that’s a long way off” said Helena. “Both you and I will be long gone by then”
- “You maybe? But I might be still around” said Athena.
- “How long do you live” asked Helena?
- “The oldest of our race lived to be over five thousand five
hundred years. But the average age that we start to fade at is about
four thousand years. But if the will to live is strong that might move
out to four thousand seven hundred years or even five thousand years. So
it’s possible that I could live to see Athens look like what Rabbo saw.
Not that I want to see Athens like that”.
- “I don’t blame you for not wanting to see our beloved Athens turn bad like that” said Helena sadly.
- Rabbo looked over at Helena “I hope it does not get all smelly
like I saw it. And the dust and those huge metal things in the sky. It
was scary. But the fact that rabbits still speak their own language
gives me so hope. Just I don’t understand why someone or something would
trap rabbits”.
- “Because rabbits are food to some creatures and people. If
there is not much to eat people will eat whatever they can find. Such as
rabbits and even cats” said Athena sadly.
- “Yuck” said Rabbo.
- “I’ve eaten rabbit” said Helena “it was after my husband was
killed and I had to catch food for myself so that I could feed my unborn
baby. It was right after I could no longer be priestess and I had no
food”.
- “If you had stayed as high priestess Diana would have died” said Athena.
- “I know and I am glad that you did what you had to do” said Helena smiling at Athena.
- Rabbo looked over at the fire and saw that his mother,
mischief Cat and the kittens were asleep. However the girls were sitting
by the fire talking softly as not to wake the sleeping cat and rabbits.
- “It’s nice to see human’s cats and rabbits getting along so nicely” said Rabbo.
- “Yes it is” said Helena. “However I think the girls are
getting tired and its close to their mid morning nap. Don’t you agree
Athena?”
- “Yes I agree”.
- Athena picked up Rabbo stood up and turned putting Rabbo back down in the chair she had just got up from.
- Helena also stood up and walked over to the children and looked down at them.
- Athena walked over to the stove got a pan and then walked off
into the cool storage room and came back with a jug of milk. She poured
the milk into the pan and started to warm the milk.
- At the same time she reached up into one of the cupboards and got down the jar that had oatmeal cookies in it.
- Helena lead the children into the living room had them sit
down on the couch and started to tell them a story to help them relax.
- Athena walked in with a tray of warm milk and a plate of cookies that she placed on the low table in front of the couch.
- “So you really think that would fix the problem” Merwyn said.
- “Yes but there is a problem. There are only two Sirian’s that I
would trust. Me and Athena and I’m not willing to try and as Athena has
already been pregnant I am not sure. We have to find another Sirian
that is willing and not under the influence of Ra”
- “I agree but it might not be a problem finding another Sirian
that is willing. Just that I might not be willing” said Merwyn laughing.
- Rabbo opened one eye and looked at Merwyn and Bastet as they
stood talking about all the possibilities that the new information had
given them.
- “You know you could use the information as bait for Ra” said Rabbo sitting up.
- Merwyn and Bastet turned and looked at Rabbo.
- “Hmm there’s a thought” said Merwyn.
- “It might keep him busy for a while and lessen the danger that he presents to you Merwyn” said Bastet.
- “Or he could create an army to move against me” replied Merwyn.
- “I never thought of that” said Bastet.
- “Now if I could do what Rabbo did last night I could see what
was possible and what Ra might be up to. That is if I could control how
far ahead I could go” said Merwyn.
- “Now there’s a thought” said Rabbo. “Maybe I could repeat what I did and see into the future and see what Ra will do”.
- Rabbo closed his eyes to think.
- “That would bring up a whole nest of issues that would be hard to work out” said Bastet thoughtfully.
- “Such as” said Merwyn.
- “Paradoxes for one thing. I mean if you are seeing what has
happened that means you can’t change it or that by trying to change it,
you make it happen. Look going to the future means that it’s already
happened so therefore you can’t change what has happened. But knowing
what will happen might help. It’s all so confusing” Bastet paused held
up her hand so that she could think without Merwyn interrupting her. “Ok
look at it this way. You jump ahead twenty years and you see what Ra
had done. But you won’t know what happened to get to that point. All you
will know is that it happened but not the how. So jumping ahead while
it could be fun it’s pretty much useless as it does not tell you what
happened in between. But what if. Just supposing you did know what
happened to lead to the point that you jump to? By changing your actions
you might make something worse happen. You see for us the future has
not happened. But to us in the future we are the past here and now. Yeah
it’s confusing. But then jumping forward in time would be. I mean how
do you talk about it. Like what tense do you use when talking to someone
from the past about their future that has already happened. And can you
see yourself and talk to your future self. That would drive you crazy.
If I could go back and warn past me and say “hey Hermes is going to
inject your sister and bond mate of Merwyn with radiation sickness”
would I believe myself and not think I am going crazy. Plus I know that I
did not so I know that I did not. You understand what I am trying to
say. So if we follow my premise that I have not gone back in time we
know that we can’t as it’s happened. Now if we take that about going to
the future. Will future me know that I have travel forward in time from
this time? I don’t know because to present me I would be past me to
future me. What I mean Merwyn is that I don’t know if it can be done. I
mean we know Rabbo did but he did not try and warn himself about
anything. Maybe we can’t travel forward or backwards in time in our life
time.
- What do you think” said Bastet.
- “Maybe we should ask Rabbo what he knows and how he thinks he
did it. After all we know that he did jump forward. Just we don’t know
how he did it” said Merwyn turning to look at Rabbo.
- Rabbo opened his eyes and looked up at Merwyn and Bastet.
- “I don’t know how I did it. I went to bed and then I dreamt
that I was at future here. I have no idea how far ahead I went or how I
did it” said Rabbo.
- “Ok let’s start with what you where doing last night” said
Merwyn “let's start after dinner and let’s see if we can step by step
come up with the answer on how you did it”?
- “Well after dinner I was reading the print out that I have
from Isis while you and Helena where being silly then Athena came in.
Athena and I talked on the private mode about how good Helena is for you
and I made a mistake by telling her what we had heard on one of our
trips down to Ra’s and what Anubis had said about having sex with her.
Then you all left and I went to bed once I had finished reading. I got
on Athena’s bed and went to sleep as I was really tired. Then the next
thing I knew Athena was waking me up” said Rabbo.
- “Hmm not much to go on really” said Bastet. “We could recreate
last night and see if that makes Rabbo repeat his umm jump forward”?
- Both Rabbo and Merwyn laughed but both for different reasons.
- “Maybe if we repeat the whole day from beginning to end that might work” said Rabbo.
- “Maybe” laughed Merwyn.
- “Ok what’s so funny” asked Bastet.
- Merwyn looked at Bastet and smiled and turned to Rabbo. “You
know I just had a thought. Not a very good one but let's check my star
chart and see if there was anything going on that might of made you
jump”.
- “Like what” asked Bastet?
- “Like gravitational fields. If Rabbo was dream traveling it is
slightly or rather remotely possible that a gravitational field pulled
on him and sent him forward in time. It’s a remote chance I admit but
possible” said Merwyn sounding like he was trying to convince himself
more than Rabbo and Bastet.
- “Before we look at your star charts maybe we should go over
again what we know” said Bastet. “More like one of your investigations
that you use to do after one of your battles.”
- “Good idea Bastet. I always knew that I could turn that to a
better use than just winning the next battle” said Merwyn thoughtfully.
Editor's Note: Watch for Part B of Chpt 7, Book II, in September issue.
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
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