Hello Springtime!

Ah spring!  Coming from a country where there are basically only two seasons in the year- a wet season and a dry season- I find that each of the seasons has its own beauty and its own special appeal. However, spring has to be my favourite season of them all. And it's not just because it reminds me that summer is on its way. I simply love the feeling of rebirth that comes with the new buds, the (generally) warmer temperatures and the lengthening days. 

And, my absolute favourite thing about spring? Well, I'd have to say the colours. Maybe it has something to do with the sunshine, or the warmer weather (especially this year) or the multitude of flowers bursting into bloom all over the place, but whatever the case, colours just seem more vibrant at this time of year. 

So, in honour of the season, here's an old poem, written several years ago during my first Spring:

The Springing of Spring

The first days of spring are here

And the birds have returned.

One realizes once again

That insects exist

And the trees are first popping

Then literally bursting

Into life.

The sun,

Which during the months of cold

Seemed little more

Than a shimmering

Dot of a decoration in the sky,

Begins to reacquire its vitality.

The days start

To feel a little longer

And the heart rejoices

As the eye takes in the sight

Of the golden orb

Framed in azure skies.

The river overflows its banks

As the mountain snow

Begins to melt.

Creamy and faded legs

Begin to peek out

From under shorts and miniskirts.

Some of the victims of the long winter

Still show signs

Of the long hard battle;

While some late sleepers

Are yet to change into the garb

Of the new year’s foliage.

The sounds of young life

Fill the air

As nature conducts the first

strains

Of her orchestra that will reach

A fever-pitch crescendo

In the summer.

As God looks down on the waking world,

I wonder if it brings back,

With a tinge of nostalgic reverie,

The days when all was new and clean,

Freshly sprung in to being

At the sound of His melodious voice.

But then maybe it also cheers

His heart as He thinks ahead

To a new world

Where the icy hand of Death

Will never raise a finger

And where the winter

Of the Dark Oblivion

Of a million gaping graves

Will never chill the air

Where children

Will sing and dance and work

With their elders

And the harmony of man and

Nature will never be broken.

Where boredom will be a word

Not to be found

Even in the oldest tome

Of the most ancient dictionary

Of the most antiquated form

Of the language.

I can see that cheering Him

And bringing a radiant smile

To His face.

And I think,

“I want that smile to shine on me

And all I do forever.”

I don’t want to hurt the Father

Who is Life.

May His smile that brings life

Illuminate us and the world!!!

Looking Through Fresh Eyes

Walking down the street today I had an experience that I just couldn't help but share. Without over exaggerating things, I have to say that I feel like I bordered on epiphany. I can’t quite explain exactly how it happened but, all of a sudden, I looked up and saw a balcony on a building that I must have passed at least a hundred times in the last six years. That one balcony looked like such a perfect place to relax and people watch, that I started to look around me at the other buildings I passed to see what I might have missed as I rushed by in the whirlwind of activity that has been my life over the past four years.  I honestly have to say, I was taken aback by the number of extraordinarily ordinary details I've seen but never noticed in my frenetic ego-centric rush to get here or go there or do this or that.

I suppose that what I'm really talking about is taking the time to smell the proverbial roses. It's something we talk about enough but one which not many of us actually do. And it seems like the older we get (at least in my experience), the less we live. And I'm not just talking about having fun either because what strikes me as I write this, is that we can even get so absorbed in our pursuit of pleasure that we still don't really enjoy living. I mean, can you call a life where you're constantly exhausted as a result of overwork, excessive partying or anything else living?

This quite ordinary experience has really opened my eyes to the way I've been going about my life. It's not to say that I regret anything, I just realize that I need to step back from my own stuff on a regular basis in order to look at the big picture. Interestingly enough, it showed me that I don't even have to take time out to do so. I mean, I was on my way to the tax office at the time it happened, (I know, who needs the club when there's the tax office right?). It's something we can do while about our daily business. It can really be that simple.

So, why not take a couple seconds to slide your stuff over into a corner and look at what's out there- besides you. This is by no means an endorsement of procrastination, mind you. If you have a report due and shirk that to go traipsing through the local mall, don't cite me as the one who told you to do it! But do take a minute to think outside your schedule, your friends, your responsibilities, your pleasure, your needs and wants because there's a great big world out there! It's quite easy and most of all, it will leave you energized and refreshed like nothing else- and who knows, you just might find the inspiration you need to tackle your own issues. 

Here's to a new perspective on living!

SoulJah Bwoy

These are the innards;
The deepening;
The dark and light;
The dusty, musty, crusty
Ignored-til-forgotten corners
of the Soul Jah gave
this warrior boy.

Born in a protected thicket;
Sheltered from the battle
raging in surrounding fields;
Transplanted in a quiet clearing-
A stone's throw away
from the grenades and bombs
minefields
gnawing swiss cheese holes
in the living earth around
the boy with the Soul Jah gave.

The sheltering bubble
reflects the glow of violent fires
whose penetrating heat
threads sweaty crystal beads
on the surface skin of
this boy fighter Soul for Jah.

Armed for the war,
Stubborn fear nibbling
at the marrow of the Soul Jah made.
Distracted from the mission
by shiny worthless fossils
whose age gives them the allure of treasure-
Cunning, crafty, artful dodger;
Aged vice and snare
whispering,luring;
Sights set, cocked and aimed
at the Soul Jah bwoy.

Born from the wisdom of ancestry;
Nurtured by a mother Soul of Jah;
Lying covered under arms everlasting;
Transported on eagle wings;
Facing storms on mountain tops;
Resting in the valleys;
Oasised at living springs;
Camouflaged by love,
being everything and nothing-
Fierce and tender,
Shaded by day,
Hidden by night-
Growing from the seedling Soul Jah sowed,
Into the strength
Of the Soul Jah meant to become
the Warrior Man.