rough draft poem

Raising our voices
in one accord,
let's shout out a song
of praise to the Lord,
telling his deeds,
oh, tell them once more!
How He stretched out the heavens
from the tiniest core
thus making vast spaces
where none were before.
August 2005
I've been thinking about this subject for some time, this is just the latest attempt at a poem...

a few poems

digest and reflect
After a good argument, like a good meal
one likes to digest and reflect.
If the words do sit well-
and not with craftiness- can stand the test;
then one must carefully consider them
to be indeed just and scrupulous.
Billings 1998

Sun Myth
Over the mountain, peeks
the sun,
and her fiery tresses flow about her,
tendrils escaping to fly across the heavens.
Gathering her dignity,
she assumes her place.
As a prima donna she holds the stage captive until the last
possible moment.
Turning then, she flips her hair,
her fiery hair,
and it floats across the sky
behind her.
Bozeman 1994?

An Alley
Mon ami Abby,
she is an ally cat-
astrophic. Tin cans posted
on garbage pails that
reek of old fish.
Abby, normally
has little traffic,
except for Tom.

Cuisine
A good meal has two sides
that pair like bosom friends,
for we know very well that cuisine
is art as well as science.
Science on side A of the coin
the chemistry of mixtures and heat,
art on the opposite side
for the eye and the tongue a treat.
Billings 1998

When it rains...

On the news last night, I heard the statistics that we Oregonians have suspected. Not only is there a lot more rain than last year, we have actually had about 300% the average rainfall for the last month. Not that I am complaining. I love the rain. The air smells fresh and clean, the grass grows green, the sound of it is soothing, and it fun to go out walking with an umbrella (and a cup of hot coffee).
Also my cat (S. Augustus Kitty) is not always trying to get outside. He got out the door the other day, and made it down five steps before changing his mind.

Now here is something I have never seen before. I got in a piece of junk mail for my other cat, Ariel Ana Took. Not that it does them any good; Ariel only accepts checks and love letters.

Winter Term 2006

The Lexicon, what is it? The mental dictionary. It includes everything you know about a word: how it is spelled, how it sounds, what it means, and how it is used. In addition it studies the organization of that information in the brain and how it is retrieved.

Sociolinguistics, what about that? Well, this class is more than just a random blend of sociology and linguistics. We will be learning about how people use language in society in different ways. Politeness, for example, is expressed in many different ways. What is polite in one group can be considered impolite in another.

Writing Research Papers. This will be a fun class, and we will learn some helpful tips on note taking, writing rough drafts, picking a topic, and all sorts of useful things. (I only wish I'd taken it sooner)

Dance for fitness. Not at all what I had expected, but better. More like Flamenco and a lot less like 'jazzercise'.

Second Year Hebrew. The best term yet, I can see it already. Now we are getting to the very interesting things, the more complex grammar. The verb structure and sentence composition. We should make great progress this term.

A few good quotes

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one. C. S. Lewis

With our loss of the sinse of majesty has come the furthur loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. A. W. Tozer

...have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Ranier Maria Rilke

We crave nothing less than perfect story; and while we chatter or listen all our lives in a din of craving- jokes, anecdotes, novels, dreams, films, plays, songs, half the words of our days- we are satisfied only by the one short tale we feel to be true; History is the will of a just god who knows us. Reynolds Price

Man's maker was made a man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die. Augustine

Little Augustus

There is a little cat-
a really wondrous beast,
who'll take a little snack
if he cannot get a feast.

But when his belly's full,
he'll curl up in the sun.
He'll dream of grand adventures,
and trophies he has won.

When the lad's in Africa,
he is a sight to see.
When he shakes his mane and tail,
all mammals turn and flee.

He travels with the circus,
and flies the great trapeze,
soaring through the air
like a bird upon the breeze.

When he sails the roughesty seas,
he never is afraid-
though fighting be his lot,
and piracy his trade.

He loves to be in office,
whether president or king,
or even as count jester-
if he doesn't have to sing.

When cooking up a storm,
he really makes a mess-
but all his tasty dishes
prove he is a chef.

Sometimes a little noise
disturbs his peaceful sleep.
He will wake up thinking of
the secrets he will keep.

And if the lad has secrets
he'll never ever tell,
for he speaks no word of English,
and perhaps it's just as well.

The end
This poem story was inspired by my cat, S. Augustus Kitty.

Do Fairies Go Bootless?

I started working on this story in 1995, and it has been 'a work in progress'

Tourist fairies stroll downtown-
meandering in from woods and downs
trekking from mountain villages hidden.
Identity disclosure? strictly forbidden.
The boots are a must for stealthy disguise
as for their feet? I theorize:

Perhaps hinds feet nimble and true,
turning quick and graceful as dancers' do,
like a home-body hobbit's, silently swift,
aerodynamic for maximum lift.
Disguise tucks foot in boot,
no dancing, no playing the flute.

But when days are warmly sunny,
made for bare feet and full tummies,
sand trickling between toes,
ticklesome grasses in the breeze blow:
No fairy could miss splashing through streams,
laughter sparkling as moonlight gleams.