What The Plovers Stole From Me

I've had just enough time...   to be thankful to the plovers who stole from me

 Taken of the pair of plovers that stole away my worries in a private beach in Hua Hin, Thailand

Walking alone on the wind swept beach

Pounded by roaring waves

It was no lullaby

Peace was not in my heart

Or in my mind

They will make very quick darts across the sand that looks quick comical

While I was not looking

The plovers darted in

Snatched away my worries

In a big hurry

Then stopped dead still. They may face away from each other.

 My head felt strangely light

I left the beach with a smile

For  the plovers

That stole from my mind

Or facing the same direction

If you didn't follow them with your eyes, it takes you quite a while to look for them when they are not moving.

 There, they go on their mad dash again :)

Then stopped to be part of the scenery.

See how easy it is to miss them had I not zoomed in with my shots.

They are very interesting to watch. There are two plovers in all these pictures. Did you notice them all?

Eden Is Between Ithaka and Home

I've had just enough time to...   look for Eden somewhere between Ithaka and home

Taken of a Himalayan valley from the edge of a mountain

Eden is between Ithaka and home

But they are in different directions!

Can you take your heart to Ithaka

And not think of home?

Can you stay in the comfort of your home

And not yearn for Ithaka?

I packed my bags and sleep under the stars

Heading for Ithaka

When the journey gets too arduous

And my steps too weary

And home came in my sleep

I know it is time to return

Eden is not a place in some mystical land

Eden is between home and Ithaka

_______

Ithaca 

When you set out for Ithaka

ask that your way be long,

full of adventure, full of instruction.

The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,

angry Poseidon - do not fear them:

such as these you will never find

as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare

emotion touch your spirit and your body.

The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,

angry Poseidon - you will not meet them

unless you carry them in your soul,

unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long.

At many a Summer dawn to enter

with what gratitude, what joy -

ports seen for the first time;

to stop at Phoenician trading centres,

and to buy good merchandise,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

and sensuous perfumes of every kind,

sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;

to visit many Egyptian cities,

to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind.

Your arrival there is what you are destined for.

But don't in the least hurry the journey.

Better it last for years,

so that when you reach the island you are old,

rich with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.

Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.

Without her you would not have set out.

She hasn't anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you.

So wise you have become, of such experience,

that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean. 

Constantine P. Cavafy

Birds Talk No One Hears

I've had just enough time to...   hear birds talking

Taken while walking in the street of Rangon, Myanmar

The lines of communications belong to the birds

That chirp, cheep, chitter and twitter

Short and sweet, incessant and insane

A thousand voice, one great din

Who is listening?

 Who is listening!?

Not me, are you?

We tweet to speak,

Not to hear

But who is listening

If everyone speaks?

You don’t get it, do you?

It is birds talk

In birds talk

Everyone talks

No one hears

If birds talk everyone talks

No one hears

Jailed For Their Songs

I've had just enough time to...   sing my songs in jail

Taken of the jailed song birds while walking in the street of Surabaya, Indonesia.

They were jailed for their songs

Their sins were they sing too sweetly

Where is the crime in that?

You asked.

You asked the wrong question.

_______

By a lonely prison wall,

I heard a young man calling

Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free

Against the famine and the Crown,

I rebelled, they cut me down.

Now you must raise our child with dignity.

Low lie the fields of Athenry

Where once we watched the small free birds fly

Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing

It's so lonely 'round the fields of Athenry.

Dropkick Murphys - Fields of Athenry

The Reason For A Scarecrow

I've had just enough time to...  ask a scarecrow

A drive by shooting of the innocent scarecrow in Lebanon

Does a scarecrow scares crows?

If not, why have a scarecrow?

Having someone to look after the crop

Does it give you comfort?

When you know it does not do the job?

The birds are not fooled

To them it as a joke

To think they will be scared

By something as stiff as that

The birds knew

And the farmers too

The scarecrow is there only for show

The farmers can tell you

The birds too in their twitters

That there is a purpose to it all

A tradition that ought be followed

The scarecrows beg to disagree

The reason is that they exist

Hope Is A Thing With Feathers.

I've had just enough time...   to let fly a little hope.

Taken in the grounds of Shaolin Temple, China.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all, 

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm. 

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

-"Hope Is A Thing With Feathers", Emily Dickinson.

_____

 

Cast your wish with hope

Let it fly without wings to

Cover a nation.

_____

Every Vote Counts! Yours Will!