I Will Give You Life

I've had just enough time to...   give life to...

Taken on the road north of Hanoi...

A block of marble

Cold and rigid

Shapeless, sterile

Elicit no emotion

Dead

Chiseled and hammered

Ground and polished

Brought to life

By imagination

And memory

If a block of stone

Can be given life

Imagine what…

_______

J.R. Richards – I Will Give You Life

And take all my love and hate

For I will give you life

Two Views of the Field of Gold

I've had just enough time to...   view the field of gold.

Taken in Sekinchan, Malaysia of the farmer surveying his field of gold

The farmer surveys his field of gold

That stretches to the blue sky above

And he sees a year’s toil

I stood there at the crack of dawn

To see the sun shedding its shine

And I see her hair of gold

The farmer smile

I too smile

At the prospect of a satisfying harvest

That the approaching night

Will soon cover that field of gold…

I Don't Know (The Equation of Life)

I've had just enough time to...   answer with "I don't know"

Taken during a lecture in Dongguan, China when I don't know the equation

I don’t know the equation of Life

Presented on the white board

To the last two decimal

Neat and tidy

My mind is blank

My emotion in turmoil

Everyone were nodding their heads

But mine was violently shaking

“Life is a formula!”

But mine doesn’t equate!

I follow the rules

I read the books

I listen to the experts

And experts don’t lie

Do they?

They show me the path we should take

They have a shortcut

Only experts can make

When I asked why?

I got an “F”

And shown the door

Now I cannot be an expert-like

I’ve lost the Equation of Life

No certificate, no certificate

Condemned to die

_______ 

I don't know what you smoke or what countries you've been to

if you speak any other languages other than your own

but I'd like to meet you

I don't know if you drive if you love the ground beneath you

I don't know if you write letters or panic on the phone

still I'd like to call you all the same, if you want to, I am game.

Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know