Stick 30 - The Line

The invisible thinner than thin line

A dear friend of mine was sent to jail at a very young age and to this day I believe with all my heart that he was innocent. He served his time in silent paleness for two long years,  and I remember vividly one mid winter's afternoon as we tried to ignore the cold in the visitor's room,  I asked him a question. I asked whether it was hard for him to be there amongst those who have genuinely committed some horrible crimes. He got tears in his eyes and said... " I have come to realise that humans decide about right and wrong every second of the day and sometimes a split second decision, pushes a person over the very thin line which seperates the right from wrong". I remember his words as I write this today...

I wish I could gift to you today
straight from the garden of care and concern
a single stem flower, head held high
called yesterday, today and tomorrow

Your right wipe the wrong of yesterday
Your white embrace the black today
Your hurt fuse with the hope of tomorrow
and your life speak of being strong

I now realise as I grow old
How much a blurred line I have lived
How many unforgivable times I faded the invisible line
How often I hurt and wronged and slurred

My yesterday will not let go
My tomorrow cannot begin
as my today is trapped in the middle of the invisible thinner than thin line

Stick 29 - The Birth

Photo supplied by Hendriette du Plessis

The beginning ...of all life, is the journey we take
From our mother's womb we travel to a destiny fate
We arrive and are inspected at life's gate
We gracefully accept a totally empty life slate

Sometimes during our birth we hear our mothers cry out
Their voices calling us to grab onto every moment without doubt
As they hug us to their breast in the after of the birth
We taste their salty tears and wonder how we can avoid this hurt

The birth canal lay dormant till we reach our own birthing years
It it then that we realise
It is then that we see
How much a mother and a father
Is meant to set us free

Stick 28 - Tango

You asked me to Tango
I knew you knew how
You smiled as you stepped forward
You knew what would happen now

Your large palm opened and encouraged my hand
as I braced with determination and tried to understand
Your hand nestled tightly on the small of my back
as you led me to the dance floor and kissed my neck

You laughed as you enjoyed the smell of my hair
when you nestled forward with a message of care
But while the music was still playing, you let go of my hand
you left the dancefloor, while I found it hard to stand

I still wanted to Tango
I still wanted to be held
I wanted to drink from the moon
I wanted to lie in a spoon
I so much, now and always still wanted you

Stick 27 - Lifeline

The lifeline inside my palm

I turn my hand and stare at my palm
I see the lines that foretell of a time of no harm
I cusp-hug my hand and trace-embrace my lifeline 

and all of a sudden, and all at once, I cannot but wonder ...

how to know how far I have come?
when will I reach the criss-cross of time?
where will my spirit start to depart?
who will be inside my heart?
what will be said about the way I played my part?

Stick 26 - Peach Orchard

Peach orchard at midday

Cicadas gossiping through the trees
Ladders leaning against tree trunks
Baskets brimming with fresh pink-cheek fruit
Peach aroma in the rich afternoon air
Sky bright blue, Sun the glue, Summer hue

I want you

Laughter as we chase through the grass,
as we hide behind trees,
as we want everything to last….

Stick 25 - Shanghai Wedding

The Yangtze flowed fast...

... and the trading boats marched past. She stood in the cool night air, soft wind brushing her hair and her slender fingers gripped onto the rails. The black of her hair challended the night of nights. Her Shanghai wedding was closer than close. 

The boat horns chopped a path through the misty river fog, as they lengthened their haste and brightened their lights to rush through the water and dock at the port. Their hulls filled with loads of ribbons and silk and fresh flowers and tiaras and food and candles and silver shoes.

She saw them speed past, she knew the moment could not last. Tomorrow at dawn, she will uncloak the past and dress for the next phase to last. Her wedding would be filled with branches of gifts. Her hands will spread the oil of love over the coming years as the moss moments grow on the Shanghai evening Yangtze river rails.

Stick 24 - It's Her

I saw her arms outstreched so wide...

...and her red hair curls thrown back in delight. She laughed with total abandonement, her eyes so bright, her mouth so wide. As if on que, the dark blue sky chanted and rumbled as cloud lovers do. Their twists and turns, so beautifully bright, joined the earthdance as it silver-forked through the night. With no second to spare, those massive promise drops splattered down with so much ease. The smell of wet dust rose within all of us as we watched what was to now unfold.

The rain drenched her face and her beautiful hair, it ran down her neck and circled her breasts. The rain formed a navel dam and when that broke it cascaded down her female hip. It gathered speed as the river spread and covered the valley to meet the ocean. She was now totally submerged and drenched and she swam with grace to the ends of the earth and joined the middle of time and place in the inbetween special space.

Stick 23 - Just words

 

Just letters...
 

Anchor: - a steel formed wish bone to hold a ship from drifting away

Bone:  - the bare minimum

Ship: - a piece of driftwood meant for floating in an expanse of water

Drifting: - moving without knowing whereto

Expanse: - the vastness within

 

Within: - the empty sore

 

Sore: - bleeding profusely

 

Bleeding: - letting go….

Stick 22 - Elve's at Play

Photo supplied by Hendriette Du Plessis

I walked along the forest path...
 
...and discovered amongst the undergrowth, next to a chattering stream
an amazing little stick slipper filled with soft moss-green 
I knew immediately that it belonged to the Flute-Ring Elves
in the magical kingdom of Violenia in the land beyond the Drummers

I believe it belonged to an Elve called Clarinetto
I am convinced that it's his, because it was of a size smaller than zero
I gathered a mud polish called Harpsicon
and mixed it with a little bit of guitar-spit
and immediately found the shine improve

It glittered so much in the morning sun & out of the blue Clarinetto appeared
He flutered around my head and shone his violena mirror
to ensure I knew where he was from
He sang a song called "a song for yououououo"

He giggled as he slipped his shoeless little foot into the slipper-shoe
and he promised that if I ever wanted to
I could, at any time, join in the orchestra called Fortissimo 
I could jam along, as long as I could fit a size zero shoe!

Stck 21 - Homeless You

thick skinned living...

when our lives turn upside-down and we have to survive
when our hearts burn with angst and we have to stay alive
it is hard to lift our eyes
and it is hard to hear something in the everything of daily life

we draw from small things to give us hope and direction
we draw from tiny moments as we steel ourselves against inner inspection
it is hard to remove the mist of dread
as we strain to hear a guiding voice in the drone of daily life

All we need is a stick
All we need is a crutch
To show us a way
To show us we're here to stay
We can then live on very little and fly
We can then lose and still hold our heads high 
All we need is the love of those who understand thick-skin-stick-living...

Stick 20 - Number 754

The Moment of Truth...

Imagine if we lived till the age of 754
I believe we would learn so much more
about life and what it had in store

We would know by then
the moment of truth when
We can truly say that we can walk in another's shoes
We can truly count the journey stops
and truthfully say we have loved and lost

We would know by then
the moment of truth when
we appreciate a smile and a laugh given without ask
we appreciate that fate lie in each human hand 
and its never too late to forgive and forget

We would know by then that love overrides it all
That life's surprises always sprout from love's waterfall
If we learned so much more
and experienced what life had in store
we would leave a love multiplied by 754

Stick 19 - Shadow Veil

Behind the human is the shadow veil...

You tell me things I want to hear
but you do things that make the opposite clear
Behind the human is the shadow veil

You rant and rave at the world so unfair
but you do unto others as you never wish yourself to bear
Behind the human is the shadow veil

You do good and spread the word
but you ask the repayment multiplied by 33 and a third
Behind the human is the shadow veil

Unveil the disguise
Erase all that is unwise
Behind that human is a beautiful and positive surprise

Stick 18 - Divining Stick

The waterspirits rejoice...

As I walked along the Swan River late this afternoon,
I was elated to discover this Devining Stick.

Although just half and missing its right arm,
the stick still posessed its magnetic charm.

I held it with care
and felt that there was an energy to spare,
I felt it strain towards the earth
as it pointed towards underground water's birth.

Pure energy so devine
Simple belief so sublime

Stick 17 - Lipstick Awakening

Nature's lipstick in my Hand... 

she does not disappoint,
she does not hesitate,
she does not even for a second, make me wait

as she rolls inside my hand
as she takes a feministic stand
as she fights against the tide
as she catches my mouth open wide

I gasp with anticipation
as I raise her to my lips
I am totally in submission
as blooddrops form in bondage strips

amuse me and fuse with me
play with all my senses
beautify that which is on show
and share in nature's salty lipstick awakening

Stick 16 - 3am Othertime

It's 3am and I'm awake...

I love the stirring of awareness as I open my eyes once more. Its 3am. I know. I don't check the clock because I am certain that, once again, I have been included in the morning dance of life. Each morning at exactly the same time the studio doors open. I smile as I lie perfectly still, while the members of the orchestra called Quiet, tune their instruments. My finger touches my belly and I stroke the softness of the years. My eyelashes flirt with the misty dress of dawn. My tongue stokes my sleepy lips, while a strand of hair playfully elopes and tickles my cheek. Anticipation and excitement twirl accross the dance floor of my mind... And then it happens, as it always happens - I fall in love, for the very first time with this brand new interesting day. I rise to meet my new love, when the first bird announces with joy the magical union of me and my lover called Day!.

Stick 15 - Sleeping Dinosaur

Let Sleeping Dinosaurs Lie...

There was no fear in the way she lay
She lay with her body on full display

She was in fact a dinosaur
A dinosaur with a mammoth snore

Then came those vile bullies that night
The bullies connected her body with pulleys

They taunted her 
and they haunted her
 
And then she rose from her very deep sleep
She billowed heartfelt-regret-fire from her animal nose

The lesson was learned
The table was turned
they suffered a terrible blow
and now they'll always know

Let a sleeping female dinosaur lie,
else she will open her soulfull eye,
and send all bullies to fly through the darkened sky...

Stick 14 - Wood Cave

Once upon a long ago in a small village on the edge of a pink sunset lake, lived a girl with no father.

He died one night all alone, his head hitting the corner of a wooden chair, his death sent her into love lost dispair. She missed his hair, she missed his smell, she missed his patient voice. She ran to their wooden cave at the edge of the sunset lake. She ranted and raved and howled and wailed and bashed her half finished wooden jewelry box. She wiped her nose with his wood oil cloth, she wrapped herself with his checkered shirt. She curled her up in a fetal ball and rolled in the woodchips of the wood cave floor. She sobbed and sobbed and finally stopped and swore she felt his embrace.

Dear Dad,
  I wish I could, just once, free you from your wooden grave
Dear Dad,  
  I wish I could, just once, be with you in our wooden cave
Dear Dad,
  I wish I could, just once, prepare for you a dish with lamb and sage
Dear Dad,
  I wish I could, just once, declare my love for you on heaven's stage.

Stick 13 - Childs Play

Peekaboo

I hide behind my hands and peek between my fingers
"Peekaboo", I giggle-say and my heart swells with joy as I see
my beautiful baby bubble-laugh, with little head thrown backwards and bright eyes twinkling, excitedly anticipating the next Peekaboo.

I remember it many years later and attempt to play the adult version...

I cover my face behind my hands, but do not seek to play
my fingers clasped so tightly, not wanting to sneak a peek
I wait and wait for your surprise
I wait and wait for you to realise
I wait and wait for you to say boo
My peek came too late,
now all I have is an empty slate...

Stick 12 - Little Boy

So sincere....

was this little stick, it struck a chord
it instantly conjured up the magic love I hold for a special little boy

Just like this stick, this little boy is so sincere and so in the now and here
Just like this stick, this little boy lives a life so clear

This boy is soft in nature and strong in hope
This boy is gentle in manner and determined in will
This boy is sad when slighted and a brave little fighter

He whispers a secret so devine
He tells me that sun through leaves are not just dappled light
He whispers a secret so beautiful and fine
He tells me that sun through leaves are natures magical mirrors sublime 

I shy away in fear when he invites me along
He passes me the flying fox and dares me to be strong
He smiles and warms my heart
He flies me away from all that is now in the past
 

Stick 11 - Blue Day Glue

Photo supplied by Hendriette du Plessis

 

 

The quiet noise....

 

you look at me with worry...as i struggle to breathe....

my sobbing so intense

beside your razor sharp fence

 

you speak soothing words...as i struggle to hear...

my throat completely strangled

beside my soaking wet hair

 

you fold me in your warm embrace...as i shiver in fear...

my soul ready to depart

to where you left my ailing heart

 

my blue, so blue beside a life so untrue

my blue, so blue i dont want to be with you

 

mother nature carries me in her fold

mother nature knows she's got to be bold

she knows all about my blue

she blesses me in abundance, with her blue day glue

 

 

Stick 10 - Yemanja

Seven Paces to the Wish

My stick came from bright white sand in orange sunlight at Mullalloo Beach tonight.  Yemanja sent her to me - Yemanja called me to her. I know she travelled very far, I know she crossed many a bar, I know she navigated at night by a stunning bright star.

I jumped the seven waves that night, when old year kissed new year's cheek. Five woman at the water edge, Five woman all in white, Five woman giggling with delight, Five woman in the magical moonlight.

Five woman with their dresses held high, Five woman now wet to their thigh.
Wave six comes quickly and seven the sign - Yemanja takes her flower boat and five candles are now mysteriously afloat.

I thank her for my fishing stick, my blue ball - fishing hook, my soft-skinned sea stick. I promise to meet Yemanja again when this Old Year kisses that New Year!

Stick 9 - Touch me Trace me

Velvet skin invite...

We brush past
We want the moment to last

Velvet skin tingle...
Touch me, Trace me

You see me, I hear you
I taste the now, you say forever

Velvet skin yearning...
Touch me, Trace me

We smile in knowing
We laugh at our new love growing 

Velvet skin fusing in a life of lust
Touch me sunburst dawn
Trace me moonshine dusk

Velvet skin pleading...
Touch me more
Trace me more



Stick 8 - The Hurt Stick

Death by Hurt...

The Destructive Storm Clouds gather as the Agressor raises the Hurt Stick.
A Stenching Steam erupts from the unforgiving earth as the Victim's fear-sweat drops onto the blood-red sand.

The Howling Wind stirs the Panic Pot as the Punish Rope cuts the Victims' skin.

The Hurt Stick goes deaf, as the Victim Pleads...
The Hurt Stick goes blind, as the Victims' Blood coils in snake streams...
The Hurt Stick goes numb, as the Victim Dies...

The Howling Wind forces Natures tears as the Deed is Done.

A Stenching Steam swirls around the scarlet sea-cave of blood.
The Destructive Human Storm Cloud has Killed its own again.

Stick 7 - The Promise Bowl

Promise Me....

As I give birth to you my child, I promise to love you,  unconditionally, for always and ever. I place my promise in the Promise Bowl and she opens her beautiful, brown, warm, kind, wooden hand. She treasures the promise, she moulds the promise, she graciously opens her hand over the years when I need her to lift the promise to the altar of life.

I see you laugh my child,
I see you learn,
I see you try and I see you yearn.

I feel your heart beat my child,
I feel your hand in mine,
I feel your fever as you fight decline.

I smell your hair my child,
I smell your fear,
I smell your chocolate breath every year.

I hear your dream my child
I hear your soul
I hear your promise as you place it in the Promise Bowl

Stick 6 - Piggyback

Carry me...

How lovely to sit on the back of another, as they willingly accept the piggyback request. How comforting and familiar, to wrap your legs around their middle. How inviting to feel them strongly entwine their arms through your legs and know they will hold and carry you as far as they possibly can.  How soothing to feel your heart beat against their back as you lean into them and hook your arms over their shoulders. How easy to smell their hair as you snuggle forward.

My stick has a cloak, which she wraps around us.
My stick leans forward and starts walking for us.
My stick listens patiently as I whisper my sorrow into her ear.
My stick humms a lullaby when I run out of whisper.
My stick keeps walking when I stop talking.

Stick 5 - Guessing Game

To Tease, To Guess, To Intrigue

When you suggest
When you imply
When you wink with a twinkling eye

We all react
We all wonder why
We all wonder what, who, when and why

So always play the game of Tease
Always become the breeze
that blows a Guess upon
a life filled with Intrigue

Stick 4 - Storyteller

Passing on the stories...

To me this stick looks like a grandma or grandpa, happily sitting on a chair (the larger angled dryer older stick), with two little grandchildren (the green shoots) pulling their knees up and cuddling together. I imagine unspoken excitement as everybody settles down, ready to listen to the story. Ready with wide open little green ears to a story so fantastical from a world so magical!.

O my, and now, how wonderful...I see my beautiful grandma's bosom as she settles into her upright pillow on her bed and me lying on her chest, with my small but curious green ears, listening to the sound of her voice bubbling up from inside her body as she calmly and lovingly reads my bedtime story and so completes the circle of sharing that story which she heard from her mother and her mother's mother.

May we always remember the gift of storytelling, the art of painting scenes with words, the music added through our voices,  the decor and make-up from our facial expressions and the promise of more stories to come in our eyes. 

I truly believe that stories become legends and legends inspire leaders, who rise up and create brand new real stories for us to look up to and repeat to brand new little green ears!.

Stick 3 - Splat

Those splat moments...

I saw Stick 3 on my walk last night and his name popped into my head before I even reached down to "shake his hand". 

Fellow Blogger...meet Splat. This tiny and seemingly unasuming piece of wood was lying in the middle of the walking path. He was totally on his own, totally out of place and totally trying to act casual. Although Splat may have thought that nobody would notice him, the opposite was true - Splat stood out.

I presume Splat once lay with all his fellow pieces of wood in the gardens surrounding the walking path, but something happened to propell him out of his comfort zone - safe to suggest that a "Splat moment" happened.! A moment seemingly insignificant and supposedly a near non-event, which, as we all know now, has lead to Splat becoming part of an online Blog!.

Splat moments spark chain events and I believe they alter history. Why else would we "fall in love at first sight" - in a mere splat moment and from it a whole lifetime can be born which we fill with love, life, living, loss and learning.
 
Come on Bloggers, let's unite and celebrate Splat - Let's sign our greeting cards in future with a "Happy Birthday to You - May your year be filled with wonderful Splat moments! 

Stick 2 - Mana Gift

Her 'Mana' Gift

My friends in New Zealand understand the compliment bestowed when someone or something is described as having 'Mana'. 

To me my Stick 2 possessed 'Mana'. The moment I bent down to pick her up, her mana engulfed me and I pay my respects humbly. 

Wikipedia defines 'Mana'  as an indigenous Maori concept described as an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and nature.

I felt the force of Stick 2's greatness of being. I accepted her power and embraced the joy of the comfort she brought. I joyfully invited her to inspire me and fill me with her magic. I snuggled into her old soul and drank from her beautiful mana, and she...

She wailed
She weathered
She withstood
She whimpered
She whimsically teased
She is woman 
She is wise
She is my Mana Stick
 

Stick 1 - The alpha

L stands for the word "Let's" - the soulmate of the word "Yes"

Yes, O Yes...Let's welcome the golden ray
Let's make a day for us to play
Let's wish we will finally be seen
Let's straighten out our crooked spleen

Yes, O Yes...Let's invite the letter L
Let's hear L's whispers now

Let's Lose
Let's Long
Let's Linger
Let's Listen
Let's Love
Yes, O Yes...let's always always always Love

1 April - First and last

The goal:
To pick up a stick a day for 365 days - from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.

The reason:
I love nature. I have embraced nature as I collected leaves, flowers, seeds, grasses, rocks, stones, shells, dead bugs, and anything weird and wonderful that nature was willing to share with me. I have however never really paid any attention to normal old sticks or collected them or felt any need to collect them, until today. 

So this is what happened on my sunset walk 3 nights ago. I came around a bend in the road and as the setting sun flickered its rays accross the road, it fell on a patch of sticks. I  saw a particular stick turn into a golden wand of specialness for a few minutes, before the sun shifted away. ... and then it struck me... the answer is to now focus on the millions of dry twigs and sticks with their unassuming beautiful shapes, hidden messages and magical stories to tell.

I remember our family dog, - (a pitch black long haired, Benji-like pavement special, which we lovingly adopted from our local SPCA). He used to love sticks so much! He would daily choose his own stick with which he wanted to play. He would wag-tail-bark-ask to play as he lay the stick at our bare feet.
Once we threw the stick, he would race to get it and as he proudly jogged back towards us he would joyfully flick the stick through the air before dropping it back at our feet for us to throw it again.

This blog is to say to our little black dog-friend - "Thank you for all your unconditional love. It took me many many lifetimes to realise that what I need now is to share the wonder of sticks with you".

The invite:
To my friends who may read this from time to time: I hope you will enjoy my stick journey, as much as I look forward to enjoying and sharing it with you.