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June 23 Phases in the skyOn a brisk autumn's eve
Frozen leaves crunch beneath the feet
Chilly breath ascends upward
Illuminated by the friendly light
Flickering happily in the darkness
Stars by the thousand shine bright
The crescent moon then appears
Just a sliver for now
So sleek and trim
No craters are to behold
Each night begins anew
Growing larger at each sight
I follow your course with delight
Glorious full you have become
When the night turns into the day
February 22 A Christmas WishChritmas lights are long since gone
Leaves have abandoned the trees afar
Their brilliant colors buried under the snow
Eight days in the coming year
The sun hangs higher still in the sky
Linger around a little longer friend
Drive winter back into the sea
Promises of spring are around the bend
You will fade and leave from my eye
I treasure your return with dawns surprise August 08 A Saturdays walkThe city streets seem like a zoo
So I pass by the city zoo
Crossing a new found bridge
I glance down to waters below
Noticing a leaf taking a ride
Wish I could hitchhike by your side
Passing to road ahead
I follow my friend along the river bend
Twisting and turning but moving along
A little town appears beyond
I stroll it's quaint little tofu street
Then hang around for just a peek
My companion calls me from the shore
Take your journey to the seventh floor August 02 The Endless TideTreading in the sea of tears
The accumulation of four years
I am just a floating whim
For tide and the wind
Running full circle for lands end
Then back to the beginning again
Lighthouse beacon faintly calls me out
The journey is just starting to send
Typhoons step aside in my wake
Persistence heart never breaks August 01 The Fairy CaveThe Fairy cave calls out
To my inner hidden needs Entering the Temple again The walls close in around me
Narrowing the passage way still
I have to crawl like a snake
Pursuing the speedy and nimble hare
To the source of the light On my knees at the altar I look for hope and happiness The sticks make a promise and speak Return to the world with faith Snow SquallThe bare and naked trees
Beckon to the sky, from below
The frozen brown earth awaits
For it's warm blanket of white
Silently and quite softly
The winter show begins
Clouds gather and touch
Sending crystals of white
Quite solitary at first
The heaven now sends a deluge of flakes
Zigzagging in their own hypnotic way
So dazzling and often electric
Falling to complete the mission below
Closing my eyes to the sky
Reaching arms outward and beyond
I feel a crisp and cold object touching my face
Sending shivering chills down my spine
I calmly wait for my fate
The shock doesn't last long
As we both melt in the torrid sun March 29 Winter's MoonThe halo around the moon
Heralds in more cold and snow I know that will arrive here soon The field is illuminated by its rays Even as the late hour draws near I advance still on a solitude way Snow crystals glisten along the path Whispering secrets in my frigid ear Mr North Wind coolly decides To erase the freshly laid tracks Putting some distance behind The feet look straight ahead Gliding forward on it's own I muster some courage deep To the temptation back January 15 No End in SightIn my dictionary,friend
Isn't spelled with end
Just like a vintage wine
Getting richer all the time
Dead ends litter the field
Then I see a path with appeal
Is it fate or just a dream
Doesn't matter I will precede
Season's and time change
This friendship forever remains October 22 A RiddleOctober 22
The RiddleThe Riddle
No yardstick can measure the length Way off the scale on ether Celsius or Fahrenheit A car's odometer can't handle this mileage The eternity of the Universe will never contain it Any guesses To find the answer walk along a beach during day or night. listen to the ocean roar, and breathe in it's fresh salt air. The moonlight provides a shimmering path along the water's edge which takes you to your goal. Your bedroom window will give you another clue. When sound of leaves rustling in the wind or the smell of freshly mowed grass comes filtering in. Or when the rain starts to pitter-patter against the window pane. Then miniature streams form on the glass streaking downwards in a wavering descent. And of course the most important thing of all is an enchanted smile that adorns your face! Know yourself if you think it's real it will become reality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! April 25 Memories of the SunMemories of the Sun
The city sun flying high Meets the cold river below Fog and darkness appear On the distant shore So proud and tall Not even having a chance The mighty mountain falls Riverboats are swallowed whole Losing its soothing warmth Even the light succumbs to this tale I shiver in my lonely thoughts Time is fast running out The sun descends westward I cannot say goodbye so soon But lo and behold To my complete surprise There is one last hurrah Peering through this cloud Sunlight has its final say Solar rays reflected our path Where the river meets the sea Colors soon dance in the sky Then quite by chance I noticed That special brightness in your eyes Now in peace I can say goodbye
April 22 The Weeping WaterfallMoisture starts to form Small trickles gather strong Building a serious momentum Then flowing downward A stream becomes a river Twisting,turning like a snake Upon the edge they fall Drop,drop and more drops Landing,splashing, reuniting Into a puddle, then a lake, To stop this roaring flood I reached out so far Softly and Oh so gently Touching your smooth face I tenderly wiped away your tears See what's free at AOL.com. April 06 THE SENTRYStanding at attention
The sentry stands and waits
March heralds in spring
With it's blustery winds
April showers and rain
Paint the landscape green
The sentry stands and waits
Now it summer's turn
Pounding heat and humidity
Cracking lightning,Booming thunder
The sentry stands and waits
Autumn crisp nights
Leaves so brilliant and dazzling
Then dying to the ground
The sentry stands and waits
Winter arrives so soon
Snow falling softly,silently
Christmas trees with bright lights
The sentry stands and waits
Last year passed by too quickly
A New Year begins ,bringing with it
Fresh promises,New hopes
The sentry stands and waits March 28 Down the AgesOne day it finally dawned on me. It struck me like a thunderbolt right out of the blue, the time and the place where we had met before. Of course it was in Greece, to be more precise, Ancient Greece. Yes it's quite clear to me now. How could I ever have forgotten it? I must be losing my memory in my old age. Around 500 B.C. we would gather with friends over a bottle of wine. Athens in those days was full of new ideas and philosophers. Of course you always took the side of the Cynics and you argued their viewpoint with great eloquence. I would take the opposite view and wasn't sure if my rebuttals were up to your skill level. As you know I would never give up and was always searching for something new to convince you.
Then, war took me away from you and no matter what hardship I faced, the thought of you carried me through. When I returned after five years, which seemed like eternity, there was no trace of you anywhere in Athens. I would walk the streets all day and night in my quest. Countless times, I thought that I had seen you and my heart would leap for joy. Then, I would run after you, but when I discovered my mistake, I would hide my head and try to hold back my bitter disappointment! At that time I felt that I was chasing a ghost or shadows..
Afterwards I was to learn we almost ran into each other in Florence during the Renaissance, or that time in Vienna listening to Mozart perform his latest opera. In this play we call life, we seem to have quite different roles and enter the stage in different scenes.
Last night when I close my eyes I saw two Monarch Butterflies, dancing and playing over a lush green meadow finally free, finally happy to live their own life!!!!
February 18 The Clifford Family name The Clifford family name
My last name were does it come from .It comes from England if you separate the name you have two words in English. A cliff -a very steep, vertical, or overhanging face of rock, earth, or ice and
ford-a shallow part of a body of water that may be crossed by wading. But it was a Norman family that adopted the name after they had invaded England. You ask who where these Normans. Being originally from Scandinavia they were called Norseman or Vikings.They went looking for plunder and also land to settle throughout Europe. A large group of Vikings eventually settled in the northern part of France.This part of France would later bear their name that even today is called Normandy. William the Conqueror who claimed the English throne for himself struck out from Normandy to settle this dispute. In 1944 during World War 2 the reverse would happen when the Allies invaded Normandy from England that was then occupied by Germans. By the time the Normans had conquered England in 1066 they had been assimilated in their French surroundings and had lost most of their Scandinavian roots. They spoke French and this had a great influence on the English language. Adding many new words to what was then the way English was spoken and written. Even now, after a thousands years, the Norman influence on the English language is still visible. Ok back to the Clifford name, a powerful Norman married a local English lady. After this marriage he inherited a castle from her dowry. This castle was called Clifford Castle, so he changed his name to Walter de Clifford. That is how my name got started and has come down to the present generation. Though in ruins, Clifford Castle still exists today. January 10 On his way to China Columbus ran into America Columbus on his way to China ran into America
Why did Columbus want to go to China? Pretty much the same reason that Westerner's go to China in our own age. Trade goods and turn a profit. Also a sense of adventure in visiting a exotic land. A image which was made popular by the writings of Marco Polo. Some of the goods that Europe craved for in the Fifteenth Century were spices and silk. When the Muslims conquered Constantinople (present day Istanbul) the overland trade to Asia became more difficult.This spark a quest to find a sea route to the far east.
Of course Christopher Columbus went to his death bed thinking that he had made it to Asia by sailing west from Europe .Columbus wasn't the first European to set foot on American. Vikings from Norway sailed to Iceland and Greenland. Finally reaching North America in present day Labrador on the northeast Canadian coast. About 500 years before Columbus landed in the West Indies. While Europe remained ignorant of the Viking expeditions to the New World. Columbus' voyages were to be well known and others soon followed. Still thinking Columbus had reach Asia it took a few years before it was realized this was a new continent.The credit for this discovery and naming this new land mass goes to Amerigo Vespucci. The name America is derived from his first name.
So Columbus trying to sail west to China. Accidentally started a new wave to search and settled North and South America. December 18 IdiomsI do like idioms and of course the Chinese have many. I will be quite happy if anyone can send me a few Chinese ones.
Here is a few Western idioms. The meaning to most of them is self explanatory but feel free to ask if you have an questions
A stitch in time saves nine
You cant make a omelet without breaking a few eggs
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
A rolling stone gathers no moss
Behind every cloud there is a sliver lining
The squeaky wheel gets the grease
Beware of a wolf in sheeps clothings
A new broom sweeps clean
You made your bed now you are going have to lay in it
The grass grows greener on the other side of the fence December 17 My hopesI like to add some history articles in the near future and have a forum of discussion on
Columbus, The French and Indian War and The American Revolution just to name a few December 16 The SnowflakeCold and crisp winter's day
The sky begins to spit snow
A few sprinkles at first
Then the heavens opened up
A shower of white
If you take time to look
No two are alike
Of all the millions descending
I saw and focused on you
Dancing so free in the wind
How I wanted to reach out
With my hand open
The flaked seem so near
I watched what seem to last
Until you landed in a white sea
Lost but never forgotten |
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