Photographed by Alex Shalman
Okay, I was in the kitchen frying some plantains and was too lazy to use the fork to turn them over, so I used the knife in my hand. My grandmother’s voice echoed in my ear as my husband peeped over my shoulder and said you will make the knife dull. My reply was no I should not use the knife in a hot pan because mama said doing that would giving me ‘cutting in my stomach.’ He said that he is sure that is not the reason why she didn’t want me to use the knife for cooking. He said maybe she just wanted you to use a spoon and that was the reason she gave you. Who can tell if that was her real reason or who can tell how far back generationally this ‘cutting in your belly’ tradition goes back? When you really think of it I was dependent upon and trusted my grandmother and her advice was written in stone. I did not think what she said was invalid or even question the concept. I adapted anything and everything from her. This story is like that ham story where people for years have been cutting off the ends of the ham because of tradition or habit, but the real reason was that originally both ends of the ham were cut to fit in a small pan. As my friend Susan puts it so eloquently “how rich our lives become as we learn each day, from our assumptions, lack of knowledge, oversights, and even mistakes.”
Photographed by the Associated Press
The events that unfold yesterday in The United Kingdom can not escape my blog posts and have left an indelible print as the word dignity is etched in my mind. I am still taken aback about the dignified manner in which Gordon Brown the former British Prime Minister left number 10 Downing Street yesterday. These days we are bombarded by Leaders refusing to step down or refusing to accept the fact that they have lost in the polls or it is time to retire. Yes the constitution in Westminster may have dictated his actions or his impudent bid for power may have failed, nonetheless he faced his challenges and he conceded. The people have spoken, he listened and he did not stand on his dignity, he left. If someone says that you are a person of dignity it speaks volumes to your character. I hope we all can learn from his example no matter our situation. I wish him well!
Completely restored
Composition reflects
Translated through fields
Of passionate beliefs
Collecting on creating
Prodding to emerge
Empowered, motivated
New connections and insights
Pavilion with honor
-
Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Image taken from cruisetalk.net
Each week as I drive along West Bay Street in the morning I am always in time to observe the Disney Cruise Line make a one hundred and eighty degree turn in the waters to sail out of Port Nassau. This always inspires certain awe. This morning again, I witness that same turn as this time it reversed into Port Nassau. I can not explain why it evokes such a feeling. My husband tells me that anything that large when it moves is always a sight to behold. Maybe in my subconscious it is a metaphor for when someone makes a turn or a turn around in life? A turn around can be one of the most exhilarating and enriching feelings in life. For some, that turn can be the sign of better things to come.
Ever day opens and closes like a flower – John Muir
Photographed by Kenrock Well.
This poem is dedicated to all mothers
-
To-day’s your natal day;
Sweet flowers I bring:
Mother, accept, I pray
My offering.
And may you happy live,
And long us bless;
Receiving as you give
Great happiness.
-
Poem Written by Christina Rosetti
Image taken from dreamstime
We vied for your attention
You directed relentlessly
Coddle with ease
With a quiet grace you attract
With outstretched arms you welcome
Your presence was a present
-
Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Like a heavily carved inscription
She wears on the life of whom she touches
She carries the substance of her ancestry
Her words are Epistles borne with pride
She will be always be there for her children
No matter the distance or struggle
She loves as she transcends race and bloodline
She gives from her heart
An inimitable style
Indomitable as she encourages self-reliance
Her potions and portions sated many appetites
As her words like wine gets finer with time
-
Poem written by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by Sesame Ellis
Mother’s day is bitter sweet for some as there is a melancholy because of the loss of her. It is an overwhelming experience for some because our children did not get to cherish her as a grandmother. What we owe to them is incalculable.
Like diamonds on sunlit oceans
They gave themselves
Contemplative wisdom
Boundaries of rigidity
Infinite in circumstances
-
Uncircumscribable richness
Details manifest in reflections
Intuitive mystery understood
Expression of carefree joy
-
Her eyes the gravitas of life
Melting of emotions
With the iron force of her will
She defines provision and selflessness
-
An armor on her principles
Her vision stood only in black and white
Now -lasting impressions colored
Her spirit, her attitude inculcated
-
Poem written by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by M.V Adler
As our thoughts are with the women in our lives and we get ready to observe and honor mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds this coming Sunday let us celebrate those we love as we shall grow to bear a resemblance to them
The day compose of many moments unseen
The spark from her sting as the beauty of spring
Manors of consoling embraces
The stains and wrinkles of time remove
Her hug begrimed with nurture
Mesmerize with laughter
Millions of faucet smiles and tears pour
Scent of protection lounge
Sunlight of wisdom mentor
As moments fat with love gibbers
Rainbows fail in comparison to her beauty
Chill with endless sacrifice
Her pulse and thoughts beats fiercely
Her hands, bosoms feeds, hold even entice
-
Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney
Today, let us unpeel one more layer and take another step towards wholeness. Here is an excerpt from the White Egret by Derek Walcott. Enjoy your weekend all.
Be happy now at Cap, for the simplest joy-
For a line of white egrets prompting the last word,
For the sea’s recitation re-entering my head
With questions it erases, canceling the demonic voice
By which I have recently been possessed; unheard,
It whispers the way the fiend does to a madman
Who gibbers to his bloody hands that he was seized
The way the sea swivels in the conch’s ear, like the roar
Of applause that precedes the actor with increased
Doubt to the pitch of paralyzed horror
That his prime is past. If it is true
That my gift has withered, that there’s little left of it,
If this man is right then there’s nothing else to do
But abandon poetry like a woman because you love it
And would not see her hurt, least of all by me;
So walk to the cliff’s edge and soar above it,
The jealousy, the spite, the nastiness, with the grace
Of a frigate over Barrel of Beef, its rock;
Be grateful that you wrote well in this place,
Let the torn poems sail from you like a flock
Of white egrets in a long last sigh of release.
When I was in University in the United Kingdom I had a Marketing teacher and she continuously drummed into my head that marketing was everything … much to my chagrin. Last month I received two emails from two different companies announcing that one of my favorite authors would be releasing his new Book in April, so I can pre-order and be one of the first to have it. I was excited, but did not bite the bait at the time, then again as if they knew my buying habits they sent another reminder so of course I bit the bait. I thought; it is a book I would like to have in my library and being hard cover I could not let it go this time so I purchased it.
I got the book yesterday while in the grocery store my husband read a good bit of the book while I was inside. As I approached the car he smiled Brenda you need to see this. Guess what it was a poem on acacia trees, amazing; the power of marketing. One of my friends usually sends me lovely notes on a weekly basis there are no coincidences. It is beautiful to be able to converse and share life with people of like minds.
Sometimes in life we set a course and fail to reach a destination, maybe because we inadvertently set the wrong course and so we end up at an undesired destination or back where we started. Set the course again and at first it may be brilliant and then gradually we end up going the wrong way. Today as I sizzle and am dazzled by the book “The White Egrets.” I can not help smiling and agreeing with the familiar phrase “marketing is everything.” So, today my friends, be sure footed and set on the right course, knowing that there will be people to guide you if you chart a course after their own paths. If you are in doubt, do not, because of how you may view them, know that they are already where you would like to be.
Today I set a course after one of my favorite authors,yes, you may have guess it…Derek Walcott!
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