The Lord of Beginings

Reaching a milestone is an inspiring time. It unleashes so many emotions. Upon reaching a milestone there is an inner peace that comes from the accomplishment. Things that we often take for granted such as simply breathing become more meaningful. It feels like you are on a cusp of a whole new life. It is a time of the year one look at things (signs, symbols) for a new perspective; it presents an opportunity to be motivated. The days leading up to my birthday one symbol or thing that kept coming into my consciousness was the ELEPHANT.

There are three things that happened that made me think of the fact that knowledge is the beginning of many rewarding experiences. I wanted to watch a movie “Water for Elephants” which I did not get a chance to see in the movie theatre.  Happenstance while waiting in a business office for particular documents I came across Conde Nast Traveler and read an article named “the Lord of Beginnings.”

1. Basically it was a story of a London writer who was at  personal crossroads finds herself scrubbing an elephant and a year later honored the Hindu elephant god Lord Ganesh. Essentially it highlights the importance of Elephant in Hindu religion. No I am not thinking about switching my religion, but in this great sphere of life we can learn something about each other thus respecting one another. However, the interpretation of an elephant according to the article is a remover of obstacles and Lord of Beginnings. The mention of the elephant removing obstacles “clicked” or triggered something within me and  this belief in time will be relevant and will be revealed in varying degrees.
2. So I made it a point to watch the movie Water for Elephants. In the movie what struck me most was not the love story but the fact that the movie featured a young man who was about to complete his Ivy League education. He was about to take his final exam and was interrupted by the news that his parents was tragically killed. My first thought was could they not allow him the time to complete the exam before delivering such news. Left penniless, homeless he went traveling with a circus and used the knowledge he had gained in his apprenticeship programs and acted as an unlicensed veterinarian (Vet).  He was given a second chance by giving the insurmountable task of training and looking after an elephant. When he first met the elephant and touched her first thing he noticed was her dry skin he said “first thing one notices about a women’s age is her skin” The elephant befriended him and played a major part in his freedom. In the end he went back took the exam and got his license as a Vet.
3. In addition, I watched on BBC channel the morning of my birthday. A segment featured a father without any formal education who is barely literate,  spends all his efforts paying for his daughter’s education. His reason for this was money will come and go but your education stays with you always.

These three stories highlight that true talent is a gift that is born within. No matter what obstacles are in your way no one can take that gift of knowledge which has been implanted in your life. We are meant to live freely and life is ours to embrace. In this life we can rely on our conscious state, revelations, religious teachings, rituals, symbols and customs to help us along

I had to prepare my daughter’s back pack from last school year due to the new back pack zipper not working after two days of school. I noticed the ELEPHANT on the bag. It drew me in and he ‘bathed me on the serene immediacy of his pleasure”- in a sense – removing my obstacles.

PS. I wrote this blog on the fifth of September and decided I was not going to publish it on my blog. Coincidentally, while browsing through Time Light box pictures of the week I came across a photograph of a man carrying an idol of Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha for immersing it in the Arabian Sea on the fifth day of the 10 day long Ganesh Chaturti festival in Mumbai, India. The festival celebrates the birth of the Hindu god. I can hear my friend whisper as she reads this post “there are no coincidences”

Sunrise

Photographed by Susan Koster

Stilted comprehension

Sheltered in misty reflections

The humming through veins

Melted wild

Words trailed

Banquet of amusing chirps

Chimes in wind beaten fronds

Downward bent coconut shafts

Feather-like blessings thrill

Peak through crispy green extensions…

Enter stalks of lavender

Cold splash of hypnotic blue eyes

Almond tear drops

Blooms of soft crimson rose

Defiant passion

Sapphire thoughts

Shinning rusty shards

Among milky amber streams

Willed a rising blinding flash

The penetrating silence

As new seagrape leaves

Besotted blind beauty

His promise

-

Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney

A Slice of Montserrat

Photographed taken from My Montserrat- Sugar Apple

Attached is a video with music from Montserrat

I remember I remember,

The house  where I was born

The little window where the sun

Came peeping in at morn;

He never came to wink too soon,

Nor brought too long a day,

But now, I often wish the night

Had borne my breath away!

Poem by Thomas Hood

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUM-R33fqXY]

Time to Think

Have your ever received a command from someone that you had to do but for some reason you dreaded doing it?  I have learned recently that anything (task, assignment) can be a joy. It is your frame of mind that is most important. As a friend once told me when you get up in the morning you decide if your day will be gloomy or a gift.

The poem was written one morning when my daughter insisted that I take her to beach before the sunrise.

For the first time you walk unafraid

On oceans sandy bed

As birds strum air- I’m amazed

Not pedantic nor impulsive … photographed instead

-

Water shallow – banks serrated

Tricked, you toddle without fear

Kicking with delight – apprehension abated

Sunny skies reflect chicken wire near

-

Mirrored in its body crystal clear

Underwater sand bright white

Sand and sea salty air

Sand trees and daybreak light

-

Dress – a rainbow color outfit

Skipped on shore – clambers an abandoned boat plays

Mother in awe squatting pensive sits

Swap – She plays catch me with the waves

-

Mommy gasps with surprise.

Uninhibited she undresses – ocean splashing colder sprays

Beckons her mamma do like wise

We revel in dance to stretch amusing days

-

Meandering lass unaware of how deep

Prostrate she deliberately swallows water

Portrait of confidence leap

See myself in my daughter

-

Boat climbing

Sand Castle building

Water Skipping

Sand throwing

-

Intermittent strolls of reflection

She waddles further into its grasp

With an assertion of protection

Like flag pole her hands mine clasp

-

She stands as guide

Nearby plop – plop was the sound

A natural quickness preside

Stingrays in deeper water surround

-

Lure away from time

Water thrills, swash and babbles

Moments framed by sunshine

With a childish optimism – time cuddles

-

The Casuarina trees whistle goodbye

The birds alike congregate

Thoughts ablaze with sweet reply

Impositions of rigor will wait

–
Poem Written by Brenda L McCartney

Happy New Year

1. 

   Photographed by Coretta Johnson

It is the advent of a New Year and a new Decade. Today we treasure and celebrate new beginnings, last year’s victories and draw our life’s inspiration from hope. It is a time to reflect, release and renew as this is our time to refresh our spirits and stimulate our minds.

A Montserratian Poet

Photographed by Freddy GBSN

I posted this because I wanted to feature the work of a Montserratian poet. He is an older poet and it reflects his point of view growing up and growing old.

Click here for a larger font version of the Poem

Embrace

Photograph by Alison Hixon

As a child wrapped in prayer

Amidst the flowing waters

I hear exotic bird songs in the exquisite garden

Lighter than a million feathers

Mind-body unity

The most memorable season

Offers no greater delight

Unforgettable

Preserved, etched for posterity

The transformation

Smooth Synchronization

This moment, this place, you

I embrace

-

(LeAp- A collection of Poems by Brenda L McCartney)

My porch

Right here on the porch

It’s all pictorial

The Style that created rhythms

That chimed with thoughts

Rise far above anything else

Broken out of the primitive world

Emotions

Illusions

Emotions sit on stilts

Rethinking

In the cycle of illusion

Emotions swelled

Nestled among conduits of deception

The natural order

Vanished in the house of blues

-

Poem by Brenda L McCartney