Un-masked

Her eyes could no longer see
through the veil.

Slowly,
delicately,
she peeled away the layers -
for there were many -
and revealed her true face …
exposing what had been hidden for too long;
Strength,
Determination,
Resolve.

No more hiding
No more concealing what was.
No more wishing for what had to change.

She took life by the hands,
her hands,
And walked away.

The 7 Wonders of Canada

We as humans have a fascination with the impressive. Some of us are more easily impressed than others, but the fact remains that we are impressionable creatures. Perhaps more so than our primate brothers. What impresses you? Is it the natural world or the man-made wonders of construction and technology?

In a previous blog entry http://skyelarke.blogspot.com/2006/11/new-7-wonders-of-world.html I was impressed with the new 7 Wonders of the World nominations. Now there is a movement in to vote on The 7 Wonders of Canada. It is a highly impressive list, mostly natural, but some man-made constructions. I enjoyed reading over the list and counting how many of the entries I had visited and how many more were on my “to-visit” list.

The most interesting nomination to me was The Canoe. I have capitalized it out of respect. It is true that “if it weren’t for the humble canoe, half the wonders on this list would be inaccessible!” I really wonder what those canoes could tell us of our history if they could talk. Imagine a Disney or Pixar movie like “Spirit”: the story of the West has been told time and time again, but it has never been told from the perspective of a canoe.

I will be bold and admit that my top three were: The Rockies, The Prairie Sky and The Northern Lights! It was difficult to nominate just 7!!! There are so many beautiful places and people in Canada and I hope you all get a chance to visit this great country one day.

All photos courtesy of the CBC site. To vote or just look at the nominations: www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders (It's totally worth a visit!!!)

Wind Chimes

My wind chimes sound as old as Time itself. I bought them for $5 USD in Bali, Indonesia. They are made of solid wood, hand carved, complete with half a coconut shell roof with string holding them all together. I wondered that the man in the market could sell them for $5 and make a profit, but after all my traveling I have come to understand economies.

I open my door this morning to hear their soft clang in the sunshine breeze.

In the man camp I had them hanging in the entrance to my trailer. Whenever Val bumped into them I’d pretend I was hearing them off my balcony of my future appt back home and that the sea breeze was making them sing. Whenever my shoulder brushed by them, I smiled.

A few of the guys loved them and two even offered to buy them from me. One of my bosses however, hated them. Whenever he popped over after work (which was not very often), he’d say annoyed: “When are you getting rid of these damn things?” I could understand him. There was little room between the door and the next door and these wind chimes are not small. It was pretty much impossible not to bump into them. But I liked them. And I told him just that. They made the place more “normal.”

My wind chimes are my connection to my past. They are my connection to the past of others – the man who carved them, the culture from which I bought them, my restoring visit in that jungle on that island. They are my connection to memories of a different time and my link to simplicity.

Hope

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
~ unknown

Words that speak

I have been reading poetry lately. There is so much that can be said with so few words. I am loving that right now. While in Victoria, I went to the independent bookstore that is Munro and drank in the wooden floors and bookshelves, the tall ceilings with the quilts in the four seasons like windows, the vast array of books. I stood in reverence before the shelf, taller than myself, of poetry books and looked. I reached out and with gentle hands, slid one out. Sitting on the wooden floor, I began to leaf through the pages. So many thoughts. I read until the poet spoke to me. I wrote the words in my journal, carefully slid the book back onto the shelf and picked out another poet's thoughts.


Here is a collection of words that spoke to me that day and also ones that called to me from the pages of my own bookshelf:

"Dress yourself up,

And dance,

And laugh."

"I have strung ropes from steeple to steeple;

Garlands from window to window;

And golden chains from star to star...."

~ Rimbaud

"... set fire to the stars."

~ Dylan Thomas

"Make babies

OR

make art."

~ Solbeam

"Oh, I am grown so free from care

Since my heart broke!
I set my throat against the air,

I laugh at simple folk!

There's little kind and little fair

Is worth its wait in smoke

To me, that's grown so free from care

Since my heart broke!"

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

"... For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth."

~ Kahlil Gibran "On Love"

"This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression...

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearning you out for some new delight."

~ Rumi "The Guesthouse"

She knew that this transition was not about becoming better,

but about becoming who she'd always been."

~ Amy Rubin

"I have dulled my spark

and weakened my heart

so I could continue

to stay where I knew

I did not flourish."

"... the silent sorrow

lying stiff in my throat...."

"Staring down at endless sky."

~ Jewel

A Night Without Armor - Poems

"A world of trials

And if the cherry blossoms

It simply blossoms."

~ Basho

today

I have been neglecting my blog. Not because I'm not thinking of it and you the reader, but because I have been in a state of disillusionment. That said, instead of words, here is a visual picture of me right now. I'm enjoying writing haiku...

(Haiku:

falling softly from sky

landing on cold, grey cement

pink cherry blossoms

Here's a shot from Victoria that I just love:

And this is just so intriguing:

And finally, an unfinished journal page...

Haiku:

dim sum with my friends

avoid soya at all cost

cherry blossoms fall