L'aura del Campo

Africa, Village, 'Vortex', Born in the Spring

L'aura del campo

WINTER: 15 Mulk (21 February) 63º and sunny.

'é a lua, é a lua, na quintana dos mortos'
♣ Federico García Lorca ♣

Africa

This was inspired by David McClain :

I think we as a nation are basically ignorant of the world. We are taught some European history and many immigrants still feel attached to specific cultures in Europe. We act as if the rest of the world doesn't exist.

Unless there is money to be made ... which gets into your comment about oil.

Nigeria has oil, but much of Africa is poor except in mineral resources that this country chooses to exploit.

Only recently have African-Americans been able to trace roots back to a specific place and culture in Africa. Whoopee Goldberg has roots in Guinea-Bissau, for instance. Now she will become more aware of the specific and not just the general. And her fans will too.

It takes a Village

As for the Village ... Yes, parents are the primary source of support for a child, but the Village becomes the support for the parent and for the children when the parents don't have the time nor resources. My parents didn't know what to do with me and the neighbors weren't much help either. In a different culture, I may have been able to flourish.

Of course, the Village can impose its own boundries that must be observed. But if your children are running wild, be thankful for the Village. In the inner city where I once lived, the neighborhood moms didn't put up with much misbehavior ... from anyone ... even the adults . Sometimes this sense of community leads to what I call a Peaceful Village. And it was in many ways ... right in the middle of the city.

Excerpt from a Prayer

Thou kind Lord! Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence.

~ 'Abdu'l-Bahá

The entire prayer is at: http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/c/BP/bp-84.html

Me, my friends and my family

Yes, my ribs are still sore. When I fell I had little time to be surpised, I was hurting too bad. It just takes a long time for rib cages to forgive insults.

I misplaced another one of my notebooks I scribble in. So I lost lots of notes and my other poem about violet (the violet's fading in the western sky ...), one on tiger lilies (I dare you to love me) and one for young Ryan who plays the guitar (... in F flat minor), but I wrote Ryan another one (... in B sharp major).

Saw Ryan playing chess yesterday. I asked him about his lapel pin "4 hire". He said his mom put it there. . Of course, my thoughts wandered to 'pimp momma' but I sure didn't tell him that!

IMAGES and RAMBLINGS

Slice of moon in the western sky, a beacon over 9th street; slime of ground beef between the fingers; the huff-n-puff of walking and talking on the cell phone at the same time; chocolate milk; the crisp snap of baked potato chips.

Vortex of emotion

Deep below the well of sadness
the vortex of the vampires
sucks on emotions
leaving husks to float
to the surface
these zombies that glide though the night
empty eyed by day.
They seek the siren that calls them back
but never gives back what was taken
and they can't find the way
it is blocked
by their river of tears
that flow from its depths
where the vampires still starve
where the vortex
destroys all emotion.

[163.582]

Hey ... I had to write a quick one today! Still looking for that memo pad.

Making More Plants, The Science, Art and Joy of Propogation by Ken Druse.

So Special Kay wrote:

It is excellent for it's lesson in plant biology. Let's face it.. flowers are the glorified genitalia of the plant kingdom.

Besides, I like Druse's writing. The preface begins:

"I was born in the spring, and I never got over it. I am obsessed by seasonal changes; am far to susceptible to the blahs as daylight hours shorten in autumn, get a little too high for my own good when the evening light lingers. I love plants - the way they look and smell, leaves crisp in fall and flower buds bursting into bloom in spring."

Now, I must agree with Kay. I love this quote because I am a Spring baby, suffer both winter-blahs and artic-high. I have noticed flowers since I was hatched on a Saturday, one fine April morning, a long long time ago.

The weather has been Spring-like. Today's sun and mild warmth will thaw out the ground. A week of this weather could encourage the crocus to bloom. First one I see you'll know about.

BLOGVILLE

My reading has been off as I've had difficulty getting a signal at my friend's place. And I'm too poor to hang out in the coffeehouse at the moment. All this will change. Soon I hope.

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 Kåre Enga

~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop, The Fish