In Other Words, Elf…

This is written in response to http://patriciasplace.me/2017/12/13/in-other-words-elf/

I’ve never thought much about being an elf.
Mischievous, clever, mysterious creatures.
Then I slept beneath a giant oak tree
and stories of the past came flooding back to me.
Answers to questions I’ve always had about myself.

Ebb and Flow

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Seven days ago I ran alongside the river
that has flowed through our city
before it was a city.

Water that never stands still,
passes people, cultures, politics, technology
without a second glance.

She keeps flowing a graceful flow
sometimes slow and lazy
sometimes turbid and raging,
always moving.

Two days ago I stepped away
from my workplace
after thirty-two years
of coming and going.
Thirty-two years with a wonderful dentist,
Dr Brian Sacks, who was by my side
through the ebb and flow
of my life.
Over the years a wonderful dentist, yes,
but a wonderful friend, too.

I have had the pleasure of working with great staff
and of course, the best patients ever!
I am grateful for the opportunity
to have shared many stories
with many people
and to have had the opportunity to have been taught
so much by my patients over the course of my career.

I will miss the conversations and laughter.
I will miss the security of knowing
“where I am supposed to be” every morning
but I look forward to this new phase of my life-
flowing beside water that never stands still.

Golden Glow

Laughter bursts above
clinking cutlery and
toasting glasses.

There is a buzz in the air.

Friends reminisce
with pleasure, the hours
they just spent together
as the sun drops along
the horizon, turning the
golf course a golden green
in light that entices fairies
to come out and dance.

As stories grow,
merriment increases and
new memories are made.

Beer suds mustaches
and rum twinkling eyes
reflect a zest for life
of friends enjoying time
together, even if it meant
chasing a little white ball
for miles on a sunny
afternoon.

Pied Piper

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(image credit: jacksonopolisis.com)

(This post was inspired after hearing Lemon Bucket Orkestra from Toronto, Canada. A lively, high energy performance!)

Pied Piper leads
rollicking fast paced musical experience
Overworked feet stomp
weary hands clap
day to day life is forgotten

Tambourine jangles
keeping pace with piper
violin sends notes screaming
squealing into the frenzy
People jump up and dance
unable to resist whirling dervish notes

European melodies
Accordion tunes
soulful immigrant history
lead frolicking party

Multicultural fusion of folk song
touch visceral chord
reach in and draw out inherent rhythms
playfulness
joy

Hips sway, bodies twist
primal encounter
children and adults
young and old
are infused with instinct
for emotional expression
no one can remain still

In presence of piper
people become sea of motion
bouncing
jumping
arms legs akimbo

Piper tells stories without words
there is an urgency
come now
dance now
now, now, it must be NOW
Music builds to a crescendo
Nothing matters
but NOW
This Moment!

Neighborhood Gossips

wall

Walls lean and tilt
neighbourhood gossips
moving closer to hear
conversations of passersby

footsteps
voices
many have been heard

Ancient building blocks
sentinels of the city
harbour untold stories
a voluminous library
compendiums full of personal narratives
about tourists and residents alike

Moon, stars, sun, rain
these hovering facades endure centuries
of eyes looking upon their eroding exteriors
some balancing precariously
some appearing to wink like a devious child
bursting to tell a secret

Patiently they take all in
fashions and styles vary
disseminated through a profusion of languages
people come and go
Walls remain
leaning tilting
moving in to hear
more of the conversations below

Cacophony

Skeletons jangle
dangle from a string
produce eerie music
wind chime of dead
relative stories
long gone
attempt to be heard

whispers of memories
shift bones
change beat
swing rhythm
recollection rises to surface
before recognition
slips away

elusive melody
mournful
an elegy
replaced by
quickened tumble of sound
lilting spill of noise
another story scrambling to be told
“don’t forget about me
I’m still here”

movement increases
bones compete to bring forth
their etude
music becomes cacophony!
indistinguishable chords
lyrical distortion
lost in the chaos!

skeletons untangle
slowly hang limp
a bump now and then
produces a click or a clack

hands are over ears

strange chorus deferred to another time
conductor must be found
for this otherworldly orchestra
to decipher
ancestor
notes