Will & Success ( Part 2)

.....

Gritted teeth and clenched fist

Fighting all odds

Ones own destiny to be made

With some help from God

Race against time

Walk against wind

Penniless nights

Through hell and partly singed

......to be continued.

All Things Bright and Beautiful!

Hello dear friends, it’s the season to be jolly and thankful, with Thanks Giving , Christmas and the New Years. A final culmination of the whole year’s festivities. We should really be thankful for the food we eat, thankful for the world so sweet and thankful to God for everything. And so aptly starts, from Dec 1-Dec 12 in Lima, Peru, a conference on Climate Change UNFCCC. Climate change is the flavor of next year 2015 !  See: http://unfccc.int/meetings/lima_dec_2014/meeting/8141/php/view/schedule.php

It is all about our world and the environment, so important for the survival of the human race , we have to make a conscious effort for a change. We have to leave a beautiful world for our children, so the time is now. So, what started as a small story to tell my child about conservation and environment, without the computer graphics, I actually started constructing a story and then there was no stopping me.

I wrote a play on conservation, the environment and of course nature, and women as the conservers of nature personified in the heroine, I call Ariyana (not Ariana Grande, name is taken from the settlers which came to India and lived in the forest-the Aryans). I have uploaded on Amazon in the form of an e-book called: Ariyana- The Secrets in the Forest. It is available for a free download as well as my other e-books from  28 to 30 Dec 2014 at: http://www.amazon.com/Ashwini-Sane/e/B00KNNS7OK. 

Gender Day at the conference is on Dec 9  See: http://womengenderclimate.org unfccc

You can also see my page MyRandom Bks for more about the story, Cast of Characters , a pictorial representation of the Heroine Ariyana and a Map of territories, on this blog.

 It is a play for  the youth to act and put up to spread the word of conservation through drama hopefully in an open air, live theatre, which will attract the younger children  towards Nature, Conservation and Recycling, and all the problems without heavy philosophy, and boring monologues. I feel it is no use telling adults, we have to show the children in their own world and without computer graphics.

So friends do have a read, download and review. DO let me know what you think, I am open for all criticism -good and bad!

So Happy Holidays and Best Wishes to you & your families!

Here is a lovely hymn by Cecil Alexander: All Things Bright and Beautiful

The hymn was first published in 1848 in Mrs. Cecil Alexander's Hymns for Little Children. It consists of a series of stanzas that elaborate upon verses of the Apostles' Creed ( Wikipedia)

There is a beautiful version with music do have a look: http://youtu.be/FT_oDqOEGpc

Alexander's text reads:

1.
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

2.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.

All things bright ...

3.
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.

All things bright ...

4.
The purple headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;−

All things bright ...

5.
The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,−
He made them every one:

All things bright ...

6.
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
We gather every day;−

All things bright ...

7.
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright ...

(Amen)

‘Due to the third verse's endorsement of the class system, many later versions and performances of the hymn omit it. The United Church of Canada includes a fourth verse, which seems particularly appropriate to Canadian geography: "The rocky mountain splendour, / the lone wolf's haunting call, / the great lakes and the prairies, / the forest in the fall.’ (Wikipedia)

~*~

My dear friends, my readers, I hope the football fever we all had, has now worn off? Well we cannot stop talking about it can we? It is as if we want all the problems in Iraq, Israel/Gaza Strip, Ukraine,the droughts and now the floods to go away and to hide behind football! Well they don’t! I wonder if the floods and droughts are a signal from nature/God( or who ever/ what ever you believe in) to wake us up to real problems, we our own wonderful selves have created!

Today I post a poem which I wrote a very long time ago when India had been hit by a giant Tsunami causing destruction and death in the south of India.  It’s written like the poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.You can have a look at my favourite Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner for the background and meaning of the poem, for the poem in its pure form is on http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253, this is a great page with some poems of Emily Dickinson as well: 'Tell all the truth but tell it Slant' and 'Now I knew I lost her'.

As for what happened in India during the devastating ‘ChristmasTsunami’ have a look at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami

 My poem ( I am NOT comparing myself Coleridge), has two parts before and after, that is, what happened during the crisis and what to learn from it, without any obvious division made. I have tried to make the tempo fast in the beginning and then suddenly slow, as most natural disasters occur. Also it starts lyrically and then it becomes more of a dramatic monologue.  Yes, I know it’s kind of long and preachy!

You know, during the World Cup Football, we all got together to cheer teams from different countries, so we all can come together, but for what? A fight about a round object! Amazing! Aren’t we a confused set of being! Next what Commonwealth Games?

Facts Till Date Published in Media: Deaths in Gaza  600+ civilians,Malaysian Flight  298,Iraq ,1500
Total  more than 3000 deaths in the course of twenty days!

Forget deaths due to famine, malnutrition, crimes of passion and disease.

                       

Well, I am in kind of a preachy mood, let me just have that cup of Brazil bean coffee….no wait it’s too weak, I think I will go for the  Turkish blend! Ja wunderbar!......

Nature's Wave

Water, water, everywhere,

and not a drop to drink,

Water, water, everywhere,

And Oh! Our lives did sink!

All were enjoying the festive season,

All across the land,

Then came that mighty wave,

And stuck us in the sand.

Oh God! What did we do to deserve,

such a  slap so hard?

Where is my house ?

Where is my tree ?

Where are the books and toys ?

Where is my spouse?

Where is my hearth?

Where is my life?

Where  are the children who played in the yard?

Away, away, all washed away,

We all are dazed,

The day passes to the next day,

Land and sea still rumble now and then,

We are now all cramped,

Like pigs in a pen,

Waiting for help and hope,

Help trickles in,

Too late too little,

And then too much!                                                    (Still more reading to go)

Help always comes late,

They wait, watch and wait,

Till the disaster comes,

They watch the disaster,

Till their hands become numb,

‘No, no, no Tsunami or enemy will never ever here come’

And the enemy through history always has!

Nature cannot be stopped.

But, let us pause and think,

What has been so good about all this?

There have been acts of kindness, bravery and compassion,

The world has come together to help and aide,

The affected nations.

Do we need a disaster,

To come and help each other out?                                          (It’s almost over)

Do we need tall towers to fall,

An earthquake, to shakes our senses about?

To help each other and come together,

Only when we fear we will be wiped out?

Tears will be shed in the east and west,

Maybe it’s a test?

A call from Nature,

To make us wake up,

Or, maybe it is to tells us that,

Man tries very hard,

To control nature,

To pollute natures air,

To pollute natures land,

 Pierce through the earth and cut green,

For our own comfort,

And give nothing back?                                                          (Ok,Just a little bit more)

We build satellites and communications in air,

But we forget to talk nicely to others,

We build bridges and building on land,

But we cannot find the right way and develop a good society,

We pack and purify water, oil, diamonds and gold,

 But we don’t try and purify our souls.

Yes,we have come together,

in time of crisis,

But let us come together,                               (You have read so far? Go on it’s almost over)

At other times too?

God helps those people,

who help themselves and others two!

Man cannot conquer Nature,

And that’s true

They say that time and tide wait for none,

And Nature never does too!

Water, water, everywhere,

And not a drop to drink,

Water, water, gone away,

Let us stop and think?

Why is it that all man come together?

Only when we all fear we sink?

Its over! Thank you for reading soooo far down!!

May Gods

Hello my friends, my readers! Spring had come and delighted us, and now the hot hot months are soon to arrive. The poetry website http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot/ got me searching on the various poems written on spring. I went through all the great poets of mainly the Romantic era, and found to my dismay not one poem which would capture spring in all its glory! I was surprised! Most poets have written in Spring but their best poems have been about autumn! If you look at some of Van Gogh’s paintings they too don’t capture the exact colors of spring, but his harvest paintings and those in autumn are some of the finest!  Check out great painters:

http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/paul-cezanne/the-four-seasons-spring-1861

http://blog.vangoghgallery.com/index.php/2011/03/22/van-gogh-in-spring/

Some great poets : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Autumn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wandered_Lonely_as_a_Cloud

http://poetry.about.com/library/weekly/bldickinsonspring.htm

Maybe I lack the literary knowledge. But maybe it is also because Spring itself is so pristine and beautiful that it is difficult to capture it in words or colors or song? It is too perfect a God’s creation for us humans to replicate, I guess. Whenever I see the new flowers, the leaves and the blooms, I wonder, would Heaven be like this? In India for most people Spring comes with its traditional days celebrated with Holi, Gudi Padwa, Baisakhi etc, and then we enter the hot and scorching months of May. Mid May onwards is the worst, in which we all feel, literally sapped off, of our energies, and we all pray for the dark clouds to come with a bit of rain as relief and later the early Monsoon showers.

So, today I post my poem on Spring & Summer and the wish for the start of the Monsoon. I have written it in a theatrical way describing the heat and then the rain, there is also a lot of personification. Also, the last line from the first stanza, has, I think come from the subconscious level after reading some poem of Shakespeare long time ago, if you happen to know the poem do let me know. Enjoy my poem and I will go and roast some coffee beans!

May Gods….. Help Us!

The Sun gold,

Shines so bright,

On the first day of May,

The flowers bloom their colors, scents and lights,

and the birds sing twitters gay,

Welcoming the Summer Gods and Springs,

And the darling buds of May!

The days go on, on and on, hot and warm,

Our spirits are going dry,

We pray to the mighty, clear blue Sky,

And hope Thunder God flies by,

Wind comes and blows her breath, sultry hot and then cold,

Bringing along her swarthy cloud friends all dancing in a tow,

The Clouds meet, the Thunder God comes,

and pours down,

from the heavens bowl,

Once the heavenly spirit falls down earth,

Nature starts to sway,

The Sun, the Wind, hear the music

and applaud the glorious play,

Soon God comes out through his colored arch,

and blesses the beautiful day,

‘This is just a glimpse of Heaven my children,

If you want to enter the Arch one day,

The Devil will close his door shut even,

If you don’t pray to me each day!

Enjoy this lovely day like heaven,

And the sunny month of May!’

 -------------------------------------------

<聄dz>Check out some great Spring poems at website: http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot.in/2012/04/poetry-picnic-week-31-nature-color-and.html