Hardrock miner…
My people are a storytelling society…
Stories of hunting,
traveling,
people gatherings,
hardships,
humourous situations,
death and birth
are told to us in the comfort of a warm tent…
after a hot meal…
Inuit people are good listeners,
as I have come to realize…
— David Rubin Piqtoukun as quoted in Stones, Bones, and Stitches
The other day I was in a casual conversation on the sidelines of one of my children’s sporting activities,
and it should be no surprise by now,
that the subject followed a path from jock itch to Viagra,
and some samples he’d found laying around…
Just to see what it was like…
I pushed him right up against a wall with the back of my hand,
and did not give him an inch to move…
Without even lifting a finger…
I said,
What???!!!!
like instead of dropping acid,
or taking mushrooms,
you swallowed Viagra…
Just for fun???!!!!!?????
He said,
Well, yeah…
And it was incredible…
I got all charged up…
But that was at least eight years ago…
Please…
I divided his lie by 365 and came up with,
more like eight days ago…
I wanted to know,
Why would you need Viagra to get all charged up in your forties???!!!????
Do you have a problem,
that needs a little liquid plumber???
You know…
Down there…
I pointed south,
below his equator,
with my eyes…
He puffed up like a peacock,
which was a lost effort since I’d already seen that his true colours were clouded with mustard gas,
and said,
Oh no,
nothing like that…
My wife and I just wanted to give it a try…
To see how it was…
Don’t tell anyone about this…
I only did it once…
Right…
We all know about only doing it once,
to experiment,
just for fun…
Self-medicating ourselves out of a real experience,
where just running your hands down another person’s back,
opens your heart,
and everything else,
up like a flower…
All I can taste is this moment...
Fire glow…
Trust the game you have inside you…
— in A Season in Dornoch by Lorne Rubenstein
Running over the same old ground... (photo: Starshine)
Bag pipes…
Toad put the thin button in his pocket…
He was very angry…
He jumped up and down and screamed,
“The whole world is covered with buttons,
and not one of them is mine!!!”
Toad ran home and slammed the door…
There,
on the floor,
he saw his white,
four-holed,
big,
round,
thick button…
“Oh,” said Toad…
“It was there all the time…
What a lot of trouble I have made for Frog…”
— in Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
A few weeks ago,
on the way back,
from swimming lessons,
at Killarney Pool,
Little Gem’s classmate,
who Little Gem finds,
to be,
VERY annoying,
asked her,
Why does you mother often wear a bandana???
I listened,
to the ensuing,
conversation,
with pleasure,
as part of,
my ongoing study,
of perception…
Someone once told me,
something which,
I had never before,
considered,
as he sat across,
the table from me,
perhaps without,
even knowing,
what a genius he is,
that
Perception is everything…
Little Gem gave a long answer,
to a short question…
My mother likes,
to pretend things,
and she likes to,
dress up…
Today she thinks she’s a pirate…
But don’t worry,
she’s the good kind of pirate,
the kind who shares,
her jewels,
with everyone…
The only thing,
she doesn’t get,
is that pirates,
do not wear pink…
The annoying boy,
who sits behind Little Gem,
in class,
bothering her,
by just,
being there,
had pirate insight…
He said,
Real pirates,
always wear,
a little bit of red,
or pink…
Sometimes,
it is a band,
on their arm,
a sash,
or a short kind,
of skirt…
Little Gem said,
My mother does have a pink skirt,
but she saves it,
for special occasions,
like playing pitch and putt…
The annoying boy said,
Oh, she’s the golfing kind of pirate…
Those are rare…
They don’t talk,
about those kind,
in books,
but they really should,
make a movie,
about them…
We walked all of the way back to school,
silently,
and proud,
with our new knowledge,
of pirates…
The kind of knowledge,
that gets pulled,
from the ether…
That ether where,
the laws about,
how one ought,
to live,
wait for people,
to remember them,
and to live them,
out loud…
These lines of lightning mean we’re never alone… (photo: Starshine)
Canuck'd 