Newsletter for the World of Words by Elias Tobias
In a few hours, 2006 will be history, and the hopes and challenges of 2007 will be here. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I had Saturday off after getting the LMT Business Journal done early on Friday before both holidays, and took Christmas off. I promise my wife I would, but Tuesday was a workday. The Year in Review issue was done by 9 p.m. I usually work to midnight or so.
Our fireworks will be the TV version, tonight along with a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling grape cocktails and real glass wine glasses. Last year we had plastic wine glasses since glass types tend to get broken around our house. We have four new ones, and we’ll see how long they last.
I didn’t make a Christmas list this year, and I was surprised. I got a clarinet. I played when I was in high school, and stopped my junior year to be the hiigh school feature editor. I didn’t play again until 1979 in the spring quarter of my senior year of my bachelors degree. I took a class as one of my electives since I had most of my major and minors classes completed. I also took badminton and co-ed jogging. Throughout my moves as a journalist, the clarinet was sold as excess baggage. Today, I put together the new instrument, and it came back to me after all this time. I’m not ready for my debut at Carnegie Hall just yet, though.
I got other stufff. I received my Cowboy things: a John Wayne calendar, pocket watch and tree ornament; a Beatles CD, a five-DVD set of the unauthorized history of the Beatles and the John Lennon t-shirt with his dreamer quote; note pads and pens in my boot (we don’t do stockings in Laredo), and two packs of t-shirts to replace those that seem to shrink with every wash. It was a challenge to open some of the presents considereing the way they were wrapped.
I have a poem for readers. Saturday morning, my wife and I discussed what was for breakfast. After our discussion, this is a poem I wrote:
Poem of the Month
French Toast
Come have breakfast with me,
and you can be
the coffee or tea.
I can be the butter and the French
toast and we can
have fun eating
each other as long
as the morning lasts.
Happy New Year
Elias Tobias
Newsletter for the World of Words by Elias Tobias
Happy New Year to those who are either getting to the Web site for the first time, or have transferred from the old Web site. The site is nine years old in 2007, and it was time to change again. I now have a blog that continues many of the features I had in the old Web site, and combines others. My 60 Favorite Poems are still here, but there is much more to come. I have a song with my lyrics that may can be downloaded, along with audio clips of the Love Notes Collection I have recorded. Video slide shows are in the works for the poem, The Mexican Love Song and a photo history since my birth. Who knows what all will happen this year?
The best thing about this is that you, the readers, have a better chance to be a part of the Web site. I’m thinking about restarting the Poetry First-Aid service to those who need help, and responding to the poems is easier. Comments about the poems will be posted. New poems will be in the newsletter, along with the Poem of the Month.
Poem of the Month
A New Year’s Toast
The glass for 2006 is full,
and there are no more refills left,
no matter how thirsty we may be.
The memories, fresh in our minds
as if they were yesterday, remain.
The glass for 2007 is in our hands,
and the challenges seem the same.
We can avoid mistakes from the past,
and cast the light on shadows so
we can have a better new year.
I hope that the change to this format will get more people involved with poetry, and this Web site.
Elias Tobias
Earth Song
(Courtesy photo)
Earth Song
We are all citizens of the earth,
Not separated by country or by birth.
Our survival depends on each other,
And I am, by right, your distant brother.
But if we are from the same fold,
Why are people so cold
Fighting for power is not right.
Pride should be within the Lord’s sight.
But brother, why are we so distant?
The material world provides resistance.
I wish I could forever feel the breeze,
But people cut down forests and trees.
People recycle resources for their sake
Before they are gone and it’s too late.
Despite your clothes, color or name,
In my eyes, we are all the same.
And if you feel that you’re alone
You are always welcome in my home.
To read this poem in Spanish, click here.
Changing the Changless
Since we first met,
you have changed and
I have changed, too,
but our love for
each other has not.
Our love is endless,
and will never stop.
Listen to the poem: Click here.
Need QuickTime to hear this? Click here to download a free version here.
Carrousel
(Photo by Mike Hall)
A merry-go-round is at the entrance of a community fair in Indiana.
Carrousel
I see the bright lights go round and round,
And the painted horses go up and down.
The mall is filled with people from town.
Kids change to a smile from a frown
When they ride the golden merry-go-round.
Memories of my childhood are found,
When I listen is the music so loud. It stops.
Reality finds me again, when my son’s
Feet land touching the ground, safe and sound.
A Taste of Heaven
I wrote this one for my middle sister, Pam, who, at the time, was going through a lot of boy friends. She settlled on one and started a family. Unfortunately, her first husband died from a surprise heart attack, but has since remarried.
A Taste of Heaven
I get a taste of Heaven
after I kiss your lips.
Your smile is something
that I just can’t resist.
Give me more of your love..
I’ll give you all of mine.
I really mean what I say.
It’s more than just a line.
Together we’ll be better
than if we’re apart.
Listen to the Poem: Click here.
Can’t hear the poem? Click here to download a free version of QuickTime software.
Everlasting Love
When I think of all the girls I kissed,
and all the chances at love I missed,
I seem to get a little blue,
but then I see a smile from you
and remember a very special day
when there were promises to say
in the front of our family and friends.
Then the sad feelings end.
We are together, rich or poor,
and I can ask for nothing more
than an everlasting love.
Intergalatic Speeding
Don’t go so fast that you start to pass
your own shadow,
for that is a violation of intergalactic speeding.
Then the light will play tricks on you.
Some people will think you’re crazy because
you will see people and things they can’t.
It may be hard to know what is real,
and then you won’t know how to feel
When you discover what is the truth.
The mind becomes addicted to your vice.
The results aren’t nice, and you could
lose your job, your family.
Not much would be left of your life.
So slow down, and take a day,
or as much as you may need.
Listen to some music, or get a book and read.
Take a look at what is that you really believe,
and you may be surprised.
This day is a good day to live.
Waves
No person can be an island alone,
for the sandy beach meets the sea.
Wave after wave, I feel your touch.
Your love constantly surrounds me.
Listen to the Poem: Click Here.
Can’t hear the poem? Click here to download a free version of QuickTime software.
As the Candle Burns
I was invited to a wedding in Mexico since my wife knew the bride from work. This is a reaction from the night’s events.
As the Candle Burns
As the candle
burns into the night,
the wax flows
over the edge stopping
before it drops
to the top of the table
as if time stands still…
and the celebration never ends.