Newsletter for the World of Words by Elias Tobias

Celebrate Life is May’s poetry theme

“When are we get there there? Are we there yet?  These are questions I asked of my father as he drove my family around on long trips or vacations. At one stop, he handed me a map and explained how it was used. I didn’t ask those particular questions again while traveling with my parents. The destination is not always the goal, but the trip getting there is the adventure, and life’s detours, though as first may be negative, turn out to be the best accidents ever.

Also as a child growing up, I loved to be outside playing with my neighborhood friends, and the weather had a way of spoiling things. My father must have had this saying, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain,” when he helped me out one afternoon.  I didn’t go out in the rain, though.  I looked into the closet and found a box of checkers, but no checkerboard.  Within an hour or so, he had made a regulation-sized board that was good enough for him to defeat me at several games that afternoon.  We didn’t go to the store for a new checkerboard.

All these incidents celebrate the little moments of life that have meaning.  When people like Oprah have events like the Big Give, or when a TV network has a series that promotes the construction of a house for a needy or deserving person within a week, one person or a small group can have a great influence on others lives.  This also celebrates life.  This theme incorporates other monthly themes used on the World of World by Elias Tobias, too.

There is a poem I really like, author anonymous, called Influence.

Influence

Drop a pebble in the water,
And its ripples reach out far;
And the sunbeams dancing on them
May reflect  them to a star.

Give a smile to someone passing,
Thereby making his morning glad;
It may greet you in the evening
When your own heart is sad.

Do a deed of simple kindness;
Though its end you may not see.
It may reach, like widening ripples
Down a long eternity. 

Indiana Wildflower video now on YouTube 

A new Indiana Wildflower video, less than two minutes long, has been post by The World of Words on YouTube. Go to  http://www.youtube.com/user/etobiasnew to check it out.

Poetry Contest extended

The April Poetry Contest at the World of World by Elias Tobias has been extended into May, and the theme is “Celebrate Life.”

My contest is open to anyone who wants to enter, and like the college contest, readers here can submit as many poems as you want in any style, as long as they conform to the rules as set forth in the free open poetry forum on the World of Words by Elias Tobias (see page link on right side of page). Deadline is April 30,, Wnners for the top three places and their poems along with a brief biography and optional photo (if submitted) of each winner will be announced in the May Exponet monthly newsletter. Good luck and enter often.  Send submissions to contact(at)eliastobias(dot)net.

Also I am interested in starting  a World of Words Hall of Fame for modern poets who deserved to be recognized for their accomplishments. This would go beyond National Poetry Month, but it is a good time to start it.  Those under consideration can be nominated by sending an e-mail to contact@eliastobias.net  Candidates should be established through publication and/or performance, and should have achieved a national or international presence through their work. Those inducted would be included in a special page for the Hall of Fame with a detailed biography and photograph on the World of Words by Elias Tobias web blog.  A press release will accompany each induction.

 Poem of the Month

Sounds of life 

(with some inspiration for the Beatles)

Energy …

… thousands of circles oflight
continueto collide creating aforce stronger
 thana single  element …

and the bulb glows, knowledge grows,
inventions flow and society shows its art.

Here comes the sun, and everything’s all right.

Photos by Mike Hall

A keen eye can observe a few wild flowers starting to bloom in Central Indiana, but the temperatures need to be taken into consideration. This area has had a week total of 70-degree plus weather the last seven months, unlike south Texas, which has a proportionate amount of hot weather, week of 90-plus temperatures, and more kinds of wild flowers this time of year. I guess you have to understand that most everything is better and bigger in Texas. Now this is home, and I need to be thankful for what there is here.  The wild flowers are still pretty.

See the  Indiana wildflower video, courtesy of YouTube.  at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G16DFA8i8xY

Poetry Themes

All poets have major themes that seem to repeat throughout their work, and one of mine is that no one thing happens as result of itself.  There has been or will be some cause and effect reaction created by an event.  Some reactions are minor that lead up to a major event, and some just jump to being major events. This is life, to me.

One thing leads to another

One thing leads to another, and people don’t remain the same.
You can bask in the glory of achievement and fame,
Or be indebted with the responsibility and pain.
The way to win or lose is how you play the game.

One thing leads to another, and friends become lovers.
Then you learn family is more than sisters or brothers.
Events seem to spin out of your control to others
And sometimes those you don’t know may suffer.

One thing leads to another, and you just have to laugh.
Details of memories fade to an old photograph.
Your life’s events are summed in a single paragraph.
Retirement means a gold watch from the staff.

One thing leads to another, and people don’t remain the same.
The effects of history can be blamed,
But the mistakes of the past can be changed.
The way to win or lose is how you play the game.

Photos by Mike Hall

Wanted: Members of the Burks Gang

A few months ago. my sister, Pam,  her new husband Chris, and her four children came to visit us. For one afternoon, my apartment became an Old West movie set, and they donned various articles of western wear I have been collecting. Being a photographer, I could not resist taking a few “old time” photographs using the back of the front door as a background.

A little cropping, framing and other special effects created a long-lasting portrait of the Burks Gang.  At least one of them is a lawman.  Watch out for the girls, though.  He could not arrest them all at the same time. Pam  and Chris were able to find a way to get them in warp drive into the 21 century, and take them home - found, and still wanted.

 

Photo by Mike Hall

Cowboys in the Old West usually did not have enough time to establish strong lasting relationships with women, but they did have feelings for them, which often made for confusion which was sometimes settled over a good bottle of whiskey. 

Confused cowboy

I don’t want to get inside your head.
I’d rather come back to your unmade bed.
I don’t want complicated future plans,
But its more than a rodeo ride with a fan.
I’m not sure what all these feelings mean,
But there is one thing I want you to see.
I really do like the funny way you smile,
And I really do like your company.

To read this poem in Spanish, click here.

Photos by Mike Hall

Spring time in Texas can be noticed when the temperatures start to get hotter, and with the right combination of water and heat, thousands of wilde flowers that seem to pop up almost anywhere, especially beside the highways that are less travelled.  The season lasts for a month or two, and the fireworks are gone. Be sure to click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G16DFA8i8xY to see the Texas Wildflower video on YouTube.

 Cowboy Pride

 

Photo by Mike Hall

Western writers have repeated the theme that being a cowboy doesn’t mean a person lived in the Old West.  Many people lived in the West and they were not all cowboys.  There is a set of rules, a Cowboy code, that had a sense of honor that some find hard to understand. It goes beyond the outside facade of a cowboy. It’s what’s in his or her heart.

 Cowboy Pride

Its not just the hat, boots and
clothes that are on the outside
that shows what people
mean by a cowboys’ pride.
It’s the connection with the
past that is also inside.
It’s the way real cowboys
walk with a confident stride,
or how life’s disappointments
are not difficult to hide.
There’s a friendly nature that
makes strangers easily confide.
Truth is very important, since
trust is lost in those who lie.
Cowboys defend the innocent
because justice is on their side.
Cowboys live off the land, and
defend it when forces collide.
Families are protected, and
praise God that they survive.
 

Born to Be in Texas 

Welcome to Texas, y’all.
We’re known for our hospitality.
People come just to visit and
End up staying indefinitely.

From the deserts and the prairies
To the hills, woods and seashore,
Texas has so much to offer.
Who could ask for more?
It has its own sense of history.
They say the Lone Star State
Is like a whole other country.

You are born to be in Texas.
It doesn’t matter where you’re from.
It’s the place to be when all
Your traveling days have begun.
You are born to be in Texas
Because there’s lots to do for fun.

Welcome to Texas, y’all.
We’re known for our hospitality.
People come just to visit and
End up staying indefinitely.

From the deserts and the prairies
To the hills, woods and seashore,
Texas has so much to offer.
Who could ask for more?
There’s more than you could ever see
They say the Lone Star State
Is like a whole other country.

You are born to be in Texas.
It doesn’t matter where you’re from.
It’s the place to be when all
Your traveling days are done.
You are born to be in Texas
Because there’s room for everyone.

If you would like to read this poem in Spanish, click here

Photos by Mike Hall

Daffodils are in bloom outside the main entrance to the Brown County Inn in Nashville, Indiana. The warmer days are beginning to bring tourists to the artist colony and more visitors to Brown County State Park.

Streams, like this one in Brown County State Park, bring refreshment to a woodland ready to show signs of growth.