I'm Going Away to Scotland

It's finally time for one of those rambling thoughts from a restless author that the invisible, though hopefuly not non-existent, followers have been waiting for. I, White Foxx, have been planning a study abroad trip to Scotland this coming summer. So far things have been going well. All the paperwork is filled out, I have a passport, and a suit case (sort of). I just need to book a plane ticket. Anyone have some good advice for first time Flyers? Comments welcome.

I'm Going Away to Scotland

I’m going away to Scotland
So I wrote this little rhyme
In the hopes that it will maybe
Help me pass the time

I don’t know what will be there
Guess I’ll have to go to see
They say there’ll be a castle
Some mountains and some trees

I don’t want to get sick from flying
But I’ve never been on a plane
I hope I don’t have trouble packing
Lost bags would be a pain

All the money will be different
All the outlet plugs will too
I hope I don’t get lost there
Or I won’t know what to do

So here’s to my trip to Scotland
I’m sure it will be a blast
I hope the plane’s not hijacked
I hope the lines go fast

Untitled

It felt like wind and rain
Water storming in a flood of power
What would I do I ask of you
Repulsive beauty like a chain in the sea of eternity
Aching to recall a whisper heavy in your breast
And like a void in the sky after the moon moaning falls
Behind your dreams are bitter lives
Always full with love and worship
Raw lust and gorgeously languid vision
Sorrid soars the luscious symphony of life and death

A Diamond Black as Night

There was a man named Sam and a man named Cam and they worked both day and night,
In the hopes that they might find one day a diamond black as night.
And they worked and slaved in a lightless cave way down in the ground,
And though they raked till their bones ached, no diamond could be found.

It came about that when Sam’s shout of “diamond found” was said,
That jealous Cam, became the man who killed poor Samuel dead.
He took the rock and behind lock and key Cam hid it well,
He guarded it and horded it till wealth became his hell.

Cam didn’t dare to spend a hare of the wealth he had achieved,
But horded it and guarded itand soon Cam came to believe,
He could not wed "Because," he said,"she would only want his cash"
No friend had he because, you see, his head they would all bash
As he had Sam that other man, whose ghost haunted Cam still.

And every night by the pale moonlight Sam’s ghost would wail and chill
Cam’s every bone and all his home in the hopes that one day still,
Poor Cam would see and maybe he would finally do what’s right,
And lose the wealth that ate his health that diamond black as night.

But Cam would not, that poor, poor sot. He could not see the light.
He would not sell, or buy or dump, he stayed in hell that stupid lump,
With a diamond black as night.

Afterlife

The dark trees cast their shadows upon the snowy ground
Obscuring those who walked there so that they were not found
If ever ghostly scavengers do walk upon the earth
They will find themselves to full and too wide about the girth
For so long as there is life, death will follow in its wake
But those with faith in Jesus, will live again awake
For though scavengers will eat the flesh and gnaw upon the bones
They cannot touch the souls of those whose faith the good Lord owns.

The Grudge

I am the master of disaster
I am the savant of disguise
I am there but no one sees me
Though I’m right before their eyes

I reek but no one smells me
I shout but no one hears
I’m that little bit of jealous hate
That grows throughout the years

I start out small and mindless
Smaller that a mustard seed
Until I gain complete control
Of every action word and deed

But envy, spite and anger
Their just feelings you want to say
But feelings control your thoughts
Can take your mind your life away

Final Freedom

The anger
The sadness
The pain
It comes form nowhere
And it has no forgiveness
You see the people around you
You see your "friends"
Are they really your friends
Or do they only hang around
Because they feel sorry for you
You think your life is meaningless
And you wonder who, if any
Would miss you when you're gone
Your parents expect you to be perfect
You try so hard for them
Another day you wake up
Another day you are still here
Another day you put on the fake smile
Another day you wait for the end
The end seems as though
It will never be in sight
You decide to help it along
You pick up the knife
You place it to your skin
You watch the crimson blood
As it streams down your skin
Your knees get weak
Your heart grows faint
Your body goes numb
You're finally set free
Free of your pain
Free of your sadness
Free of your anger
Free of your life.

Light is a fading thing that into the night one may seek

Blackie Bear and Johnie Crow: A Fairy Tale of Sorts

Blackie the big black bear lived in a cave near the top of a hill. The hill was called Bear Hill, and it had been called this for longer than anyone cared to remember, certainly longer than Blackie had been living there. Blackie was a solitary creature and his home showed this. It was rather bare and had only one cupboard where Blackie could store nuts and dried fruits and one large pile of leaves in the corner for a bed. Blackie very seldom had any visitors.

Just down the path in the forest Johnny the crow lived in a nest of sticks high up in an old dead tree. The tree had been struck by lightning once before and you could no longer tell what kind of tree it was and all its branches had been burned off. Johnny thought it was a very safe place to live since nothing on the ground could climb a tree with no branches to get him and anyway, lighting never struck the same place twice so he was safe from storms too.

Though they lived in the same forest and often saw each other daily Blackie and Johnny were very different people, and though acquainted they were not friends.

Blackie Bear was a very hard working and reliable bear. He always kept his cave swept clean and always made sure he had enough food stored by for the lean times. Though not a gardener in the human sense of the term Blackie had a favorite blueberry patch that he tended to every summer and it always provided him with plenty of delicious fruit to eat come fall.

Johnny Crow was a lazy bird. He liked nothing better than to mooch off other people. If he could steal food from someone else he would do it, even if there was free food not belonging to anybody already nearby. He was always getting into trouble with the wolves and the bears and the other birds. This summer was no exception.

One day Blackie took himself and his favorite wicker basket down to his special blueberry patch to pick some berries. It was a hot day and the walk to the berry patch seemed long in the sun. After picking enough berries to fill his basket Blackie stopped to rest a while on a nearby rock.

Johnny the crow had been sitting in a tree watching Blackie. Even though he hadn’t done a lick of work all day long Johnny was very hungry. He was also still very lazy and was having trouble deciding how to get his next meal without going too far or exerting himself too much. Seeing Blackie had filled up his basket with berries and that the bear was looking tired and weary Johnny had an idea. It would be very easy to trick the bear into giving up his basket of berries. After all, thought Johnny, bears were supposed to be very slow witted.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bear” Johnny said as he flew down to land beside Blackie, “I can see that you appear to be exhausted. That basket sure looks heavy and you have such a long ways to go yet. I would be happy to carry your basket for you. In fact I insist that you let me help you out, we being neighbors and it being the neighborly thing to do and all.”

“Why thank you Mr. Crow” said Blackie, “I would really appreciate that, but please be careful; I don’t want you to spill any.”

“Oh don’t worry,” said Johnny, “I’ll be careful, I promise”.

So Johnny picked up the basket and flew off to Blackie’s cave with the berries. Once Johnny got to the cave he put the basket down and began to eat the barriers. They were so yummy that Johnny ate every last one, leaving the basket bare. When Blackie got back to his cave a few minutes later he discovered the empty basket and wondered what had happened to his berries. Not one to jump to conclusions, Blackie decided that there was a logical explanation and that Johnny would surely explain things tomorrow. In the meantime Blackie would just have to pick more berries.

The next day after once again filling his basket with berries Blackie sat resting on his rock. He heard a familiar rustle and flap of wings and looked up to see Johnny Crow coming to roost nearby.

“Hello Mr. Bear,” Said Johnny, “Can I help you out again today and carry your basket home?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Blackie, “Yesterday when I got home the basket was empty and the berries were all gone.”

“Oh,” said Johnny, “I’m very sorry, I must have had an accident yesterday. I’ll do better today; let me carry your basket, please?”

“Well, okay,” said Blackie, “But you must promise to be extra careful today.”

“Oh, I will” said Johnny as he picked up the basket and flew off.

When he got to Blackie’s cave Johnny said to himself “What a stupid old bear, falling for the same trick twice. I can probably get free blueberries all summer long.”

When Blackie got back to his cave he once more found the basket empty with not a blueberry in sight. “What is going on?” he thought to himself, “Something is up with that Johnny.”

The next day Blackie went out with his basket and once more filled it up with blueberries. Johnny Crow flew down once more and tricked Blackie into giving up his basket; at least he thought he did. Blackie, suspicious of the bird had taken a shortcut back to his cave and hidden in the corner. When Johnny got to the cave he began to eat the berries in great gulps and soon half of them were gone. Johnny was so engrossed in the berries that he never even saw Blackie until it was too late. Blackie leaped out of his hiding place in the corner and charged at the now very fat Johnny Crow. The surprised Johnny fluttered his wings in vain but only managed to get a few feet towards the door because he was so fat from eating all the berries. Blackie caught Johnny and ate him whole in one big gulp.

Blackie Bear lived quite happily for the rest of his life, and he never had to worry about missing blueberries again.

THE END

And the moral of the story is: Be careful when bearing bear berries, that a big bear has planned for his sup; If you steal them he’ll get very scary, you’ll grow fat and be eaten up.

Illuminations

Ravenna

(Photo: BlackJack the crow who sometimes visits outside my window)

Once upon a Monday gloomy
I tried my best to call love to me
Alas, ‘twas doomed to ever fail
I called instead a coffin nail

And while I looked upon this sign of woe
It came to be there was a crow
He was a bird as black as night
With glowing eyes that gave me fright

Yet ‘twas his ominous appeal
That caused my very mind to reel
In scratchy voice he croaked the phrase
That death would come in seven days

He asked me not to search for love
I called him daft, an evil dove
I should have listened to the bird
But ignorance I much preferred

I went about my way unhindered
Thinking not of words birds tendered
I called to all who passed my way
Words of love and hoped to sway


I met a woman called Ravenna
With night black hair and eyes of henna
Slender as an aspen tree
Graceful as a cat was she

We loved and wed within the week
And of the bird I did not speak
But soon Ravenna grew quite pale
Each day she weakened and seemed to fail

Her hair once black was turning grey
Her eyes of henna tuned to clay
She could not speak of aught but heaven
And died by the gloomy day of seven

And when I laid her in the ground
And covered up her coffin mound
It chanced to be there was a feather
Black as night among the heather

It smelled of sweet Ravenna’s hair
I held it as I spoke a prayer
I never saw the crow again
But now I use the feather for a pen

The Cat and the Cardinal

The cat spotted the cardinal sitting on the porch rail, picking seeds and bread crumbs from the dish of a wooden bird feeder. The cardinal did not see the cat. The cat began to inch his way forward toward the bird feeder, belly low to the ground, the tip of his tail twitching high in the air. When he was directly below the bird feeder he drew his front paws in, tensing his back legs for the spring, his muscles rippling all along his sides. The cardinal turned slightly to the side and the cat froze, holding his breath. Then he leapt, knocking the unsuspecting cardinal to the ground and pinning the bird with his right paw, left paw raised, claws extended, to strike the exposed throat, mouth agape with razor sharp teeth ready to rend feathers and flesh from bone.

“Wait!” shouted the cardinal, “Please, don’t eat me! I beg you, spare my life!”

“You can talk!” exclaimed the cat, utterly taken aback, “You can talk!”

“Well of course I can talk.” said the shaking cardinal, “The real surprise is the fact that you can talk too.”

The cat was so shocked at this unexpected development that he seemed frozen in mid-attack. His mouth hung open and his clawed paw wavered just inches from the cardinal’s throat. The cardinal himself could not quite believe his sudden luck. This was ridiculous! It was utterly impossible. In fact, it couldn’t possibly be real.

“After all,” thought the cat, “cardinals can’t talk.”

“After all,” thought the cardinal, “cats can’t talk.”

Yet however improbable the situation was thought to be, it had proven to be not impossible. Here they were, two creatures most opposite in nature, who up to now had each believed the other an uncivilized brute incapable of intelligible discourse, actually speaking to one another. Needless to say they were both completely surprised at the other’s transformation into an intelligent being and a capable conversationalist.

“Well,” thought the cat, “I certainly can’t kill the bird now, not after he’s gone and talked to me. It would be rude.” He closed his mouth, sheathed his claws, and slowly backed away from the cardinal.

The cardinal kept a wary eye on the cat as he flipped himself off his back and onto his feet. With a flutter the cardinal flew to the porch rail and began to straighten his disheveled feathers.

“I’m very sorry,” said the cat, “I had no idea you were a talking cardinal.”

“That’s quite all right,” said the cardinal, “it was an honest mistake, and besides, it wasn’t entirely your fault. If I had known you were a talking cat I would have announced myself.”

“Oh no,” said the cat, “it really was entirely my fault…”

“Oh no,” said the cardinal, “I really should have announced myself better…”

“I’m very sorry!” said the cat and the cardinal simultaneously. This was followed by a moment of awkward silence.

“Well… I must be going now,” said the cardinal, “places to go, things to be doing.”

“Oh yes,” said the cat, “I’m quite busy myself.”

The cardinal flipped his tail and fluttered his wings nervously. The cat licked his paw and washed his right ear.

“Well goodbye,” said the cardinal.

“Yes, goodbye,” said the cat, “feel free to visit again.”

“I believe I will,” said the cardinal.

The cardinal gave a little hop-skip and flew away from the porch rail. The cat soon lost sight of him in the forest of thick trees that surrounded the house. He sat watching the leaves blowing in the wind. The cat stretched out in a bright patch of sun, lie down, and presently fell fast asleep.

Come With Me in the Night

"Come with me," said the arctic fox to his silvery corvidae friend,
"Let us wander 'neath the tundra moon and watch the snow descend.
Together we can haunt the night, as lonely as two ghosts,
leaving no trace as we pass, with shadows of morose."

"Come with me," said the silver crow to his ghostly vulpine friend,
"Let us wander where the trees have gone and into clouds ascend.
Together we can hunt the night, you kill and I shall reap,
and all shall fear to hear our song call in the twilight sleep."