under the sun

Venerdì, 30 Dicembre 2005

Orbetello

Tuscan Snow

A cloud has hovered over our sky

Swiftly, before anyone could know.

But slowly, gliding down from on high,

Flake after flake, here comes the snow.

Minute by minute, the air is full

Thousands of flakes dancing in circles

Landing over the green hills and fields,

Over and in between olive tree leaves.

Bonfire smoke rises unaware of the fun,

In a place which is normally used to the sun.

When was the last time these lands saw

White fall upon them, like manna from God.

Swiftly as it comes, away the cloud flies,

Blue and sun again fill the skies.

The Sand and the Sea still share their commune

Woods, unchanged, as though they never knew.

experiencing psalm

23/12/2005

Ansedonia Beach

Serenity... As the wind caresses the surface of the water

Peace... As the sea flutters and the sun draws a line from the end to here.

Rest... As the waves and breeze harmonise in song.

Glad... As my heart takes it in.

Then, as I opened my Bible, this Psalm came to life, wrote itself, right before my eyes...

Psalm 19

For the director of music.

A psalm of David.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure

and altogether righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the comb.

11 By them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then will I be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Hallelujah!

God is good!

An Evening of Creativity

10/11/2005
Garden State playing on mute,
between minutes 38&48 on repeat,
Ludovico Einaudi track 9 on repeat

Something has been awakened in me,
I have not experienced since... I don't know when.
I believe I was moving
as if in deep mud for long moment
and now I have been pulled out, cleaned up and I'm runnin',
with open arms.
The chords of my heart are being played by someone
who knows exactly what to do.
And it was silent for so long!

My Father has taken me by the hand
and made me look at Him again.
I recognise him once again.
I understand him once again.
I have fallen in love wiht him again.
... Now He's playing a symphony in me,
making me feel all that I should and that I am.
I trust him once again,
so I feel forgiven, and the one who was faithful takes me in His arms,
showing me once again
the myriad of emotions He has for me.
Love, in its intensity and its pain,
is more than I can bear,
laughing and crying at the same time seems such a paradox.

I trust him again,
and I know He's got the best for me.
Here, it's just me and him,
and that's how I want it, for now.
But I know He knows someone
somewhere else
and He's got her, special, unique and perfect for me,
and also kind of crazy.
He's brought me back into
a... fairy tale reality (lalala) :
The way He wants it to be,
playing music inside of me...

10/11/2005

each key hits my ear,
each string pulls on my heart,
each tone makes me jump within my skin.
The music kills me
and brings me back to life
at the same time
a thousand times over.
... In a really good way.

10/11/2005

In an outpour of emotions and words,
finishing off I collide on the table, on my page,
it's almost too much to take... I can't.
I can't wait... to share this someone else.

10/11/2005

I almost killed myself the other day.
In an uncoordinated attempt to jump
onto a small wall,
I lost balance, fell head first,
grabbing onto a nearby lamppost
I rolled over and landed on my back.
Got up straight away
and went on my way
my head completely unscathed
my legs hurting instead.
I think I was saved.
:) Thanks.

10/11/2005
Call it conclusion

Ever so often there's these irrational bursts of emotions, that are so intense they practically break my heart. In a way they make me feel alive, maybe God has a purpose for them. They certainly awaken my creativity!
I know people think that guys are not supposed to be emotional, or sensitive, but that's a load of nonsense. It's only because most men suppress their emotions and they end up feeling oppressed and feel like they need everyone to share in their oppression.
I want everyone to share in my freedom.
Call it sinusoidal heart patterns, I'm alive. Are you?

... I gotta tell you, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to write down, to express in words the feelings and pictures I had. I thank Jesus for giving me the ability to. And the Holy Spirit for the inspiration. And Dad, for his love.

regaining touch

Sunday, 23/10/2005

Take a moment, in between

chaotic dreams and full speed life

before I finally go to sleep, to grab a pen and write.

"It felt like my life stopped although it was in acceleration,

I lost the string that I was following with concentration."

The quiet moments are the best to examine what it's been like

collecting my thoughts and doing things no one else really likes.

Simple pleasures I appreciate that make me sophisticated

in my own way.

Dreaming dreams and thinking thoughts that are never really clear

Hoping that a concretisation eventually will draw near.

Oh, in my desires I am lost and with no aim,

if not the one to plod on in faith to eventually claim

a finite work for myself.

In the meantime, just write along,

maybe a poem, maybe a song,

with a mug of hot chocolate that says on it "star",

and swirling smoke rising from my cigar.

Matching poems

05/09/2005

07:00

As I am walking into town
the silence of the morning reigns
but quietly broken by the rain
as the sun begins to break.

14/09/2005

Walking down the same path
same time as before.
You painted the sky for me,
in a way that speaks
like a note on a mirror
that says "I love you, have a good day at work :)"

Let us talk about life

I wanted to start this post with, "Let's talk about ME!", but I thought that might sound arrogant.
First of all, an open apology, I know some of you have been checking my Blog regularly and have been regularly dissappointed by not seeing anything new (Papa). My writing has been limited in the past two weeks by the fact that I have started working full time for the church. It's a lot of office work, every week in preparation for the events that are coming up, mainly Friday nights, but we want to make it bigger and better, so we are looking for new venues to meet up in with the youth and so on.
So that's the news: I AM A FULL TIME CHRISTIAN YOUTH WORKER!!!!
It's all very exciting, even though working in the office about four days a week is quite intense, sometimes you feel like you don't have anything to do...
We are looking forward to going out on the streets and inviting new youth to come to Youthness and Youth Alpha, doing outreach events and reaching into the schools, at the same time, I am trying to figure out which is the best way to get the young men growing steadily on their path with God. Some are excited about it, some less, but nonetheless they need discipleship. I'm picking up again the Men's Breakfast Group, which is really exciting, and tomorrow talking on the topic of forgiveness, how the forgiveness of Christ affects us and how we should respond to it. God has been teaching me a lot about this, through reading but also through reaching into my heart and moving things, piecing things together, so I can speak out of experience, which is always good when you're talking about something of that pastoral importance.
Other great stuff going on in my life is that I am doing Impact training along with the church service (which is the whole point of the year, to learn theology while being on the field, rather than just learn without gaining any practical expeerience). The first training block was two weeks ago and we learnt about Ethics, which deeply involves us as Christians. I was really impressed at the way our speaker Pete Carter presented the issues and exposed fully the implications of certain ones, not being afraid of sounding controvertial. He is a man of immense knowledge and spiritual insight and yet, so humble, gotta get me some of that! On every issue he wanted to whoop out the legalistic answer and bring in the godly answer.
I also get to attend a counselling foundational course, possibly to go on and do a further counselling course which actually would give me credits in the open university!
I have to set aside study times every week, which is great, I get to study Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology, which is so very cool indeed.
I am really happy, this year I get to do the thing I most wanted to do in my life. I don't know what will happen next, but I believe it will continue in this rollercoaster ride! Don't wanna miss out on any of the blessings God has for me!
The office team is great, I get to spend time with some really great people and we have a say in some really important issues, which is really cool!
This year is all about God and I can fulfill to the max my life's mission, to desire God more and more every day!

Take it easy guys and don't worry about me!

More rain

Wet clouds
Originally uploaded by Ti.mo.

Mardi, 22/08/2005

Water falling
intermittently
landing, loading
releasing in ripples
across the glass
on this strange trip,
where the blue has turned to grey,
driving along this huge highway,
getting to know this person next to me,
in her desires and pains,
her bad hair days, which will never be
really as they say, her locks too pretty.

Every thing you have done
is beautiful and enrapturing:
the raindrops, as they tear
racing onto the surface of the window
in so many strange shapes
and the line and pattern
that I follow along the fringe
that comes out more than
the rest of her hair, across her eye,
curling up onto her face.

What a strange day this is,
and what a place
to be in... Looking back
it reminds me that everything I see,
makes me know your grace.

Giorno di pioggia

Venerdí, 19/08/2005

Che coincidenza
Che in questo giorno di pioggia
Caddono dai vostri occhi queste lacrime sincere.

Gli scherzi e viaggi e balli sono un ricordo del passato,
che rammentano solo: un altro anno e gia andato.
Il parto dopo tanto tempo
peró, e sempre alquanto duro;
di quello che vi abbia dato
io non son tanto sicuro.
Sperare soltanto posso
che imparato qualcosa abbiate;
che non sia solo l'accademia
tra cui nella vita cambiate.

La gioia, l'amicizia e amore
son quelli che vi spingono
e dare, quanto ne date
senza neanche chiederlo indietro,
per questo piangete, ma poi raddrizzatevi e andate.
Un altro anno viene, come sempre, ma guardate
oltre a quello che vedete. Non so se ci saranno
altri viaggi, balli e amori.

Ma una cosa e certa,
rimarrete nei nostri cuori.

A La Musique (un tribut Rhimbaldien)

Fall Comes to Georgetown Prep (9662)
Originally uploaded by DCVoyager.

Brighton, Saturday 06/08/2005

Sauvé du tempo accéléré
et le rhytme brisé
de l'activité incessante
et renouvelée, derrière et devant,
des ruelles suggestives et pittoresques
mais densement peuplées.

Une oasis verte, rieuse et tranquille
où l'on peut s'entendre penser,
toutefois d'une manière biaisée
par faute du calme
dans lequel on est tombé.

Le vent accompagne un air
sans que l'on ne s'en rende compte tout-à-fait
sur le moment, car sa douceur, comme un parfum
est subtil et récomfortant.

Une fois identifié le son étranger
l'on se met à chercher sa source;
l'air le transporte de part et d'autre
sans se soucier de tous ces hôtes.

Le voila repéré, au milieu du jardin,
un saxophoniste insouciant,
qui joue librement, prend une pause
puis reprend son chant.

Clairement l'on remarque l'effet
que l'aria du troubadour a sur les passants
et enfin se poser sur l'herbe
avec cette musique qui permet
de rêver
sans que les yeux soient fermés.

Many discoveries and old things brought back to life

Sherwood Forest
Originally uploaded by publicenergy.

Rediscovering the things you like is always a pleasant experience, which can be accompanied by a little dose of regret. The reason for this is that it reminds you of the time wasted on doing so many other useless things while you could have been having the time of your life and being built up at the same time. Nature is so taken for granted. Getting in touch with nature is the most fulfilling phenomenon for me, but believing that it is going nowhere and there's always plenty of time to do that so other time, I end up always putting things before it, losing a part of me...

In the past four years I have not really been camping anymore overnight, but I finally have found a bunch of fellas who are up for the adventure and don't mind waking up with the possibility of having an ant crawling up their nose...

So this in a sense is the second installment to the stag night's adventure. Churchwood is the perfect spot for campfire, for fun and for sleeping in the open, we decided to go back there and that's what we did last night! Just the three of us, me, Pat (my new housemate, who rocks!) and Jimbo (my bandmate, who rocks!). The flora of the forest had grown back and overgrown in some places, making it slightly more difficult to get through but in the end we were victorious. The only person who had anything really to complain about was Patrik, who had thought it a good idea to wear sandals in the wild; thorned bushes' arguments left nothing to say but "OUCH!" and "Aah, that's not cool!", as they tore across his feet's skin. Patrik kept his cool anyway, as a strong Fin who has been in the army does and after much hacking and slashing, we ceremonially shook the plants off our walking sticks and sat down to rest in the place we call our home.
Building the fire was a fairly easy task, thanks to the mysterious people who have not been seen having piled up fantastic wood ages ago, which was good to go right onto our fire and to the big-ass matches I have, so within minutes, we had a roaring bonfire with gigantic logs on it too!

The discoveries were mainly in the food and drinks we had and Prosciutto Maremmano is definitely better after a nice roasting on the end of a skewer. I also found out that Koskenkorva is better to be drunk by the swig rather than the way you'd drink Limoncello, one sip at a time.

It was a time of sharing and fun and interestingly poetic texting, we ate, drank (rather abundantly) and listened to chilled music by the fire, really being brothers, talking about our thoughts and fears, problems and joys. God blessed us immensely with the weather and with the time spent together.

This next day, the thoughts are many and the yawns are too (the sun woke us up at 4:30 in the morning), but these (the thoughts, not the yawns) will have to wait for another blog, because of the yawns being too many, but let me challenge you with a question:

what does the word Church mean to you?...

art

Chromatic theme medieval Japanese art. Thanks to Stuart for the link!

Poverty... But not the real one

Different experience, new experience. I never expected it would be this way... Moving into a new life, completely different to the one lived in the past three years and the absolute opposite to what I had lived before!

Relative poverty is what we can call it. That's one of the phrases used in sociology and economics to discuss who is really poor and who is not. When you haven't got enough money to buy a new mobile phone every six months, buy CDs and DVDs every month, wear designer clothes and go partying every week, you are poor... Or are you? When one looks at the situation of poor people in the rest of the world, what we don't know, what we don't see, what we don't want to see, what we don't care about!... well, that's quite a different perception of life.

Right now, I don't know if I have enough to pay rent, I don't think I could make it to the end of the month by my own means, but you know what? I'm not living on my own means... Jehovah Jireh is the rock on which I stand, Yahweh Yeshouah is the hand that holds me firm. The Lord is my Provider and the Lord is my Saviour, He has shown it many times already in the past AND this week and the most amazing thing is the people that surround me and care for me...
I'll tell you what I've got. I've got a lovely home to go back to in the evening, I've got an amazing friend who lives with me and cares for me, I've had three meals a day every day this week (I think!), I've got the Church, which cares and supports me and I've got a purpose in life! Serving God by serving the Church and in it the Youth... Now that doesn't sound so poor to me! Even though I'm looking for a job (not much yet though, haven't had the time!), I have bill problems with the previous house in which I lived, my bike got a puncture as I was walking it to the office, all these things are meaningless compared with the amazing truth and hope I hold inside of me: Jesus Christ is my Saviour and He will not let me fall!

One week of this seems difficult, but the Lord brings stability and security. He himself will redeem His people. (Psalm 130:8)
I join in the psalmist in saying "Trust in the Lord", because if you can't trust in God, who can you trust in? And whilst other people you cannot trust, the Lord's promises are there and hold true. We hope in what we do not see, because what is not seen is eternal, while what we see is finite. A great example is seen in the writer of Hebrews who mentions the Fathers of Faith who held on to the promises of God in the Old Testament.

Life may seem bleak and hopeless if we are faithless, but when you know the Lord, everything makes sense. I was thinking the other day, "would it be better to have loads of money and no faith or no money at all but have faith?" For a moment I was tempted to choose the first one, even though I am not a very material guy (I hope) , but reasoning with the Holy Spirit, the answer could not be anything but faith, because once the money runs out, there is nothing left, however, faith does not run out if it is true, the faith in our Father, our King, the Lover of our Hearts; this faith makes us rejoice for He will never let us down and He always gives us what we need to get by, and even more.

Enough
Chris Tomlin

You are my supply, my breath of life
Still more awesome than I know
You are my reward, worth living for
Still more awesome than I know

And all of You is more than enough for
All of me for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You're my sacrifice of greatest price
Still more awesome than I know
You're my coming King, you are everything
Still more awesome than I know

And all of You is more than enough for
All of me for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

More than all I want, more than all I need
You are more than enough for me
More than all I know, more than all I can see
You are more than enough for me

unadulterated gibberish

I guess I don't have the time or wish to post everything that has been happening since I left the UK on the 24th May, because some things are just a bit too personal and some things a bit too boring. So, I will give a sort of summary of what's been happening, but I might just end up posting for pages (nice alliteration there). I am typing from a brand-spanking new computer assembled by a really good guy who is a friend of the family (he even gave me free cds!), but that's getting ahead of myself since this only happened yesterday, so you will understand my excitement!

So there I was, at Stansted airport, a month minus ten days ago going through the security check and a guy checks my phone with a swab similar to those in "Gattaca", then tests it through a computer (just like in the film, which is funny, because this gattaca stuff just came to mind twenty seconds ago!), then he let me go. I was clean. It was probably a test for drugs and I, being a good boy resulted negative. It won't always be like that though... I saw an article today on the newspaper (oh Joey, you read the newspaper?!) "Il Tirreno", which is the newspaper of the west coast of Italy (represent!), which talked about people with specific illnesses being inoculated (no, I didn't find it in the article OR in a dictionary!) with a microchip which would calculate their blood pressure and other things AS WELL AS contact the patient's hospital in case of danger. Now that's all very well for the progress of science, but it just reminds us of the advances in technology and looking at the world and at the Bible, we can see how the devil uses technology and will use it more and more, since through it one can achieve the most worrying levels of control ever achieved in history. It is widely believed (or so I think) that the mark of the beast spoken of in Revelation (L'Apocalypse for those frenchies reading) will be some form of microchip installed inside of people, thus succeeding to reach total control of the population, while those who refuse to have it installed will be persecuted and/or terminated. Even those new British Identity Cards freak me out.

Back to base camp, let's say I had a short rant, that's what this post might end up being: "Joey's thoughts on... Everything!" At this point, I'm sure some of you have decided to move on to Pat's or Jeanne's blog, and are thinking "Joey, you rambling lunatic, I thought you were a concise writer!" and my answer to you is this... Only in essays!

Ok, let's give the facts, funny and freaky! The coach driver for London at 15h50 on Monday 23rd May was "gay" as James would say, as he backed out of his bay in the coach station. I waved at him and mouthed "can you let me in?" He looked at me with the expression of a "stone-man" and shook his stone-head which at that point I would have loved to punch and brandish in front of everyone like Perseus with Medusa's head and everyone would have applauded and praised me for freeing the world from frustrated and unfulfilled coach drivers. That did not happen. I went back to Jimbo's Barry, he was lovely enough to wait with me until the next coach's hour of arrival. I thought, "I never have anyone waiting with me at the bus station, how nice!". The coach did not arrive. Jimbo's parking ticket time ended and he had to go, then I waited another 40 minutes. Then I thought "oh well, at least it's not any longer than usual!". The coach driver even dared to have an attitude about his lateness. Thus Jimbo's verdict was that all coach drivers are "gay". Too bad for them.

The first thing you feel in Italy, arriving from the UK, is the humidity which blends in with the heat in a very sticky and sweaty mess, but usually you don't expect that effect to hit you until the summer, mid-June at most. Apparently that wasn't soon enough though. Anyway, it is lovely hot here and sometimes it can be too much but I am tanning, which is pretty cool, I have to make up for the extended period I spend every year in Britannia, my skin turning green. As much as the reptile-like ninja capacities I might be able to develop from that side-effect of rubbish weather are desirable for my future job as a contract assassin, I fear the dark skies of winter might actually totally deteriorate my skin cells until making me look something close to Spock, or say Micheal Jackson, bless him he's a free man apparently, poor chap. I'd rather not. The sun here is much more inviting.

A retreat with your parents is never a retreat. When you're living on your own, you have so much time on your hands you don't know what to do with it and proceed to take a period or two a day of lamenting yourself on your loneliness. When you are a now independent (except for financially) and growing in maturity person, staying with your parents, the opposite happens, in which you wonder whether you will ever have a moment alone...
So far I have been to all the places of the past, except for Rome, where my sister lives. The first week we drove up to Lago Maggiore to clean up the apartment and see some cousins, the second week my mum went off to Denmark for my cousin's wedding, while me and dad drove up to Argenta, my dad's hometown, where I saw uncle and auntie, friends and cousins. Got back in touch with my family, which is nice, and got in touch with the modernised home town, which I do not mind at all now! I'd love to go back soon, the landscape of the Po plain is absolutely gorgeous. I must say I really prefer it to the kind of vegetation we get here by the sea, I'm much more of a mountain/countryside guy, than a sea guy. Sure it's beautiful, but it does not speak to me the way mountain and countyside do, the fresh air, the scents, the atmosphere.

I have been writing a lot since I am here, except in the past week. But now here I am, writing more that you can bear. That previous post of Jim's stag night is only a part of what my mind and my writing hand have been up to.

So finally we got this gorgeous piece of hardware and software and now I can also scan pictures because our friends purchased as a present a printer/photocopier/scanner all in a beautiful Epson box! I'll see what it can do and you might see some pictures soon.

Unadulterated gibberish by J.T. Noels, thank you very much. Peace out!

The night of the stag

Domenica, 29/05/2005

The night of the stag

Account of the 20-21/05/2005 Adventure of the brave lads


The journey started from our well-known place of meeting, at the edge of Canterbury. There we met and prepared for what was ahead of us, all our equipment and food; we tore sackcloth into garments for us to wear, in order not to be noticed as any more than poor travellers, but memorised a password that only we would understand (“Marriage Ahoy!”). The long and arduous walk started around the seventh hour after noon, slightly later than planned, due to the difficulty found by some in being punctual.
Leaving Canterbury through a secret passage in the bushes, we went up and down hills on a rarely trodden path. For a short stretch the band of brothers walked through the village of Rough Common and their walk then brought itself onto the road which goes through Blean Woods. This lonely road was very long and it seemed as though the track would never end. I felt the need to move off it as soon as possible, preferring to face the dangers of the woods rather than the uncertain perils of meeting enemies on the road, which might have jeopardized our quest. Halfway through the that walk, Michael left us, saying he would catch up with us later, but we doubted whether we would ever see him again.
Andrew (McPoo) finally decided it was time for us to get off the road, much to my delight, sensing the danger of staying on was indeed great. The place where we left the path was not easily going to leave marks of our passage.
We got into the thick of the woods immediately, this was already quite deep in the woods, we had crossed many parts of the woods as we walked on the road. The trees were very low and spread over the floor of the woods were purple flowers. This enchanting sight lasted for a while, then we started following the river. We had to keep crouching, moving branches, jumping over the river, while staying together. What followed was a series of places where logs on the floor were wet and weak and crumbled under our weight almost getting us stuck in the ground at times. This forest was old, some trees were entwined together, something mystic about it made my heart beat faster.
The excitement of the journey was increasing in my heart as we went, while the morale of some of the brave’uns was getting lower. As we arrived at the end of that thick part of the woods, the river took a turn and passed in front of us. We needed to get to the other side where the sky reappeared. There was only high grass and bush for a while, then the scene cleared…
In front of us, was an astounding scene. The trees were tall. The ground was soft. A lake on the left, with an island in its center, moon above. We were at the heart of the forest and it was beautiful. Elves must have lived there until some hundred years ago, but it was a place no one had seen. We were ready to set up camp and let the trials begin.
This adventure was the result of young Jim being called out into the wild in order to receive the bestowing of his masculinity - in the light of his wedding to Becca (-Roo) coming up soon – which our society had been slowly robbing us of. We, his friends, had decided we would go through the same trials, understanding this danger concerned us all. Jim knew he had to go and we knew we had to follow him.
The trials involved hunting with bow and arrow to feed ourselves, axe (boot) throwing, for many important reasons which I cannot think of right now. The power inside of us was being unleashed, the heavenly power given unto us by God himself and indeed it was being unleashed from within Jim, who had to battle us all at once, and overcame. The final trial made us climb a cliff and jump into emptiness across a gorge, hanging from a rope (zip-line). After that, we believed the challenges were finished and that we could let our guard down. Two us the group, Aaron and Ife, left us then.
At that time, the sun went down. Out of the darkness came an experienced warrior, he had managed to track us down with the intention to kill Jim, vanquish him, in order to remove the greatest obstacle to him getting Jim’s future wife Becca and taking her to with him back to Japan. The great skill of the warrior in unarmed combat and twin (towel) nunchaku was ultimately no match for Jim’s passion for Becca. In a final attempt to execute a deadly attack, Jim saw the assassin’s weak spot and slew him (with his towel). The warrior vanished and at that moment, the bestowing of masculinity came upon us, in the form of a talking stag carrying a cauldron of mulled wine in between his antlers. He congratulated Jim for his victory and told him he was indeed worthy of marrying Becca, then invited us to drink the mulled wine. Once each of us had drunk from the cup, we were in complete harmony with nature and the stag had left us.
We went back to camp and fellowshipped with each other and nature, drinking and dining around the fire, while we sang joyful songs and puffed on cigars. Eventually, it was time to go to our other home; we packed up and left that place, resolving to see it again one day soon. The walk back through the wood was of joy and contemplation, and laughter for some, through the utter darkness of the night and the woods, but with the moon and stars shining down on us as we went.
As we arrived back into civilization, the people who crossed us were speechless, as we were beaming with the joy of the Lord, knowing we were right then what we were meant to be.

Projectvm Poesiam

So, to start with posting my little creations, I think I should post the old stuff I have not really done anything about until now.
This first poem was actually the ideas I threw on paper to write a proper nice and big poem, then I forgot about it, and came across it in some bunch of papers a while back, looked at it and thought it actually looked great like that, no need to change it, the moment had gone, but it was still very nice:

February 2004

A Ray of Sun cuts my page
Today the Sky is free
Winter blossom amongst the dead
An Arrow shoots across the sky,
piercing target through target,
gaining momentum rather than relenting
marking its way like a pen marks its path
across the full emptiness of this deep,
until it reaches the edge of the firmament
and dissapears in this endless world above us...

There it is, I like it, it just describes the way I interpreted with my imagination what I saw that day. That arrow was just a plane, but I could see it with my child's eye and I loved it that way.

Since end December I've gotten through a whole notebook of random stuff I've written, and more than half a notebook of my Canterbury Tale. I have also started on a new one, AND have started using the guitar tab notebook my mum got me a while back to write music into. I used to count the things I write, now I don't anymore and that's great, because it shows me I am completely into it, still not as much as I would like and still not as good as I would like, but getting there (need to read more for that one). Keeping a blog is being creative too, I don't know if you've tried, but it really spurs me on to write more and if you look at some of the stuff I have written in here you'll see what I mean. This is post number 23, contrary to what my user stats say about me! I would like to try and link my long writings to the blog for people to read them and feed back on them, that'd be very cool.
I still have things on my january list of things to write which I have not written, which is frustrating at times, because I start thinking about them and get ideas which then just get blown in the wind when I get distracted from them!... This should be a month of writing, if I can get some time on my own... Hopefully my stupid computer at home will respond to Blogger... before it crashes.

I guess what I want to do is encourage people to use their gifts. Some of the youth I work with have such a low self-esteem, because that's way they are told they should have, at school, from their teachers, schoolmates and their parents too! They do not realise they have great gifting some times. I did not either, I have been lied to and had forgotten that I used to write as a child, I only snapped out of that recently. I want to encourage my youth to do things they like, but they also need to know what there is to do out there, that's why next term I want the Christian Performing Arts Society from University to come down to our meeting and do some hip-hop dancing, some gospel choir and whatever else they do in order to inspire the youth as to what they would like to do.

I have rambled on for long enough, peace out, follow your hearts.