The Dragonflies'Lair~Thread XXXI

Talented poets and friends of The Dragonflies' Lair | October 5, 2006 | bentfeather/Poets of the Lair

[Lady Jag]

LOL!

I'm borrowing that poem while I'm still able!

[Soaring Feather]

Sure, happy to share it with you. ;)

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[starbase]

Hi everybody! Well I feel like I've been in the deep freeze. These Chinese! They're crazy. It takes forever to get set up around here, but I'm already making money. Taiwanese are so greedy, even though I work for the company, no one would co-sign my phone line, which in this county, but not other counties, foreigners need a local to "guarantee" their phone bill! So greedy, they're afraid to lose $100 bucks, but they have $100 billion to invest in mainland China (which is roughly what they've invested to date!!!). In a way it's charming, because I've known them so long, but damn are they tight.

I was actually pretty offended. If they demanded a lot of deposit money I was going to just quit and start over. But they saw I was pissed off and cut it down a lot. Of course they got my visa application messed up and then expected me to pay for the visa trip to Thailand, which I did, but they're too tight to just hook up the phone!

So now I'm in the internet cafe, it's Saturday morning. I'm going to buy a new laptop by Dec. 10th (why the 10th? That's when we get paid!) And I'll have my phone line next week, so soon I'll be a normal internet using person again!

I'll be hanging out here for four or five hours, it's my once a week FR fix until Dec 10th. Of course I could buy a computer sooner, but in order to change my ways and spend less, I decided to only buy "bigger ticket" items with "new" money that I earn, never with money I already have. It works! I spend less, buy smarter, and replace things less frequently so I can save any "new money" I make. I highly recommend it!

How is everyone? Having a good Thanksgiving? Sure is a fun holiday. No turkeys around here, but I can have some yummy Chinese chicken instead!

[Soaring Feather]

WOO HOO look who has come home wh00p!


So good to hear from you. I started pinging you a few times hoping you would swoop in with another adventure.
Well, my Thanksgiving was pretty good. Went to an elderly woman friends' home, had dinner with her family and grandkids.

Boy they sure do things in a run around fashion don't they. I would be peeved also, can't blame you a bit.


It's been quiet in the Lair, the hostess is lazy and her muse has taken a sabbatical. I get a few lines in my head then something distracts me and poof go the lines.

Soon enough I have to get cracking and start writing again.

So do you like your new job?? Be great when you have your new laptop and can zoom around FR and the web in general as you please.
Hang in there starbase, always a treat to see you.

[starbase]

Hi there. Sounds like a fun Thanksgiving for you, with an experienced chef to boot!

The new job's ok, but I've actually started to think about going back to the computer industry eventually, though not for a few more years yet. I think I'll complete an impressive certification while I'm still in Taiwan and then come back and get an office job (and finally, or maybe never, do the farm gig, that has always been an optional goal for me to work towards).

But I'm not getting any younger, actually, and have already had a couple good runs here and there, so I shouldn't be greedy and expect too much as the clock ticks by. I guess I would have to find some sort of niche, like, "yeah he's getting old, but he actually fixes your software problems, he doesn't argue with you about them", something like that.

Now that I've mellowed and matured, and found lots of the answers (and just plain "thoughts") that eluded me when I was spending 24/7 in the Corporate Cube, well now I think I could go back and actually enjoy it, though this time with lots of secret planning, advance completed projects, "bones thrown", and other lubricants I did without back when I had to do everything the hard way, if you know what I mean.

It's probably better to give the Muse a leave of absence for the holiday! All that heavy gravy and turkey meat, puts you right to sleep, it sure is a well-put-together holiday, isn't it?

Yes I'm looking forward to getting back to FR and visiting the Lair frequently like I normally do. I like the creative outlet of poetry, it has been a new venue for me this year. Hard to believe I just came around last March, I believe, so much has changed it seems like years ago!

[Soaring Feather]

Well, your arrival in the Lair sure has been positive for all of us, lurkers as well.

You add spice for all of us with your wild border runs and Visa verifications, not to mention your varied and hilarious Internet Cafe meetings. LOL

Oh, let's not hear about this age thing, it's only a number.
Follow your bliss and so as your heart directs. You have tons of experience and knowledge in your field, so go for whatever you wish. The great thing about age is the wisdom we acquire along the way. Just thinking about things in an unhurried manner helps a great deal putting a different face on things.

Did you notice we have a new poet with us (WL Mantis)? Writes very well and is a welcome addition.

Well, for the weather report we have no snow on the ground, deer season is the big event in rural areas.

Funny story about my son-in-law and deer hunting. He bought a new black powder gun, the first day out it was foggy as the dickens. We he pops off the gun and finds he is standing in a big cloud of smoke and mist, can't see a damn thing. Well, after a bit he starts walking around looking for the deer he was sure he had hit. Walked all around for hours - thought he saw blood turned out to be mud on the ground. OMG he was dumbfounded that he missed the deer.

LOL

[starbase]

Yes I had seen WL's appearance, Hi WL Mantis, welcome to the Lair!

But I haven't had access to any computer at all, so I haven't had the pleasure of reading up on the thread. I'm saving that until I get my new set up, as if I were buying a new book for myself. Funny, that's one way I describe FR, as an ongoing novel that continually writes itself.

Actually I've never hunted myself, so I can't really laugh at your son for missing the deer, I probably couldn't even have gotten the gun to fire!! ;-)

[Soaring Feather]

That's a good way to look at it-- a book, chapter by chapter, telling many individual stories along the way.


We'll have a new thread the next time you're around. ;)

[Soaring Feather]

a succor, succulent rich
soothing, as a balm
the sound of your voice
eases the turmoil in my mind
calms the waters of my soul
and like a cool hand on a
fevered brow, turns the nightmare
to fields of gold
and the stormy skies to silver linings

Neon lit glittering gemstone pathways
night skies dress in velvet black
I treasure the unfolding robes of your warmth
and wrap myself in your quilt of love complete and safe.




Soaring Feather (c)

11.24.06

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[starbase]

Well I'm back for another day! Freeping yesterday was so satisfying, like a glass of water in the desert, that I had to come back again. I'm constantly forgetting the unique "challenges" of living with a bunch of Chinese people, in their chosen environment. Anthropologically it's fascinating, all these Asian cultures specialize in these identified behaviors which they set in place, then those behaviors force and preclude certain choices by their victims, er, citizens.

(note to self: add that paragraph to your first book on Asian social structures!)

;-)

But specifically I'm talking about how they have pushed all the houses close together, with seven or eight floors, all with shops on the ground floor (and the houses are only like twenty feet wide, but 150 deep!) so you can just jam pack an incredible number of people on what looks like a small,normal street!

But the real kicker is the "there are no individuals" attitudes here, so everyone just stares at you, or anyone they don't know. One after the other, dozens and dozens of people, and if you just walk two blocks you've walked past many 20-foot-wide store fronts, on both sides of the street, each one with three or four people who will stand there, or turn around, and just stare at you like a corpse.

So try actually walking across the whole neighborhood! You will have walked in front of hundreds of nosy, emotionless prying eyes. It's unnerving, and I'm well used to it! And they aren't just silent either, noisy cars, smelly pollution, and many people, especially younger ones, say "Helloooooooo", in this heavy accent. Of course they don't stop and talk, so it quickly becomes borderline mockery. And the Taiwanese wonder why so many of us just up and leave suddenly. Hmmm, I wonder.

I, of course, usually never go out into "the maelstrom", but waiting for my computer kind of forces me to, that is, if I want to get to an internet cafe. Yesterday kind of got under my skin, I guess because I enjoyed freeping so much, then had to go out into that suffocating atmosphere for a long walk home. So today I'm practicing some Buddhist meditative technique called "mindfulness", where you stop regularly and check your surroundings and moods. It's supposed to become habitual after a time, and so far it works! It has a calming effect, checking your immediate vicinity out often, and keeps you cool and on a point before you get fed up and then pissed off, which might then take a long time to go away (I HATE getting pissed off!) ;-)

I guess you can file it under "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"!

How's your post-Thanksgiving? Or I guess it's Saturday afternoon there now, here it's Sunday morning. Any good games on? Maybe I'll try a very light holiday poem this morning, just maybe I hear a muse fumbling around with her rouge compact nearby!

[Soaring Feather]

OMG LOL, you are so funny! I just woke up from a long nap, in comes your ping, I start reading and LOL.


Om my gosh, I don't know how you deal with it. All those eyes staring as you walk down the street. Would absolutely drive me nuts.
;)

Those buildings you described sound sort of like 'shot gun houses' they have in the south. Long and straight, or those old house on Main Street I have seen in Westerns.

Yupper, FReeping is addictive and the with drawls are a dozy.


This morning I had some friends stop around for a few moments, other wise it has been very quiet.
Lovely weather today, temps reached into the higher 50s. It gets dark so early now making the nights very long and the days so short.


Well, I hope your muse has her makeup in place and is ready to guide you.

[starbase]

Well let's see what she's fumbling around with:

Lazy Weekend

The sun slides in through the window
And dances across her clothes on the floor

The wind touches the window, nudges the door
sweeps the Autumn leaves over the backyard fence

the fire crackles, the meal stews
stretching seems a burden, rolling over a chore

holding hands so warm and soft
I won't let go if you don't

time stands still, perhaps it was never there
just this moment, is all we'll ever need

starbase 11.26.06

[Soaring Feather]

Oooooo, very good. Good imagery at work there. ;)

[starbase]

Why thank you. It's kind of strange to think up such images while in a somewhat dirty Internet cafe, in the basement of a concrete building, off a crowded street, covered in Chinese lettering, in a old Chinese mill town, in Taiwan, but I drew on past experience for that one.

I imagined my 80 year old historic home in Oregon for the imagery (have since sold the house, nice profit and I don't have to take care of it anymore!!, but it was a nice place) ;-)

[Soaring Feather]

Seeing Her Smile In Darkness



Walking on the beach
soft breezes blowing
her hair brushes my cheek
I smell the sweetness of her
as the wind playes tag with her clothes.

Brilliant sunset, lavender skies
the whisper of night creatues
a walk along a star studded beach
holding her hand,
seeing her smile in darkness
and listening to the beat of our hearts
treasures in the sand.


Soaring Feather
11.25.06

[starbase]

That's very nice, a quiet walk on the beach. Are you near a beach? You're inland, right? Haven't you mentioned a nearby lake before?

I was going to take off in 20 minutes, but they came around and asked if I wanted more time so I bought another hour (.70 cents). Now it's 9:45am, but I don't want to sit in here all day! So I'll stay another hour. You know how it is, write a few poems, read a few headlines, a couple threads start heating up, and then you've spent the whole day online!

I am looking forward to "rejoining the human race" by getting that spiffy new laptop so I can once again surf at home, then I really will spend whole days online again! I'd actually prefer a desktop, really, but living in this wacky place, one develops an attraction to things one can pick up and take to the airport!!! ;-)

[Soaring Feather]

Thank You.

Nope no beaches near me, all imagination.

I used to write with a guy that could say more in a Haiku than I could in twenty stanzas. :)

He used brilliant sunsets, gentle breezes, bonfires on the beach, etc. I learned so much from him.

Some of his inspiration was the beach as he lived near one.


Your poem is now on your page! :)

I have something cooking for your travelogue stories, what a hoot they are.

Freep while you can sb, LOL! I think it makes more sense these days to have a laptop. I have one I use all the time.
Well, my Mac is sick and has been for a time now. I am going to take it to hospital here soon, needs more memory, too.

[Soaring Feather]

*Note*



Rarely do I write feminine to feminine, usually I write to a masculine figure.

Something different for this poet.