Daniel Hardman's Blog, page 3

Shobe

From silent solitude, my sorrow bled,

each drop a despair, a lure–

a siren’s song, it sold me onward

until, cried empty, I followed love instead

and found Him waiting where my searching led.

Tagged: alma, epigram, forgiveness, religion, repentance, spirituality

Rima XXI

by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (translated from the original Spanish by Daniel Hardman)

What is poetry? — you say,

my eye holding in your eye of blue.

What is poetry? And you ask it of me?

Poetry — is you.

photo credit: Antropsicosociopatologico (Flickr)

Tagged: beauty, fascination, love, translation

Moses and the Great Race

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Moses whose head was covered with cute little curlies. Moses had a great big smile. He loved eating chips and salsa, playing soccer, and racing his bike up and down the sidewalk.

Moses, aka Spiderman

One day in the summer, Moses finished his breakfast, did his job (to take out the garbage), cleaned his room, and ran outside to play. The sun was shining brightly.

Pretty soon, his friend Parker came out. He was ready to play. After a while, Moses’s brothers Sean and Caleb and his other friends McKay and Jacob came outside, too.

They played soccer for a while, but that got boring.

Photo credit: Myrrien (Flickr)

Then they pretended that they were firemen, rescuing Moses’s little sister from a sandbox that was really a burning building. But after a while Genevieve wanted a snack, and there was nobody to rescue, so they had to stop.

Then they jumped on McKay’s trampoline for a while. Everybody was getting a sunburn except Moses and Sean.

Photo credit: Michael.M (Flickr)

When Moses’s mom came outside to water the flowers, Moses said, “Mom, summer is boring. There’s nothing to do.”

“You could run through the sprinkler,” she said.

“The water’s too cold,” said Moses.

“You could go to the park,” she said.

“We did that yesterday,” said Moses.

“Play doodlebugs,” said Genevieve, who was rolling them on the sidewalk.

Photo credit: Jinx! (Flickr)

“Nah,” said Moses. “I want to do something fantastic! Thrilling! Stupendous! Awesome!”

“Like what?” asked Sean, Caleb, McKay, Parker, and Jacob.

“Let’s have a race,” said Moses.

“That’s not awesome,” said Caleb. “I’d rather eat onions.”

“What kind of race?” asked Jacob.

“Well,” said Moses, “first we build big ramps and we ride our bikes up the roof of the house. On the other side we parachute onto the trampoline and do a double back flip.”

“Sounds dangerous,” said Sean.

“That’s not thrilling,” said Caleb. “I’d rather eat spinach.”

Photo credit: GeekNeck (Flickr)

“I think it’s cool!” said McKay. “Then what?”

“Then we jump over a moat filled with hungry crocodiles and anacondas. If anybody lands in the water, we fight for our lives with swords and firecrackers.”

“This race might take a long time. We might get hungry before it’s done,” said Jacob.

Moses nodded. “Yeah. That’s why the next part is to see who can eat twinkies and pizza and ice cream and pumpkin pie the fastest.”

“BORING!” said Caleb. “I’d rather eat doodlebugs.”

“What comes next?” asked McKay.

“After that, we ride four-wheelers and motorcycles on a roller-coaster track that has upside-down loops. And we have to be fast, because robots with flame throwers will be chasing us, trying to burn our bottoms.”

Photo credit: beinggreen (Flickr)

“All done?” asked Genevieve.

“Nope,” said Moses. “After the four-wheelers, we jump on rocket-powered skateboards and see who can fly up to the top of Mount Timpanogos the fastest, and when we get back to the house, we dive off the skateboards into a giant swimming pool filled with whipped cream and bologna. If it’s a tie, then the winner is the one who can do the coolest belly flop.”

“Stupendous!” said McKay.

“Thrilling!” said Parker.

“Fantastic!” said Jacob.

“Awesome!” said Sean.

“I guess it’s better than a poke in the eye,” said Caleb. “When do we start?”

“Right now,” said Moses. And he snapped his fingers. Instantly all the stuff they needed for the race appeared: four wheelers, rocket-powered skateboards, a moat filled with crocodiles and anacondas, even lots of twinkies.

They each put on their helmet and lined up at the starting line.

Photo credit: Alex E. Proimos (Flickr)

“Deady,” said Genevieve. “Det set. Do!”

And they were off. Moses went up the bike ramp so fast that his tires made smoke. McKay was right behind him, and so was Sean. Caleb was going so fast by the time he got to the top of the ramp that he put on the brakes, and a bunch of shingles from the roof went flying all the way to Josh’s house in Pleasant Grove.

They drove down the other side of the roof. Sean popped a wheelie. Parker was driving no-handed, with his eyes closed. They all went flying into the air and did backflips.

Photo credit: Peter Huys (Flickr)

Then their parachutes popped out, and they floated gently toward the ground. But the robots with the flamethrowers made a mistake. They were supposed to chase the boys when they got on four-wheelers, but instead they burned up the parachutes. Instead of landing on the ground, the boys landed right in the middle of the moat filled with hungry crocodiles and anacondas.

Photo credit: montuschi (Flickr)

Moses snapped his fingers again, and swords and firecrackers appeared in every boy’s hand. As soon as the snakes got close, they poked them in the belly buttons with the sword, which made the snakes start to laugh. Before the snakes could stop, Moses tied them around the snouts of the hungry crocodiles, so the crocodiles couldn’t bite. Then they put firecrackers between the crocodiles’ toes and spanked them. The crocodiles ran away, dancing as the firecrackers went off.

By now, everybody was hungry. They climbed out of the moat and shook themselves dry like dogs, then sat down at a picnic table and started gobbling up pizza and ice cream and twinkies until their bellies were as round as basketballs.

“Time for the four-wheelers!” said Parker.

In an instant, they were fastening their seatbelts and the chin straps on their helmets.

“Vroom!” said Moses’s four-wheeler. It was belching great clouds of smoke, and its engine could hardly wait to go.

“Vroom!” said Sean’s four-wheeler. “Vroom!” said Parker’s four-wheeler, Caleb’s four-wheeler, Jacob’s four-wheeler, and McKay’s four-wheeler.

“Hasta la vista, baby!” said Genevieve.

And they were off!

Photo credit: Brandice Schnabel (Flickr)

On the first lap, Caleb skidded on a slippery patch of oil and almost lost control. While he was sliding sideways, McKay got a flat tire, and Jacob went off a ramp and almost landed right on top of Sean. But they all made it around the loops, over the jumps, through the burning hoops, and across the finish line.

Then they grabbed the rocket-powered skateboards and went streaking across the sky toward the top of Mount Timpanogos.

Photo credit: Photo Dean (Flickr)

On the way back, Moses and Caleb and Sean and McKay and Jacob and Parker were in a tie. Sometimes Caleb would get ahead for a minute, if he ducked down so the wind didn’t push as hard on him. But then his skateboard would get tired, and Parker would get in the lead. Then when Parker’s skateboard got tired, Moses would go out in front, or Sean, or McKay. But it was hard to tell who was going to win.

“Remember, if we’re in a tie, the winner is the one who does the best belly flop!” shouted Moses.

Then they all jumped off into a swimming pool filled with whipped cream and bologna, and there was a huge splash.

“Who won?” asked Caleb, when he finally climbed out and wiped the whipped cream out of his eyes.

Photo credit: Lafayette College (Flickr)

“Beats me,” said Moses.

“Me too,” said McKay. “Maybe Jacob won. Or Parker.”

“Maybe it was me,” said Sean.

“No,” said Genevieve. “Daddy has the biggest belly, so he wins.”

“What’s my prize?” asked Dad, who was mowing the lawn.

Moses laughed. “You get to eat whipped cream and bologna until the pool is clean. Neat, huh?”

Dad groaned. “How about we say that you all won?”

“Okay,” said Moses. And then he and his friends went inside to figure out what they could do for fun. Summer was just too boring.

Tagged: adventure, anacondas, bikes, boredom, crocodiles, imagination, kids, race, summer, trampolines

They Trickle, Salty

“And this is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy…” —Alma 28:8

photo credit: More Good Foundation (Flickr)

They trickle, salty–

the beads of sweat

through the parched testimony

of many miles dust,

etching the lines of concentration.

He puffs them off his nose with each gasp,

…hope María’s home

each weary cycle

…hope they’ve prayed

of legs and mind

…Please, Father.

They trickle, salty

through sunny children with nervous smiles;

dark eyes that say:

…Otra vuelta.

Wine and milk without price…

…No, gracias.

Tears on darkened pillow

record the worth of souls;

stiff knees say Please, Father.

They trickle, salty

with white clothes, open smiles,

the quiet majesty of peace-filled testimony.

They say Gracias.

The thirsty come, buy, and eat;

they say Lo haremos.

They trickle, sweetly,

forever,

tears of joy.

Tagged: isaiah, missionaries, prayer, religion, service, sweat, tears, work

summersleep

photo credit: McBeth (Flickr)

the dreamfabric unravels, dissolves, refocuses–

into selfconscious wakethought.

around a smooth curtain of quiet black velvet

the leaves of the birch tree swishsigh by my window.

muscles stretch in the oh-so-sleepy pleasure

of a slooow stiff bodyyawnnnn.

the ceiling creakconverses with a sleepy cricket chorus

and the leaves of the birch tree rustle by my window.

a pleasant zephyr flows softly, smoothly, soothingly

its inky silk coolness slowly wraps me up,

then tickles, trickles, slides feathersoft across my bare feet

and the leaves of the birch tree whisper by my window

another yawn, and nubian night is a waiting world of summertimesilence

dreamily murmuring sweet secrets…

of seas and ships and sealing wax…

and of leaves of birch trees that sing softly by my window

tree leaves…softly whisper…by my window…

Tagged: breeze, crickets, darkness, night, quiet, sleep, summer

thorny silk

spikes bristle, covering

every growing inch in thorn–

green treasure hides? where?

I find it ironic that this particular tree is known as a “floss silk.” It is entirely covered in sharp thorns–not exactly smooth on the skin! However, it is beautiful.

Took this from Sugarloaf (Pão de Açúcar), looking down into the harbor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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Tagged: harbor, leaves, ocean, rio de janeiro, sugarloaf, thorns, tree

Joseph

See Genesis 49:1-4,22-26.

Standing at the parting place

My soul must choose its ben.

The excellence of dignity

with outstretched fingers beckons me,

and proffers with an easy smile–

calm as muddied water,

sweet as a she-slave’s eyes.

I know you, oh unstable one:

sorrow’s first ben-oni.

But shepherd-strengthened archer calls

though sorely grieved and separate,

to fly along a master’s halls

for coat of priesthood hue, and crown,

and place in God-King’s retinue.

Oh dreamer clean, I know you too.

Striding from the parting place,

my mind shall choose its ben.

Joseph is his name.

Joseph is his name.

Joseph.

Two roads diverged… Photo credit: Eric Vondy (Flickr)

Tagged: accountability, agency, choice, commitment, destiny, discipline, priesthood, purity, religion, temptation

“I promise not to teach or train”

photo credit: Corie Howell (Flickr)

I promise not to teach or train,

or probe or lecture or advise,

but if you let me, I will listen,

and listen till your soul finds rest.

So hold my hand, and close your eyes,

and lean your head against my chest

and know that I believe in you.

Tagged: empathy, friendship, hugs, kindness, listening, understanding

taipei night lights

colors smear and splash;

scooters beep and taxis dash:

night kaleidoscope

Taken in Taipei, Taiwan, May 2005. Taipei is a busy city, with busy crowds rushing to and fro. Scooters are everywhere.

My technique with the long exposure was accidental rather than deliberate, but I love the variety of colors.

[other photo sizes | more photo haikus]

Tagged: blur, city, color, haiku, lights, night, traffic

Easter Roses

The skeptics pull time from their pocket

and sneer at our roses–

our

roses–

the ones we planted, deep and tender,

hand in hand, together.

They talk of leaf and grief and winter,

and do not understand our treasure–

the one the Father sealed to us,

hand in hand, together.

It’s Easter’s song; it’s promises;

it’s soil and rain and sun and Spring

and rose hips–

our

rose hips–

rose hips to be planted,

deep and tender,

hand in hand,

together.

photo credit: ajft (Flickr)

Tagged: easter, eternity, love, partnership, religion, unity