Gavin Whyte's Blog, page 14

Splash (A Poem)

Walking around the park,

hearing the rain falling

on my umbrella,

reminiscent of popping popcorn.

Book in hand –

electronic –

definitely unwise.

A boy, with his grandpa,

chasing the puddles,

one after another.

Splash!

Splash!

Splash!

The boy’s not laughing,

nor is he smiling;

he doesn’t look to be enjoying himself,

but the puddles are there to be jumped in.

That’s their purpose,

surely.

He bends over,

running his small hands through them,

until some of them are nearly emptied

of their source.

His grandpa looks on,

not smiling

nor is he laughing,

but he doesn’t stop the boy

from allowing the puddles

to fulfil their purpose;

he doesn’t stop the boy

from getting his clothes wet;

he doesn’t hurry the boy

to finish playing.

Those memories of being a boy,

in the rain,

were flooding back,

when all he wanted to do

was splash.

*

Thanks for reading.

Blessings.

Gavin

 

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A few pics from the Year of the Dog

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

Today is the start of the year of the Earth Dog. If you’d like to know what it has to offer, check out this link.

Once again I’m in Taiwan in time for the celebrations. With my wife being a dog – in terms of the Chinese zodiac, come on, folks – we went to the local temple in Kaohsiung (a city in the south), near to where her parents live, so she could be blessed for the year ahead.

(Supposedly, if it’s your year then the traits and characteristics of that specific zodiac sign are amplified, and you’re told to take things steady – hence the blessing.)

Anyway, I took a few pics of the temple to give you an insight into what your typical Taoist temple is like at this time of year.

It’s amazing to see hundreds of people praying for good luck, whilst burnin paper money and incense.

Note*

I thought I’d have a break from my laptop and so left it in Taipei. I’m therefore posting this using my phone. I apologise if there’s anything wrong with the formatting or the photos. I tried to upload a video for you but it failed, so maybe I’ll update this post when I get back to Taipei and then upload the video.

Anyway, here are a few pics from the temple, along with one of a unicycle rack in a school playground, and some shots taken from around my in-laws’ place, near the mountains.

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Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings

Gavin

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Beaks of a Yellow (Haiku)

Beaks of a yellow:

as I walk under the tree,

they all say hello.

*

Blessings.

Gavin

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Hang in there (A Poem)

You’ve got to hang in there,

when the tide seems to be going against you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

when the winds of change seem to be blowing against you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

when you don’t like what life is showing you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

when nobody seems to be knowing you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

when you’re faced with pain that is growing you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

when you can’t see the seeds life is sowing for you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

when it appears no helping hand is towing you.

You’ve got to hang in there,

for tomorrow will shine anew.

*

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings.

Gavin

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Nothing (Haiku)

What is there to fear,

other than a nothingness,

that can’t be perceived?

*

Blessings.

Gavin

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The Day (Haiku)

Is today our day;

the forever end of days?

How fantastic, love!

*

Blessings.

Gavin

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The Bird (A Poem)

Oh, bird,

how do you do it?

You wait and wait

to get what you want,

never flapping your wings out of frustration.

I watch you breathing;

we have that much in common, at least.

You look around

when a dog barks,

or when someone walks by,

but apart from that,

you are far more skilled than I.

How long did it take you

to acquire such divine patience?

Born with it, no doubt.

It’s icy cold out here,

yet your complaining I don’t hear.

You just get on with it.

It’s part of it, I want to hear you say,

“It’s the fun of the play.”

But you don’t.

You’re too focused on the hunt at hand… talon.

Impatience doesn’t get the better of you,

because you know that by hurrying

you will scare away the worm.

Teach me.

Teach me how to hunt,

without getting carried away

by the thought of success.

Teach me how to hunt,

in a way that leaves nothing but acceptance for the hunt.

Teach me how to get the worm

so I’m not thinking about the next worm,

before this one has even showed its head.

And then you look at me,

our eyes are locked,

and I’m sure you say:

“What’s hunting?”

*

Thanks for stopping by.

It would be grand if you could Like & Follow.

Blessings.

Gavin

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Mnemonic (Limerick)

It’s an ugly word – mnemonic,

I really don’t think it’s euphonic,

so I would’ve stomped

all over this prompt

if my tap dancing shoes weren’t demonic.

*

Boom.

 

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Let’s Dance (Haiku)

Let’s dance to your tune.

Forget where the dance floor is?

I don’t believe you.

*

Blessings.

Gavin

 

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The Bus Man (100-Word Non-Fiction)

The Bus Man was always smiling. He was thin, with wispy hair, and had kind eyes. He came every weekend to your cul-de-sac in his wee bus, that was, come to think of it, a wardrobe on wheels.

The women in your family were especially happy to see him.

They clambered in the back, and had a good time, going through his plastic-wrapped stock of clothes and towels, chatting this and that.

As a boy, you always believed the bus contained an entrance to a mysterious world, like Narnia. It was somewhere behind those clothes, you were sure of it.

*

Thanks for reading.

It would be grand if you could Like and Follow.

Many blessings.

Gavin

 

 

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