FHE Poetry Night

We read some of our favorite poems for our FHE activity and a few of us brought some of our original works. Can you believe this activity wasn't my idea? I certainly enjoyed it! After some sharing we then wrote a poem or two. Ashlee asked for a prompt and Jason said "slingshot" so she and I both took it and ran with it. The following is what I came up with:

Fabled stories of rock and sling
often have me thinking
of heroes.
What does it take to become one such?
A bow? A sword? A cause?
Perhaps the courage to move ahead
when no one else will take the plunge.
My comforts keep my heart at bay
until one steps out of his way
to perform a noble deed on my behalf.
Then brave my head and heart become;
I desire to help another one.
And fabled stories now ring true
as you see in me and I see in you.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Making smoothies with my nephew
Watching my niece dance
Getting kisses from my little D nephew
Hanging out with my family
Late night chats with Ashlee
Making new friends
Evening walks with Debbie
Amazingly humble people
Great neighbors
My Garden
Utah County Fair corn on the cob
St. Andrew by Bedouin Soundclash
Laughing my guts out at work
The Cope Family
My bike
Wizards of Waverly Place
80s music
Snickers
Farmer's Markets
Honey
Good Dreams
Limahl

Hero's

I love rainstorms! I love the lightning and thunder. I love the sound of the rain on the roof and the feel of it on my face. The weather we have been having is totally dope in my opinion. There are problems though with this kind of weather. Lots of rain means lots of puddles and I ran into a rather large one last night. I guess I didn't really run into it, but I observed the following in regards to it. A young man on campus at BYU was trying to get his scooter out of a very large pool of water that resulted from the rain. I mean his scooter was in deep. When I came upon the scene (from a distance) I noticed he was on his cell phone talking to someone and assessing the situation. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a BYU police officer working his way in that direction. As he approached the young man hung up his phone (I'm assuming he had called for help) and the two decided together that they could lift the scooter up out of the puddle, over the grass and the sidewalk, onto the road. It was such a simple thing, and really something the student probably could have done on his own, but it was neat for me to see that officer so willing and happy to do something so simple. I would call it heroic really. It reminded me of a few lines from the movie "While You Were Sleeping" where Lucy and Peter are talking to each other. She says to him, "You give up your seat every day in the train." He replies, "Well-- But that´s not heroic." And she counters with, "It is to the person who sits in it." I concur. I think it's the little things in life that make up the character of a person which causes them to be a hero. Kudos to all of you hero's out there who take the time to lend a hand, speak and kind word, or lift a scooter out of a very large puddle.

Triplus No. 3

Ah yes, my other favorite painting. Well as stated by the scripture it references, Moses 6:59-60:

"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified."

Of course, being the poet that I am I had to write something about this painting as I spent many a lunch hour walking over the the BYU Museum of Art to gaze and ponder. It has no title save I called it the same name as the painting, "Triplus No. 3."

Simple and almost unnoticed
But a transcendent beauty it holds
Though dark and gnarled the stock
The colors of the cross inculcate from first glance
Peace and purity signified by His courage and sacrifice for life
The water cleanses
The blood reclaims
The Spirit saves