Do you like a really good story? Check out "The Masters Garden" by Nancy Crossman

The Masters Garden

Excerpt:

Everything about him was perfection, and Michael wept quietly, thankful for the precious gift he’d been given in return for the greatest sorrow he’d ever known.

            His tiny son, swaddled in a soft blue baby blanket, cooed at him, searching his face with dark brown almond shaped eyes just like his mother’s. His hair was jet black and there wasn’t a single blemish on his ivory skin.

            Grief came in phases and there were times he could barely manage the next breath. It felt as though his heart had been viciously ripped right out of his chest and he struggled to reason with why things happened the way they did.

            It had gotten marginally easier over the past three months, but he knew he couldn't have done it without the help of his best friends and the memories he could draw upon when it all closed in on him.        

            Little Kwon Lee Grey was three months old already and changing every day. When he was born he looked like any other baby, wrinkled and pink with few distinct features. But now he was becoming a perfect blend of him and Hana. “Daddy’s little man is gonna be talking before we know it, isn’t he?” He spoke softly to him cradling him against his body. How Hana would have loved to hold him like this, he thought, and another wave of anguish washed over him. God he missed her! She never even got to see their child.

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand he sniffed and all of the sudden his little boy’s face broke into an innocent grin; the one that leaves parents wondering if might be gas. Up until this point little Kwon’s smiles had been quickly followed by the cry of an infant in pain. But this one wasn’t and he was beyond thrilled.

            “Are you smiling at Daddy?” He asked, like parents do, fully aware they’re not going to get a response. “Do you know that I love you more than life itself?” He said, lifting him to kiss the softness of his little cheek.

            Settling him back in his arms, he rocked back and forth in the worn old mahogany rocker and the little guy’s eyelids soon began to get heavy.

            Michael watched him, amazed by the miracle of him, and with a lonely ache he wondered why fate had so cruelly taken Hana away, leaving his son to grow up without his mother. He would never have imagined his own son's life was to begin the way his did.

Yearning - A Poem about the winter of 2014 in Maritime Canada

My soul has grown weary in winter's icy grip...

I dream of cloudless blue skies, and

long for the sweet melodies of birdsongs

carried along on gentle summer breezes

I yearn for the caress of sunshine on my cheek

as I stroll through my wonderful garden, where

pansies smile at me, and daisies dance merrily

in the heat of an endless summer day

My senses tingle as I envision the sweet scent

of the roses clinging to the trellis, where the clematis

blossom in brilliant shades of lilac and pink

and busy bees hungrily seek their sweet nectar

In my mind I hear the songs of summer...

hummingbirds at the feeder, robins nurturing their young,

leaves whispering as they catch the breeze

that carries nature's grace to my soul

The season has changed, but spring is elusive...

copious remnants of winter still linger, and

an icy wind rips across the blanket of snow

while I dream of warm summer days...

© Annabel Sheila

GREED

Gone - are the days when we could breathe the air without consequence, drink the water without processing it first, enjoy the plentiful bounty our pristine oceans offered up before we poisoned them, discover the joy in every creature that makes up this planet before we destroyed them all! Why would future generations want to remember us?

Repercussions – they are what our children will be forced to reckon with! Everything we’ve ever touched has either been contaminated or destroyed, and we did it without conscience in our quest for riches. We cannot live forever, and we cannot take it with us, so was it worth it?

Evil – lives in the heart of every human being! But it was always our choice to let it rise to the surface and consume us. We were the ones who brutally beat our precious Mother Earth into submission! But what did we really accomplish?

Each – and every one of us are responsible for what we will NOT leave behind for future generations! We will not leave them clean air, drinkable water, sustainable food resources, or a planet that will survive! Our legacy will be a dying planet that will one day succumb to our horrible abuse! How’s that for a legacy?

Does – anyone really care? Are we so blinded by greed and power that nothing else in the universe matters? Do we really believe we’re that important? We are not the ones who will pay the ultimate price for our destructive ways. Why don’t we ask the children what they’d like us to leave behind for them? Maybe in their innocence we will find the only answers that make sense!

© Annabel Sheila

Tent Cities Springing Up In The USA

The Oprah Show that aired on Feb. 25th, was the most heartwrenching program I've seen in a very long while. How can it be that in a country with so much wealth, blue-collar citizens are living in tents because with the horrific downturn in the economy they've lost their homes? How can the fortunate wealthy let this happen in their own country? Where is the humanity in society when few have much and most have nothing? These people are unfortunate victims of circumstance. They are not people who choose not to work, or pay their bills. How can the millionaires and billionaires sleep at night in their big. comfy beds, while decent fellow citizens are sleeping on the ground in a tent, unable to find a job to make their lives better? Shame on the wealthy! In the end, we will all be judged by our wealth - not by how much money we had, but our worth as a human being. It is shocking that in 2009, things like this happen and nothing is done to make this world a better place for everyone!

A Significant Problem

We humans have survived our own history,
And that was an incredible feat,
Considering the wars, and planet abuse,
We continuously seem to repeat.

We’ve been around for thousands of years,
Through plagues and ills of all kinds,
Now there’s a pill for unimaginable ills,
For our bodies and our minds.

We’ve even outlived countless animals,
In fact we’ve wiped them out.
For there’s no creature as important as us,
Aren’t we what life is about?

But a significant problem has surfaced,
For every man and woman alive.
If we don’t stop destroying our planet,
Not even humans will survive.

- Annabel Sheila

A Cashless Society

A Cashless Society


We live in a cashless society,
Quite a while it’s been around,
Sooner or later it had to give,
And the axe has finally come down.

There are very few among us,
Not living beyond our means,
Our burden of debt is breaking our backs,
Destroying our hopes and dreams.

We can’t afford to save a cent,
Our credit card debt is obscene,
We can’t see beyond our next paycheck,
Our economy’s the worst it’s been.

Debit card, credit card, don’t pay now,
No interest for a year.
But jobs disappear without warning,
Then we live with stress and fear.

Our leaders will gladly lend a hand,
To the corporate giants in need,
But you and I will have to pay,
For years of corporate greed.

How in the world did this happen?
When did things get so bad?
Maybe a cashless society’s not,
The best idea we’ve had.

- Annabel Sheila

Homelessness - Shame on us!

It's frigidly cold here in our city, and last night on the news I heard a Red Cross announcement advising homeless people to go to shelters. So, how exactly were the homeless people going to get this message. They are not driving cars while listening to the radio, watching television in the comfort of their homes, etc. In our beautiful, bountiful country, there should be no homelessness. In our city we spend money to do cosmetics to city properties; build new government offices; and countless other "necessary" expenditures. Why can't we build shelters? Places to go if you're homeless? A warm place to sleep in the winter months, a safe place to sleep all year. Shame on us Canada! No one would "choose" to be homeless. We've got our priorities seriously screwed up!