November Rain

Mouths of grace open up
so i turn my misty face
to watch a downpour of love

with soaking, wet kisses
the dry earth tenderizes

the meeting of the water and the ground
creates a rhythm that calls for a dance
nature smiles and shivers
and with sweet contentment -
it gives away its fragrance

i hear the leaves hustle
like five-stringed banjos 
the wind makes a coarse whistle
and hums like metal chimes

Creativity = Ctrl + C?

Photo from www.creativehuddle.co.uk

Apologies in advance, my friends

If I'll be raising up a lot of questions and problems

I've been troubled by them last night while in bed

And I also want to know the thoughts in your head

How do we remain creative in times like these

When greater concepts and ideas 

Are only at arm's reach?

How do we develop an entirely new thing

When all's been recycled, rehashed and repeated

Can we just add to it a bling?

How can we draw the line 

Between your idea and mine?

How do we determine originality from mimicry?

When everything is as easy as Ctrl + C.

Is there anything else yet to be done

When the wisest King had said -

There is nothing new under the sun?

Can we really create something new?

When ours is a generation 

Of something borrowed,

Hand-me-downs,

Ripped off and glued?

I see parents encourage their kids

They give them crayons, canvass and paints

They tell them to create something nice

To let their imagination run wild

But when they grow up, a dilemma arises

"Mommy, Daddy, I want to be an artist!"

Oh sweetie, can you think first before you do this?

What about being a doctor, an architect or a lawyer?

A dentist, an engineer or a banker maybe?

I think an artist will only earn nuts from peas!"

From what I'm reading it's great to be creative 

But make sure what you do becomes lucrative. :-(

Hang on a minute, a bird just whispered in my ear

If there is nothing new under the sun

Then should we stop looking for ideas here?

If what we can think of under the sun has already been done

Then should we look above and beyond?

Human wisdom is limited and what we'll conceive - others have seen before

So shall we step out of ourselves and knock on Heaven's door?

The important thing is not to stop questioning.

- Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

4pm in Israel

As soon as we arrived at the Yad Hashmona Kibbutz Hotel, in a village located a few kilometers away from Jerusalem City, we were greeted by the beautiful sunset and I was inspired to write another poem -

A magnificent gradient of red and yellow
A backdrop of shooting colors in the heavens glowed
Slack-jawed in the beauty that I see
I regret every moment when I questioned You if you truly loved me

The orange sun peeking through pillows of clouds
Creates some notions and inner doubts
Is this the sunrise which is the beginning of a new day
Or is this nighttime when all brightness fades away?
Pretty much how Your will works out
Incomprehensible at the start
Questionable in the middle
Unacceptable because I know so little
But a perfect masterpiece once fulfilled and has settled

Father, thank You for sunrises and sunsets
For fulfilled promises and seemingly unchangeable regrets
Thank You for keeping me guessing all the time
What matters now is You, the Creator of the universe, calls me Mine.