Joyeux Noël

Some people think a savior's birth
Will somehow bring us peace on earth.
Some twinkling lights, a holly wreath,
A tree with presents underneath —
These demonstrations are in vain
If we continue to complain.
The peace that touches humankind
Originates as peace of mind.

Charity

Audio

Some sixty thousand years ago
In a cave beneath the sun,
A Neanderthal lived whom we now know
By the label Shanidar I.

It seems that when poor “Nandy” died
At the ripe old age of forty,
The victim of a huge rock slide,
He’d never quite been sporty.

His right leg had been pretty lame,
And adding to his charm,
His left leg was about the same,
And he’d lost his right arm.

An injury to his skull left
His left eye nearly blind.
This ancient man was as bereft
Of hope as you could find.

And yet, the members of his tribe
With him their food had shared.
To charity we now ascribe
The way these people cared.

Was Neanderthal charity,
That kept this man alive,
A weakness that, in history,
Meant they would not survive?

New links at top of page

I've added two links at the top of this blog:

Table of Contents
References

The table of contents will point to the rhymes in this collection. It will not include other commentary or announcement posts, like this one. Also, I'm attempting to keep it in roughly chronological order by idea, not by date of posting. Some of these ideas, of course, have no specific dates, or evolved over a long period of time. In those cases, I just wing it.

The references page is a list of books I've found helpful or at least entertaining while trying to come up with ideas for this.

Enjoy!

Humanity

We come in different colors, shapes and sizes,
With different skills and assets and desires.
And though the world may throw us some surprises
Each strives to get what he or she requires.

Yet whether we are struggling to survive,
Or living in a comfortable style,
We tend to question why we are alive,
Or how to make our lives be more worthwhile.
Though different, we have certain basic needs,
Beyond which, we would leave something behind
Which may be the remembrance of our deeds
Or friends' or family's keeping us in mind.

We are all different, we can truly claim.
It’s also true that we are all the same.

Procrastination

(Insert clever rhyme about putting things off.)