The inchworm passes in a green flash upon eternity’s pages
Padre
Monostich and Paint Chips: inchworm and green flash
Eternity’s Pages
Month: July 2021
Oasis
Amid sun-bleached rock and barren sand
Green arises and makes its stand
Waters deep beneath the ground
A place where life can be found
Our lives too may seem that way
In need of an oasis amidst our daily fray
Padre
Cloudy Day
When pushed inside on a cloudy day
When gardening by rain is set aside
It is time for other things to do
It matters not as long as they’re done with you
To sort the laundry
Such things mundane
They are more pleasant with you
On days of rain
And then the sun does arrive again
Then we together shall emerge
And once again with rake and spade
Attend the bright beds of our labours
Padre
Samson
Judge Samson by his lusts was led
Took a Philistine to his bed
Her intent – his power to shed
Hair of his head, Hair of his head
They cut the thick locks from his head
Power gone – he was weak instead
But the temple where he was led
Collapsed on heads, Collapsed on heads
Wine Climb
Slowly creeping, climbing high
Reaching upwards to sun and sky
Soon masses of fruit to bear
In clusters sweet to share
With a world awaiting their fill
Padre
After the Rain
When the sun through clouds creeps
And warm beams the soils do dry
It is like a sweet regeneration
As freshly watered plants reach to sunlit sky
Pathways steam in the warming sun
And flowers their blooms stretch open
All is refreshed and new again
And sound returns to the solar fountain
Its splash and trickle instead of the rain
At least until the clouds return again
Padre
Dragon Scourge ( Part 10 )
In the aftermath of the Dragon scourge, Althonyr’s body was excavated from under the rubble and his head and wings mounted and used to adorn the wall behind the Viceroy’s throne. Soon after, representatives from several magical and alchemical guilds arrived to haggle over the great beast’s bones, nearly compensating the Viceroy for the fee he had paid to Wilfred and his company of Dwarves.
A few people made any comment on the seeming differences from Althonyr’s heart and those in the jars, however.
“Now that mind,” Runny quickly announced, “be on account that they be different species. The whole beast bein’ a Purple Cavecrawler, and the others be Reds.”
“Why yes,” the Viceroy’s chief alchemist piped in, in his own bid to seem authoritative. “Quite different creatures, I assure you,” he said to the assembled gainsayers.
The result, of course, was that the matter was laid to rest by such an “official” declaration.
Later, on the Viceroy’s recommendation Wilfred was knighted, as was Runny, being dubbed Sir Runnyreer Roundbottom. The now Lady Plucky, was thrilled by the honour, though it was all seen as a nonsense to Runny himself.
Wilfred was inundated by offers from cities as far afield as Nordland and the Sultanate to come and reenact the epic Battle of the Worms. These performances netted Wilfred and the Dwarves quite lucrative honoraria.
The Dragon Hunter’s reputation was now firmly set, and he and his team were summoned by rulers and officials for all manner of mysterious dealings, most of which their distinct talents transformed into profit.
That was until they received a desperate missive from the Sealands about a sea monster plaguing that nation’s coasts. That, however, is a tale for another day.
Padre
On Learning Afrikaans
Leather
Ladder
Learn and
Teach
Your exact meaning’s hard to reach
It is really confusing the things I hear
Please can you make your meaning clear?
Padre
The Ultimate Complaint Department
In the current climate of perceived self-privilege, “Karen-ism,” and taking personal affront to anything that we don’t like hearing or seeing, it’s easy to resort to complaining. “I want to talk to your supervisor,” seems to be the general topic of hundreds of YouTube videos. But be careful at complaining too readily.
Sometime shorty before the siege and capture of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, the prophet Habakkuk had his go at the complaining game. He calls on God to do something about the evil, injustice, and idolatry in Israel. When he finished his litany of grievances, God replies. God says that He knows of the corruption of the leaders, and of the problems that Habakkuk has laid out. He continues to say that He will indeed act. In fact, God will allow the Babylonians to come and conquer the land.
This response catches Habakkuk on the back foot. “They are worse than we are!” is essential Habakkuk’s reply to this news. God nonetheless tell the prophet that this is what will come to pass, but to remember that it is God’s hands, not in men. He tells Habakkuk that the righteous will live by faith, and in His appointed time Babylon will be brought down and punished for their evil.
Sometimes the cure for ills is not in our comfort, or in our “rights and privileges.” Personally, I think that the pandemic has proven that. The greater good, such as masks or self-isolations, outweighed individualism. This is not a polemic for blind acquiescence to governmental authority, but instead a call for us to keep perspective. Like Habakkuk we can rest assured in the end God’s will shall be done.
For those who may still pondering governmental links (if so, sorry I brought them up), remember that the “woes” that Habakkuk cited: unfair economic practices, human exploitation, corrupt rule, and the worship of power, will all be remembered by God, and the perpetrators will be held accountable.
Next time then, before you head to the Complaint Department, or demand a manager, remember to weigh the situation in perspective, and the possibility that you might not like the answer.
Padre
Dragon Scourge (Part 9)
As it neared five o’clock, Shortwhisker was preparing to light the fuse of another flame effect. It was then that he caught the glimpse of movement inside the cave. His jaw dropped and he involuntarily dropped his taper as he backed away from the apparition of an eight metre purple Dragon.
Runny caught glimpse of it at about the same instant. “It’s, it’s . . . ,” he stammered.
“A ‘reality’ Dragon,” Wilfred said completing his friend’s sentence, and against his better judgement drawing his sword.
“Really?” Althonyr asked incredulously.
Wilfred looked at his sword and then back at the dragon.
“Um, yes, I suppose so,” the Dragon Hunter replied.
Althonyr’s first inclination was to dispatch these nuisances and get back to his nap, but it had been all too long since he had the opportunity to manipulate a human.
“I see you are with Dwarves,” the great beast observed. “I hate Dwarves,” he then muttered giving a side glance at Runny. “So, what do you intend to do, Sir Knight? Or is it My Lord?” the Dragon asked cooly.
“Um, it’s neither. You see I am a, ah, kind of a showman,” Wilfred tried to explain.
“How interesting,” Althonyr almost purred. “What might your performance entail, might I ask?”
“I – I, we . . . we travel about where there are reports of, um, Dragons and we put on a show of riding the place of them.”
“So, you kill dragons?” Althonyr asked accusingly.
“Ah, no, ah, to be honest you are the first we have actually encountered. As I said it’s a show.”
“How do convince your audience you have completed this monumental feat?”
“With props,” Wilfred said, backing away slightly as Althonyr stepped fully into the cave mouth.
“Props? How intriguing.”
“The Dwarves fashion things like Dragon heads and we pass them off to the guilable.” Wilfred said quietly.
“I suppose there is a market for such theatrics. After all business is business; and speaking of business, I guess it is time for me to kill you now,” the Dragon observed.
What had gone unnoticed at this point was that Shortwhiskers’ taper had continued to burn and its flame had now inched its way to the fuse of the main charge which had been designed to bring the cave down. Suddenly there was a tremendous blast which threw Wildred and Runny ten metres and caused the entire upper chamber of the cavern to collapse.
When the smoke and dust cleared the cart that had carried the props was overturned and weapons were strewn all over. At the former cave mouth, Althonyr lay trapped under tons of stone with only his left shoulder and head exposed.
“Showman, what have you done?” the Dragon gasped. “My back is in agony, and I can’t feel my legs. Dig me out, and I will spare you.”
It was obvious however that the great worm was going nowhere. One of the prop harpoons had pierced his neck with the force of the blast, and his back and wings were broken.
Wilfred rose and dusting himself off he approached the disabled beast.
“Showman?” Wilfred asked. “I’m no showman. I’m the Dragon Hunter,” he announced.
“I will pay you handsomely,” Althonyr pleaded.
“I don’t think you could match what I will get from this,” Wilfred said. “‘After all business is business; and speaking of business, I guess it is time for me to kill you now.” With that Wilfred and Runny drove the harpoon deeper into Althonyr’s neck. Thick blood spewed forth and the light went fron the Dragon’s eyes.
“I am of the mind that this looks about perfect,” Runny said. “A few details here and there, but it will do the treat.”
One of the heart jars was broken beyond use, but the red heart in it was transfered to the jar that had contained the purple one. That heart was in turn buried and a large rock slid by all of the Dwarves over its location. Meanwhile, Plucky was sent to the palace to invite the Viceroy and his retainers to “the site of battle.”
By the time the officials arrived the four red-heart jars were arranged two on either side of Althonyr’s head. Wilfred was seated on the overturned cart, and all signs of pyrotechnic equipment had spirited away by Digger, Breaker, and Shortwhisker. Runny and Wetwhistle wandered about the site drawing a diagram which detailed the epic battle, the death of the four Reds in the bowels of the cavern, and the final confrontation of Wilfred and the “Great Purple Worm.”
Padre
Padre's Ramblings 