Moments to Sing

The toys, it's sad, have seen little light,
so infrequently used.
Radio or TV is not blasting today,
as if calm and quiet have fused.
I hear my child,
he is humming while playing with his jigsaw,
To hear such carefree, the tranquil, it touches my core.

I weep for lost time
when madness rules with noise and might.
Always inside, better to be out of sight.
Courage, come out, come out.
O loving Greatness
lead us by little steps out of anger and sadness.

My spirit soars to see the boys playing,
the little one humming.
My heart for a while, is singing.

(HA - Sep 2009)

The Sound of Music (Version 2009)

It's been a long day at work (everything is a priority). But I always enjoy the blogs to unwind.

I want to let you in on this little diversion in my life right now. It's about good neighbourliness and wonderful music.

The New Neighbour
We have a new neighbour. They are a young family, and moved in, a couple of months ago. There are 2 young children and a dog(terrier of sorts) too. The youngest is a girl just slightly over a year old.

The House
Their home is one of those rebuilt homes which is narrow but built upwards of two and a half storeys. There is a side yard between our two houses and our bedrooms are aligned on the side next to this neighbour..

The Child
Since they moved in, we have had quite a 'few' days and early mornings disturbed.
The young girl for some reason cries a lot and at all hours and mother lets her cry on. Because of the structure of the house, the cry carries through like an echo and is much louder. Unfortunately our bedroom windows open out to that side of the house.

The Music
When the little girl starts her wail, the little dog begins to howl( a mid-pitch soulful sound). And then just when he takes a breath, the big dog that lives in the house behind them begins to bark his part. And this wondrous acapella goes on and on until the child stops. The little terrier always has the last note.

Us
We meet over the fence or at the gate once in a while. There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the little girl, just like playful older sister, dad appears apologetic half the time and mum is always silent.
The little mutt (terrier) he appears normal too. Did I mention our bedrooms are on that side of the house ?

Mind you, we never complained. Now we just wait for little girl to grow up and contemplate the sound of music. {or they could move away ... fie fie away with you evil thoughts !..}

And the moral of this story is ..(I have no idea)...

Addendum 4/9 : figured out the moral here.. look at the brighter side, it could have been worse, now that I recall there used to be a neighbour beside the house with the big dog - and they housed a couple of squaking, screeching birds. Imagine, I could have had the full ensemble ( 4 parts).

My Journey

There are days, to work extra hard to keep my spirits up.
Only I can see and hear my children,
something must be up.
Ignorance is out of the question,
Ignorance cannot bring bliss,
for when they are silent, something must be amiss.

There are days, like a boat in the ocean,
up and down, this way and that, any turn.
Like a stock market graph
my spirit and mind follows.
My mind’s eye sees, and knows
where the waters are rough.
Stay the course it's within my control,
for my children, I must keep a hold,
they are my hearts and my balm,
humour, tolerance and prayer, keep me calm.

I strive for balance, and objectivity
hope for patience and sensitivity.
There is a disturbance in their earth,
but we are still finding our way to a berth.

Where is that silver lining?
We have been patient.
Peace will come, I keep singing.
There are days when I feel ancient.

(HA – Aug 2009)