My Poetry Debut

You’re Kidding

“Come up here,” they say. 

2 hands outstretched, they won’t go away.

“I can’t.  I’ll stay here.”

Panting, whining, moaning, with fear.

Eyes rove spastically.

“Go on without me!” I say dramatically.

Not a chance they will.

The choice is mine to come up still.

Where’s the Lifeguard?

You know

The road you drew

Looks like a river

Who’s current will

Sweep me away

I hesitate

I dip my toe in

I throw off my clothes

And abandon myself

To the waters

At first the water is icy cold

My skin tingles

I can’t breathe

I come up for breath

Flailing as though I will drown

Looking for land

But then the movement

Warms me

As soon as I let go

And swim with the current

I am at peace

Still, I don’t know where

It is taking me

Yet I move with it

I glide smoothly as though

Down a slide

I playfully splash at

Onlookers on the shore

“This is fun!” I scream

Then I dive under again

Suddenly warm yet tingly

With exhaustion

I’m a fish

Well, almost

Learning to swim

I’m at least in the current

Tea and Scones

(I wrote this in August.  I am just now posting it in honor of Josh Carr.)

            The art form of dunking biscuits into tea (a very British activity): “the trick is to snatch it out right before it disintegrates.” When I sat down to write I remembered this quote from Judi Dench in The Best Marigold Hotel.  How many of us knew this before we read it or saw it?  Wise words from someone who’s culture is different than ours.

            For someone who doesn’t hear a lot about other cultures, I’ve learned quite a bit about other cultures and myself in the last few weeks, even days.  I grew up with a mother who loved throwing tea parties, collecting tea sets, and making homemade scones and Devonshire crème.  I, in turn, adore these things and would call myself somewhat of a scone snob.

            When I went home I talked with my friend Katy and she mentioned how her friend (not from the States) would make these elaborate scones.  As she told it, he would pronounce them “scons.”  She said, “Here we are, starving missionaries and he’s making these ‘scons’ with rare ingredients imported from all these different countries!”  Apparently there’s a whole other level of scone snob I was not aware of.

            Then, yesterday, I happen to run into my friends who were leaving church one afternoon with my Irish friend Josh.  For what, you may ask?  Nothing other than tea and scones, something he says he can’t live without.  Naturally my mind is blown by all the connections being made.  Naturally he also pronounces them “scons.”

            Notice how similar all these stories are from different families to different countries all together.  How much do we really have in common?

            Then, while I was in California, I met a guy from Finland.  I learned about the sports they play (including the popular wife carrying contest).  They are, and I should have known this, obsessed with ice hockey.  When I said I loved in Orange County my friend Mika was all, “Mighty Ducks!”

            My friends, there are so many cultures out there.  The diversity is so beautiful and it’s so meaningful to sit and just listen to someone else talk about their life for a while.  When I lived in the Dominican Republic I was constantly reminded of how ethno-centric Americans are.  It was so bad that when I came home I was not a fan of America.  Though I now love America, I think there is something to be said about us being a bit consumed with ourselves.

            I know I’m guilty of it!  I think maybe I’m just afraid sometimes that I’ll look stupid if I ask questions.  It is scary to talk about things you don’t know anything about sometimes.  Yet it is so worthwhile. 

            Even yesterday, I got to listen to Christian Korean rap.  Just spending time with a Korean friend who has just recently been home got me outside of my little American bubble again and taught me listen, taught me to be aware.  Maybe in the future I’ll be on the lookout for ways to learn about other cultures.  Hopefully my experiences these past few months will make me into a person who seeks out different cultures even more.