Ship of Bones

The thought came to me while driving, and the details materialized in writing very quickly.  This poem does explore a question through the genre of horror, as the title suggests.  The question is, if we each are not doing the unique and special things we can do, are we truly alive?

How could I awake,

If I am never asleep?

Can the nightmare end,

When it never began?

Underneath a sullen sky,

The sun is never setting,

A glowing red eye,

The sun is never blinking,

Always staring,

Staring at me,

Alone on the sea,

Upon a dead ship,

Trapped in still waters,

Trapped and not sinking,

The sun is not blinking,

The glowing red eye,

Is always staring,

Staring at me,

Yet I am in company,

They are with me,

But they do not move,

They always look at me,

With eyes long gone,

Always smiling,

No flesh to hide teeth,

Skeletons bleached white,

Populate this ship,

While the sun keeps staring,

Never blinking,

And I can not hear sound,

As if in a dream,

I can not hear sound,

Though I try to scream,

Nothing happens,

As into reflections,

Of broken glass,

I look to see,

What could be wrong,

I look and see,

My eyes long gone,

My mouth is open,

But far too wide,

And hanging low,

On thinning hide,

With bones protruding,

From tattered skin,

Up from behind me,

I see a grin,

Hand on my shoulder,

And hollowed face,

He comes to show me,

Unto my place,

With words of comfort,

Spoken so near,

"Come float forever,

We all float here."

Then from the horror,

Within this dream,

I awake in darkness,

From my own scream,

Then thinking well,

Into the night,

I saw that ship,

Alive in life,

With people whom,

Forgot to live,

And share the gifts,

Which they could give,

God gave us skills,

Wisdom and tact,

For in our lives,

We all must act,

To bring forth beauty,

Alive and true,

We all must do,

                                                                     What we can do.

Prayer of the Sleepers

In passing decorated cemeteries, where the living remember those loved,  I began to think of what they would tell us if they could.  What they would do if given another chance.  Of what a lesson that is to us, about how precious life truly is.  This picture is from Voyage of the Damned.  The girl is named Astrid, and took a job as a waitress on a starliner to see as much of the universe as she could.  The Doctor faced death to save the passengers lives.  Seeing who he was and what he was doing, she sacrificed her life so he might survive.  Shortly after her death, the Doctor attempted to use her biological coding saved in a transporter beam unit aboard the ship to reunite body and soul.  With the machine badly damaged, he could only bring enough of her back to kiss her goodbye.

There are voices,

Many voices,

Speaking night and day,

Yet they are not heard,

As common sounds,

But whispers to the soul,

From souls that lived,

Knowing pain and joy,

Knowing tragedy and triumph,

Trying to speak to us,

Yet as if in a dream,

Their voices are not heard,

No matter how they shout,

Waving their arms before us,

We walk straight through them,

For they are remembered,

With flowers upon stones,

As we hurry through our lives,

Within a constant race,

Making the same mistakes,

As if trying to reach the finish,

Before all of the others,

Yet perhaps even God,

Would wish us to tarry,

And so beneath His shelter,

I stop so I can listen,

Beneath the swaying trees,

I close my eyes to hear,

Voices speaking of love,

As children grew and left,

Of simple times and games,

Just conversing with parents,

Reaching out to a friend,

When a loved one has hurt us,

Not to simply just let go,

For love does not know,

How to say goodbye,

And the sleepers wonder why,

When we are given much,

Why we do so little,

For each day is a gift,

For us to use and give,

And if given the chance again,

They would give all they could,

For the secret of receiving,

Is to pour one’s cup to others,

And the mystery of life,

Is loving more each day.

Upon Nothing

I wrote this piece because I began thinking about Job.  In his discussions he described God as putting the skies in their place and hanging the Earth upon nothing.  How could a dirt farmer that died 3,000 years ago have the slightest concept about astrophysics?  I could easily imagine the Doctor's curiosity being aroused by this as he sets off on a little trip to find out why.

Of mysteries,

There are many,

Of wonders,

Life is filled,

As we explore,

Looking ahead,

Tools of sight,

Help us to see,

Yet what was seen,

By those before us?

A simple shepherd,

Known as Job,

Spoke of God,

Suspending the sky,

And hanging the Earth,

Upon nothing at all,

This weighs upon me,

How so long ago,

Such a person,

Knew the profound,

Which few consider,

Walking their lives,

Dancing with shadows,

Surrounded by miracles,

Not noticed at all,

For all that is solid,

Is paradox in balance,

As the tiniest particles,

Are mostly just space,

Their energies within,

Hold them together,

While energy they have,

Tries to push them apart,

As their furthest parts,

Circle around centers,

Across a vast emptiness,

Which they cannot pass,

So as an ancient shepherd,

Marveled at the Earth,

Hung upon nothingness,

I stand in astonishment,

Seeing life around me,

Thriving amidst nothing,

For God is everything.

The Color of Fire - A Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh

In the story of Vincent and the Doctor I was very much inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s thoughts concerning hearing the colors of life.  To be in touch with reality to that extent requires the gift of not allowing daily trials to distract us from how wonderful life truly is.  David Tennant’s character of the Doctor expressed this in a different way when conversing with the Master in “The End of Time”.  He said that you do not have to own the universe, just see it.  That is ownership enough.  May we all see more of life and the universe every day as we explore how our gifts can make it all more wonderful.

Life is continuous,

Resisting definition,

Full of visible sounds,

And colors you can hear,

As the birds overhead,

Sail across ground in flight,

The ground flies beneath,

Traveling through space,

Our planet as a free bird,

Soars across the stars,

While upon it we stand,

Creating our rhythms,

Matters of consequence,

Like chaff in the wind,

We drown out the music,

Of the spirits surrounding,

With creatures of the ocean,

Meeting our hearts on the shore,

And everything with sight,

Turns its eyes to the heavens,

Looking up in wonder,

At who may be looking down,

For the flowers of the fields,

Fill the canvas with emotion,

Each one a different note,

Within the songs of our lives,

Though a flower fades away,

The imprint stands with us,

Written upon our hearts,

The flower never dies,

As the song of our lives,

Join other songs around us,

In amazed contemplation,

Embracing all with my heart,

Sharing everything I can,

For to hear in true color,

Your heart must fly.

The Unthinkable

This poem came from a very unusual concept that has been on my mind.  It may be really odd for me to put it in a Doctor Who blog, but watching David Tennant in "The Waters of Mars" will make you see why I did it.  What if you could save someone whom you knew would die, yet preventing that death might cost many more lives?  How could that even be put in a poem!!!!   At a carwash on Sunday I sat down with a notepad and concluded it was not possible.  Then I started writing to see what would happen...

Every life that is,

Is a universe of life,

As from the one,

Comes many lives,

And from the children,

Come many more,

And if that life,

Must come to an end,

For that one ending,

Is the saving of millions,

Could you face the one,

Looking eye to eye?

Could you walk away?

Would you stand and cry?

For what is one of many?

It is like a small key,

Opening a large door,

And the door must open,

So that millions walk through,

Tasting the gift of life,

Yet unaware of the cost,

As you look at the one,

Straight into the eyes,

Feeling nothing but love,

And the worth of that soul,

You decide what to do,

Knowing who you are,

And what you believe,

Reaching out your hand,

Lifting that life as yours,

You do everything you can,

Striving for that one life,

Though you do not succeed,

Your act of free will,

Becomes par t of God’s plan,

And your gift was received,

In the heart of the one,

For love works miracles,

Though they may be unseen,

And as the millions were saved,

Your free will joined hearts,

And the one is alive,

In you.

Continuum

I had not watched Doctor who in years.  While doing some cleaning with my wife out I stumbled across David Tennant in "The End of Time" and was impressed beyond expectation.  It was not just the story or the making of the film, it was what he put into it from his own beliefs and persona.   Crazy as I am, I promptly wrote what you see below and sent it to him.  Whether or not he received it, I know that he knows he makes a difference.  May we all.


Looking across the water,

Current carrying forward,

Wind arranging onward,

Life within and without,

Bringing life unto life,

Falling from the skies,

Converging from the mountains,

Unto the vast sea,

Containing every element,

Essential to everything,

Showing all who can see,

A flow and purpose of life,

For time does not exist,

As simple measurement,

Defining the space of actions in reality,

As actions cannot be measured in space,

What is distance,

Except the time that it takes,

For us to cross space,

Yet distance is perspective gained,

As we view the horizons,

As we prepare for a journey,

And then measure our strength,

Our resource to cross the distance,

And make that journey a reality,

But even strength has a source,

As does all things,

Strength in abundance or fleeting,

Refueled by passion,

As passion is an emotion,

Streaming from a living and breathing heart,

Yet it does not impart to others,

It does not transfer by itself,

It is a conscious decision,

Stemming from a limitless perspective,

Of all whom are around,

And how our effect on them,

Will effect and lift up our lives,

For thought is the eternal force,

From the one who created thought,

And gave this gift to us in our lives,

Thought bringing decision to share,

A decision to have a passion for life,

Feeling it more and more,

As we are bound together in thought and feeling,

Just as water binds all life together,

In a continuum.

Infinitum

Is time travel possible?  Do we exist in one universe or in several co-existing universes?  If time travel were possible then it would be a matter of entering and reentering someone else's universe at different points of curvature along their sphere of reality.  That would lead to the conclusion that there is an energy form which can pass through such boundaries and transcend these universes.  Many believe such a form of energy is found in cosmic strings.  But what else do we know that can pass through the boundaries of realities, transcend time and space, alter the future, and continue without end?  The answer is thought.

We can see through space,

To the very edge of time,

Into the stars and systems,

Close to the beginning,

Towards the boundaries,

Where space becomes curved,

Altering the structure of time,

Bending the infinite to a point,

Where viewing along the curve,

Back unto our point in space,

Would allow us to see the future,

And traveling along the curve,

Entering upon different points,

Would allow us to visit tomorrow,

And allow us to revisit the past,

Yet in entering those points,

Our own age would not change,

For then we would not have traveled,

To different places without moving,

Meaning the place we have gone,

Would not reflect our universe,

The universe we have visited,

Would be that of another life,

The world of another soul,

Effected by free will,

And existing within reality,

Amidst an infinite number,

Of parallel universes,

Effected by the life,

Of the soul within,

For in such a beautiful way,

Our lives touch and interact,

As we choose with our hearts,

Using the power of free will,

To visit each universe,

Of the lives that surround us,

Using our choices,

Tempered by love,

That our souls may effect,

The eternal design.