Canadian Inuk

I will sing in my language

Of the perils of my wintry life

The snow is deep today, 

The snow is thick

But I will tell you of icy woes that you men know naught about

If you did stare deep within my tired eyes you would see ice,

Numbing snow,

An iceberg

An iceberg,

Just the tip,

A tiny fragment you may stumbling understand

The rest hide

You see it not

Never will

Never will comprehend the minds of the Inuit

Cold was the day I set off alone in search of the elusive whale

Shivering in my sturdy kayak

Armed with just a harpoon

I followed him long

Even when I could not see him

It was days when I at last killed him

And lugged him to the shore

My Inuit tribe fed on the flesh for weeks, 

The elders eating meagerly lest the children starve

If you did stare deep within my tired eyes you would see ice,

Snow,

The tip of an iceberg

When I look at the melting colours of the sky-canvas

I am not afraid like the others

I gaze into it long and deep

And see dancing whales, 

Flying seals,

Swimming birds

Ice-blocks,

Crude igloos,

And snow

Snow

Snow

For we are snow

And the breath that we breathe escapes in steams of ice

Naure is snow for us

And we hold her close to our chests,

Within our iceberg hearts

We do not understand the apathy you foster to her

And you do not understand us

If you did stare deep within my tired eyes you would see the ice,

Melting snow

A sinking iceberg

You do not understand us, cultured man

Do not try to

You never will

Life is Love

Life is a dream sung in a whisper

Let's dance it through brave, hands linked in each other's

There is no death

There'll be no fear

If we are strong, fighting as warriors

Love is a bird, head'd to cold weathers

Let's fly it through brave, for we are the feathers

This is no dream

This is no song

This is true life, knowing we're brothers

This is true life,

And we are all brothers.

Even The Hairs Of Your Head Are Counted

I see what hides 

When day closes its eyes

It is the sleeping sun

Black is the sun at night

Yet it shines, wakeful though sleeping

Open up your eyes

See a drop of the sun in the face of the moon,

Peeping at you through the blanket of a million stars.

God watches those who sleep and dream of restless peace.

William Wordsworth

Today the dawn greeted me with a thousand different songs

Each one a bewilderingly original symphony

The sweet darlings of the dawn,

Those charming angel-birds,

Fling out their pearls into the new day

Their innocent tunes excelling the juxtaposed frequencies

Of the German greats of classic music.

Gentle dawn, stay ever young.

The pleasant chatter of the birds

Are like the racous yet homely invitations of the street vendor

Like the happy cacophony of the marketplace at peak time

Gentle dawn, stay ever young.

Vincent van Gogh

The sky is dark today,

Darker than usual

I do not feel like painting today

I do not feel like a painter today

I feel sick at heart

I want to do nothing with those canvases.

What use has any of art been to me, I ask myself, bitterly.

It has only wasted my time and deluded me, so it appears

Perhaps I should never have walked away from God

Art seems to have cheated me

No one even recognises the little talent I have

No one knows me

I may never be great like Rembrandt, my inspiration

I may never be known

Perhaps it is better so

Was it not I myself who reflected and wrote that 

One must lose oneself to gain oneself?

Christ Jesus, whisper again those illumining words of wisdom

To this poor struggling man

Let me pass away like shadows 

Chanced upon by brilliant light

I see only the darkness of my Starry Night

On these sullen skies

No twirling lights illumine my imagination

Let these shadows that are always with me be lit

By every light, by every star

May I see what I ought to

And not what I imagine

'Colours are there for a reason',

One man once taught me

Those secrets of art evade me

I am no artist

I am perhaps a ne'er-do-well

And my name may not even outlive my death

But Thou, 

O Christ Jesus, be Thou my light

Be Thou the light of every colour to me

And that will suffice for me.

The rest I leave unto Thee

For generations come and generations go,

Artists rise and artists fall,

But Thou art ever constant.

And that is enough for me.

What is more brilliant than 

The beauty of my paintings is

The Beauty of my God.

Thou are infinite, inexhaustible, ever-new Beauty, and 

Thou, O Lord, art enough for me.

And the rest, I leave unto Thee

Jonah

I will not stay here anymore
I will leave this very evening
I leave behind my family
But I may see them again
What weighs heavy on my mind now is peace
I seek it like a tired bird seeking needful rest
I will leave all that I have ever known to find that precious nest
I leave this evening
No qualms detain me
Nor ever will!
I cannot hide no longer
I must escape
Those words echo again:
'Go to the great city of Nineveh,
And preach against it.'
I shut my eyes and hide from the world
Now
This night
This night,
I tell myself.
Patience
                                                                     *
The stars are fearful this evening
They glare at me;
The darkening sky warns me

I look back at my homeland, Israel
All that I had ever known
The paradise where I spent my happy childhood
But now that I have fallen,
I have decided it,
And I can remain here no longer

Night falls like a hawk
The dawn will find me far away

I, Jonah, son of Ammitai,
Leave my nation this night
It is from God that I run away
I am afraid.
Help me, Israel, my homeland, and be always my mother
For now I am all alone
No family to shelter me
No home to protect me
And I cannot say whether God will watch over me
For it is from God that I run away
And I am afraid

'Go to the great city of Nineveh,
And preach against it.'

I, Jonah, son of Ammitai,
Leave Israel tonight
I look back
I see the familiar paths,
That sleeping tree,
Those peaceful homes,
The safe neighborhood
My silent friends
I whisper painful farewells.
Forgive me, sweet night
Forgive me, gentle breeze
Forgive me, watchful stars
I cry.
I look at the loving homes,
The swaying trees,
And the sleeping city one last time
Tears flow down my cheeks,
Through my heart

Treading strange paths
Thorough an unknown world,
I reach Joppa in the dead of night
Here it is I was told I could board the ship
I will wait here

'Go to the great city of Nineveh,
And preach against it.'

The harbor is silent
It looks onto the gentle waters, watching for the next ship
I watch with it
I seat myself on a broken plank of wood,
My feet touching the grains of sand.
I take a handful in my hand
And watch them falling down,
One by one
There are many grains of sand
So many
But they do not seem hopeful this night.

They promise me nothing

Tears flow down my cheeks and through my heart
My empty heart
I rest my head on my arm, crying

A cold wind blows, bringing to me the salt of the sea
The waters are peaceful this night
As if they are reminding me of the evasive peace that I seek

Will God forgive me

I pull my cloak around myself
It is cold and I am tired of waiting
Perhaps I should go back
Perhaps I can leave another day
No one would have noticed my absence

But look!
The ship arrives.
It is there, to the east
A mere shadow in the moonlit night
Still noiseless
It is time
They have come
It is time to go to the far west,
To Tarshish,
Where I will find rest
It is time.