Mommy Ducky

Mommy Ducky

Me and Jimmy like to swim
When Mommy Ducky’s in the pool.
It’s always warm, never cool.
Her hair is short and ducky white.
She makes swimming fun delight

We have to wait through baby time
With mommies walking in a line,
Or in a circle singing softly
Then march to center crying whee!

When the baby’s time is done
Me and Jimmy have our fun.
We jump to Mommy Ducky’s hands
She swishes us to our platform stand.
We swim to her and to the wall
Just can’t stand, not that tall.

She gives us broomstick with end floats.
We paddle with them like we’re boats.
When we get half down the pool,
We sit on the edge ‘cause that’s her rule.

Her ducky pitcher pours from its beak;
We sit still and do not speak.
She wiggles our toes and asks how many.
We can count ‘cause we are three,
We count to ten, Jimmy and me.

The water tickles as it flows
Over all ten counted toes
Then over counted fingers, ears, nose and eyes.
We giggle with each tickle surprise.

We swim to her on front and back;
Then its time to go to have our snack.
Mommy Ducky is lots of fun.
Mommy Duckies for everyone!

© David w. Oliver 10/13/2010

Leaping

                                Leaping

I was littlest kid at the swimming pool.

The big kids let me play.

Always picked last, have to follow every rule

that the biggest kids change every day.

I could run and jump and swim,

as good as the smallest older one.

So they would let me play with them

till they went to the high diving board.

“This board’s too high for a little kid.”

“Go play in the baby pool.”

“A shrimp like you will just get hurt.”

 Hurt inside by the big kid’s rules.

I knew that I could jump from that high,

Knew I could swim to the ladder.

But the height of the board – was terrified!

what I know just doesn’t matter.

So when I climbed the water slick rungs

and walked to the end of the board,

it was jump down from that terrible height,

or down the steps with their laughter reward.

“Look at him; he’s terrified.”

“Let the baby walk down the ladder.”

“A shrimp like him would just get hurt.”

Walked down with my soul in tatters.

It’s the truth of their jibes that hurt so much

and I wanted them to ask me to stay.

But also I wanted to leap through the air,

hit the water and make a huge spray.

It was then that I had to handle my stuff

Their laughing at me and my frightened feelings

against having them like me and making the leap.

Knowing I could do it and knowing it could sting.

Sleepless and drowning in their jibes and my fear;

dreams of falling when at last I fell to sleep.

What would I do at the swimming pool next day

when confronted with the terrible leap?

Next day all alone at the grown-ups pool

jumped and jumped from the side that’s very low.

When the jumps felt so good that my fears began to fade;

jumped high and twirled around in quite a show.

I ran up to the low board; my fears fading fast,

with confidence and real excitement growing.

Jumped and leaped and twirled around flying through the air,

With delight and confidence from the doing and the knowing.

Then I walked right up to that very highest board,

The usual jibes and laughter heard once more.

And when I looked down from that very highest place

The water was much closer than before.

I leaped and soared; and then plunged deep into the water!

from deep down there, above me I could see

silver bubbles streaming up and up as I rose.

Inside that leap had made a very different me.

I could not count the leaps that day

just a swimming and leaping blur.

I heard a big kid say: “The little kid leaped.”

Words I thought would never occur.

 Winter the outdoor pool is closed

other games and stuff to do.

But I thought about that high dive board

and being part of the big kid crew.

Mom got me into the downtown Y

with an indoor pool, a low board.

So I got to swim couple times a week

with an idea I could work toward.

There’s this guy, Greg Louganis,

who reinvented how to dive.

Our library had CD’s of him

I could watch on my CD drive.

Practiced two steps, sweep the right knee high,

whip arms up, hurdle high as I can,

toes impact board, arms drop to drive it down,

then push off, stretch up to the ceiling.

There were lots of splats and lots of stings,

but slowly the dive grew lofty.

Learned to jackknife at the highest point

open and knife the water vertically.

Then one lofty dive – disaster

would hit on my back and really sting.

Tucked into a ball as hands touched water;

my spinning butt did a wondrous thing.

No sting at all, smacked the water with a: “Whump”,

the splash hit the tile on the ceiling.

Lifeguard yelled ; “Hey, how’d you do that?.”

Knew I’d found just what I’d been needing.

Practiced that splash dive for highest splash height.

Named it the Watermelon.

Because that is what the butt-tuck looks like

when my butt sends the splash up to heaven.

When summer came went back to the pool,

still the littlest kid at the boards.

Watched the big kids jump their cannonballs

then took the last turn, just ignored.

Took the two slow steps, then hurdled high,

jackknifed at the lofty height.

Rocketed down to the water

to watermelon a sky high splash sight.

Jack, the big guy of the big kids,

Ran over as I pushed up from the pool.

“Hey kid would you show me how to do that?

You’re a high diving splashing fool.”

© David W. Oliver 8/7/2010

Pebbles of Life

                         Pebbles of Life

Pebbles thrown into the ever changing ocean of creation
Make tiny ripples moving outward on its surface.
On and on through time they move and add and add
Till mighty waves crash against the hard black rock
Of certainty, domination, and indifference
To wear it into soft sand at the waters edge.
There little children splash their afternoon
In the final lapping ripples of great waters.
The children make their castles in the sand.
They fill their empty buckets with sand and water and pebbles;
They throw some pebbles that they find that afternoon
To make new ripples.

© David W. Oliver January 26, 2008

STARDUST

Stardust

God is Change

Transformation - One to Another

Stardust<>Life

 Beginning<>Ending

 Destruction<>Creation

     Bitterness<>Gratitude

      Apathy<>Passion

  Despair<>Hope
Sorrow<>Joy

           Anger<>Welcome

      Taking<>Giving

      Indivisible Twins.

    Embrace Them;

  Rejoice Your Interval

  To participate.

You, transformed from Stardust

CoCreator

In His Image

Triune.

Congress of

Feeling   Valuing   Reasoning,

Gratitude   Passion   Hope.

…….

On the hot summer day

Looking up, saw birds soaring.

On the thermal they spiraled

To rise higher and higher.

Then glided to their home

Pull of earth propelling them.

…….

We circle blindly

Asleep to what we seek

Needing help from those who see

Or help from pain enough to wake

Wake to find our thermal

Spread our wings to soar

Spiral up and glide to home.

As Stardust

∞

© David W. Oliver 6/8/09

MATRIARCH OF PRIDE

                            Matriarch of Pride

Nkosasna drove our land rover along the elephant track

Rutted Kalahari sand, three hundred meters deep.

Acacia, mighty baobab spread their branches here,

Where rain falls into the depths, as does the animal blood.

Ukwane, !Kung hunter gatherer, modern tracker now

Pointed to pride of lion; Matriarch led to acacia shade.

Guided to our canvas tent by armed warden of the wild.

Woke at night to lion roar, their walking through our camp.

Nkosasna driving. Ukwane tracking, we followed lion spoor.

Dawns light shadowed disturbed sand, cape buffalo limped away.

Two lion tracks – not the male - One the Matriarch.

Why did they stop each kilometer with droplets marking sand?

Around a bend, in acacia shade, the Matriarch lay down.

Head sunk down between her paws; oldest sister stalked away.

Great tear on farther thigh, bloody gore upon her chest,

We drove away to river bend, saw hippo and giraffe.

Returning saw a vulture perched, on near acacia tree.

Matriarch head slumped aside, sister guardian nearby.

Ukwane called the wardens, shut this track to all safaris.

Grant Matriarch wild respect; huntress for pride and cubs.

Next day we stopped at distance, with binoculars to report

Matriarch sprawled on unhurt side, vultures waiting in the trees.

Next morning sister guardian gone; scraps of skin, cracked bone remained.

Vultures flown, hyenas gone; droppings fertilize the trees.

We passed the pride one last time, moving on to other camp.

Sister guardian standing there; New Matriarch of Pride.

© David W. Oliver 7/5/09