One of my poems: Where Were You?

Where Were You?

clay red and pumpkin orange
Where were you when the Wolf cried out your name?

cactus green and mesquite brown
The Eagle came searching and you weren't here.

fragrant fires of stone ovens
Even the Coyote came to see.

afternoon greys of impending rain
Where were you when the arroyo was rich with the life of the land
and the Sun lent its color to the corn?

I needed you then
With your strength and your courage
I needed your amber arms to encircle me
and ward off the biting cold of the Desert Night

I longed to see your obsidian hair
gleaming in the moonlight
as you approached me, your eyes flecked with gold
Your lean, strong body reflecting the starlight
as you moved toward me with the gentle foot of the Big Cat
to make us as one with the Great Spirit.

You gave me your seed
and then the spirits took you
Allowing you only to visit in my dreams
My blood pulses even now at the mention of your name
So many years later
So many, many years later
It seems like lifetimes ago that I
     first cried at your grave.

Copyright (c) 1988, 2006, by JoJo Zawawi, All Rights Reserved

I wore shorts today

Well, folks, you won't believe this. (I'm sure you don't care, either. Too bad !) Today I wore shorts for the first time in maybe 30 years. Yup. I wore shorts. I showed my white leggies to the world !

It was up around 100 degrees again today. I went to work at a client's location today, and it was around 103 there. I couldn't stand the thought of NOT wearing shorts. So I wore shorts. Wow -- what a difference ! It was still stinking hot and I was glad I'd brought my battery-operated fan (it works GREAT) (Sharper Image !). But it was nice to be in shorts. They're bright red. And I wore my black Wing Chun t-shirt with the red lettering (it says "Wing Chun Kung Fu" in Chinese). So I was color-coordinated, too. :P

The jasmine shoots that are coming up around my garden (from the jasmine having spread underground) are now nearly 2 feet tall. They just sprouted about a week ago. It's intense !

Well, just a comment in closing ... I sure love my husband. He is the best husband in the world !

Ciao !

Hot Weather and Other Stuff

Yet another day hovering around 100 degrees. This early in the season -- I guess it's going to be one hot summer ! Blech. Thank goodness I have good air conditioning.

The garden is going nuts. I soak it every morning, and it's just going wild. I've got several varieties of grapevines, climbing pink jasmine, violas, roses, lavender, lilies of the valley, gardenias, scented geraniums, blackberries and mint, and also some very nice ground cover. I have to pull about 10-20 baby palm trees out every day -- my version of weeding. The seeds blow over from the Washingtonia palms out front, and they sprout fast -- they seem to grow around 3-4" per day. There's also a raccoon who comes by every week or two and digs up part of the garden. I have no idea what he likes so much. He always digs in the same 2 spots. Sometimes I sprinkle coyote pee granules and it keeps him away (predator pee !), but I usually forget. The ground cover always grows back, and the garden now has a "landscaped look" -- hills and bumps where the raccoon has turned over chunks of the dirt, and I've left them there and let the ground cover grow back over it. Very chic.

There are a couple of Polynesian shows I'm going to in July. I'm very much looking forward to that ! I love the dancing from Tahiti and Hawaii. It's very beautiful. I've been doing some Tahitian dancing myself, but may take up Hula for a while because the studios are a LOT closer to where I live. I'm also doing a little bit of Wing Chun (my favorite fighting art) again, just at home.

I read a fantastic article last night by L. Ron Hubbard on writing. It inspired me to start writing again. Some of my poems are here: http://www.jojo-zawawi.com (then click on the poems & essays link).

My husband is still out of town. We talk on the phone nearly every day, but I do miss him. I dream about him and write poems and songs for him. I realllllly look forward to seeing him as soon as he finishes his studies !

My Mom just moved to Florida. We talk on the phone every day, too. I miss her but we do talk constantly. I also miss the rest of my family and hope to see them one of these days.

I've been getting more active in the arts again lately, which is great. I'm thinking of doing another concert soon (piano). The last one was realllllly fun. I may have some other artists join me. One fellow plays piano and guitar and writes the most incredible songs.

That's it for tonight !

How are your cattle today ?

I found out recently, when reading a very interesting magazine article, that cows are so important to the Masai, they greet each other with, "How are your cattle today ?"

I like that, and am considering greeting others in this manner.