More Haiku's!

If you hold your breath

I will whisper the secret

curled into your ear. 

I carry my soul

everywhere I go, its kept

in a plastic bag. 

Soft hair peeks above

the cover, betraying your

Anonymity.

Jumped in a puddle

as I laughed at the grownups.

Now my feet are wet. 

Haiku's I wrote in Class

Reverberating
Silence echoes between us
Dust motes catch the sun.

We follow that dog
tricked by the triumphant moon
who laughs in death's face.

Repercussions of
Apologizing to You
Paralyze my tongue.

Secrets of knowledge
deeply and heavily line
my grandmother's face.

Standing at my door
baleful eyes and dripping hair
silence holds your tongue.

The Value of a Kindness

I have learned the man's face behind the counter. I see him a few time a week as I smile and push some coins into his hand; I come for the cheap, foamy coffee. Once, I bring my reusable cup and he lets me pay one dollar for a two dollar sized drink.  He does me a kindness worth a a dollar that causes me to pause momentarily.  Today when I hold out my money, he shakes his head no.
"It is okay" he says.
"But I have to pay you" I reply.
He shakes his head again and I thank him. His small kindness again causes me to pause and think momentarily. Why does this act of kindness mean so much to me?
There exists a concept of 'paying it forward'. This means that if you do something kind for someone, that person will do something kind for another person, and one day the universe will reward you for the kindness you originally did. I find this concept to be an affirmation of a Christian idea in Matthews and  Jewish idea stated by Rabbi Akiva, to do unto others what you have them do unto you (Rabbi Akiva said to love ones neighbor as yourself). There also exists the Jewish reciprocal of this which is to not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you (Rabbi Hillel).
A few months ago I found an I-phone in that same coffee shop. I returned it to a girl whose fleeting face I forgot immediately.  I did a kindness which affected a person whom I may unknowingly walk by in the street, a person whose lingering body heat may leave my seat in the library warm. Maybe in some way this kindness which I have done has brought about another kindness and another kindness and another kindness which causes me to pause momentarily one day in a coffee shop.
We do not do for others or refrain from doing unto others because we expect repayment.  We do it to create a positive impact. We do it to improve ourselves. We do it to create relationships of understanding which bind us to the people around us whose names and faces slip beyond our recognition. And every now and then, we get a free coffee which inspires us to do something for a stranger.

Alpacas galore

As the sun shines brightly and little birds flit in the sky, Garnet makes little noises as she pulls at the bottle's nipple, trying to get more milk. I am straddling a baby alpaca and bottle feeding her.  This orphaned baby follows me around the pasture and lets me hold her and pet her. She is one of the softest things I have ever touched. This is by far the best chore I get to do at Madison's, the R. families bed and breakfast which doubles as an alpaca farm.
After Garnet's breakfast, Eliot and I chase alpacas around pens, waving our arms like lunatics in order to get them to move. I learn how to corner an alpaca and catch it; if you slip an arm under its head you can put it in an effective head lock while firmly gripping its back with your other hand.  I wave my arms, cut toenails, and catch alpacas and hold them while they got shots. Alpacas also spit up regurgitated grass which smells like poop. I learn this after alpaca spit blows in my face, carried by the wind.  Alpacas also kick if they don't want you behind this. I learn this from a glancing blow which manages to hit both of my legs.
After a hard day's work, I kick back and relax while I watch Eliot skin a dead alpaca.  It has been dead for a few days and smells horrible. Its bloated stomach and intestines sit outside of its stomach cavities and its fleece is matted and filthy.  I sit fifteen paces away with my sweatshirt firmly clamped over my nose.  Charlie, the dachshund is not as perturbed as I am by the smell of rotting carcas, she sniffs over to where Eliot is working and licks her chops. Eliot explains the process to me as he is doing it, point out various body parts as he works.  The fleece will be tanned and then sold after Eliot is through with it.
I make my way back to the cabin and the scent of alpaca carcass wafts up my nostrils; Eliot brought the fleece up to the cabin we are staying at for some unknown reason and set it down and the dachshunds have eaten part of it.
I take a long bath because after a day like this it is the most necessary thing in the world.

Dachshunds are silly looking

So I have come to the conclusion that dachshunds are basically the most ridiculous creatures ever. Their legs are about four inches long. When you tell one to sit, you can't tell if they are sitting already because they are that low to the ground to begin with.
One of the families who I have gone to for Shabbat has two of these funny looking fellows who I have secretly dubbed Princess and Maggie as it is a mother and daughter. Their real names are Hailey (mother) and Charlie (who is the daughter).  Hailey is an ancient 14 and Charlie is a young and nubile 12 year old. They run around the house and bark at people when they want to be fed.
Over Pesach, we were all sitting around in the kitchen before the Seder, just hanging out.  Suddenly someone asked, "what is Hailey doing to Charlie?"
Now there is a special connection between a mother and a daughter, encapsulated brilliantly in this relationship.  These two are the epitome of loving. They sleep in the same basket. Eat all their meals together. Lick each other for no apparent reason.
Hailey had climbed onto her daughter, Charlie, and then for no apparent reason had urinated on her.

A picture of a dachshund is included for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.topnews.in/files/dachshund.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.topnews.in/why-dachshunds-corgis-have-stubby-legs-2190128&h=300&w=350&sz=33&tbnid=bFkcyejb0stLgM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=120&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddachshunds%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=dachshunds&usg=__J-eDi-rj6K7S71Y_Lyr0h4wVxQM=&sa=X&ei=1Pm9TYasC4_ovQP8q7TUBQ&ved=0CFQQ9QEwBA