Thoughtful/Thoughtless PAD 15-1

 A Workshop Plus

 

Today, on our Kenya tour

we made necklaces.

A tall, well-dressed lady

with broad facial features

and beautiful deep, black skin

told us about her school

and how the ladies

kept it going by making beads

out of paper from calendars,

Atlas covers, and whatever.

It’s called quilling.

We strung an assortment of lovely beads

into a pattern on fishing line.

A young assistant came around

and helped us attach the clasp.

As a final touch, she helped us

put on our necklaces,

a warm and thoughtful gesture.

The necklace is a keeper.

Blank story 14-3

 Baboon Story

 

This morning, the tour guide related a story

of baboons breaking into a tent

getting into coffee

and scattering it about.

She called it, “Being babooned.”

We laughed at that.

This evening it happened

to a person in our tour group.

We’re not laughing now.

Blank Story PAD 14-2

 Same Old Story

 

Where did I put my cell phone?

Or name tag

Or camera

Or binoculars

Or glasses

Or wallet

Or on and on it goes.

While traveling

we’re always losing something,

Making us crazy.

It’s all okay as long as we eventually

find our way back home.

Blank Story PAD 14-1

 The Bamboozled Story

 

The twelve of us

went into a Kenyan souvenir shop

where you barter for a price.

The huge building was filled

with beautiful work.

Some left feeling like they got a good deal,

and some of us felt somewhat bamboozled.

But how do you judge the value of art?

Ekphrastic PAD 13-3

 What’s Up with the Bushbaby?

 

The giraffe, the monkey, the elephant,

the warthog, the zebra, the wildebeest,

all thought Bushbaby was shy

when they wanted him to come out and play.

 

Turns out Bushbaby

liked to play and do fun things,

but was nocturnal.

He thanked the owl

for “seeing him deep in the night,

when nobody else could.”

 

Yes, as an introvert,

I appreciate that kind of people, too.  

 

Based on Don’t Be Shy Bushbaby by Avril van der Merwe

 

 

 

 

 

Ekphrastic PAD 13-2

 Christmas Ornament Souvenir

 

Mary and Joseph,

handmade of woven jute,

kneel down

holding baby Jesus,

their featureless faces formed

of knots of brown string,

 

Mary wears a dull white robe

and Joseph’s garment,

appears a little more decorative

in a woven pattern of rust, browns and golds.

 

Joseph’s long jute arm hugs Mary

while his other hand holds a wire shepherd’s staff.

A white wire star stands above them.

They’re mounted on a round piece of wood.

 

I liked this creative Christmas ornament

in an artist’s shop in Kenya,

but the more I look at it the more I like it.

Most representations of them

don’t show them kneeling like this does.

 

This piece will not only remind me

of my trip to Kenya

but also of a precious couple

and their even more precious Son.

 

Ekphrastic PAD 13-1

  

Multi-colored Beads

 

Visited a bead factory in Kenya.

Heard about how the women form beads from clay

fire them in a kiln three times in different stages,

and hand paint each one.

Learned how they take pride in earning

a living for their families

by making something beautiful.

Listened to them sing out in hearty, skilled voices

and watched them dance with enthusiasm

as a special greeting for their visitors.

Held back the tears at the loveliness

and danced along with them.