Potential Energy

Potential Energy
By: James Dubeau

Goals
Are an interesting
And fickle beast
A firm wall
To bust through
Or bash your head upon
They give you
A progress bar
To judge yourself upon
How am I doing
Will I ever finish
Do I have what it takes
The funny
Little thing
Called
Potential
Does it live
In my heart
My mind
My soul
Or even in my
Little toe
Sitting there
At the cliff’s edge
Ready to plummet
Come alive
With energy
Bashing through
Obstacles
Rushing past
Goals
And those
Oh so elusive
Resolutions
Made every
New Year
The trick
Of it all
Is to keep
Momentum
While surging ahead
And that is what
I plan on doing
This year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Death Of Me

Death Of Me
By: James Dubeau

The warning signs where there
From the very first day
When I drove that car
Down the snowy thoroughfares
When she bucked
And she slid
With no traction at all
Did I finally realize
I had not anti-lock breaks
Fortunately though
As the snow bank drew near
The tires did grip
Saving me
From certain destruction
However that was
But only the beginning
Of the trials and tribulations
That car has been through
For it has run into a brick wall
Backed into a mailbox
Shot with a BB gun
And covered with eggs
On a cold winter night
About a year ago
It was even rear ended
Cracking up the bumper
One of the worst
Was a few months ago
When I was merging onto the highway
In the dark or night
Traffic barrels guided me
As I merged from the left
Semi truck headlights blinded me
Threatening to run me over
Merging cautiously
But a bit to slow
The mirror caught a barrel
Popping it from the frame
Tonight however
I am glad
That I never replaced the mirror
For when I returned
To my loving car
From an evening with friends
The entire mirror assembly
Was no where to be seen
Once again my poor car
Had been hit
And scarred
Against this world
So remember this friends
When I die in the car
That you read it here first
My car which I adore
Will be
The death of me

Time

Time
By: James Dubeau

Sand slips through my fingers
As each day hurtle past
My grasp tightens
Trying
Desperately
To hold on
But it is to no avail
Grains slip through
Cracks and crevices
Behind me
An old man laughs
At my foolishness
He tips an hourglass
Sending the sand
Racing through my fingers
No
I scream
These are good times
Let them last
With my youth
His only response
Is continued laughter
And tipping the hourglass
Even further
Hastening my sand
Sun and moon
Flash by overhead
Submersing me in darkness and light
Days
Weeks
Months
Years
Fly on past
Time and time again
I scream in pain
My soul wracked
In deep torment
The old man laughs
Red glows behind beady eyes
Returning the hourglass
To how it once was
Sand no longer flows
While a sliver of moon
Grinds to a halt
High above me
No longer the anguish of
A happy life
Speeding by
Ravages me
For now a darker place
Grips my soul
Turning it most foul
Make it grow fast again
I whimper
The good times are gone
Wasted so fast
Only death and torment
Surround me now
It is much too painful
So I beg of you
Make time fly
Once more
Bring me to good times
Then slow it down
Let me enjoy happiness
Not suffer prolonged anguish
Once more he laughed
Shaking his finger at me
While caressing the hourglass
You shall submit to my will
For I control that
Which you hold most dear
This daemon was right
Soon madness will grasp me
Twisting and contorting my soul
I fell to my knees
And wept

Universal Thais

After two years in China where Blogger is blocked by the government via The Great Chinese Firewall, this is my first post since 2008. In Thailand, not near as much is blocked, unless it is critical of The King. The assignment was to write a short paragraph comprising of at least five sentences about the happiest day of your life. The following was written by a fifteen-year-old in an Elementary English class of mine. His name is Bank and he was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand.

The picture above is of the Soi, or alleyway, where my building is located near the Wong Wian Yai area in Bangkok.

"I don't have any happiest day in my life because in my own life I only have bad days, so so and good days. When I meet the bad day I will smile and laugh because it's just the waves like the sea in my life. I think that the people's life is like the sea - some days it'll be cloudy but sometimes it'll be sunny. I can't avoid them that's why I have to smile for my sake and for my family so that they don't have to look so down when they see me in a bad mood. But when I meet the good day I'll remember it because humans don't meet their good days every day. I just remember it and I don't want to smile because sometime when I meet the happiest day I have to hurt other people. Sometimes I know it but sometimes I don't know how I hurt people's feelings. That's why I don't have the happiest day, I just remember it and walk...my own way of life."

Thoughts?