He Ain't Heavy, He's MY Brother (reposted story poem)

 You know, I often write about relationships, dialogue, and the importance of feminine aspects and energy. My poems are all about goddesses as archetypes and guiding voices and forces against patriarchy.  But there is a special quality that families and life also have on the male side of things.

Brothers have a very powerful supportive influence within a family that can last into adulthood and throughout our lives. And that's the way it is between my brothers and I. I have a lot of fond memories in my family, and I am the youngest of three brothers. Last evening, my middle brother passed away. I love him so, and he has meant so much to me throughout my life...

Prayers would be appreciated as we mourn his passing.

Some years back I wrote a poem on this blog about my brother Dave....  and here it is,,, Dave...rest in peace and God be with you! ~~~Namaste--my brother

Little David and the Dancing Monkey

by Tim Kavi

when across the eddying

spheres of time

there is an existence in

a moment

between young and old

is it the generations

talking?

or just me myself

longing for something I knew

or making sense of what

I am taught

the clever young minstrel did sing

and dance

doing battles for the great

and good

on a journey to the West

Are you me?

The minstrel asked.

No, I am Sun Wukong.

I use my skills

like this...swoosh swoosh

swoosh!

I see! Said the minstrel

preparing his stringed

instrument

I am named after you, though

I am your nephew

Little David

Uncle David smiled

chuckled

and said: You were dancing

quite a bit

let me sing you a song

while you rest

Oh? You play the guitar!

My father told me

Oh, what a treat!

It is my own Journey to the West

while my guitar gently weeps

playing notes of blest or blast

roaring like a stratocaster

but please be calmed

and like a David and his harp

soon the notes filled the air

with sweet sounds

of poetry flying there

the young Sun Wukong

could not stop himself

he danced and twirled

like some Dervishes

from another place

"I can tell you are a legend

You should never settle for less

hang on to the skirt of existence

such preciousness in Guan Yin

rises to meet you

and bless"

Uncle David did sing!

while the prettiest sounds

that little boy

ever heard

the Fender did bring

and when the song ended

the little dancer

that Monkey King

had tears in his eyes

Oh Uncle David!

You sing so nice.

Thank you so much!

Uncle David smiled

No problem, he said

at that moment

Little David's father

entered the room

Father! Father!

Uncle David sang me a song

and played his guitar

You were right!

Yes son, life is great

art and love

and family and truth

are all around us

to Uncle, father said

Thank you!

It's great to see you!

Uncle David smiled

Father said

Little David's mother

had prepared

an evening meal

a supper for a dancing monkey

a skilled minstrel

a poet father

two brothers

and a clever child

Father??

Yes son?

After supper

may I show Uncle David

my moves

with my monkey stick?

Yes son,

but please be careful

you can put an eye out

with that thing!

everyone laughed.

Grandmother from the Sea (New Poem) (With Afterword)

Grandmother From the Sea (Poem)

by Tim Kavi

Grandmother, from the sea, rising to meet me

For parched Earth, raining on existent one

Families, cultures, heroes, villages, city hills

Some wonder how they're made, or came to be

Across history's battlefields, battles won

Descriptive words fail me, for logic kills

Blue sea arrivals, goddesses are you

Bringers of wisdom, granddaughter grandson

Ignorance stalls, only loving knowledge wills

Across the promise of next morning's dew

Love fills.

Afterword: On the occasion of this, my late grandmother's birthday (1900), I composed this curtal sonnet, a homage to the wisdom and love of grandmothers everywhere. Rightfully, wise loving grandmothers represent the Great Mother goddess archetype. I've written about my grandma (the inspiring poet) in this blog before on this date. (See: My Grandma the Poet). A book of her own poems is still scheduled to be published by TiLu Press (my own publisher); Heartland: Poems from the Heart by Lura Newland will be published on February 23, 2022. I love you, grandma!~~TK

My Grandma the Poet (Essay/Poetry) (repost with New Foreword)

A Younger Tim Kavi with His Grandma

New Foreword:

Today would be my maternal grandmother's 113th birthday.

I am reposting the following blog entry (an edited version) about her as a tribute.

(Originally posted here in 2008 & 2012).

I cannot tell you how much she means to me.

She was my earliest poetic influence

and taught me so much...

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

My Grandma the Poet

I never forgot her

her love was the most patient teacher

any grandson could have

and I often told her I loved her so

from as far back as I remember..

I have memories like this:

grandma would say Timmie

and was happy to see some of my first poems

scrawled in crayon

or pencil

so grandma and me would write poems at the same time

when I was little

and she was so big in my little eyes

her gentle ways taught me more about the

goddess than just about anybody

I know

I think grandma was a goddess

she would write poems by the hours

on sheets of typing and notebook paper college ruled

and writing tablets

all handwritten in very large letters

I was high enough to peek over the arm of the chair

to watch what she was doing

if I was good and asked real nice

grandma would read me some

out loud

she had a way with words

these were lyrics and fine ballads

born in 1900 on a homestead she was a country girl

grandpa was a sharecropper, migrant worker

later, a factory worker

they seemed poor

but rich in so many ways

but we were so happy

grandma liked reading romance magazines

in that rocking chair

songs of home, heart, romance

and her and grandpa were married for more than 50 years

you know grandma taught me

a lot

and every once in awhile

when I write a poem now

I think grandma sees it

I hold it up to her just like I used to and you know what?

she grins

and that still makes me pretty damned happy.

here's an excerpt from one of

grandma's poems:

Tomorrow's End

by Lura Newland 

My wonderful kids

How I love you so

I must know if there is a place

For me, or a home to go.

I won't need many extras

Just a bed at nite

A place to love my grandchildren

And my poetry to write.

Could I have a chair by a window

With the sun shining in

That would make me so happy

As my eyes grow dim.

I'd be all settled in comfort

Shielded from the cold

What a glorious feeling to know

Then I am growing old...

This Poet's Note: grandmothers can be terribly important. As you can tell, mine was extremely important to me. The poet "gene" certainly runs in my family...my grandma, my mother, and other family members write prose that inspires and moves me across all time.~~TK

Amazing Grace--Part II; The Amazing Love of Families (Essay) (Tim Kavi's VALENTINES BE MINE FOR NINE: Posting 7)

On the Love of Family and 

the Hands that Hold Us (essay)
by Tim Kavi

(An essay about the Love of Family)

Posting on Day Seven of  VALENTINES BE MINE FOR NINE continues with another entry on the awesome love of family.  How important is it?  And how lucky are we to have it?

If we think about the love of families and the hands that hold us--we are often talking about times when we are dealing with stress in families. There, in  a family, is one place where many of us can thankfully be accepted, and more often than not, are loved at least to some degree.  While many of us do not live in perfect families, we do live in families that if we are lucky--can be a source of support when we really need it.

Now, outside of luck factors--there are some families that have learned how to coalesce as a unit, and have discovered that nurturing is there in a powerful way. Sometimes adversities have visited these families which resulted in a close knit type of support that is rarely seen at other times and in other places.

In short, there is something very special about families that love each other, and that have passed through the furnace of troubles and built a very strong love indeed.  Sociologists and anthropologists have long known that there are important benefits to family life.  Among these are care for offspring,  assisting sick family members back to health, or providing a place where one is accepted and loved.

Nothing builds this closeness and intimacy quite like the families that have faced medical adversities, or had one of its members born with a serious challenge.

Yesterday on this blog, I posted a poem as a tribute to one of these families that I am lucky to know. The type of family that I'm writing about here today in this column.  The kind of family that through adversities have grown close and strong in their support of each other, and through it all, have created an enduring atmosphere of love. To have such a family! Surely, this family I am writing about is certainly a good example of this special kind of love--the love of a close knit family.

Yesterday's poem 'Amazing Grace' described what I would call a close knit family that has been through some pretty hard times. And one of this family's three children was mentioned in my poem. I am referring to Grace, or 'Gracie', a child who was born with Down Syndrome.

Now Down Syndrome affects 1 out of every 691 births in the United States. Babies born with Down Syndrome may face a number of potential health problems throughout their life span and these can include congenital heart defects, respiratory and hearing problems, Alzheimer's disease, childhood leukemia, and thyroid conditions.

You can read about the characteristics and demographics of this condition by clicking here http://www.ndss.org/Down-Syndrome/Down-Syndrome-Facts/.

I would not want to draw attention to one poem or myself, but only to focus on that special little girl we learned about yesterday, Grace.  She and her family are to be commended, and appreciated. They are our true heroes!

Research should continue on Down Syndrome so that someday research can find a cure, or a means to prevent it, and to help those who suffer from it to have less hardships, better quality of life, and increased longevity.

There are many conditions besides Down Syndrome that a family can encounter.  There are enough troubles even in a typical adolescence. But there is no substitute for a loving family that has to face any of these things. Research has shown that a positive loving home can influence the outcomes of many chronic health conditions.

Grace was very fortunate to be born into such a loving family.  And wherever we are, and whoever we are, I can only say as this Valentine's Day approaches--that we are tremendously blessed and inspired by you, Grace, and your family. You teach us as well as any love story, that a family love story is one kind of love that love is all about. Namaste and God Bless You all.~~TK