Christmas

Christmas

Tis

The

Season

Merriment

Galore, but sometimes

It is hard, to be jolly for

The pressures of life are fierce; keep on trying to smile

For tis the season to be jolly, merry and bright. Merry Christmas to everyone J

© Phil Renaud 2014 

Work and Taxes

Work and Taxes

Work

Must

Be done

All of us

Contribute taxes

To our government forever

Both are necessary evils we must do daily

© Phil Renaud 2014  

Word Wednesday #46

Inter-dimensional Alien

On the beach one day

I had come to play,

When to my surprise

Right before my very own eyes,

An inter-dimensional alien appeared.

His body was of human form 

But far from the norm,

He glowed like a million pinpricks of light

Seen in the deepest night,

That inter-dimensional alien.

The sounds he made

Caused me to be afraid,

Of the power within

That very thin skin,

Of the inter-dimensional alien.

I figured he had just dropped by

For a moment to say hi,

Because he left

And I was bereft,

Of my inter-dimensional alien.

© Phil Renaud 2014

picture courtesy of Bekkie Sanchez

MagPie Tales 250

`The Kiss, Part 2

Lips meet in a kiss

Soft, forgiving and yielding

Passion ignited

© Phil Renaud 2014

photo by Robert Doisneau

MagPie 250

The Kiss

My blood races 

My heart throbs

My head swoons

My knees weaken

As our lips meet

In hot passion 

© Phil Renaud 2014
photograph by Robert Doisneau

Magpie Tales 249

Why?

Awake. Aware. Wondering…

Why is my head on the floor?

Why is there no body attached to my head?

Why am I here…in this state?

Why did this happen?

Awake. Aware and wondering.

© Phil Renaud 2014
photo via MagPie Tales

Magpie Tales 248

One

We are One,

One heart,

One mind,

One being.

Like a Mobius strip,

Continuous,

Never ending,

One.

© Phil Renaud 2014

Word Wednesday #13

Imagination

Imagination, the mind’s eye

Imagine the moon as a ball of green cheese

Imagine the moon people eating the cheese,

Imagine the shooting stars are spaceships

Loaded with aliens on an intergalactic vacation,

Imagine the sun and planets

All hanging visible in the sky

What a glorious sight that would be,

Imagine the Great Pyramids

Off in the distance

Housing the ghosts of Pharaohs past,

Imagine the Emerald City

With the Good Witch, the Wizard of Oz, and Dorothy

Radiating goodness and light into the night,

Imagine the babbling brook

Running clean, clear and fast

Full of aquatic life.


(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Am I a Writer/Poet?

Am I a Writer/Poet?

I like to think of myself as a writer/poet

Yet the sporadic way I write does not show it

Life, work and hobbies all interfere with writing

My creative side is always fighting

To release

Its creative piece

Ideas clunk around in my mind

Until I find

A way to express the random thoughts I have

Then expression becomes a salve

That sometimes cools the creative beast

But other times not in the least

I really would like to succeed

For I have a need

To be creative

Am I a writer/poet?

Yes, and I’m not going to stop it

Until the sun don’t shine

On me and mine!


(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Sky at Night 2, Magpie #234

Starry Nights 2

WOW!!

How is all this beauty going

to fit on my canvas?!?!

(c) Phil Renaud 2014
Photo copyright Alex Ruiz "Starry Night"

Sky at Night, Magpie Tales #234

Starry Nights

Sky at night

Stars alight

Moon so bright,

The vastness of space 

Opened in front of my face

Are we the only race?

Kinda makes you wonder

(c) Phil Renaud 2014
Photo copyright Alex Ruiz "Starry Night"

WW#12

A

Dark night 

in a graveyard

Causes paranoid

Dreams while sleeping in  a barn

With no night light, in total dark

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Word Wednesday (WW#12) - Start

Start
Living
For now
Before you
Pass away into
God's great afterlife

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Ships, Magpie Tales #233

Ships

Clouds in the sky

Water down below

Ship on the fly

Where will it go?

I do not care

For all my troubles are there

On that sailing ship

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Winter Silence

Winter Silence

It is snowing
The only sounds I hear
Are my laboured breathing
And snow crunching
As my bicycle tires go round

I stop for a moment
To catch my breath
I begin to notice
The winter silence is deafening

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Losing an Old Friend

We lost an “old friend” today. This friend has been with us for a very long time. She has taken us on many trips, both long and short. She always got us there and back with rarely and complaint. She has been survived 2 accidents and countless bumps and dings. She has weathered many storms and survived many winters.

Yes, I am talking about our vehicle, a 2001 Toyota RAV4. She has lived our lifestyle for a long time. She carried everything – groceries, a small fridge, and yard waste to name a few. She was a workhorse for us. We loved our RAV. 

She started becoming too expensive to repair. The breakdowns were more frequent and costly. Our RAV was telling us that her time was ended and it was time to put her out to pasture.  So after 14 years and 386,000 kms, we retired our RAV4.

It was with great sadness that we took her to the dealership and traded her in on a new vehicle. A tear was shed on this day.

However with sadness comes joy because now we have a new friend to make memories and take trips with.

© Phil Renaud 2014  

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Awakening or Hallucination, Magpie Tales #232

Awakening or Hallucination

A ring, small ring

Slid onto a finger

Caused an awakening

The mind opened and I saw

Angels in the sky

Bodies burning in hell

Children on crosses

Intertwined ring head bodies

This ring on my finger

Carries much meaning

Could it be a promise of things to come?

Or is just a hallucination?


(c) Phil Renaud 2014

TEAC2, Magpie Tales #223

TEAC

Taking time to tape

Everything, everywhere,

Always aware

Constantly cognizant.

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

TEAC, Magpie #223

TEAC

Test

Every

Axle

Carefully

To

Ensure

All

Cars

That

Every

Adult

Canadian

Drives

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Pills, Magpie 222

Pills

Pills everywhere

For everything,

Need to speed up or slow down

Take a pill,

Need to lose weight

Take a pill,

Headache

Take a pill,

Muscle ache

Take a pill,

Wanna get high

Take a pill,

Pills everywhere

For everything.

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

The End, Magpie 222

The End
One more pill to swallow...
Sweet obliviousness to come...
One more pill to swallow...
The end is near...
So long world...

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Bicycle Racing Lap Length

A race with shorter loops and more laps or a race with longer loops and fewer laps. Which is “better”? Which do you prefer?

Races with shorter loops and more laps are easier to plan. It is much easier to find loops that have a distance of 10-15 km. With a loop of that distance the race would have to have more laps to make it a decent length. Shorter loops tend to make the race more monotonous because the same course is being repeated over and over again. Shorter loops can also make for better race strategy. After a couple of laps it is easy to pick out places to launch an attack, where to give more effort and where to conserve energy.

On the other side of the coin are longer loops with less fewer laps. Longer loops cut down on the monotony because the course is not being repeated over and over again. But longer loops of 25-30 km per loop are harder to find. Larger loops would also require more strategy. Only riding a couple of laps lessens the time on the course. This lessens the time to learn the circuit and plan attacks.

Racing, say, a 70 km race in 2 laps makes it easier to fool the mind. Complete 1 lap and you are on your last lap. Racing the same distance 70k, but this time in 10 laps, tediousness tends to creep in as you go around the circle numerous times.

So which do you prefer, longer or shorter loops? Myself, I can safely say that I prefer the longer distance loops with fewer laps.

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Floating, Magpie 219

Floating
Drifting casually above the ground
The air beneath me
Gives me the exquisite sense of floating

Floating on a tide of dreams
Going with the current
Feeling peaceful and contented

Floating
Everyone should try it


(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Blown Away, Magpie 219

Blown Away

The wind blasted across the plain
Everything in its path was blown away
Including me

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

A Dog's Yearning, Magpie 217

A Dog's Yearning



Here I sit
Still and quiet
Because my human told me to

My human putters
Around with a camera

Wish he would
Take the damn picture

I wanna go run around under the sun!

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

Hunting Truffles, Magpie 216

Hunting Truffles

Rain and snow sleeting down
People heading out of town
Into the forest

Searching for the elusive truffle
My oh my, what a kerfuffle
There's none here

(c) Phil Renaud 2014

(c) Photo copyright George F Mobley 1968