Tis Funny Dear

(written by my Grandpa)

‘Tis funny, dear

How life goes on

When we are far apart

For every time I leave you, dear

I always leave my heart

When the sky is cloudy up above

And all the world seems blue

I turn my thoughts to you and home

And then the light shines through

I never fear what lies ahead

No matter where I roam

For it’s just my empty body, dear

My heart’s with you at home

Written by Carl G. Nelson, April 5, 1948

Pinup Girls

(By my grandpa, Marine, hero, great man)

All the boys in service

Have a pinup girl or two

But Daddy, he has three of them –

There’s Dot and Pidge and Lou

Daddy wants his pinups

Just as much as other boys

And Daddy’s little pinups

Are his pride and greatest joys

He did not pin them on the wall

But put them in his heart

And he will always keep them there

And with them never part

Written by Carl G. Nelson, 1945

Joy According to Sue

(My thoughts on the meaning of Joy, written when my nephew Max was a baby.)

Joy is the light that shines in Max’s eyes when he gurgles and smiles as I tickle him, hold him by his ankles and turn him upside down then right side up again. Joy is boundless, timeless, without restriction; it’s like Buzz Lightyear, reaching to infinity and beyond. It’s like a sunbeam, breaking through the clouds. Joy is freedom. Joy is being outside on a spring day when the sky is blue and the trees are budding, their leaves dancing to a light breeze. I close my eyes, lift my face to the sky, feel the cool air against my skin, and fill my lungs as full as I can. My heart swells and I capture the experience of peace, freedom, love, beauty, and contentment, all in that deep breath. For a moment I glimpse the comprehension of the enormity of God’s creation.

Joy is the thankfulness in my heart for the knowledge that my family is alive, safe, and well. Joy is the thankfulness in my heart that I have a family. Joy is the thankfulness in my heart for my family who have love in their lives. Joy is the thankfulness in my heart for my own personal restored hope.

Joy is not something that someone can give me (or take from me). Joy is an expression, or product, of love. Without love, there can be no joy. With love, there may be no joy, because Joy is a choice.

Joy is the light that shines in Max’s eyes because he is pure and innocent and loves without condition.

My personal Joy on a scale of 1 to 10 is 3.14159, mostly because I tend to allow myself to be distracted by the cares of this world. To increase Joy, I should be less selfish and more like Max.

One could categorize LifeExperiences as ThingsThatPlease and ThingsThatAnnoy, then apply an appropriate and meaningful weighting factor to each category. Let the WeightingFactor for ThingsThatPlease be 100, and for ThingsThatAnnoy it shall be 0.01. The MentalAttention given to a particular LifeExperience shall be the LifeExperience*WeightingFactor, thus for ThingsThatPlease, the MentalAttention should be 10,000 times as much as it would be for ThingsThatAnnoy. With one’s mental attention focused more on pleasing things, one might be more inclined toward thankfulness and happiness. With a mind thusly inclined, one might be more likely to choose Joy.

Written by S. C. Kim, 25 Apr 01

Time to Rhyme

(My thoughts on agency fees…)

Who has time to make a rhyme?

I know I don’t, so I guess I won’t.

It’s not being old that gave me this cold,

and you shouldn’t scoff when I have to cough.

Now I’ve lost my voice, which wasn’t my choice.

If I try to talk, all I get is a squawk.

But it’s more like a squeak, and I sound like a freak!

The meatloaf for dinner won’t make me thinner,

and I shouldn’t have swallowed the turkey that followed.

It’s not too late to compensate.

I could go to the gym and try to get slim.

There’s daylight left for weights to heft.

I could take a bike ride, but I’ll let that one slide.

I think that instead I will lie on my bed,

or else tv I’ll watch while drinking some Scotch.

It puts a nice coat on the back of my throat.

I’ll let this food settle, then I’ll put on the kettle,

and boil some water for Mom’s middle daughter.

It would be common for her to have Ramen,

and poach a few eggs while stretching her legs.

She’ll be home soon, humming a tune,

but she’ll likely be tired – Hey that reminds me — I could get fired!

Yes it’s true, I should probably sue.

I have until tomorrow, and it fills me with sorrow,

to pay union dues, or this peon they’ll lose.

Should I sign that dotted line

for payroll deduction and paycheck reduction?

Why’s it so hard, to send in that card?

I could abstain, perhaps to my gain,

but I don’t really know, if I’m ready to go.

Really I’m not, I’ve given it thought.

There’s more to be learned before the bridges are burned.

What would they do if they didn’t have Sue?

Who am I kidding, they’ve done their last bidding.

I’m but a drop in the bucket, so I should say F*%$ it!

Who said that? I smell a rat!

Sue would never talk like that!

Written by S. C. Kim, 28 Sep 00

Ship for Fools

What’s it all about

Knowing, yet not knowing

Day by day

Living as a Fool

Hope is the risk I take

Faith is a ship for Fools

And sailing onward

I go

Daring to dream

Roulette with my heart

My very life

Torn by the struggle

Raging deep within

Truth versus doubt

Who holds the upper hand?

The stakes are high

Or are they?

For what is lost

Other than pride

To surrender pride

Is no loss

At all

And there remains

the reward

Spoil to the victor

If a victor there be

If I win

I win all

If I lose

It is but pride

And pride is for fools

Written by S. C. Kim, 16 May 94

Cruel Hands

(Quintessentially pathetic and hilarious)

Cruel hands hewed an axe through my sternum

Cruel hands clutched either side and wrenched it apart

Cruel hands wrapped icy fingers about my heart

Cruel hands squeezed until my soul oozed out

Cruel hands dashed the tattered remains to the ground

And as the shattered pieces of my being lay scattered

He with the cruel hands laughed

Are all hands as cruel as his?

Written by S. C. Kim, 1989

I Thank You Mom

You are the sun

Greeting the world with Love’s warm glow

You are the oak

A pillar of strength standing tall and proud

You are a breeze

Gently your whispers caress the soul

You are the rock

Alone in a sea of merciless waves

You are the river

Giving yourself so that others may grow

For all you have done

For what I’ve become

I thank you Mom

Written by S. C. Kim, October 1986

Great Expectations

Living in a shadow

Waiting for a sign

Dreams are not reality

But dreams I hope to find

Cast away from time

Adrift upon the sea

A restless cloud of turmoil

Writhes inside of me

Lonely in the dark

Seeking for the Light

Great Expectations lost

Captured by the night

Tears like morning dew

Trickle from my eyes

It’s time to face the morning

And kiss the dreams goodbye

Written by S. C. Kim, 1980s

Get Back Jack!

He is the Sculptor

The man who speaks to God

He has a task, he has a purpose

Thus saith the Lord, “Keep the Brethren”

He is the Sculptor

Music shall take its form

And reveal her mystery

He drinks of her morning song

Within her light he bathes

He is the Sculptor

He sees the shape take form

Accepting nothing less

Than perfection itself

Relentlessly he persists

He is the Sculptor

The man who would admire

Howbeit not within his grasp

Yet he would to touch, he would to know

To unveil the structure supreme

He is the Sculptor

He sees the shape take form

Accepting nothing less

Than perfection itself

Relentlessly he persists

Written by S. C. Kim, 1992

Beauty

To feel Love is to know Beauty

To feel Joy is to know Love

To feel Happiness is to know Joy

To see Light is to feel Happiness

To know Beauty is to see Light

Written by S. C. Kim, Feb 88

Life

Life

In solitude you ponder
The history of the ages
As it happened then
As it happens now
This living experience
We all share

Intersections
And parallels
A journey commenced
Upon your first breath
Although the choice
Was not yours

What then
Is it all about
A riddle to be solved
Life is a gift
Not a burden
Therein lies the clue

Live Joyfully
And whatsoever you do
Do Mightily
Seek Wisdom
Find Truth
LOVE

Written by S. C. Kim, 8 Jul 94

Old School

school1

The Old School

Back in the day, I owned this incredible old school building in  Harrison, Idaho.  It was built in 1909 and had 3 stories, with about 10,000 square feet of room to roam.  There were lofty dreams of remodeling it into a bed and breakfast and leaving the corporate rat race, but they never materialized.  Even so, my family enjoyed several wonderful summer reunions, and we created a commemorative painting each year.

july99art

Kim Family Reunion Painting, 1999

Harrison is a teeny tiny town, nestled on the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene.  It was a wonderful place for a family reunion.  Kids could roam free, swim and play in the lake, play in the old gym, jam in the music room, and dine in the cafeteria.  Oh, such great memories!

Here is the painting we made in 1999.  There is a sort of abstract outline of “1999” and each person who attended the reunion could paint whatever they wanted in the area they chose.  We had such great times working on our painting and hanging out with each other.

he knows

I know that he knows
Just as I know
The veil was lifted from my eyes
And suddenly I saw
That which had merely
Tickled my mind
From time to time
A passing thought
A whim
Oh sweet revelation
Yet a Mystery
For how could it be
That we would find it here
When years have passed
And yet how could we
Not have known!
The dream I’ve always dreamed
The prayer I’ve always prayed
God alone appoints the time
When our hearts
Shall be prepared
I see him through opened eyes
But for a moment
In fear I closed my eyes
To discard the fanciful thought
If notion it be
Yet it tickled
It knocked at my heart’s door
So open my eyes I did
And gently watching him
I saw that he knew it too
I saw that he closed his own eyes
In fear as well
Taken by surprise
To wonder
How could we not have seen before?
And looking on I found
That fear had crept back in
Until peace dispelled it
And cast it far away
For this I know
And know it well
That nothing interferes
With God’s will
I shall trust in Him
For He will appoint the time
And make straight our paths
And bring our lives
Together
Binding our hearts
In the Glory of Love
Forever
My heart leaps for joy
I can hardly contain
And so I wonder
What now?
For I know that we were made
To become one together
Yet cannot yet see
How it shall come to pass
But I can wait
For this I know
That God appoints the time
And makes straight the path
Which brings our selves
Together
With Him in Love
Forever
And I know that he knows
Just as I know

Written by S. C. Kim, 19 Aug 92

tears

Each drop is a reflection of my soul
In one light there is joy
In another, fear
Anguish, bitterness, deep despair
Sorrow, compassion, and surprise
It’s a wonder to comprehend
How just one little tear
Can represent so much
So much of me

Written by S. C. Kim, 11 Feb 88

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