“Everybody's life looks better when you're standing outside it, looking in, but that's never how it really is. We all get good things and bad things...”
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Kirsten Fernandes (Dewar)
The inspiration for this poem was a seed pod I found in Kirstenbosch Gardens last winter. To me it looked exactly like a little hedgehog - and the inspiration for this poem flowed from there.
Farthing Wood
Quilled hirsuteness,
hard, spiky, brown.
Solitary, nocturnal, pin cushion
barbed ball at sudden sound.
Hedge-grown, cartilaginous rodent,
bashful, and bowed:
soft, silken centre,
Nature’s mohawk, avowed!
Kirsten Fernandes
[c] 2008, all rights reserved.
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Toni Morrison
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
Carl Sagan
“In the pages of a book you can hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1 000 years. To read is to voyage through time.”
Carl Sagan
“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
CS Lewis
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to live in it (in you) Himself.”
Oscar Wilde
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
Dale Carnegie
“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is how you think and respond to it that matters.”
Dave Burkey
I raised an eyebrow when she cautioned me with "that's a lot of garlic", but when she chastised me with "dude, that's way too much Cayenne" I knew we wouldn't last long together.
Her sin wasn't her disdain for flavour, it was her
unwillingness to taste before passing
judgement.
After all, her lips were much thinner than I generally
preferred, but I tasted them anyway.
Cynthia Hand
“Time passes. That's the rule. No matter what happens, no matter how much it might feel like everything in your life has been frozen around one particular moment, time marches on.”
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Kirsten Fernandes (Dewar)
Madiba Magic: in celebration of 20 years of freedom
Nelson Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela.
Warrior, statesman, freedom fighter, Nobel Prize winner, Africa’s most celebrated, yet most humble son. How we via to wear, be associated with, claim your “46664”.
Did your captors realise, all those years ago, that the prison number they gave you, to rob you of your identity, to hurt, belittle and humble you, would one day be synonymous - across the world - with liberty, justice and freedom?
Did they know that your “46664” would be the catalyst for a nation so unique, so diverse, so blessed, that no rainbow would dare rival it?
You, who have transcended age, colour, gender, race and nationality have taught us, through your example, to flatten our spears into ploughshares and choose reconciliation over revenge. You've shown us that we should share one another's burdens and cherish, value and love humanity, in all its shapes, sizes and colours. You inspire us like no other.
You once said that talking to a man in a language he understands, goes to his head, but talking to him in his language, goes to his heart.
Tata mkulu, Madiba, father, we love you, respect you, and have heard you.
You have indeed gone to our hearts.
Kirsten Fernandes
[c] 2009, all rights reserved.
Kirsten Fernandes
Words
Roll them on your tongue.
Swirl them around your mouth.
Breathe them in.
Taste them.
The rich vibrant golds and greens, the colours of jealousy and fealty.
The yellows, friendship distilled, bottled sunshine.
The seething, vengeful reds, passionate plums, the shy and retiring greys.
Pause.
Close your eyes. Study the pictures on the inside of your eyelids.
Consider how they sound.
Do these words, whisper, nudge, call out to be spoken?
Tease out each each syllable.
Do your nerves grate?
Do your muscles tense?
Check your hands. Are they cold and clammy?
Hot and sweaty? Open palms or fisted balls?
Do these words tease, tempt, tantalise?
Or are they sharp and jagged, meant to hurt, meant to harm?
Consider their origin.
Are these words royal orchid - carefully chosen - or common garden variety?
Were they conceived in love - or in deceit?
Can they, should they, live an existence independent of their speaker?
Remember: words once spoken, cannot be recalled.
Finally, having considered all these things, exhale.
Breathe them into life.
Speak.
Give them voice.
Kirsten Fernandes
[c] 2008, all rights reserved.
Friday, February 5, 2021
Terry Pratchett
“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.”
“No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success or going after what you want. Here’s a short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages.
1. Helen Keller, at the age of 19 months, became deaf and blind. But that didn’t stop her. She was the first deaf and blind person to graduate with a full university degree
2. Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5
3. Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on “Bright Eyes”
4. Anne Frank was 12 at the time of writing The Diary of Anne Frank
5. Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13
6. Nadia Comăneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14
7. Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15
8. Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil.
9. Elvis was a superstar by age 19
10. John Lennon was 20 years and Paul Mcartney was 18 when the Beatles had their first concert in 1961
11. Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936
12. Beethoven was a piano virtuoso by age 23
13. Isaac Newton wrote Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica at age 24
14. Roger Bannister was 25 when he broke the 4 minute mile record
15. Albert Einstein was 26 when he formulated the theory of relativity
16. Lance E. Armstrong was 27 when he won the tour de France
17. Michelangelo created his two greatest sculptures “David” and “Pieta” by age 28
18. Alexander the Great, by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world
19. J.K. Rowling was 30 when she finished the first Harry Potter manuscript
20. Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
21. Oprah was 32 when she started her talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind
22. Edmund Hillary was 33 when he became the first man to reach Mount Everest
23. Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he wrote the speech “I Have a Dream"
24. Marie Curie was 35 years old when she was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics
25. The Wright brothers, Orville (32) and Wilbur (36) invented and built the world's first successful airplane, using it to make the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight
26. Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died virtually unknown, yet his paintings today are worth hundreds of millions
27. Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon
28. Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and 49 years old when he wrote "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
29. Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas
30. Rosa Parks was 42 when she refused to obey the bus driver’s order to give up her seat to make room for a white passenger
31. John F. Kennedy was 43 years old when he became President of the United States
32. Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T went into production
33. Suzanne Collins was 46 when she wrote "The Hunger Games"
34. Charles Darwin was 50 years old when his book On the Origin of Species was published
35. Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa
36. 36) Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became President of the United States
37. Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds franchise and turned it into what has become a multi-billion dollar corporate
38. Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote "The Cat in the Hat"
39. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III was 57 years old when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009. All of the 155 passengers aboard the aircraft survived
40. Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started KFC
41. J.R.R Tolkien was 62 when the Lord of the Ring trilogy was published
42. Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the United States
43. Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats
44. Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President of South Africa
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Kirsten Fernandes (Dewar)
Amour
Love.
The smell of the earth after the spring rains.
The blue of the sky on a cold Highveld morning.
The sun reflecting off of an azure sea.
A fiery sunset.
A baby’s gurgle.
A nightingale’s song.
Puppy’s breath.
Baking bread.
A field of wildflowers.
A daisy chain.
The crisp, freshly minted smell trapped between the pages of a new book.
The silences between the tick and the tock of the clock.
Love.
The spaces between words.
Jasmine in bloom.
The green of water hyacinth.
Snow.
The way a genuine heartfelt smile reflects not only on the mouth, but in the eyes.
Ice.
Chilli.
Feeling full, like there’s a ribbon, a river, a rainbow of colour waiting to escape from inside you.
Love.
The sound of children laughing.
The way your heart skips a beat when he says your name - how soft it sounds in his mouth.
The heat and glow from a banked fire.
Humility.
Respect.
Camaraderie.
Rose petals scattered by a summer breeze.
Happiness so vast, it’s more than your heart can hold.
Love.
Crosses carried, burdens shared.
A kitten’s purr.
The whisper and sigh of the wind.
The rasp of his stubble on your cheek.
Cocoa beans.
Roasting marshmallows on an open log fire.
Kisses stolen.
Kisses freely given.
Ballet shoes.
How, when he laces his fingers through yours, you can’t tell where he ends, and you begin.
Love.
The lace trimming on a wedding dress.
Sepia photographs, taken long ago.
Old love letters, tied with a scarlet satin bow.
Seeing a man’s eyes fill with tears on his granddaughter’s wedding day, because she reminds him of the bride he married fifty years before.
Loyalty.
The clamour of passion.
The roar of blood through the veins.
Hunger.
Satation.
Release.
Love.
Friendship.
Belly laughs.
A scattering of stars.
Velvet.
The tremulous sparrow beat of his heart against your chest.
Devotion, unceasing, unrelenting.
Love.
The smell of his scent on your skin.
The oh so familiar contours left by his head, on your pillow.
Secret places.
Comfortable silences.
The whispered refrains of love.
Love.
The knowledge that, here, you belong.
There's so much more to love than just a red heart.
Kirsten Fernandes
(c) 2010, all rights reserved.
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