Snow Falls: A Poem

Snow Falls: A Poem


Snow falls
hailing a crisp new dawn
The icicles nature's musical instruments
playing silent melodies of joy in the breeze


-A poem written by Christopher
 Monday November 30th
 2015.

A Private Eye's Late Autumn Evening

A Private Eye's Late Autumn Evening


Silhouettes cast shadow on the wall
The light on the desk the sole light in the room
The open bottle of bourbon remains untouched
The ice in the empty glass melted hours earlier
All that bourbon in the bottle
in which was reflected the image of Carson Albion Private Eye
Would it really ease the pain of painful memories?
If it passed his lips
Those lips so often kissed by bourbon
yet rarely kissed by a woman he truly cared about
He discovered many women didn't really care about guys who had been knocked down
by the school of hard knocks in life
They most often fell for the guys who had climbed their way to the top
no matter how many people they had stepped on and crushed to get there
And so they ended up as trophy wives
drinking from bottles themselves to cure their loneliness
since once caught, they were looked at and paid attention to as much as those animal head trophies that lined the walls of their respective mansions


Carson put the top on the bottle and put it away back in his desk
He sipped the liquid left from the melted ice in the glass
Another birthday spent alone
Five years in a row
A birthday spent alone
Was it part of some 5 year plan planned by a Politburo of cruel Fates
Whose threads formed a tapestry of Stalinesque style mercilessness?


Carson got up from his desk and walked out into the night
Lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel went through his mind
In the corner stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminder of every glove that laid him down and cut him
until he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving
And so Carson left.


But did the fighter still remain?
Carson stood at the street corner
How much fight did he have left in him?
He headed home.
Tomorrow was always another day.


-A private eye poem
 written by Christopher
 Saturday November 28th
 2015.


Sent from my iPhone

Casablanca: A Poem As Film Review

Casablanca: A Poem As Film Review

Casablanca the film
set in early 1940s Casablanca the place
A microcosm of the world
when evil reigns
The characters in this film and place
reflect those varying examples of humanity
that populate the world in such perilous times
Ugarte (Peter Lorre) the scoundrel who trades and makes his money off people's misery
who's willing to sell people hope... for a huge price.
Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) a crook but one not totally devoid of humanity
He makes his living off catering to people's vices
but somehow is willing to let people's souls remain their own
Major Strasser (Conrad Veight) the Nazi and representative of all who are evil for evil's sake
who wish to control human souls and human minds and break human wills and crush human hearts so that all will succumb and bend to their own Evil Heartless Will To Power.
Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) a man not really good but then again not really evil
a man who's willing to straddle the fence and see which way the wind is blowing
a man who's quite simply willing to just go along
(when confronted with such a man, I can imagine in my mind, an old Southern Gospel choir singing, "Isn't he a lot like you and me?").
Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) a true hero... a noble soul... an extremely rare individual in today's world
And like most noble and heroic souls is inspired by Truth and Love (in Laszlo's case, the love and support of a beautiful and truly good woman Ilsa)
Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) a noble and heroic soul but like many noble and heroic souls who have hit their head too many times against a brick wall (either of human evil or far more prevalent human indifference)
have retreated into a seemingly impenetrable hard shell of cynicism
For most souls like Rick's the breaking point was a rejected love... a time of happiness and then inexplicably their love just simply vanished from their lives
Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) a good and beautiful woman... a gentle soul... a woman without malice... a woman who truly and absolutely through no fault of her own... finds herself in love with two men
Other people populate this microcosm of Casablanca that reflects our larger world...
Sam (Dooley Wilson) the entertainer whose mission in life is to bring laughter and song and music and above all hope into people's lives, to, in various forms, tell "the same old story A fight for love and glory"
Yvonne (Madeleine LeBeau) a fallen woman who, one would think had forever turned her back on the nobler things in life, but when in an act of heroism, Victor Laszlo leads the band in singing La Marseillaise in the cafe to drown out Major Strasser and his Nazis singing a German militaristic song, Yvonne joins in singing La Marseillaise inspired by Laszlo's example of true heroic courage
Annina (Joy Page) the young refugee woman who finds herself in evil times and an impossible place who must be willing to make compromises and sacrifices in order to save herself and the one she loves... even if that sacrifice means sacrificing her virtue
Jan (Helmut Dantine) who is Anna's husband - a naive idealist who thinks somehow that luck on its own will come his way and is blind to the operations of evil and corruption in the society all around him


And so all of them are thrown together into this cocktail of good and evil, love and hate, heroism and indifference, honour and betrayal that is Casablanca
Such was the world in 1942.
And such is our world fast becoming today.
But the sad part for today's world is that there are too many Major Strassers and too many Ugartes and far far far too many Captain Renaults
and nary a Victor Laszlo, Rick or Ilsa to be found.


-A poem written by Christopher
 Monday November 9th 2015.


Sent from my iPhone

Cold Night: A Poem

Cold Night: A Poem


Cold night
winter has arrived
Chilly air surrounds
A few places have put up Christmas lights
adding a cheery warmth to the air


Lights here
but two nights ago
the lights in the Eiffel Tower were out
signifying lives lost

Over a century ago on the eve of the First World War, Sir Edward Grey the British Foreign Secretary said,
The lights have gone out all over Europe
And we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.

It is 101 years later and looking back at the history of Europe and the world since then,
we are still waiting for those lights extinguished on that August night of 1914 to be lit again.


-A poem written by Christopher
 Sunday November 15th
 2015.

Haiku Reflecting On The 26th Anniversary of The Fall of The Berlin Wall

Haiku Reflecting On The 26th Anniversary of The Fall of The Berlin Wall

Wall came tumbling down
for 12 years the world had hope
then Twin Towers fell

Haiku About Casablanca The Film

Haiku About Casablanca The Film

Down at Rick's Cafe
Rick weeps Ilsa leaves and Sam...
plays... As Time Goes By

Haiku About Autumn Leaf

Haiku About Autumn Leaf

Autumn leaf in street
may be coloured red or gold
God's art on display

All You Can Eat Buffet

All You Can Eat Buffet


Ben noticed the huge line-up ahead on the sidewalk as he walked down the street.


"Is there a big concert or something?" Ben asked the last person in line as he walked by.


"No, this line-up is for a new all you can eat buffet," the man answered.


"Really?" Ben was surprised, "They must have really really good food if there's this long a line up for it."


"There's a special promotional offer for today," the last man in line explained, "they'll pay you $20 if you can handle the all you can eat buffet according to this promotional pamphlet flyer here."



"What?" Ben was incredulous, "you can eat all you want and then they'll pay you $20 at the end?".


"That's right," the last man in line nodded.


"Well, I might as well join in," Ben got behind the man.


The line seemed to be moving pretty quickly and before Ben knew it, he was the first person in line before the door that said All You Can Eat Buffet.


The door opened and Ben walked in.

The door immediately closed behind him.


"So," Ben asked the maitre'd at the door, "how do you expect to make a profit if you give people an all you can eat buffet and then you pay them at the end?".


"You only get the money if you can survive handling the buffet," the maitre'd explained, "and besides the all you can eat buffet isn't for you... it's for... him."

The maitre'd pushed Ben into a room which had a huge pit on the floor with a sign beside it that said Glemp the Giant Cannibal.


The giant's hands emerged from the pit and grabbed Ben.


Before Ben knew it, he was in the giant's mouth where he was crunched and munched to pieces by Glemp's huge teeth.


Ben did not get his $20.


-A short story
 written by Christopher
 Friday November 6th
 2015.


Sent from my iPhone

Haiku About Cold November Evenings

Haiku About Cold November Evenings

They chill to the bone
coats and scarves snug one tightly
seek warmth by fireside

Reflections On An Early November Evening: A Poem

Reflections On An Early November Evening: A Poem


Gentle melody in my mind
source of all that's good and kind
Songs of my childhood are most familiar now
songs current on radio cease to wow
an exile's life is a lonely one
stand and watch the setting sun
The ending of the day is done
True friends live so far away
Far beyond where night meets day
I long to live and long to love
Where are those blessings from above?
I am so tired, so tired
wish I were more inspired
To have faith as a grain of mustard seed
That is what I truly need
I'm in a moment of desert though I live by the sea
Like those birds that fly above, I yearn to be free.


-A poem written by Christopher
 Monday November 2nd
 2015.