collab

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

DREAM and MAGIC and the RAIN









DREAM and MAGIC and the RAIN




Drifting off to the land of dreams
In a soft and downy bed
I kissed the shoulder
I love and where
I often lay my head.


Your eyes were laughing though barely open
And I wondered why you did
Your body shook
With joy's suppression
Just like a naughty kid.


"Come here, Woman!" You said to me
And pulled me to your arms
And I fought back
With mock rejection
And rebuffed all your charms.


"Do you want me?" your sweet mouth asked
And I just shrugged and leapt
Up from the bed
And to the closet
Where my treasures all were kept.


I heard the thunder rumble then
And the rain fell on the roof
I pulled on
My silky see through gown
And asked, "Do you need proof?"


I heard you sigh that little sigh
Just as the lights went out
I lit a candle
Opened all the windows
And you said, "I had no doubt."


The storm went wild outside our walls
Like horses running free
And there inside
My sweet sweet love
Went wild and reached for me.


The see through silk lay on the floor
Your fingers grasped my hair
And in that magic
Of dream come true
We didn't have a care.


We loved till oceans became rivers
And rivers became a stream
Till passion's rain
Lulled us to sleep
And the magic turned back to dream.








©by Voo
April 15, 2012
10:00 p.m.





Rain and Thunder effects






Monday, June 5, 2017

CRAP HAPPENS

Crap Happens







Just when things are going nice
Comes some yahoo to take a slice
Of your little pie without permission
And then you cry but learn a lesson.

And then next day the same ole thing
Comes bouncing down and takes a swing
And knocks your joy right in the dirt
And you get up and hide the hurt.

And life goes on as life it does
Your chewing gum gets dropped in fuzz
The devil visits when you are nappin'
But what the hey....you know, crap happens.


©by Voo
yrs ago
April 29, 2013
at 2:06 a.m.

VOO GOES TO AUSTRALIA FOR A WILD WEEKEND WITH RUSKY a collab, sorta














Sunday, June 4, 2017

WARRIORS OF THE WAY EPISODE 21 Signs and Wonders and Saying Goodbye





Life Must Have it's Mysteries by Hans Zimmer












WARRIORS OF THE WAY

EPISODE TWENTY-ONE

SIGNS AND WONDERS AND SAYING GOODBYE




     I awoke very early the next morning covered in dew and with eight curious eyes staring at me impatiently. I gasped startled, moaned and snuggled way down in the blankets and covered my head. “Go away!” I protested, my voice muffled by the thick skins. “Rise and shine thy light!” the man sang melodiously. ”No!” I snapped back, “My head hurts! My stomach aches! I think I am dying.” “No, you’re not.” he assured me, “You just think you are. I felt the same way when first I awoke. But I’m all better now. Here, drink this.” He waited for my head to find it’s way back into fresh air and handed me a steaming cup of something that smelled repugnant. “Drink it!” he commanded and forced the cup to my lips against my will. I drank and gagged. Drank again and gagged. Drank again….and felt remarkably better! I looked at his stern face in the soft morning light and he nodded and smiled, “See? You should always listen to me. I know what I’m doing.” “Yes, Physician.” I grumbled, falling back upon the blanket. “So, you just happened to have an antidote for something you’d never heard of before, is that it? Well, I……” But my words were silenced by the deer grabbing the top blankets in his teeth and pulling them off my legs.

     “Stop that, thou naughty boy!” I scolded him but he kept pulling and I seized the blanket corners and returned them to my lap. Tenaciously, he snatched them back and we launched into a battle of wills and strength that lasted until the man shouted, “Enough!” and picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and headed for the camp fire. I started to beat him about the head and shoulders but remembered his battle wounds at the last moment and relented. Silently I endured his domination and lifted my head to see the horses and deer following behind us in a sort of bizarre parade. If animals could smirk, I imagined that I saw smirks on their faces, though the deer dropped his head when I caught his eye. Depositing me upon my appointed stump, the man handed me a bowl of vegetable broth with big chunks of carrots, potatoes and onions and the other vegetable we couldn’t name. He threw in a piece of hard bread and placed a cup of hot leftover tea in my other hand. “I’ve already had my breakfast and got us all packed and prepared to leave. As soon as you're ready, we shall begin our little journey. But please hurry.” I nodded and began to devour the hot food. The deer took his place by my side, watching every move that I made. I found him a carrot and he ate it with gusto and signaled for more. It was almost as though he knew that this would be our last meal together.


     I hurried to the arbor with a pail of water, washed myself and changed into fresh clothing. He had warned me that we would be riding into changing weather so I dressed in long black trousers, a white collared shirt and black tunic. I fumbled through my belongings to find the pair of black knee high boots that I had left behind at the tree and gladly pulled them on. Brushing my tangled hair, I discovered that one of my gold earrings was missing and gave out a cry of distress. I pulled my long hair over my left shoulder and tied it with a velvet ribbon. Then I grabbed a heavy black hooded cloak and covered everything else up with the skins, wondering if they would be safe there while we were away. I’d never gone off and left my things behind. I scurried to ask the man about it and he greeted me with my missing earring. “It was on the blanket.” he explained while I attached it to my ear. “It must have fallen off while we……” and he stopped speaking and turned away with a red face.


     “I believe our belongings will be safe here while we travel. I don’t sense any danger but here are your weapons. One never knows.” And I took my daggers and put them in my boots and climbed upon Snow’s back who was already saddled and bridled and chomping to go. He handed me my sword, bow and quiver and I put them in their convenient sheaths and nodded. Our saddle bags were packed with water and food and whatever else he had thought necessary to take. “The box is in my bag.” he said at the precise moment I thought of it. I had no intention of leaving that behind! Everything else a thief might take, but not that treasure. It was irreplaceable. I had four sets of clothing, two pairs of boots, one pair of shoes and various and sundry other items and most of that I could part with if I had to but not that magical gift. The most important things were in the leather bags hanging on either side of the horses. “Ready?” he asked and swung himself up in the saddle. “Yes.” I answered and we turned away from the cold, smoking fire with the deer trotting between us. He threw me a red apple and took a bite of one of his own and we headed out to begin our tour of a place I did not believe existed. If only I could be given a sign! A sign that would make me know that he spoke the truth.


     We rode for some time, stopping to water the animals at a spot that only the man had visited. The oasis stream was part of a much larger body of water that had split off into two streams, one going east towards the oasis and the original flowing southward. It was there that he had caught the fish and had found the vegetables growing north of it’s banks. We pulled up fresh carrots for the deer and exclaimed over the red juicy vegetables we found growing on bright green vines. “Never saw those before.” the man said, making a bewildered face. “We’ll gather a supply when we come back through.” We had to cajole and then force the deer to leave the garden for he was munching happily on all sorts of things and had no inclination to go. He kept balking and making us delay our departure, and finally, I tied a carrot on the end of a stick and held it behind me as we rode away. He spied the carrot and soon caught up, trying his best to reach the treat but was never able to. “Where did you learn that trick?” the man asked me, smiling. “From my friend.” I answered. “When I was a little girl. There was a baby lamb I wanted to keep as a pet and it refused to come with me. I couldn’t carry it and I couldn’t make it do what I wanted but my friend showed me what to do and it worked. Although, when I got it home, the servants wouldn’t allow it into the house. My teacher got word of it and gave me a long lecture about taking things that didn’t belong to me and my friend’s father came and took it away and later, I heard that he beat my friend severely for giving me the lamb.”


     I grew sad at the distant childhood memory and shook my head. “His father was a very cruel man. The only cruel man in the whole village that I can recall. Everyone feared his sharp tongue and terrible temper. He lived on the outskirts of the village and owned many sheep but spent most of his time away from home and left his son in charge of the flock. He was the best shepherd in all the land. Everyone said so. He was nothing like his father. He was kind and gentle and loved people and animals. But I was his only real friend.” I brushed a tear away and remembered something that I’d wondered about.. “Why did you call me ‘Princess’ yesterday when you gave me the feather and rose?” The man shrugged. “No reason. I just thought you looked like a princess sitting there. Very regal and royal and princess…y. You are of a royal house, are you not?” He grinned and I laughed aloud. “I’m not a princess. No one has ever called me that. I’m only a girl who happens to be the daughter of a king.”


     He listened with interest and then he exclaimed as we rode on through the clearing that soon turned into a well defined road, “Vaangelika, look!” And off to my right, I beheld several large bushes upon a small hill growing outward and upward into the sky. They were unthinkable and implausible. An inconceivably wondrous sight outside of imagination. We stopped the horses and stared in silence as a soft wind came and stirred them gently, back and forth, back and forth. Instead of limbs, leaves, fronds or flowers, every amazing bush in that shrubbery was covered in vivid, lush beautiful feathers, like those of a peacock! I gasped and looked at him in amazement and he lifted his eyebrow and gave me a knowing look, very smug, very self-satisfied. He rode ahead and I sat there for a moment, still staring, wishing I had something to sketch the image on so that I might keep it forever and as proof of what I had seen. Feathers growing out of the ground! I reluctantly lifted the reins and Snow broke into a swift cantor to catch up with our three friends. And as I did, the man looked back at me and said softly, “There’s your sign.”


     For the next two hours or so, we rode through relatively ordinary scenery, stopping again to water the animals at a small spring and partaking once more of the long yellow fruit we had brought with us. The deer took a short nap while we rested and as we roused him, the man said, “I believe his home is near by. I’ve seen many deer in the forest ahead.” My heart panged me at the thought of leaving our pet behind but I knew that it was the right thing to do. How, after all, does one travel about the land with a deer in tow? Even a courageous and heroic deer such as he? We looked back at the sun as it rose in the east and rode further into the west. In the distance, I saw several tall mountains standing majestically against the sky. A number of large birds appeared and accompanied us for a while, gliding and dipping in the currents and then flew away out of our sight. Soon, we came upon a green wooded area and the deer stopped in his tracks as he recognized familiar territory. “You’re home, my friend.” the man said to him and beckoned us to follow him into the forest. It was cool and verdant, alive with ferns and wild life and the sound of falling water. We made our way carefully through the thick trees, moving in the direction of the waterfall and shortly we came upon it falling down the side of a green hill covered with moss and vines. We dismounted and stood admiring the silvery flow of it before it hit it’s mark in a round pool and then disappeared under a natural stone cavity and dropped deep underground. “Shhh!” the man whispered loudly above the noise of the water and nodded his head to the right of me.


     Two deer peeked their heads around two trees. Then they vanished. Our deer froze in mid stride and made a small noise in his throat. His tail went up and then wagged and he sniffed the air. The other deer peeked out again and waited and none of us moved for some time. Then cautiously they approached and stood just beyond a huge and ancient looking tree. Snow and Redemption watched silently as their friend took two or three tentative steps and then suddenly took off and flew in the direction of the tree. He ran up to the other deer and nuzzled them, his tail wagging happily. They turned to leave and he looked back at us and a tear ran down my cheek. I removed a bunch of carrots from a bag and had started to lay them on the ground, when he bounded back in our direction and almost knocked me down. I laughed and rubbed his neck as he put his forehead against mine and butted me. Then he did the same to the horses and lastly, to the man. “Take care, sweet boy.” I said, “And stay out of strange forests. Keep close to home. Don’t go wandering off on dangerous paths. I shall never forget you. Never.” He looked at me with those big liquid brown eyes and it seemed that a kind of understanding passed between us. Then he snatched up the carrots and ran swiftly away as though worried that I might change my mind.


     “Farewell!” we called to him, “Goodbye!” and turned back to the horses, feeling already his absence in our hearts. We rode through the forest, taking in all the sights and regaling one another with memorable moments with the deer. I was certain that he would miss us as much as we would miss him. In a hour’s time, we came out of the woodlands and saw before us a huge rounded stone mountain gleaming white in the mid-day sun. It curved like a wall. There seemed to be no way around it or through it. It went on forever. I could see evidence of past travelers on the road beneath our feet but none recently. There lay a white dust upon the road that matched the white stone mountain. Soon, I began to notice white flowers growing all around us, some growing on great vines upon the very rocks themselves and hanging down like trumpets, some more delicate blooms covered various trees and their petals fell in the breeze and floated down and made a scented carpet for our feet. The horses kept putting their noses down on the road to smell the fragrance and neighed at one another, sharing secrets that I could only guess. White birds flew over our heads and disappeared on the other side of the high endless wall. I was wondering exactly where we were when the man put up his hand and stopped his horse. “Put on your cloak, Little Flower.” He threw his cloak around his shoulders while I reached behind the saddle to get mine and when we were finished, he said, “This way.” and turned in front of me and rode into an opening that was quite hidden from the road and from my view.


     Before I even drew near, I felt a cold and chilly wind blast into my face and I drew the cloak closer around my throat. Outside, the sun was still shining and warm, the grass was green, the air full of perfume and Springtime. I had no idea what I was riding into and no time to prepare myself for it even though I had imagined a hundred different scenes in my mind after we had left the camp. I had been sure that he was jesting about the magical garden and having me on but the moment I’d seen the feathered shrub, that thought  had vanished and I’d begun to doubt my doubts. If he had been telling the truth about that, why would he be lying about the rest? I couldn't wait to find out. He had ridden on ahead and beyond and stood waiting inside for me to follow. Snow walked up a small incline and approached an indention in the side of the mountain. From the outside, one might never notice the opening but as you grew closer, you could see an entrance to pass through. The reason I discovered for the illusion was that both the outside of the mountain and the inside were snow white so from the road, one could not see when the mountain ended and the interior began. Snow and I inhaled deep breaths and exhaled frosty steam from our mouths and entered. Then we stopped and beheld a landscape that was so different from what we had just left behind that it seemed unreal. More incredible than that, it was an exact replica of the winter wonderland scene in the iridescent silver box!

















                When He Saved The World
by Efisio Cross


         To Be Continued

 in Episode 22...............💓
💘





Saturday, June 3, 2017

WARRIORS OF THE WAY EPISODE 20 Strange Fruit at Midnight


             Spanish guitar solo







WARRIORS OF THE WAY

EPISODE TWENTY

STRANGE FRUIT AT MIDNIGHT





      It all began innocently enough. The singing. The music. The laughter. The two of us entertaining ourselves. We sang every song we knew and I listened to songs that only he knew as he accompanied himself on the richly toned instrument. Then he strummed along on songs that only I knew and we sang until we were tired of our own voices. As some time passed, he brought out a strange black flask and some more of the treasures that Snow had carried on her back for her former master. We went through the bags with interest and carefully laid each thing out upon the ground to examine it at length. There were ancient books and manuscripts in foreign languages. There were silver chains and cups and bowls and two white hooded robes with long tasseled belts. In a small velvet bag, we found three keys with strange symbols on either side. In one of the saddle bags, we discovered several sealed bags of dried fruits and meats and a strange hollow tube of some sort with gold lettering on it. We did not know what it was. There were scrolls tied up with silver cords that were so fragile we were afraid to open them. An engraved silver chest with the letters
M K contained silver coins and sewed up in the corner of a white handkerchief, we found a perfect snow-white pearl.


      While we made an adventure of it, at the same time, I felt guilty for our actions. It made me feel as though I was invading the dead man's life and violating his privacy. I wondered what Snow would make of it. Had she been as loyal and loving to him as she had been thus far to me? She was no ordinary horse so I did not suppose that he had been an ordinary man, whoever he was. I was more than a little curious. I wondered if we should try and find out where he came from and give all his belongings to his family. Knowing that he had been an elderly man made that difficult but still, I felt very sad for him and what we were doing. I hated to think of his body lying at the bottom of that cliff all alone. It didn't seem right. "You've a good heart, Vaangelika," the man said interrupting my remorse, "But I don't think there's anything we can do. He was a traveler, like we are. He could have come from anywhere, been going anywhere. But I promise you this: If I find any information about him, other than these initials M K, I will do my best to make things right as far as his possessions go. Minus the box, of course." And he winked at me and said, "Do you really think you could give that up, now that you've seen it?" I shook my head and the thought of my own music box being gazed upon by that shaggy beast pierced me like an arrow. I couldn't reconcile the gain of this to the loss of that but neither could I give up this wonderful new treasure.


     We packed everything away again with great care and discovered that we were famished. We ate some leftover fish and shared a cold potato between us. "What's in that flask?" I asked, noticing it setting on the ground by his feet. "I don't know. Water, perhaps. Shall we see?" I picked the heavy black container up, opened the top and held it to my nose. It smelled very.... fragrant. Juice, I thought. From a vineyard. I loved fresh juice. I reached for my cup and poured the purplish liquid into it. Filled it halfway. The man sat watching me with an amused look on his face. "I think it might be
wine." he said. I took a sip. "No, it's juice. And very good." And I poured him a cup. And then another. And another for myself. Except a full cup this time. We washed our dishes and utensils in a pot of clean water and secured the leftover food for the night. We had plenty left. And enough potatoes for an army. We put more wood on the fire and built it up and soon the whole camp glowed with a cheerful orange glow. "Do you think we'll have any visitors from the forest tonight?" I asked and he shook his head. "I don't anticipate it. The full moon has passed now and the forest seems very quiet. I don't believe any man or animal would dare set foot here again. Don't you feel the peace here?" And I did and acknowledged it. He picked up the guitar again and strummed absently upon it's strings. I poured us each another cup of the aromatic juice, enjoying the beauty of his music.


      What happened next, I cannot say. One moment, we were sitting there with only the music and the crackling of the fire to break the silence and the next, we were laughing and singing and I had grabbed the tambourine and began dancing around the fire. He played an exotic, fiery melody that grew louder and louder with each note. All my senses alive, my body, feet and hands took on a life of their own, twirling and swirling in frenzied excitement. I had never danced that way ever in my life and it felt wonderfully, sinfully, good. My teacher would have swatted me and kept me in isolation for a month! As I danced, my brown eyes met his blue and locked there in the fire glow and the light of the stars. We could not look away. My heart began to pound, my breathing became rapid and ragged. I felt a wildness come over me that I had never known. I danced and I danced and I became someone that I didn't know I could be. I saw his beautiful eyes sweep over me in a new way, felt his pulse quicken, saw perspiration break out upon his forehead. I shook the tambourine and drummed it in a rhythm that was foreign to me. And everything in the world vanished except for the two of us and the fire and the music.


      Suddenly the music ceased and he rushed to me and pulled me into his arms so tightly I couldn't breathe. My hands found their way to his ears and I felt his lips on my neck. "Vaangelika, you are so beautiful!" he cried out and we held onto one another while moving to the grassy area and fell onto the blanket we'd used at suppertime. We melded together, my hands, his hands, running over shoulders and arms and backs and twisting in one another's hair. We were spellbound. Writhing there, we wrestled with a desperate desire that was almost more pain than pleasure. "Kiss me!" I pleaded, with his face above mine. "Please..... Please.........Please.............!" "I've never wanted anything more in my life!" he exclaimed and I waited, eyes closed but he did not kiss me. I felt him battle within himself and give in and back up and give in again. On and on the battle raged while I waited for him to taste my lips that burned with a unknown fire.


      It was torture and I could not endure it. The pain I had experienced last night when I'd thought he was dead surpassed this pain, but only a little. This was a new kind of pain that begged to be put out of it's misery with a sweet slow death. Suddenly he thrust himself off of me and rolled to the farthest side of the blanket, breathing heavily and groaning as if he hurt. I was stunned and shaken with a startling awareness of what we were doing, what we almost had done. What I still wanted to do! I was mortified. I curled myself up into a ball and closed my eyes and willed my body to become familiar again. I could see the flames from the fire through my eyelids, feel the night breeze as it brushed against my fevered skin. I had never felt more like a woman. I had never felt so wanted, so desirable, so rejected, so confused, so thoroughly ashamed. And yet....... if he but reached out to me, I knew I would not push him away. I lay there thinking, not thinking, living, dying, holding my breath, pleading, repenting, needing, wanting, wanting..............


     My mouth was dry. I got to my feet and went in search of liquid. I stumbled to the fire and reached for the black flask and my cup. "Vaangelika, no!" I heard him shout before the juice hit the cup. "What?" I asked in confusion and looked back at him. "Don't drink it!" he cried, "It's not juice! We are intoxicated!" "Whh...what?" I repeated."I'm not intoxicated. I've never been intoxicated. What do you mean, intoxicated?" And everything began to go round and round and the fire began to dance back and forth and I moved away before I fell into it. I felt an arm go around me and he led me clumsily back to the blanket and we collapsed there on top of the scattered, wilted flowers from my handmade crown.


     Waking from our stupor, our eyes opened almost at the same moment and we untangled ourselves and straightened our clothes and brushed the hair out of our faces. We were rumpled and crumpled and creased and dazed. And I had never thought the man more
beautiful. My head ached and I held my hand across my face and peered at him through my fingers. I waited for him to speak. Raking his hands through his hair, he wrinkled his forehead and started to but cleared his throat and then fell silent. Then he did the same thing all over again. I arched a brow and hid an impish grin. "Yes?" I whispered and propped myself up on an elbow, adoring every inch of his face.


     He frowned again. "What I was attempting to tell you...was..." and he groaned and rubbed his head. "What I am trying to say....is... ....um...ouch!....that was not juice and that was not wine! I don't know what it was but it was neither. I am amazed that we are still alive." "Are you trying to tell me that we drank something deadly? Some kind of potion? A black magic brew? What? Are we going to die?" "I don't think so," he said, blinking his eyes, "Though I certainly feel close to it. How do you feel?" "Thirsty." I replied, yawning. "And hungry again." "Me, too." he said sheepishly and for a moment, his eyes darkened and he looked at me as he had earlier while I danced. A thrill ran up my spine and the hair stood on the back of my neck. I licked my mouth and tore my gaze away from his, pretending to search for water in the light of the dimming fire. He got to his feet and moved toward the flames, pulling his shirt down and smoothing it with his hands.


     He found one of our water flasks and took a deep drink and brought it to me. Water had never tasted so good! While I drank, he went and scrounged around in the covered supplies and came back with two of the long yellow fruits we had neglected to eat with our supper. "What is this thing?" he asked, handing me one. "And how do you peel it?" I made a face and shrugged and we made several attempts before we discovered the secret. At long last, the peels came away and inside was the most amazing soft yellow fruit. Yet another new thing to experience in this incredible, dangerous place! "Let's spend the night here." he said finishing, and before I could answer, he had gone off to pile more wood on the fire and retrieve more blankets. When he returned, he brought weapons with him along with the blankets and laid them down close by. Then he snuggled down beside me while I pretended to be sound asleep. He kissed my cheek and then brushed it with his finger, put one arm underneath my head and the other one around my waist. But it was a long, long while before I could slow the beating of my heart and put the memory of that wondrous, wicked dance out of my mind and fall into what could truly be called sleep.






(Aye Yi Yi!!!!)💔
.
                                                                    

                Spanish Guitar Flamenco Malaguena !!!
 Great Guitar by Yannick lebossé

                                                                      
To be Continued in Episode 21......