I Bought a Guitar! & Sabbath Rest

Late last week I bought a wonderfully tacky zebra-striped guitar from my friend Marc. After leaving school, we walked down to the department store across town. This place has a wonderful variety, really: ironing boards, bikes, washing machines, and acoustic guitars!

Well, after playing every cheap, poorly made guitar there, I decided that cheaper is better in this game. Top of the line was still entry-level guitar back in the States, so I feel like I made the right choice. Plus, I’m probably not going to take this back to the States. Flying with a guitar is way too much hassle.

Well, long story short, Marc ended up buying a guitar. Not me. But he sold me his old guitar that he purchased at the same shop a year earlier. I only paid $40 for it! Thanks, Marc!

Now Josh and Jeff are not going to be happy about this purchase, because I seriously annoyed them with my guitar “playing” while at PBU. I’m a bass player, I don’t know chords yet. I used to sit and play Jeff’s guitar for hours, it calmed me down, but I think it drove my roommates crazy. In fact, I know it did. Sorry guys! I am going to actually learn how to play now.

Here’s a picture of my new baby zebra:

Now if I am in a herd of other zebra-striped guitar players, I will blend in.

I spent this Monday in quiet reflection. It was an amazing time! I feel like a different person now, thinking much more clearly. I also had a great time with God down at the beach during some crazy weather. The wind was so strong that I was literally being lifted up from the pier. It inspired me to write a song. My first song on a guitar! I will post a video as soon as I figure out how to record it.

In the meantime, I want to share this poem with you. I have been working on this poem for a very long time. It began as, you know, one of those temporary moments of clarity we all get from time to time. I am finally at a point when I can say it’s finished. I wasn’t happy with it for a long time because I felt like the message of the fullness to come is too vague. I wanted to communicate a sense of the timeless pattern of the world, both in a wonderful and a destructive/degenerative sense.

I thought this was appropriate to share because of the great rest and refreshing experiences I’ve had this week. Let me know what you think!

-Nick

________

In The Heart of a Forest Fire

Out west, I tell you, we will all someday be gobbled up by forest fires.

We will burn burn burn like temporary trees. Our limbs especially golden,

and, I tell you, this all will turn into the sun, soil, and saplings.

I saw you reading under a willow tree;

The branches scattered light

that danced like the surface of the water,

or like ice cubes, half raw.

I used to push my thumb into the thinly frozen top

and drink up the icy-cool filling, then crack the cube between my teeth.

Did I tell you that I want to create a puppet show?

One with leaves that play as silhouettes.

They would pulse, breathe, shake, and be still.

And I don’t want them to fade, a selfish plea.

The world groans with a thick frost, and nothing gold can stay.

I saw you reading under a willow tree,

talking to the shadows cast upon your flowery dress.

Do not fade away.

I made the comment that we speak like children:

vibrant and fleeting is the heart of our conversation.

Don’t forget the eternal trees.

And feel the unreasonable truths they teach:

“Some shades of gold remain forever”

as an answer to the groaning world.

For we are always becoming ourselves in time,

and, I suppose, this is the mystery.

Soon the earth will rest.