Religion

Little Victoria was sick last night.
Her nose was running, and
She was sniffing it up.

I was repeating my usual preach:
"You should not suck your thumb so much,
or make sure you wash your hand so that
you do not put germs in your mouth".

She was looking at me strangely,
As if she wanted to say,
What are you talking about?
This is not the way.
She knew better:
"Last week we were blessed at church so that we do not get sick.
It did not work!"
What can she do?

The Great Wall of China: Good Times

We are on the Great Wall of China,
So far from everywhere I used to be.
The wall I used to read about in novels as a kid,
Wondering how gigantic it really was.

I am there with a great professor,
Who I respect and admire a lot.
The one who advised me for five years,
Edited my writings for misplaced or absent 'a's and 'the's, over and over.

The timing is perfect too.
I have just finished my Ph.D.
Not considering my health issues,
I am taking it all as a great turn of events.
The place, the timing, the company,
I love it all.

Every two seconds we are stopped by local sellers.
Selling scarves, books, post cards.
"Silk scarf for your daughter",
She repeats to my professor several times.

"Today, I am your daughter", I say with a smile.
"Oh, that is what she means!
How does she know? Maybe you were my wife.", he asks jokingly.
I laugh at his self-confidence!
"Well, in an academic sense you are my daughter".
He corrects himself.
"These are great times, great memories", I think to myself.

Greed

It has been more than a decade since that day,
It was after one of those earlier semesters,
The ones when I would take five courses,
One after another,
From early in the morning till early in the afternoon.
Then I would be in the Math center,
Tutoring one student after another,
Discussing the same problems over and over,
Till nine p.m.
Weekends meant reduced working hours and no classes,
Time to study, write papers, and do projects.

I was usually the first one to open up the center,
Before attending my own classes,
Before my supervisor showed up.
I was the last one to close up.
All of that for the precious price of minimum wage,
Five dollars and fifty cents per hour, to be exact.

That was fine with me then.
After all, with no degree,
And no work experience in this country,
My choices were limited.
Maybe I could be a cashier, a waitress, or a babysitter, instead.
At least, "I am in an academic environment",
I would remind myself.
"I can study when things are slow",
Hardly that ever happened.

One of those semesters was over.
All of a sudden,
I did not have much to do,
Till few days ago,
all I wanted was to catch my breath,
and then I did not have much to do.

So, I decided to take a walk,
Towards the college,
Except this time slowly and leisurely,
Hoping that I would see some familiar faces,
Of friends or colleagues.
Maybe we could chat over a cup of tea or coffee,
Without me worrying about time.

The school was deserted.
No one was there.
The center was closed.
The cafeteria was empty.
Only the administration offices were open for registration,
and the bookstore for limited hours.

Suddenly I felt sad.
It was as if nothing had happened during the past few months.
It did not matter that I worked so hard, for so many hours.
They would have still managed to pass their courses.
What difference did it make?

Did I really have to repeat my pizza story so many times,
So that they know why anything divided by infinity is zero?
"Suppose you have ordered a pizza.
If you share it fairly with your roommate,
How big of a piece will you get?
What if you had two other friends over?
What if you had to share it with fifty people?
A Hundred?
...
Try infinity."

I would see a light bulb turning on over their head,
and that was priceless.
I wanted them to be friends with equations, integrals, and derivatives,
Maybe they would find math an entertaining game.
Oh! How silly I was.
It did not really matter.
They were all gone.
It was all history.

Soon I was on my way back.
"I will go watch a movie, or
maybe borrow a book from the public library".
As I was deep in my thoughts,
A car stopped in front of me.

It was one of my old students!
A middle-aged man,
Who struggled with his afternoon math courses,
After his daily full-time job.
He asked me if I needed a ride.
I thanked him, "I am actually enjoying the walk".
"I just wanted to stop and thank you for all your help last semester", he said.
"I would not have been able to make it if it were not for your help! I thought I come buy my books early and prepare for my next math class during the break."

I could not feel happier.
Whoever was running the show up there,
Read my mind, and gave me an answer,
In real time, on the spot!

We departed and I continued walking,
While still enjoying what had just happened.
I thought maybe sometimes you get what you wish for.
I knew it was too good to happen often.
We must have a few of such chances.

I forgot how I was feeling earlier in the day,
and how happy my student made me feel.
I was getting greedy.
"Only if I had asked for something else!".

Our Universe

Some people are suns.
They like to think they are the center of the universe.
They sure act like one.
They may not know of other solar systems,
Other galaxies,
They like everyone to depend on them,
Need them, revolve around them.
Do not get me wrong!
They are kind, and very generous.
They do not expect anything in return.
But if you want to be with them,
Get close to them,
Be careful!
You will burn.
After all, they are not interested in you.

Some are black holes.
Very mysterious.
No one knows for sure when, why, and how they became like this.
They are madly in love with you.
In fact, they want you all to themselves,
So, they absorb you,
Your thoughts, your emotions, your soul.
They never give anything back.
If you want to know them,
learn about their mysteries,
You can.
You only have to let go of the world you belonged to,
To be in theirs.
You can never get out.

Then there are moons,
and all the stars inspired by them.
Receptive to the suns' generosities,
and kind enough to share all they have.
They let you learn about them.
You can visit them often.
You can stay with them as long as you wish.
They are secure enough to let you go.
They know you will come back,
If you know how lovely they are.
And you know,
Regardless of what you choose to do,
You are safe.

Tonight!

I cannot sleep tonight.
How about you president Obama?
Good night, and Good Luck, Mr. President!

Ice

I had a good morning,
I felt the magic of a new beginning,
I felt all the possibilities,
All the beauties this day could offer.

I was scraping the ice from my car's windows.
I was blaming the cold weather,
For all the time it was going to take away from me,
In the upcoming winter days.

Then, it happened,
You finally took the courage,
You walked towards me.
"Good morning" you said,
"What is your name?" you asked.

Suddenly, I was grateful for the ice,
For it made us hesitate and meet,
Before quickly driving away to work.
I looked forward to the icy and snowy days ahead.

Laura

Laura has three kids. Teenage twins and a freshman in college. She drives over fifty miles everyday to work. Her father-in-law has been having many medical issues for a year. Her husband commutes two hours, each way, on most days to see his father. All of this has caused them so much stress and money. She showed up at work every single day.

Then, we had a hurricane last summer in our region. A tree fell on the roof of her house. Insurance offered them another house to stay in while they fixed her house. She came to work every single day.

After six months, she was getting ready to move back in her repaired house. She heard her mother's cancer is back. It had spread from the kidney all over her body. Images indicated it had gone to her brain. Her mother was going through different treatments and procedures everyday. Their days together were numbered. She came to work every single day.

Her mother passed away on a Friday night. Laura was at work Monday morning. She took Wednesday and Thursday off to attend her mother's funeral and memorial services.