This is a poem written by an 11 year old online student of mine. His name is Sohum and he lives in Australia.I was trying to get him to discipline his writing and decided poetry would help. I suggested he read some of the War Poets like Owen, Brooke and Sassoon, which he did, and this is what he came up with within a few minutes! I don't think he copied anyone, he was simply inspired by the rage and sadness in the poems. I have polished it a little- a very little- not because he could not have done the editing himself, but because being 11 he gets fidgetty  and types carelessly.I have his and his dad's permission to publish his poem in my blog. This poem could easily be put to music. Its like a song-lyric and the melancholy refrain reminds me of Danny Boy.

Untitled poem by Sohum Jain

Falling snow

drifts so slow

like raindrops

Soldier boy come home

Bells are chiming

Mother waits

Father waits

on bended knees

Come home

Come home

Comforting

Praying

for you for you

Soldier boy come home

Come to your mother's arms

Soldier boy mother waits

for you for you

Father comforts

through sleepless nights

repeating Son, don't die,

God,  I believe in you

Drowning himself in beer

father cries

sobbing until he sleeps

In the morning 

the tears

still as fresh as dew

Mother  locked away

in a stony wall of silence

speaking to no one

as if bound by 

invisible ropes

Father talks of glory

fearing the worst

hoping for the best

Soldier boy come home

Soldier boy come home

blood covers the battlefield

bullets strike home

Pray to God

ask him for strength

ask Him to return you home

Comrades falling one by one

blood like a field

of crimson roses

bullets whizzing past

bombs whistling down

Your mother misses you

wants to welcome you

in her arms

Soldier boy come home

How to manage on a shoestring budget

Money behaves oddly, like a frisky goat. One thing is for sure prices go up and never come down, but the older one gets the income starts to shrink. Children may or may not contribute.

 How to manage on a shoestring budget? 

Here are a few tips:

•  make a random list of necessary expenses.
• make a second list  prioritizing the items.
• estimate the expenditure against each, the total is what you just have to spend every month.
• In the priority list are electricity, cooking gas, vehicle fuel if you have a car, transport , education, municipal taxes, income and wealth tax( not really applicable here because I presume you don't earn enough to be taxed). After these cant-do-without items ,list food and clothes. These are essential too but one can save on expense here by doing without some stuff.  
• Avoid loans as these actually increase the burden and the headache. 
• Remember it is better to go without than to borrow.
• Don't drink
• Don't smoke
• Keep a little sum of money aside whenever you can.
• Go window-shopping, but don't step inside the shop.
• Walk when you can and avoid transport.
• Avoid using the car frequently - you will contribute to a greener fresher world.
• If you have a patch of land grow your own herbs, veggies, fruits. One can have coriander,mint, chillies etc in pots.
• If you live in a large house and security is a problem keep  a couple of strays as pets, this is considerably cheaper than keeping a security guard or durwan. Dogs are loyal and loving.
• Use cooking oil sparingly, make preserves of veg and fruits  when they are in season and consequently cheaper.

Try these tips now.More next time. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to beat inflation.

How to get rid of Guilt!

Easy Lies

Small lies... Harmless little feathery lies, silly silky fluttering flattering moth-soft lies that brush against the listeners'  faces and make them smile. Lies innocent as butterflies - as short-lived  and light-as-air. Touchstone's definition does not include these.
I started small with Johnny, Johnny, Yes, Papa lies. Three older sisters ready to catch me out. I'd sneak out their comics and story-books from under their pillows while they slept. Instincts of self-preservation made me lie with a straight face. 'I haven't touched your stupid book', 'How am I to know where you've kept it!'
At school  a sunny smile helped- 'I wasn't talking', 'I've left my homework at home'.
Lies were there, lying all about me, to shield me from punishment.
Lies - yes... but what a lot of truth those lies revealed about me, my childhood. My naive defences  were no defences at all - mum seemed to know everything but she never scolded or smacked me. I felt low with feelings of guilt if I lied to mum, but had no compunction whatever about fibbing to my sisters! They would rave and rant a bit, but that was all.
Not that I didn't wish to be good and honest like Uncle Arthur's Gladys Great-heart, but I realised quite early that  there is a wide chasm between the ideal and the real, and unknowingly I put the teachings of a Zen master into practice -  in a moment of crisis for me I was the most important person and the most important task was to save my bacon and the most important time was 'now'.
In my teens and twenties I  dabbled with the truth, and emerged battle-worn and weary.
Discretion is now my watchword. People ask for an opinion, but don't want to hear the truth...they just want a back-up!
Lies are the sponge-soft mattresses, the cosy quilts on  wintry mornings.  I think, and this is my honest opinion, lies are just as important and essential to living as the truth.Guileless lies are guiltless lies. If I can make someone happier or more confident with a small harmless little lie, well why not? No Hiroshima will be destroyed by it.
So get rid of your guilt and go ahead and spread some buttery sunshine around.