did not buy the boat
so where is the million bucks
that I did not spend?

The sign in the grocery store says BUY 2 and SAVE.

But if I don’t buy any, do I save even more?

Of is it if I buy more I save even more?

I did not buy this boat.

Why doesn’t the money I didn’t have to buy the boat show up in my bank since I didn’t spend it?

I like to look at the boats in the marinas on the island.

The idea that they are holes in the water that you throw money into appeals greatly to my sense of wellbeing.

Big toys for big boys also makes me smile.

It was when he was asked about the cost of his yacht that famous rich-guy JP Morgan famously said, “If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.“

When he died with only $55 Million in the bank, another famous rich-guy, Andrew Carnegie, famously said, “I thought he was rich.“

That was a 1913 $55 Million.

I like to look at the boats in the marinas on the island.

Henry Ford is reported to have asked William Randolph Hearst if he had any money.

Mr. Hearst is supposed to have said, “No, Mr. Ford, I never seem to have any.”

Ford replied, “That’s too bad. You should get 2 or 3 hundred million and put it away for a rainy day.”

As F. Scott Fitzgerald said. “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.“

“Yep,” said buddy Ernest Hemingway, “they have more money.”

I like to look at the boats in the marinas on the island.

One day, I figure these folks will figure out a way to make me pay for the privilege of looking at their boat.

I think of the Japanese fable of the poor student who lived over a restaurant and claimed his meager rice wasn’t so bad as he could smell the food in the restaurant.

The restaurant owner heard this and had the student arrested for stealing the smell of his food.

In court, the Judge had the student drop his few coins from one hand to the other.

The cost of the smell of the food, said the judge, will be the sound of the money.

I like to look at the boats in the marinas on the island.

I like to look and think to myself, those things sink.

What might be the charge for looking?

falls the rain each day
each night under the rain the sore
the gold are as one

Adapted from the poem Still Falls the Rain by Edith Stilwell (1887-1964) in the section:

Still falls the Rain
At the feet of the Starved Man hung upon the Cross.
Christ that each day, each night, nails there, have mercy on us —
On Dives and on Lazarus:
Under the Rain the sore and the gold are as one

Can’t say I was familiar with the poem.

Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus is a work for harp and string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The composition is based on the folk tune “Dives and Lazarus”, one of the folk songs quoted in Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite.

It was playing on the radio and I wondered who Dives was.

According to wikipedia, “In some European countries, the Latin description dives (Latin for “the rich man”) is treated as his proper name: Dives.”

It seems the tune for the five variants has it roots in the hymn, I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say –

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down,
Thy head upon My breast.’
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary, worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink and live.’
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream.
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘I am this dark world’s Light.
Look unto Me; thy morn shall rise
And all thy day be bright.’
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that Light of Life I’ll walk
Till traveling days are done.

It all started here.

Luke 16:19-31
New International Version
The Rich Man and Lazarus

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

I looked to Jesus, and I found In Him my Star, my Sun;

wavy surf song sounds
floppy floappy sowop swish
sparkling fizz sizzles

I like how many of the words in this haiku were thrown out by spell check.

Listen to the sound of waves.

What words do you here?

I had to make mine up as the words didn’t exist.

On the one, I am sure most readers or wave listeners would agree with me that the words just aren’t there.

On the other, time, tide and waves have been around since day 1 on the schedule and we haven’t come up with words yet?

There is an old Jewish fable or midrash I think there were called when God and Satan are arguing in the Garden of Eden about how smart Adam might be.

God says to prove it, he will ask Adam if he can identify all these new animals.

God calls up Adam and says to him, “Adam, what do think this rabbit is?”

And Adam says, “That is a rabbit.”

Another version has an Angel whispering the animal names to Adam.

My point is if we, the human race, got some help describing animals, why not with waves?

Where are the words?

What are the words?

I certainly hear the sounds.

Part of a series based on an afternoon spent at the beach on Hilton Head Island.

I wanted to see if I would be ‘inspired’ by what I saw, by what I heard, by what I smelled, by what I tasted, what I felt emotionally and what I felt tactilely.

Some turned out okay.

Some were too forced.

Some were just bad.

Some did involve some or all of those feelings.

As far as it goes, I guess I was inspired by by what I saw, by what I heard, by what I smelled, by what I tasted, what I felt emotionally and what I felt tactilely.

Click here for more Haiku in the BEACH category —