27 December, 2009

A Christmas Poem

This past week was a good one for me. It was my first Christmastime in the Bay Area, so I had a chance to see what things here are like around this time of year. I also was able to spend an entire 2 days with a pair of good friends I hadn't seen in 7 and 12 years, respectively. All in all, it was a great chance to spend time with people I care about, and to see others do the same.

What follows is a whirlwind tour through Christmas as it happened to me; a photographic flipbook of my own design. Enjoy!

PS. If you like this, I would appreciate if you could let me know. Comments are easy to write, and it took me three days of effort to get everything just so. It's always nice to know when hard work is appreciated.


Many years it had been since the last time we spoke
face-to-face, in the company of PEEK and POKE.
Tuesday evening was spent sitting down, catching up,
And at daybreak the three of us slowly awoke.

I pulled out my camera and looked all around:
Some things hide in plain sight, still yet to be found.
A sunflower draped from the knob of a door


And a med school vignette a few feet off the ground.


We later departed to find food to eat,
And in doing so, found quite a shadowy treat:
Here the sun was just right to throw words on the table;
I stopped, looked, and shot and the deed was complete.


With a couple steps farther we started our brunch
with some crêpes served for breakfast, and dessert for… uhh… lunch.
We shared memories of tricky black-and-red circles,
The most frustrating type. Or at least, that's my hunch.

Then we carpooled back down to the south of the Bay
and then said our goodbyes and then each went our way.
'Til the next time we meet, I will think of y'all often.
And just for the giggles, I write here, "toupée."


So fast-forward now to the day of the Yule,
When I hit Ocean Beach, schlepping gear like a mule.
Gave a camera to L and kept one for myself,
And the weather was nice, not too hot, not too cool.


Some folks sat in the water and played with the sand,


Some alighted on stones, planted firmly on land,
Here a father and son (or, at least, I assume)
Sit and think, back-to-back, of some dreams meek and grand.


Here a kicker of sea foam sweeps some to the side,


And a man and a dog run and play in the tide.


As a man with a kite throws his arms in the air,


And a wearer of "sunblock" continues to stride.


Here two folks took a seat for a heart-to-heart chat,
Drinks in hand, shades in sand, with a black "SF" hat.


A bird traipses around, just along the water's edge


As another takes flight, dark before a golden matte.


And a man sits alone, likely having a ponder,
A hand to his cheek and his gaze far over yonder.
With the rustle of waves, breaking soft on the evening sand,
It's no wonder folks sit here to let their minds wander.


At the end of the day, set to go but standing by
Here to watch the warm, white sun descend slowly through an orange sky
Many folks turned to leave, but from the corner of an eye
Took one long, last look before each in turn said, "goodbye."

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

5 comments:

semenko said...

Excellent shots! I especially like #16 w/ the doorknob flower.

Doppler Photo said...

Danke. Yeah, I liked the flower as well. The interesting thing is that my friend who lived in the apartment had never noticed it (it belongs to one of her roommates)

Jared Scheib said...

Omari, this is outstanding. Thanks for putting all this time, energy, and creativity and thought into all of this. It was a great pleasure to read, inspiring visually, amusing, hypertextual, and not to mention personally meaningful. The PEEK and POKE line was awesome, though I admit I had to follow the hyperlink to ascertain its meaning!

As for the photography, the first picture of the (presumably) dad with son perched atop is really, really cool. I like it a lot. The bird at the foam's edge is also really nice and subtle. It definitely puts things in perspective in an existential way, for me at least.

The playfulness with breakfast and lunch was an astute observation, and not only do I commend your use of "toupée" but moreover I demand its future exploitation as well.

Keep up the great work.

I'm happy we got to spend so much time together. I look forward to future rendezvouses. Remarkably, that appears to be a word. I really appreciate your generosity and hospitality, and also am glad to know that the feeling was mutual. It means a lot to me that we were able to re-connect after all of these years. Thanks again for this poetic journal.

And make sure you're keeping a readied stock of fresh, preserved, plastic-packed peaches. (And btdubs, the game we used to play is called Re-Volt. A copy of the game is sitting not two feet from my face on a burned CD. Sounds like a rematch is in order.)

Take care.

Doppler Photo said...

Oh goodness, Re-Volt. _Now_ I remember. The cruise ship stage was the best one. I vaguely remember that you could make custom vehicles, and I made a motorcycle and did some hack where I put the center of mass underground so it'd appear to lean into the turns. Of course, anytime the tires left the ground the thing would tumble hilariously. But yes, I think a rematch is in order.

There was this other simulation car game I remember, but I can't remember if I ever played it with you, where you got to modify all of a vehicle's suspension characteristics and then drive it around. I have no clue what the name was anymore, but it was also a bunch of fun.

Jared Scheib said...

Hmm... maybe.... But doesn't ring a bell - I have other images in my head but I have the feeling they're also from Re-Volt.

And by the way, I just accidentally hit the handicap spam security button - that's some freaky stuff.