lost and unfound

I'm looking for something,

Something I obviously lost as i cant find it.

lost so long ago I cant remember exactly how I lost it,

yet so recent its reminder stabs me through the heart.

I search by walking down the path before me.

it started out in a nice neighborhood,

well kept yards and children in the street.

families together under their roofs'

now there's a cliff off to one side.

abandoned homes to the other.

crows watch me from the ridge poles.

I think they know I'm lost.

soon the cliff gives way to a nothingness, a void.

the homes are now ruins barely poking out of the hard packed earth

and i haven't seen a living thing since the crows left.

maybe I'll only go just a bit further. 

Let Go

Look up and wonder, you fool.

See the stars like a curious child would.
See the glory.

Forget the lights of so called Progress.
Move away from the desert of concrete,
The mountains of steel.

Climb the rock,
Walk the forest,
Swim the ocean.

Let go and fly, you fool.
Ride the north wind like a hawk.
Feel the wonder.

Lose yourself from your tethers.
Free yourself from the bonds,
The Web of technology.

Float the rivers,
Search the sky,
Wander the desert.

Craig's Humble Beginning part 2

Lifting his face from the sand, spitting the sand that had taken residence in his mouth, and looking up at this palm tree that only seconds ago he had jumped up in to Craig had one thought… ‘This can’t be good.’


Taking distance seemed like a good idea so Craig took himself a good hundred yards or so down the beach, resolutely faced the light blue ocean and sat rather heavily. The waves kept up their incessant beating of the sands, the lizards continued to scamper through the palms’ shade, and the sun was still shinning in the cloudless sky yet, to Craig this seemed rather rude of the world to continue when something impossible had just happened. Giant radioactive lizards were running around in his head causing worldwide destruction and panic while some nation’s military fired missile after missile at the beast with no affect… Was he going to be a human version?

‘Take a hold of yourself, Craig.’ He said aloud. His voice was a bit scratchy from disuse but it still made him feel better to hear a human voice even if it was his own. ‘You’ve been alone for a very long time and you’re making things up. Yes, that’s it, creating it in your head to make this paradise more interesting.’

He laughed a bit at that, paradise more interesting, like he needed that. What he needed was a bath, a long book, and TV. Or at least at this moment those were the top three on his list.

Ok, back to the tree incident.

Craig felt calmed enough so he lifted himself up off the sand and slowly made his way back to palm tree above his small sleeping nook. Studying it hard showed no evidence that he had jumped up to the top of the tree and miraculously held himself there but with so much time spent alone Craig didn’t really need evidence, just time. Time to convince his mind that what had happened hadn’t and what should have happened did. Easy as that and Craig was right as rain. Or as right as rain is when it’s stranded on a radioactive island eating radioactive food, drinking radioactive water and suffering delusions… Well, Craig can ignore that part.

Back to the present.

Craig stood watching the sunrise suffering the worst kind of affliction he had known since washing up on this beach over a year ago, thought. As the tide pulled away and birds ate their fill he worried about the incident of a few days ago and though he thought he had been able to convince himself it hadn’t happened, it kept creeping back up on him.

Am I a monster now? He wondered, absently rubbing his back with one hand checking for spikes or a tail or anything else monsterish. Suddenly very worried he spent the next hour or so checking his entire body for anything abnormal. Extra toes or fingers? No. good. Horns? No. Good. Skin color? For a white guy, really dark but the sun will do that to you. Wonder if I’ll die of skin cancer before I’m rescued? That question passed through his mind rather fast before a rumble in his stomach reminded him of more pressing concerns.

Turning back to his sleeping area, Craig picked up what remained of the lizard he had eaten the night before and began to pick the bones clean with his teeth, occasionally taking a swig of water out of a hollow coconut. All the while ignoring the thoughts of something being seriously wrong.

After breakfast Craig made his was down the white sand to the water’s edge and then past it into the gentle surf. The clear blue water easily showed the sandy bottom and few fish swimming around in the shallows, one of which was getting pretty close to Craig’s feet not knowing that by doing so he was making himself an option for addition to the lunch menu.

Craig slowly began to squat down into the water to get his hands closer to the surface, careful to make no sudden movements. He had gotten pretty good at catching fish with his hands. His main problem was holding on to them long enough to get them on the beach.

Patiently Craig watched the fish get ever closer and when it seemed the fish would turn and move away Craig lunged with all his strength. While not being smart enough to stay away from Craig in the first place, this fish was smart enough to attempt escape when a large strange creature lunged at it. The fish dodged left then right as a hand came around his left side, trying to make it to deeper water. Another hand came from just below the fishes tail fin causing him to twist on to his side and turn straight down to the bottom now ten feet below but then the hand closed on his tail and held firm no matter how hard the poor fish struggled.

Triumphant Craig held his prize. The fish was a good size and would probably be lunch and dinner, and such an easy catch too. For a moment there Craig thought the fish would get away but then time seemed to slow down and though the fish tried to dodge, he caught it pretty quickly. No all he needed to do was get back to the surface to breath.

Provo tabernacle

Watching conference this morning I heard Pres. Monson announce that the Provo tabernacle which burned last year will be restored and turned into a temple. Awesome.

Craigs' humble beginning

The ocean was calm today. Opposite of yesterday but then, yesterday is gone now. Waves gently lapped at the white sand beach, picturesque so if it was frequented by tourists the beach would be featured in adds worldwide and draw thousands of people to come and sit in the sun to enjoy its perfect views and sand. The palm trees and thick jungle ground cover stopped just over fifty feet from the high tide line and thanks to the current that deposited all floating debris on the other side of the island, this beach was pristine.


The sun was just rising over the eastern horizon sending bolts of bright yellow light through the few low lying clouds while a few birds walked the beach to pick up a quick snack of the small creatures too slow to move back into the lowering tide. Bright colors were everywhere from the white sand to the vivid blue sky and the emerald green jungle. Makes one wonder why there were no fruity drinks with mini-umbrellas and bikini clad sunbathers. Unfortunately for the beach goers, this island wasn’t open for the spring break vacation. This island was radio-active.

During the most recent world war, of which there had been three in the last fifty or so years, this particular island sat in the middle of a communist Australian fleet set to be tactical nuked. The fleet was destroyed, the island bombarded with nuclear radiation, and as with everything in that war, all was quickly forgotten as the world got back to its habitual pleasure seeking. But there was one ship not totally destroyed by the nuclear missiles. A submarine that dived only seconds before the first missile struck was able to survive the initial blast only to be disabled by the electro-magnetic-pulse and flooded with radiation. All hands abandoned ship and made for the island only two miles distant. Only three made the long swim. Only two survived the following day, the Sonar operator and a weapons specialist.

After the two had sat alone on this peaceful island for just over three months, though neither was counting, the weapons specialist decided to build a raft and take his chances. He build the raft, he left the island, leaving the sonar operator alone because he thought rescue would be more likely if he stayed in one spot than if they floated free on the currents. Because of this, the sonar operator was the only person to enjoy the morning’s sunrise on the pristine beach in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Standing in the shade of a palm tree that would grace walls of travel agencies if it didn’t make coconuts that glowed in the dark, Craig watched the sunrise with patience of a man who hadn’t had to hurry in a very, very long time. Craig watched through the eyes of a man for whom the sunrise from that particular horizon had become common place and was only watching because he really didn’t have anything else to do at that moment. He had just woken up from his bed of sand under the foliage at the edge of the jungle and stood up, happened to be facing the east so he watched.

Craig had slept on that beach now for just over nineteen months but wasn’t counting so he didn’t know that. He just knew it had been a long time. After the only other survivor left Craig didn’t do much. He had water from a spring in the center of the island and food from the trees and lizards that somehow survived the fallout. Craig survived, little else, although he had discovered something strange the other night and was in serious danger of thinking this morning.

Two nights ago Craig had woken up with a start as a lizard climbed over his chest. Surprised and frightened he violently shoved it away and jumped before he had come completely awake, holding onto the nearest palm tree for support. That would be when he noticed something wrong. Instead of standing on dry sand with his back to the base of a palm tree though he did have his back to a palm tree it was to the part that happened to be about twenty-five feet up. Somehow he had jumped to just under the spread of fronds and was at that moment standing on nothing but insubstantial air. That was the moment he fell...

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