Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Stuff

As we just moved from a home into a small apartment less than a month ago, we had to downsize our belongings quite a bit.  When we move to Italy on January 6, 2010, we'll have to downsize even more.  At times like these we realize how much "stuff" we've got.  I recently heard a poem about stuff that I'd like to share with you.

Stuff, by Don McCaleb


I got stuff.
Good stuff.  Happy stuff.
Successful, sensational, recreational, relaxational stuff.

Mac stuff, PC stuff, I-stuff.
Fun fashion, cool cash and fast action.
Rocket ships and chocolate chips.
Stuff with crosses, Christian fishes.
Stuff beyond my wildest wishes.

And you can't take my stuff.

My stuff is the needle that drops to the vinyl
to start the party and spin the spiral.

My stuff immediately, impressively, incessantly
illuminates my import,
and by stuff is loud.
It commands respect and you can't neglect
when my stuff says, "I have arrived, And this is what I'm all about!"
My stuff identifies me.
And I
identify
with my
stuff.

My stuff is so high you can't get over it,
so wide you can't get round it.
You can't handle my stuff!

My stuff is the needle that tattoos my skin,
signifying the significance of who I am.

I got stuff.
Stuff from my past...
that follows me around
like some run-down evangelist-carnival caravan
that keeps coming to town.

In the amusement-park dark
swaggering saints from the shadows shout my shattered story,
selling sacred success-souvenirs and seductive soul-sideshows.
Their slanted slogans solicit me, slander me, compel me.  Tell me
fortunes I regret that I can't forget.
And seeking grace I surrender to the stuff-spell,
but it conjures no confession, no communion;
just a constant carousel of clamor
that casts out the quiet and the questions,
So I don't have to hear my heart...beat.

My stuff is a Ferris wheel that takes me up to the top
and drops me right back down again.
But after a while I twist and I spin,
and I want off,
but the ride never stops.

I got stuff.

Right now
my stuff is an elevator straight to the penthouse floor!
But sometimes,
no matter what number I push,
I can't seem to open the door.

You can't handle my stuff.

My stuff is the needle that injects my vein,
and it's warm like a fever and it spreads like a stain
and it itches, and I scratch, and I dig
til it burns like a blaze.
But all I have in my hands is gasoline,
and I can't stop the flame.

I got stuff.

You can't handle my stuff.
You can't take my stuff.
Can You?  Take my stuff?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Dimmi Tutti (dee-mee too-tee)

My favorite phrase is one that I hear at least ten times a day. And I love it. It means, "tell me everything!" ...when I am stumbling through a tough question and can't find the words to ask for a word I need in class, Enrico says, "Dimmi tutti." When I walk into a shop and don't know exactly what I'm looking for, the sweet old man says, "Di mi tutti." When I sit down with a new friend she says, "Di mi tutti."
There's something about it that says I'm Ready To Listen To You.