One more day and 2006 will be over. I wanted to share a couple more art work before we wave aurevoir and start the New Year with a blast.

I did the first painting during the week, it reminds me of the street vendors in Haiti, I love how the colors blended so well. I wanted both ladies to have different facial expressions.

The 2nd painting I did today, it wasn't easy. I got annoyed with her hair color, I tried to mix the yellow with another color but it wouldn't blend. I had to do some adjustments, I think it looks better as you can see on the second pic, more like a before and after. I feel the man needs more work, he looks tired, lol. That's the fun part of painting, you can go back, change the colors, the texture and feel of your work without any guilt. I wish it could be like this in real life.

If you had the ability to experience 2006 all over again, what would you change?



Some people see things as they are and say "Why."

I dream things that never were and say

"Why not."

-George Bernard Shaw

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

The last Friday of 2006 is here. What have I learned, lost or gained?
I'm not sure i've lost anything significant but most certainly I've gained knowledge, wisdom and met some fascinating friends. Here I am Miss Busy Bee at work. The first painting I call it "Prayer Girl", the second one was deleted since Blogger was acting up, I reposted and decided to name it "Thick Madame" thanks to Stephen's suggestion (thanks Mr. Bess. I completed these paintings last night, need to figure out how to use a better pencil that won't smudge the texture of the canvas so much. I know I haven't posted any poems lately, so for those of you missing them here you go. Have a wonderful weekend. Stay tuned for more poetry and art.



AMMUNITION backwards

Streets are covered in diamonds yet you complain
They’re not enough to take us back home
You mumble in Creole how you wish I were buried with the Negre Marron
In Hispaniola
Cause then you can gather more fame for your babies and children’s babies
I know my time will come
It will come like a Holiday episode laced with colors
I place hot peppers under my pillow
To ward off injustice
When I toss in bed
I see you haunting me like a narrative
You set rules for evil spirits to trampoline my ribcage on the back of an ambulance
A Negro is a man wrapped with indignity
But what about a woman?
How do I restrain your riot?
Perished is the road rage often miserable
Open pores pluralize my peace
I’ve made peace with your faults
I sit and watch the plenitude damaging your skull
Your stubbornness shines on your face
I’m not the one in need of glitter
I shine while you sleep
©2006 by Cathy Delaleu

Wishing you a joyous New Year, and make this new year your dream-come-true year.

This week is just flying over my head…I can’t believe another Gratitude Wednesday is already here. I’m not complaining at all, it’s good to know the year is ending and I’m welcoming 2007 with naked hands and feet. I look forward to new challenges; the positive ones are more than welcomed. Lately, I’ve been multi-tasking like an Energizer bunny between writing, organizing, prioritizing and painting, can’t seem to stop. Should I take a break? Naw, I’m having too much fun.

Drumroll please…rattatat tat:

Gratitude for:

1. PASSION…God instilled passion in all of us and we’re the ones who decide whether we’ll share it with others or not, I chose to share :o) it’s a beautiful thing when you share

2. LAUGHTER…My mother is a character, whenever we get on the phone she always seems to find a way to make me bubble with laughter, never a dull conversation with her

3. PIZZA, I was starving one night and wasn’t in the mood to cook, I ordered myself some pizza and it was heavenly…I forgot the taste of some good artery-clogged cheezzzy pizza. I love thin crust cheese or pepperoni. Yummmmmmmy! Diet will have to take a long pause

4. PAINTING…I took a long break over a year, got inspired to start over and I am enjoying it, I forgot though how expensive it could get when you purchase all these supplies. I did have a lot of leftover paint in my closet but some had to be re-stocked

5. CANVAS: I purchased new ones for my art and I can't wait to beautify them with delicate colors

6. PARIS: My blogger friend, Paris Parfait, for having the ability to take me to Paris whenever I stop by her world…seriously if you check out her blog you’ll be amazed at her European pictures. She has a great eye for photography; her treasured blog is worth browsing (http://parisparfait.typepad.com/)


As I reminisce, 2006 wasn’t such a bad year. I can recall days where I’ve felt lost about my writing but I’ve received great support from friends and family. I’ve gained knowledge, confidence, not to mention amazing friends here on Blogger. Also this month is my anniversary, being a resident of NYC for six years. I can’t believe it. Feels like yesterday when I experienced my first snowstorm…coming straight from sunny California, it was culture shock. I’ve adjusted quite well and even surprised my Cali friends, most thought I would have been back after six months. I proved them wrong. Yeah, I’m a New Yorker without the attitude, although I try to get the East coast accent right, lol.
Ahhhhhhhhh, furget about it.

**(art work by Henry Pelissier)

Hope everyone enjoyed their Holidays...Well, some of us had to drag our butt to work today, boohoo :( I am one of them. The train and bus were empty, I felt I was the only one in my city going to work. In my department it's a ghost town. I guess it's a good thing. Well, I'll let you all on what I did over the weekend. Miss Lyrically yours did some art work. I went back to my love of art and I'm sharing with you all my passion. Be honest,what do you think? so it's been a while since painted but once I started I couldn't stop. My cousin stopped by my place yesterday, she grabbed one of my paintings and took it home with her then had the nerve to ask me to paint her another one in a much bigger canvas, lol, the nerve.
In total I did 9 paintings using acrylic and I can't wait to do more. Share with me your passion besides writing of course :)

GRATITUDE WEDNESDAY

I’m backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! Great to be back, it felt like I’ve been gone forever. Only 7 days, 420 minutes, equaling 168 hours without my laptop or cell phone :0) I felt disconnected from the world, especially when I couldn’t use my cell since I left the charger at home. I know, it sounds like a nightmare but I think it was a blessing in disguise. I got a chance to focus on family. So here I was in Ohio, which is not at all Nueva York yet they get kudos for great restaurants and shopping stores. The time seems to drag over there, which gave me the opportunity to paint, I even created colorful, cute earrings (pictured above) and fell in love all over again with beads and colors. Also I had the pleasure of reading four poems from my book to an audience of women (my sister’s friends) and they all held their breath while I read some sensual verses. Many were swooning and blushing in their seats. I love to see people’s reaction when I read my work.

GRATITUDE WEDNESDAY: DRUM ROLL Please:

1. My one and only sister who has been a great support (pictured on top), she is so talented…I don’t think there’s nothing she can’t do, “can’t” is not in her vocabulary. She created the mask pictured here using black-eyed peas and earth tone colors, incredible! Check out her website: http://www.blackeyepeacreations.com/
2. Use of my knees, ahhhhhhhhhhh they feel much better, ice does do wonders
3. The network of writers I’ve met on Myspace and Blogger, can’t get enough of you guys
4. My new editor is way cool and I can’t wait for us to work together
5. Sleep…lol, I’m so tired and wiped out. Let me tell you, trying to promote a book is no easy task, I’m having fun doing it at the same time I’m lacking sleep. Calgon take me away!
6. I received some spiritual food over the weekend and it was well-digested
7. There's no place like home

ORGANICALLY MADE

He wishes she could stop staring at him
There is uneasiness in his eyes
This is not their first date
But never has she stared at him this long before

By now his lust for this woman cannot be intellectualized
He wants to hide his past from her
Camouflage those scars on his face with a veil
Or perhaps an exfoliation to get rid of those thin spaghetti lines on his cheeks
Reminders of his history
A map that interprets his love, pain and loneliness
The many times he’s been ignored, forgotten
Faded by a world obsessed with beauty

Her kind of beauty
He envies her
Envies what she possess
The ability to walk with her head held high without any stares or lies
This goddess with the raisin colored eyes
One glance at her and his heart cannot deny this yearning
He yearns her love
He feels that electricity
Like a shudder it heats every fiber
He wants to touch her but he’s afraid
Afraid she will run away like catchy cool breeze on a hot summer day
Then it would all be just an illusion
An agonizing day without any music, his conclusion
In her quiet way she stares some more
with soft fingers she touches
Taking a slow trip of this geographical face
She analyze
sees no imperfection
He is not contaminated
Not polluted
He is naturally beautiful
Organically made
©12/06 by Cathy Delaleu
www.delaleuwritings.com

I must say Seal is one of my favorite singers. His soothing voice, his demeanor is flawless, unspoken sometimes and his presence is felt when he's in a room. I dedicated this poem to him. I wrote it a while ago and i've been tempted to send it to him. Hope he likes :)

ROCK THE VOTE

We want to elect a bulletproof bodyguard to prevent our organs from
spilling
A strong Nephilim to look us straight in the eye
To throw tax-free at our feet
We try to collect as many ballots as we can
Yet we can’t seem to save the remaining survivors left behind in Iraq
NY still wears war on terror gold necklaces donated by the Bush
Administration
This morning a Democrat got off my bed with his gums bleeding
He said he’d make things better
By using his teeth as peanuts
Everyone will benefit to his empty promises
By ball-licking his vouchers
He will chew on our flesh to understand our plea for peace and security
I peek at the slightly open door
He is dining, laughing with his fellow Republicans
Sharing speeches they fornicated in Time Square with a group of porn
stars
I hide my opinions from congress by sleeping in the basement on piles
of
Sky-high gas prices
82,000 other women also join me in this fuel shower
We dry ourselves in student-loans and rental fees
While we wait for our men to come home
And cradle our children with a freedom lullaby
Petitions are glued on driveways with an evangelical message asking for
a
change
Sadly every soul is blinded by mankind’s ability to annihilate global
warming
Prayer tears shared between both electoral parties
Men in suits carrying money caskets on their head with children’s bodyparts
snatched by roadside bombings
Suicide bombers live among us
They breathe our oxygen
Ask one huge favor
GIVE THEM OUR VOTE
©12/2006 by C. Delaleu


painting by Joseph M. Njoroge

GRATITUDE WEDNESDAY: here we go, here we go, it's that time again, DRUM ROLL...

1. Change of season no matter how much I bitch about the cold I’m grateful for warm coats, fuzzy gloves, and thick boots, as long as they're cute

2. NYC men, men, men. Damn, they are so fine yet dangerous. I see a cutie on the train this morning checking me out but I didn’t have the nerve to say anything, of course with my poetry book in hand he noticed the cover…he smiled at me and that was enough to make my day. “Talented and beautiful,” he said. I did say thank you but I felt so embarrassed with all these eyes gawking at me so I didn’t continue a dialogue with him, my stop came and I had to get off the train.

2. Hair, yeah I’ll admit it, I’m the braider-type, although I’ve had my moment about cutting all of it off and immerse myself into Baduism, lol. I jumped on the train yesterday on my way to Harlem in the blistering cold for some hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre, that’s one thing I’ll say is addicting to me, when hair is freshly made and washed with the scent of Herbal Essence

3. Family, without my mother I wouldn't have any idea about altternative medicine, if you need advice on Herbal medicine, Marie Carmel is the one to contact...she should have been a doctor. Sister is an artist, can’t wait to visit her this weekend, I’ll be taking some cool pics of her latest work to display to you all. Brother is a DJ, he is helping me with my poetry CD, yep Miss Spoken word will be spitting some verses on the mic, all I need is ONE mic, lol, ok I’m being silly

4. Writing, without it I can't breathe and with it I can starve. I could be dead broke with a can of soup in the pantry and $7 bucks in my bank account (shhhhhhhhhhhhh) and still can sing the blues with a pen and a smile. I am so well fed with my writing.

5. Yummmmmmmy taste of oatmeal, I love oatmeal with cinnamon and granola on top, I have it every morning for breakfast, keeps the cholesterol down and body temperature warm

LET THERE BE LIGHT

On Sunday morning Jesus woke me up with a scripture
Don’t scrub too hard you might see blood
I close my eyes to recreate his spirituality
Feet squeaked on his white tiles
Turns them to mud
Great-grand mother frown
Orders me to calm down
I sit on a small wooden chair
Kaki ties my thin strands with a red scarf
Cleans the make-up off my face
Use pencil-liner to underline my sadness
She says, Now you look too Haitian
She instructs me to sit on her plastic couch
My polyester dress shines like Tiffany’s breakfast
My menu is a Haitian-upbringing
I smell Kaki’s garlic breath miles away
Chose to disobey her
I venture off to Kenep Ville to watch the soccer game
Haiti is losing
Italy is winning again
English-speaking men beg me for a date
I tell them Jesus woke me up with a scripture
I don’t sex without his permission
©12/06 Cathy Delaleu
www.delaleuwritings.com
picture by Remy Seth Musindi