Quote:


sweet toofs and duckies
do make fun so much funner
whatever the choice
chocolate or donuts dunked
devil's food or not
disappearing's where it's at
and that's it! that's it! that 's it!

Got going ‘gainst grain,
gregarious Gary grabbed
Gert greeting “Gotcha!”
grossly groping, gustily.
“Gracious!” gert gurgled.
“Gary, get gone! O good grief!”
Grinning, gary giggled, “Gone”

I'm sure that Norm can change the appearance name, but you'd have to ask him.  It will likely be a bit confusing to newbies who haven't known you forever.

By the way... schizophrenia is NOT split personality as so many have endlessly echoed over the years to us.   

That's multiple personality disorder... and I think there might just me more than one of me too!  [ It's usually associated with abuse, particularly sexual abuse, by the way. That'll split a victim's personhood all over the place attempting to find a 'safe haven' inside somewhere. ]

hoppin' about heavily amid the Light, Daniel  8)

Hey, Doug... how's it that ya have two names in the same post?  One registers here, and the other registers outside!  Ya oughta talk to Norm about that, ya think?

Maybe ya oughta send one o' the names to Mars to do some geneological research?

Lightly, Daniel  8)

Greetings, Tim...

I was at work when I responded to your question (which, by the way, I ABSOLUTELY took seriously).

On further research (and as you know, I ain't no expert here!) I rediscover the fact that there are OTHER ideas about what a choka is.  It seems that what I describe above is the LATER form... and the earlier version could be a string of any number of katauta (in English, segments of 5-7-5 or 5-7-7) strung together to form what is also called the 'long poem'.

I'll have to amend the description later!

In fact, back in April 2005, I must have written this as a 30-day journal!  See what happens when ya put a demented old man in charge of something?

Choka Necklace

April may shower
causing great weeds to choka
all your flowers and veggies…
and what I will write
may do exactly the same,
but I do it nonetheless…
just because I can,
whether you read it or not…
thus begins a new cycle
_{Friday 01 April}

I am up the road
at Ft. Indiantown Gap
watching buckets of rain fall…
Blue Mountain’s clouded
so no helicopters fly
but M-16’s fire;
terrorist training
for urban environment
fill up hours between cloudbursts
_{Saturday 02 April}

three and one-half hours
through Pennsylvania rain, home
for few hours of needed sleep
then drive to Cape May
to serve communion and preach
without pontification…
hardly impacting
the way that old Polish priest
broke down walls to proclaim peace
_{Sunday 03 April}

rounding new corner
earth wakens to sun once more;
worker bees spring forth later
to another weak
flying off from their honey
to pollinate season’s crops
following their scents
of responsibility
hardly questioning the why 
_{Monday 04 April}

this morning I wrote
a wee ironic ballad
that ballad-singing’s for schmucks
just for a mocker
who wants to do what he wants
so I portrayed him dumming
down in ballad-form;
it’s kind of ridiculous…
but then that’s what I intend
_{Tuesday 05 April}

planned to rise early
but here I am late again
never able to catch up…
story of my life
thinking that I’ll get ahead…
but big behind in mirror;
spawning ideas
that produce expectation…
but just look like I’m pregnant
_{Wednesday 06 April}

here I go again
rushing off to buy bagels
cheese, shrimp, fruit and vegetables…
do these make my group
somewhat less hard to swallow
as I share difficult things
like… Set boundaries
Enforce them, or there are none
Reinforcing sets stage… change
_{Thursday 07 April}

where are all my friends?
are they writing somewhere else
just because Mary’s not here?
I wish there were more
I could do to help our site
or do I do too much now…
driving folks away
with all my exuberance
and not doing enough crits?
_{Friday 08 April}

mowed the lawn, then trimmed
tall ornamental grasses;
mulched and strewed it on garden
helped to set new fence
digging up and transplanting;
sifted piles and piles of dirt
delayed showering
talking to a friend online;
I don’t smell so very good
_{Saturday 09 April}

baptized Charissa
during our morning worship;
three others were baptized too,
then we joined Jason
to celebrate his marriage
in Jamaica to Yasmin
last week on Tuesday;
Kian and Caleb were glad
to have Mom and Daddy back
_{Sunday 10 April 2005}

staying home is best
when you have a lot of work
to do that will not get done
at work if you go
and at home too if you go
so I’m using up comp time;
we’re all better off,
and I’m getting exercise…
and the fence is going up
_{Monday 11 April 2005}

I won’t curse, but still
I’m frazzled; I don’t relish
the crunch of my belle’s sneaking
up on me, saying,
“You’re late!” in kind of a snort
Now I’m getting a flashback
“Do your algebra!”
with my mind gone in orbit
‘til I hear, “Earth to Daniel”
_{Tuesday 12 April 2005}

I feel defensive;
being subtly attacked
tends to make one feel that way
especially when
a tyrant plays the martyr
as though he’s been victimized
I hope that it’s true:
They tell me “This too shall pass.”
God, grant me serenity
_{Wednesday 13 April}

tulip blooms too soon
wilted from this morning’s frost;
busy bees shrug wings, buzz off
to pert daffodil
just poking out from a bud
not affected by the cold;
sun winks through blossoms
on arching forsythia
waving good morning to spring
_{Thursday 14 April}

step a bit too far
over the edge of a stair
jutting myself headlong forth;
with my other foot
try to regain momentum
forcing me nearly to run;
dodging a table
and tools strewn on the pavement
I twist to catch my balance
_{Friday 15 April}

spray on bleach mixture
trying not to kill yourself
while ridding that black mildew,
scrape a cloud of dust
to rain upon the sidewalk
then slap on an undercoat;
hundred-year-old homes
with cedar clapboard siding
require a bit too much work
_{Saturday 16 April}

dig up descent sod
to replant in balding spots
sifting out the dirt and rocks;
cut straight-line border
to install new landscape ties
while replacing sifted soil;
fill beneath new fence
to even garden’s contour
using compost from last year
_{Sunday 17 April}

choke on a new piece
rushing to take wife’s car in
for repair to fuel system;
start off week on time
to dive into paper work
that no one but I can do;
resolve to keep up
merely one day at a time
at least starting off today
_{Monday 18 April}

pancakes for breakfast
are a safer deal at home —
not just because they’re cheaper
or that they’re whole wheat;
I love raspberry syrup,
but McDonalds doesn't have it;
also, they require
that ‘shoes and shirt must be worn’ !
Can’t they be new?  … and no pants?
_{Tuesday 19 April}

plant memorials
for Mom and Dad, bought by group
after my Washington trip:
nectarine for Dad
and sweet cherry tree for Mom,
each one self-pollinating;
we have trees for each
member of our family…
the dogwood will be for ‘Tre’.
_{Wednesday 20 April}

no poetry time
because of skin cancer check
that turned out to be normal;
can’t keep my shirt on
to do more work in the yard
not because I’m excited
but because it’s hot
so I must be more careful;
thin-skin injuries go deep
_{Thursday 21 April}

lawn-mowing is fun
except in doggy restroom
unless you’ve done scooping first;
the by-product’s good
for spreading around on top
of where you’ve filled in dog-holes
since they don’t dig it
where they smell their own droppings,
so it’s a preventative
_{Friday 22 April}

painting in the rain
is a rather futile act
so she did the covered porch
while I moved some plants
and installed more landscape ties
after cutting them to size;
in the evening,
where I’d leveled the sidewalk
we cemented in some gaps
_{Saturday 23 April}

Amazed in a Maze
a magician tried
to turn Proconsul away
from seeing the Light of faith,
but Paul, face to face,
declared him full of deceit,
enemy of righteousness,
son of the devil,
and blindness fell upon him;
Sergius Paulus believed
_{Sunday 24 April [ Acts 13 ]}

Leaving a Mark
amid this action
Mark shows up as a helper;
how important could he be?
they sailed to Perga,
where he went home to mama;
later Paul would not take him,
but Barnabas did,
working with him in Cyprus;
later, Mark would write
the earliest known Gospel
and worked at Peter’s right hand;
from prison, Paul asked
for Mark to come to visit,
“he is valuable to me”
_{Monday 25 April [ Acts 13 + ]}

type with stiff, dry hands
from laying slate and concrete
… now wondering if it’s set
and if by morn’s light
we will see hidden mistakes
from finishing after dark
and if new markings
from neighborhood ne’er-do-wells
bless the fruit of our labors
_{Tuesday 26 April}

I wakened briefly
‘til medication kicked in,
so here I am late again
when I’d planned early
to catch up on paper work
needing attention at work;
here I go again
getting off my big behind
to not be further behind
_{Wednesday 27 April}

almost overwhelmed
seeing all the new postings,
but I’ll read one at a time
just plugging along
doing the best that I can,
needing more moderators;
Illuminations
should soon be finished and sent;
Mary should be with us then
_{Thursday 28 April}

I’m cold already
so I’m going back to bed
as soon as I write this thing,
since I’ll be away
at Ft. Indiantown Gap
for tonight and tomorrow
and may not get back
in here for a couple days;
hoping the last one’s better
_{Friday 29 April 2005}

April has ended
so hopefully its showers
will have watered what we’ve sown…
unless we’d not plowed
our priorities wisely
to properly prepare soil
and now have to slog
through soggy fields to catch up;
could this be the month we May?
_{Saturday 30 April 2005}

I am so attempting one when I get home.

Thanks for telling me about this. 

Daniel, 

So, there is always a double seven-syllable line at the end of a choka?

~tim