Exodus 1-10

Passover

Little Song BY ROWAN RICARDO PHILLIPS

Little Song

BY ROWAN RICARDO PHILLIPS

Both guitars run trebly. One noodles

Over a groove. The other slushes chords.

Then they switch. It’s quite an earnest affair.

They close my eyes. I close their eyes. A horn

Blares its inner air to brass. A girl shakes

Her ass. Some dude does the same. The music’s

Gone moot. Who doesn’t love it when the bass

Doesn’t hide? When you can feel the trumpet peel

Old oil and spit from deep down the empty

Pit of a note or none or few? So don’t

Give up on it yet: the scenario.

You know that it’s just as tired of you

As you are of it. Still, there’s much more to it

Than that. It does not not get you quite wrong.

Source: Poetry (September 2014)

The Little Match Girl BY KNIGHT OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT OF BURMAH WILLIAM MCGONAGALL

The Little Match Girl

BY KNIGHT OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT OF BURMAH WILLIAM MCGONAGALL

It was biting cold, and the falling snow,

Which filled a poor little match girl’s heart with woe,

Who was bareheaded and barefooted, as she went along the street,

Crying, “Who’ll buy my matches? for I want pennies to buy some meat!”

When she left home she had slippers on;

But, alas! poor child, now they were gone.

For she lost both of them while hurrying across the street,

Out of the way of two carriages which were near by her feet.

So the little girl went on, while the snow fell thick and fast;

And the child’s heart felt cold and downcast,

For nobody had bought any matches that day,

Which filled her little mind with grief and dismay.

Alas! she was hungry and shivering with cold;

So in a corner between two houses she made bold

To take shelter from the violent storm.

Poor little waif! wishing to herself she’d never been born.

And she grew colder and colder, and feared to go home

For fear of her father beating her; and she felt woe-begone

Because she could carry home no pennies to buy bread,

And to go home without pennies she was in dread.

The large flakes of snow covered her ringlets of fair hair;

While the passers-by for her had no care,

As they hurried along to their homes at a quick pace,

While the cold wind blew in the match girl’s face.

As night wore on her hands were numb with cold,

And no longer her strength could her uphold,

When an idea into her little head came:

She’d strike a match and warm her hands at the flame.

And she lighted the match, and it burned brightly,

And it helped to fill her heart with glee;

And she thought she was sitting at a stove very grand;

But, alas! she was found dead, with a match in her hand!

Her body was found half-covered with snow,

And as the people gazed thereon their hearts were full of woe;

And many present let fall a burning tear

Because she was found dead on the last night of the year,

In that mighty city of London, wherein is plenty of gold—

But, alas! their charity towards street waifs is rather cold.

But I hope the match girl’s in Heaven, beside her Saviour dear,

A bright reward for all the hardships she suffered here.

40 Mark Strasse The Shins

40 Mark Strasse The Shins

40 Mark Strasse

The Shins

Produced by James Mercer & Greg Kurstin

Is it all so very simple
And horribly complex?
You suffer in a thimble
And there's nothing coming next

Your mom smokes in the kitchen
Her voice a cutting drone
So creeping out, you pass the bar
Your father's second home
That leaves you on your own

Nights I'd often watch you
Float across the grounds
Out the gate to the motorway
What secrets have you found?

You had to know I wanted
Something from you then
Too young to know just what it was
Something more than a friend
Is that you at the end?

Where you play in the street at night
Blown like a broken kite
My girl, you're giving up the fight
Are you gonna let these Americans
Put another dent in your life?

My mother says you're dirty
They're gonna find you dead
But have you got that final chapter
Written in your head?

Cause every single story
Is a story about love
Both the overflowing cup
And the painful lack thereof
You got the heart of a dove

But you play in the street at night
Blown just like a broken kite
My girl, you're giving up the fight
You'll have to lose all them childish notions
If you're gonna let these American boys
Put another dent in your life

You play in the street at night
Blown just like a broken kite
My girl, you're giving up the fight
You'll have to lose all them childish notions
Are you gonna let these Americans
Put another dent in your life?

 

MORE ON GENIUS

Major Tom (I'm Coming Home) by Peter Schilling

Stand alone
The boat is waiting
All programs are working.
"Are you sure?"
Controls are not fake
But a computer
There is evidence.
No reason for the error.
Calculation begins.

You are in love,
A safe party is safe.
Nothing is left to chance,
Everything works.
Try to relax
In the garden
"Send me a drink."
Big jokes from Tom.
Calculation in progress ...

4, 3, 2, 1
The earth is beneath us
To work, to fall.
It's ridiculous weight
Driving, driving home ...

The second part is cut.
We are now in the cycle.
stabilizers
The perfect run.
Start installation
Required data.
What will happen
When did all this come to an end? "
Tom thinks.

Control going into the ground;
There was a problem.
"For the full element of the valley chili."
It is not answering.
Hello, Major Tom.
Do you get?
Includes payment.
We stand side by side. '
No reply.

4, 3, 2, 1
We underground
LEAK fall.
Weightless for both
Calls to call home ...

Through the stratosphere,
last message:
"Tell my wife love."
no more.

Next to the ship
Hit the Earth.
They don't understand
He is still alive.
No one understands
But Major Tom sees.
"Right now it's easy
This is my house,
I'm coming home. "

To get to the ground
It floats, it falls.
Weightless point
Go home ...
The earth is behind us
It floats, it falls.
Weightless point
Come on, come on
Home ...
Home .....

Major Tom (I'm Coming Home) by Peter Schilling

Major Tom (I'm Coming Home) by Peter Schilling

Standing there alone,
The ship is waiting.
All systems are go.
"Are you sure?"
Control is not convinced,
But the computer
Has the evidence.
No need to abort.
The countdown starts.

Watching in a trance,
The crew is certain.
Nothing left to chance,
All is working.
Trying to relax
Up in the capsule
"Send me up a drink."
Jokes Major Tom.
The count goes on...

4, 3, 2, 1
Earth below us
Drifting, falling.
Floating weightless
Calling, calling home...

Second stage is cut.
We're now in orbit.
Stabilizers up,
Runnning perfect.
Starting to collect
Requested data.
"What will it affect
When all is done?"
Thinks Major Tom.

Back at ground control,
There is a problem.
"Go to rockets full."
Not responding.
"Hello Major Tom.
Are you receiving?
Turn the thrusters on.
We're standing by."
There's no reply.

4, 3, 2, 1
Earth below us
Drifting, falling.
Floating weightless
Calling, calling home...

Across the stratosphere,
A final message:
"Give my wife my love."
Then nothing more.

Far beneath the ship,
The world is mourning.
They don't realize
He's alive.
No one understands,
But Major Tom sees.
"Now the light commands
This is my home,
I'm coming home."

Earth below us
Drifting, falling.
Floating weightless
Coming home...
Earth below us
Drifting, falling.
Floating weightless
Coming, coming
Home...
Home.....

master the art of self control

The Secrets of Self Control - Crossmap Inspiration

The Greatness of Mordecai

Esther 10 New International Version (NIV)

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Purim Established

sther 9 New International Version (NIV)

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4 Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.

5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”

13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”

14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

Purim Established

20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. 25 But when the plot came to the king’s attention,[a] he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. 26 (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.

29 So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— 31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32 Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

Footnotes:

1. Esther 9:25 Or when Esther came before the king