Be Brave

I saw you last night,
Frozen, searching an amputated
Winter wonderland.
Why survive, if survival is all it is?

Your lone wandering
Is a stubborn cycle of breathing,
Snuffling for other weaker unfortunates,
Beating the snow, without pause,
With a frosted, panting heart.

All the pity in the world does you no good,
For in the morning light,
When you are caught by the sun’s open gaze,
You will not show your face.
You’ll go to your well-worn places,
Below the tree line,
As cautiously as centuries.

You know that if you scavenge too much
For love or warmth,
The kindness in another’s touch may kill you.
So you’ll stay alert,
Won’t you, my friend.

Forgive me, but
Perhaps you should look for love
Among the dying leaves
On those useless branches.
You could steal the warmth of
Their own last breath.

Or maybe investigate thoroughly,
The possibilities of winter’s thud.
That abandoned bone may contain
A scrap of marrow.
That last lick of love
Could be the salt to sustain you.

I know outside the snow lies content,
A simple gossamer stillness.
Even inside, the house sits safely
Cradling its good cheer.
Yet for you the air pricks like needles,
Welting your eyes
And hammering your heart.

To me, yours is a futile existence,
A switchback of ignorance and pain.
Your life may be a sounding of your spirit,
Ancient perhaps,
But to what end?

Your only chance is
To head above the tree line,
And fall into the sun.

Tumble into first light,
You should be the one,
Who jumps into spaces
Where others fear to be.

And there hunt openly
And use no hunter’s guile.
For love is not for scavengers
Fleeing in the night.
It is for those with bloody hearts
And blinded eyes,
Caught out by the light.

Luck hat

Dear Arizona,

My brother is so lucky. Good stuff is always happening to him. Do you believe in luck? And if so, how can I get more of it?

—Looking for luck in Louisiana

Dear Looking,

I was eating breakfast with one hand, petting my cat, Cow, with the other, and reading the back of the cereal box, when—"YOUCH!" I screamed. "Why'd you pinch me?"

"You're not wearing green," said my little brother, Tex. "Everyone knows you get pinched if you don't wear green on Saint Patrick's Day!"

"It's true," said my little sister, Indi.

I was mostly mad about getting pinched, but also a tiny bit glad about being reminded that it was Saint Patrick's Day.

I panicked. "What am I going to do? I don't have time to change. I'll get pinched all day long!"

"Well," Tex said, taking the old green baseball cap off his head, "you could borrow my lucky hat."

"But it's your favorite!" I said.

"I know," said Tex. "Just promise to give it back after school."

"No problem," I said, glancing in the mirror on my way out the door. "I look like a goofball in this thing!"

"A lucky goofball!" said Tex.

"Humm." I grabbed my backpack. "Thanks, I think."

Now, before I go on, you should know that I'm not an overly superstitious person. I don't believe that thirteen is an unlucky number or that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck.

I definitely don't freak out if a black cat crosses my path. And when it comes to things like lucky four-leaf clovers and lucky pennies, I just never believed in them.

Anyway, I was racing to catch the school bus, and I saw a dollar on the sidewalk! I looked around to see if anyone was looking for it, but people just kept stepping on the poor thing, so I decided to rescue it. I'd found pennies and nickels before, but never a dollar!

Then, I didn't miss the bus, because the bus was even later than me——which never happens!

My luck didn't stop there. Carlos and Jackson were sitting behind me, quizzing each other on spelling words. I turned around and said, "You guys know that test isn't till tomorrow, right?"

"It got switched to this morning," said Jackson. "Remember? There's some assembly tomorrow."

"That's right-I totally forgot!" I said. "I'm so lucky that I sat in front of you. If I hadn't , I wouldn't have found out till it was too late!"

I got out my spelling words, studied all the way to school. And ended up acing the test!

The minute I got home, I gave Tex a gigantic hug.

"This is the luckiest hat in the world," I said. "I'm never taking it off!"

"But you promised to give it back!" said Tex.

"I know, but…" I pretended to try to pull the hat off my head. "I think it's stuck."

"It is not!" said Tex.

"Please-oh-please let me borrow your lucky hat for one more day!" I begged. "Tomorrow I'm auditioning for the school play, and I need every bit of help I can get."

"OK," said Tex. "One more day. But you'd better be really nice to me."

"I will," I agreed. "In fact-here you can have my lucky dollar!"

Tex let out a whoop, then started dancing around and waving his gift in the air.

The next day turned out to be super lucky. My audition couldn't have gone better.

"Wow, Arizona!" said my friend Mareya. "I can't believe how amazingly you just did! You are so getting a major part in this play!"

"Thanks! You did really great, too!" I said. "But honestly, the only reason I did OK is because I had my lucky hat."

"What lucky hat?" asked Mareya.

"This one," I said, reaching into my backpack, where I thought I'd put Tex's hat since I couldn't wear it for the audition. But it wasn't there! "Oh no!" I cried. "It's gone! What am I going to tell Tex?"

Mareya helped me look for it. Luckily, we found Tex's hat in my locker. Also luckily, I discovered that I could be lucky with or without a goofy-looking cap in my possession.

"So it wasn't the hat," said Mareya. "This is just a wild guess, but maybe it was all those hours you spent practicing over the past month."

"Hmm," I said. "It's possible."

So, dear Looking, I guess you could say that luck is a combination of being prepared, believing in yourself, … and maybe just a tiny bit of magic! In other words, luck may come your way, but you have to be ready for it when it does!

Ciao for now

Arizona

Career

Self Assessment:
Self-confidence, nice and enthusiasm as well as great passion for event management

Career Objective:
Over 4 years Assistant Conference Manager, Marketing, International Business and Market Development, securing new conferences, company image and productive partnerships whilst providing quality solutions to complex business problems. Excellent track record increasing business volume whilst developing accounts and organizing marketing campaigns. Now looking to continue to bring a continued, significant contribution for a successful company that rewards on merit.


Arranged conferences and seminars about Chinese economy, law, and culture, such as “Placing your Technology in China” in 2007 and “China Management” cooperating with Qinghua University in 2008Reduced advertising costs by 20 percent over three monthsEnlarged market share through advertising per email by 10 percentMy everyday work includes: market research, information analyze, topic research, speaker search, content management, advertising, feed-back analyze, costume service etc.

Thinking of You

When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky.
I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.
I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me.
Dancing with my moon-lit shadow
It does not seem like the human world
The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors
Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?
People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart
The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane
This has been going on since the beginning of time
May we all be blessed with longevity Though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.

Self Assessment

5 years full-time marketing experience in multinational company, almost 1 year experience in team management;
Have marketing experience for east & south asia country;
Deep involve marketing intelligence, positioning analyse, strategy development & implement;
Have experience in brand image building and in CRM management & maintenance;
Be good at find sale point and promotion chance; help brand to rising sals revenue under crisis period;