The eagle’s wings spread far
Its shadow cast, deepest black
Blood squeezed out of every inch
Caught in its talons attack
The broadness of its grasp
Concealing the fragility of its grip
Let loose the dogs of war
As their domain starts to slip
Verbal giants become action dwarfs
They must grow or they must decay
The coming end is inevitable
The story always ends this way
USAsian foreign policy, anyone?
22nd Aug 2024 – Submitted to Ragtag Daily Prompt – grip
Today I’m feeling:
On the edge. I felt good at forcing myself up and exercising this morning. Could feel my lazy body enjoying the move and stretch.
The weather today is very English and ordinary (a little warmer than in England of course). Dull, grey and spitting light droplets of rain. The dim ambience is straining my tired eyes and as I pulled up for a couple of hours at House with coffee I suddenly felt tired and run down.
Hopefully the coffee picks me up for what should be a relatively straightforward day of classes today.
Today I’m grateful for:
The bakery shop next door to House where I could pick up ingredients for Amy as her first batch of cookies had failed due to too fine a sugar for the mix.
When I got home and tasted them though, they were the best so far but I could still understand why she wasn’t happy with them.
The best thing about today was:
Sitting on the terrace in the egg chair this evening after dark, with Tigger on my lap and rain tap tap tapping down through the canopy of leaves and flowers growing over the entertainment area. The temperature is finally bearable and I’m even wearing a t-shirt tonight, though I could just as easily not do too.
Anyway, it was only a few minutes but I savoured them immensely.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I was frustrated with Program (and Kwang) in my grade 8 class and asked him to leave after telling him to sit down on about ten different occasions. He tried to convince me that he was going to behave, but unfortunately, he can’t help himself and will just get up and disturb other people.
As I had said I would kick him out if I had to say his name again, I felt obliged to ensure that he left but he refused. So I told the class to just sit and say nothing until he left. He gave it a good go for about five minutes but Kwang eventually convinced him to leave and I carried on teaching and the class was great after that.
Kwang soon got up and asked to go to the bathroom, though and that was the last I saw of her too.
I didn’t let any of this bother me in particular; just wanted to put my foot down. We have fun in my class but there are limits and they need to understand what is acceptable and what is not. It’s a little sad because Program and Kwang are capable students. They just lack maturity and guidance.
I talked with Kru Karn again later but she was just as frustrated with them as all the teachers complain about them to her and she doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t understand why they are still in school as their points in our SchoolBright system have fallen below zero which generally means that they are asked to leave. Kwang’s current score is now -125!
Thankfully, my second class (grade 10s) was much smoother.
Something I learned today?
We have a new teacher teaching English. Her name is Sasha and she’s from Indonesia. She told me that she remembers me from visiting with the exchange program students last year. Her English is good and clear.
It made me wonder who is employing her and how much she is getting paid. I don’t think she speaks Thai, so I’m not sure if she is included as a Thai teacher and will be asked to do all the things that they have to do, too.
Anyway, I told her to ask me anything if she had any questions.
29th Aug 2025 – I’m guessing she must have only been teaching here temporarily as I don’t think I saw her again!
Review your acts, Good and bad.
Today is Nicha’s birthday and I wished her well but I could see that she and her friends may have been expecting something more.
A little later, I popped around to the cafe and bought her back a slice of chocolate cake, for which she was very appreciative and came and gave me a hug.
She’s a good kid. I hope that she finds her place in the world and that it is a good place.
1994ever 
“Verbal giants become action dwarfs” So true
Thanks for joining in 😀
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I did pull that line from somewhere else but forgot to note who said or wrote it originally. It was the main line impetus to write the rest.
Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙏
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