Daniel Rajala

Daniel Rajala was born in Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) and grew up in Campbell River, B.C. where he graduated from High School. He attended the Vancouver School of Art from 1973 to 1978; graduated with a Diploma in Painting and did a Post Graduate year with Don Jarvis. The first poem he had published was 'Last Dance with Cocaine' in the Minus Tides magazine out of Courtenay, B.C. in 1996. He did volunteer work at the Carnegie Centre in downtown Vancouver for a number of years; had many poems published in their newsletter and his poem "Diamonds' in an anthology by Paul Taylor, 'Heart of the Community.' He started writing books of poetry when he was living up on Grouse Mountain from 1998 to 2002. A member of the 'West End Writers Club' he has written 23 self-published books of poetry since then and has had three books of poetry published by Joe Ruggier and Multicultural Books, the most recent being 'Ferry Crossings.' He currently lives in Nanaimo, B.C. where he is a naturalist and nudist; one who sees streaking as the dancing of the spirit and inspiration for much of his poetry.



ANNABELLE

Annabelle clothes herself in
the finest leather and lace
and never wants to show you
what colour underwear she wears.
Annabelle has a big heart that
goes out to the jugglers and clowns
and helps the children of the street.
Annabelle hides a cruel side from people;
a Raggedy Anne doll with pins in it.
A broken China Doll with pieces saved
in the pockets of her illustrious grace.
Annabelle dances for the old men in
the hallways of a haunted hotel
wearing the twelve days of Christmas
on her beautiful and artful feet.
Annabelle is a light that shines in the city
as she makes her way home past
all the shadows that jump out in the night.



2,000 FEET ABOVE

Two thousand feet above the earth and
The hot, sweaty hotel room where I'm
On a raging bull doing all the cocaine.
All the crashed cars on the expressway;
The crazy entanglement of human lives
And all of the battered dreams we have.
Two Thousand feet above the earth and
Those acres of Hell I had to go to again;
Summer heat rising from the sidewalks,
The hi-rises turning to huge pillars of salt,
The fireworks above English Bay to watch
And the worlds of colour in the black skies.
Two thousand feet above the earth there
Are the wild huckleberries to pick and eat,
Gravity to hold hands with as a friend.
I'm starting to get a little taste of paradise
With a big orange moon smiling at me
And it was the best damn cup of coffee yet.



DIAMONDS

When there is no love
It can break your heart,
Makes you go completely
OUT OF YOUR MIND.
It makes you walk for miles
And miles and wears you out.
Sometimes in life you can
lose your family and home
And even your best friend.
Love can take all of that pain
Buried deep within the soul
Like big lumps of coal
And turn them into diamonds
THAT SPARKLE AND SHINE.



THE BLACK HOLE

That old refrigerator is
making so much noise at
night it is running my life.
A motor that just won't stop
going along with its routine,
with rumbling and rattling
every five minutes or more.

A modern convenience that is
rude and it's ruining my sleep.
It took me a while to figure it out
sometimes all I have to do
is turn it off and disconnect.
That is when I have peace and
freedom to travel with my dreams.

I got a phone call one night
coming from some place like Hell
with all kinds of alarming noises;
the kind Fax machines make.
I could hear someone shouting in
the background trying to get some
message from there, out to me.

There's a big hole in the parking
lot that they never seem to be
able to get rid of and there's
always water in it and I tell them,
"It's a black hole and that's where
all life comes from and people have
gathered since the beginning of time."