can't leave it alone

Big Enough (K. Richards/S. Jordan)

No time, for weepin' baby No tears need flow Let no one tell you How you should grow - Yeah

Stretched to the limit honey Locked in the hole Hung out to dry Still on a roll

Ready, willing, able, and big enough

Run in the front door Run out the back Wall in your face and A gun in your back

No time for weepin' baby No need for tears Let no one tell you honey How you, how you should grow

Big enough Ready, willing, able, and big enough

The Hunter and The Hunted

James Opie The Chinese tell of a hunter who quietly approached a lake a spear in hand. He parted the reeds ever so quietly and there stood an egret, close to the waters edge, close enough, surely, for the hunter to spear. Silently, the man raised his weapon. He was poised, ready to throw it when he noticed that the egret was silently staring at something. The hunter followed followed the egret's line of vision and saw a frog, sitting on a lily pad. The egret's body twitched slightly. He was about to strike the frog and eat it. And then the hunter's eye went to the frog and he saw that he, too, was poised and alive with a hunters expectancy. The frog clearly was watching a large bug on the surface of the water, inches away. The hunter leaned a few inches farther and then saw that the bug, a large one, and watching a much smaller bug, also on the water's surface, was about to eat this small creature. And the hunter envisioned that the small bug was about to eat something even smaller, and that this small entity was also about to strike. Whereupon, the hunter looked up over his right shoulder, into the sky. His eyes filled with awe. He dropped his spear and ran!

The Strange Origin of Corn

Abenaki/Western Maine/Anonymous: A long time ago, when the Indians were first made, one lived alone, far from any others. He did not know fire, and so he lived on roots, bark, and nuts. This man became very lonely for companionship. He grew tired of digging roots, lost his appetite, and for several days lay dreaming in the sunshine. When he awoke, he saw someone standing near and, at first, he was very frightened. But when he heard the stranger's voice, his heart was glad, and he looked up. He saw a beautiful woman with long light hair! "Come to me," he whispered. But she did not and when he tried to approach her, she moved farther away. He sang to her about his loneliness, and begged her not to leave him. At last she replied, "If you do exactly what I tell you to do, I will also be with you." He promised that he would try his very best. So he she led him to a place where there was some very dry grass. "Now get two dry sticks," she told him, "and rub them together fast while you hold them in the grass." Soon a spark flew out. The grass caught fire, and as swiftly as an arrow takes flight, the ground was burned over. Then the beautiful woman spoke again: "When the sun sets, take me by the hair and drag me over the burned ground." "Oh, I don't want to do that!" the man exclaimed. "you must do what I tell you to do," she said. "Wherever you drag me, something like grass will spring up, ad you will see something like hair coming from between the leaves. Soon seed will be ready for your use." The man followed the beautiful woman's orders. And when the Indians see silk on the cornstalk, they know that the beautiful woman has not forgotten them. American Folklore Society www.afsnet.org