Wednesday, June 20, 2012

A for Abiding



Abiding
seals souls
to one another.

Abiding
is sufficent
to maintain
connection
however life
or death assault.

Abiding
requires only
presence
only breath
welcomes life
cradles death.

Abiding
seals souls
to one another.

B-Benefit of the Doubt



Benefit of the doubt
allows us imperfect
people to bump, whir,
turn in crazy circles
and still come back
safe into loving arms.
No benefit of the doubt,
no long term love.

C for Connection


Connection keeps me walking,
writing, dealing with  details.
Without moonlight moving through
my blood, your tears on my face,
unnamed spirit energizing action,
need to know the end of your story
life would be too much of a slog.
Connection keeps me walking.

D For Do

Do the next right thing.
Do it now. Mood irrelevant.
Do the next right thing.
Doesn't matter if you want to.
Do the next right thing.
Do it now. Do it while you can

E for Enough

Enough should be simple,
enough, not less, not more.
what I need, not what I want,
not what I believe I deserve.
enough, not less, not more.
Enough should be simple.

F for Freedom

Freedom from
is the beginning
of freedom to.

G for Giving



Giving is receiving.
Receiving is giving.
That simple. Always.

H for Hurt


Three choices
when I hurt,
beat myself up,
hurt someone else
or find healing.
If I don't make
choice three,
I'm doomed to
repeat one and
two forever.

I for I


I am the only one
I know will be present
at the moment of death.
I owe myself presence now.

J for Justice


Justice is too abstract for me.
I can't fly high enough to see
the whole woven web of connections.
I can only do what seems to be
the next right thing right now.
Justice is too abstract for me.

K for Karma

I don't believe in karma.
don't look for reasons.
Birth and love and death
happen on their own terms.
What I seek is a handle
to carry all with grace.

L for Life

Life is hard
and life is good.
And is the most
important word
in this sentence.

M for Men and Women


Male female differences
are fun in bed,
make interesting talk,
but are over-rated.
Men and women
are equally human.
No battle of the sexes.
fight together for humanity.

N for Now

Now
Now
Now
Now
Now
Now

Choose
Cherish
Work
Serve
Love

Now
Now
Now
Now
Now

O for Over-rated


Ownership
Independence
Perfection
Youth
Good looks

All over-rated.

P for Patience

Patience is a decent
substitute for understanding.
When nothing makes sense
sometimes all there is
is to patiently abide.

Q - for Quilt


Can't pick and choose,
hate stitching dead babies,
cancer, family fights,
into my life quilt.
Wish I could cull out
the jagged jarring pieces,
hog the pretty symetrical
bits, perfect moments,
smiling children, straight A's.
Doesn't work like that,
Gotta use it all.

R for Real


Real is better than perfect.
Perfect is an illusion.
Real is what I can give you
right here, right now.
Real is what you can give me
not what you wish you could.
Real is better than perfect.

S for Survival

Everything that affects one affects everyone.
Acting on self interest only is a time bomb
that will destroy us all in the end.
Considering the universal good is
simple survival strategy, no luxury .

T for Truth

If death is a cloud,
then life is a river.
Same element, same mass
only the form changes.
If life is a river,
then death is a cloud.

U- for Umbrellas (for Diane)

Umbrellas are for cowards
she taught me, before we
knew her words were numbered.
Umbrellas waste time, before
we knew her time was short.

Let the rain soak me.
Open heart uses no umbrella.
Tears of loss flow wet and hot
salty with life force,
Fair price for joy of love.

V for Victory


Give yourself to love
if love is what you're after.

Easier said than done.
I give in, give myself
to relaxation, obligation,
worry, anger,compulsion,
enjoyment, despair, hope.

Each time, I try again
to give myself to love
because love is what I'm after.

inspired by the song, Give Yourself to Love by Kate Wolf

W for Walk

Terrain provides the challenge
but movement makes the road,
defines the path, step by step,
determines changes of direction.
Just walk, the road will follow.

X for Impossible

X doesn't start poems.
Horses don't fly.
I will never carry a tune.
Some things are impossible.
Sometimes peace comes only
from knowing not to push the river.

Y for You

Sits on tiled table
between therapy chairs.
My niece made it in college,
heavy in my two hands,
deep green, smooth, cool,
piled with white pebbles
from wild Washington beaches,
speckled river rocks from
high Rocky mountain hikes,
polished spheres of amethyst,
smoky quartz, mookite, blue
lace agate, rose quartz heart.
Take them in your hand, roll
them, balance, examine, hold.
Before you go I will ask you
to choose a stone to remind you
of your own unique soul.
You will hold it like a treasure
and I will smile, because
that is absolutely true.
 

Z for Zenith

Seems like yesterday
I sat at my mother's
kitchen table overlooking
Disneyland, Catalina Island
visible when smog blew out
We packed silver dimes into
plastic tubes to save
for my grandchildren.

This afternoon my grandson
spilled his treasure box.
I helped him clean up marbles,
wooden monkey, silver dime
from 1963, unpacked from
plastic tube at his mother's
kitchen table on Texas afternoon.
Seems like tomorrow came.