Momma Said

Momma said patience is Heaven-blessed

So, I should just take a tater and wait.

She lived through hard times

(“Nobody had anything.”)

Leaving it all to the warm hand of fate.

 

Momma said calm is the kindest of friends.

“The long way around is the sweetest way home.”

And patience wins out for those willing to wait

And not rush the race to the final outcome.

 

Momma said truth is a constant companion,

Always reliable, won’t let me down.

But lies and deception are the devil’s disciples

Harboring heartaches, flaunting a frown.

 

Momma said troubles will knock at my door,

Panic may seize and frustrations perplex,

Pressures will squeeze and consequence vex,

But cooler minds win against knee-jerk reflex.

 

Momma said life should be lived, not observed.

Can’t join the feast if you don’t break some bread.

She lived by example. True to herself.

I’ll keep to my grave all those things Momma said.

 

Little White Lies

Passing unnoticed,

            Little white lie.

No one to protest.

            No voice to decry any evil intent.

No rules broken,

            Just bent.

Easy to let you pass by.

            No comment.

Easier still the next time,

            A new day

Falling from white to

            A light shade of gray, but

Where will you live by the end of the day?

Darkened by twilight,            

            Cold and afraid.

True to your purpose,

            Your colors remain.

No one the wiser.

No one in pain.

 

But darkness can grow

            In the blink of an eye to

Blacken the heart of

A little white lie.

 

Getting to Truth

Swoons in silent circles.

Hides in shadows

     Dawn to setting sun.

Layered frowns of ups and downs

     Reflecting choices one by one.

Subtle comment

     Sudden conflict

Battle scar that never heals.

Time records

     And hearts remember

Every lie the truth reveals.

Hidden behind walls of quiet,

Trampled by a thunderous heard,

Wrapped in rhetoric, overstated or

Vanquished by a single word.

Delicate on angel wings.

Balancing on tilted scale.

Market price?

Sold by the slice.

Sign in window:

“Truth for Sale.”

So it goes and

No one knows just

Where it grows from seeds of youth.

Its journey fair to bring it where

Bright beacons glow on golden truth.

 

Are You Safe Now?

We’ve been talking a bit

About saving the world.

It’s important to discuss.

But the truth is, the one thing that  

The world needs saving from is us.

 

We are the blight, we are the blemish,

The pimple that should be popped.

The villain, the scoundrel, the reprobate,

The virus that needs to be stopped.

 

Sucking the sustenance out of the soils

That took billions of years to create.

Treating our fellows with horrid disdain,

Spreading venomous vengeance and hate.

 

This is not the way it is meant to be

In this wonderous paradise.

There is enough of this marvelous pie

So that everyone can have a generous slice.

 

So, go forth, my kinsmen,

Seek fortune, seek fame,

Seek all that this world has to give.

But always be wise and always

Leave food on the table

So others may live.

What If….

What if the universe, as vast as it is,

Is only a small part of something more grand?

Something the limits of our simple brains

Can never truly understand.

 

What if the atom, with all its’ components,

Is really a universe we cannot view?

So tiny, so miniscule, we can’t detect it,

Concealing its’ secrets from our purview.

 

What if this old world was totally void

Of human intervention?

Whether you believe in evolution or creation.

A different kind of life.

A different purpose and intention.

A different destiny

With a different validation.

 

What if I should tell you

That the greatest truth of all is

It doesn’t make a difference

If you’re big or if you’re small.

You can always make things better,

You can turn gray skies to blue,

You can be that silver lining

Just by being you.

 

Is That All?

“I promise,” he said, “I will always be

Forever true. Whatever fortune

Comes my way, I will share with you.

I’ll stand beside you, be your strength

Whatever may befall.”

She hesitated but a moment,

Then said,” Is that all?”

 

“Are you kidding?” He exclaimed.

“I’m offering my heart and soul.

A gift more valuable than all

The world’s supply of jewels and gold.

I’ll protect you from whatever

Life may have in store.”

He waited for her answer.

She said,” Is there more?”

 

Seeking understanding he exclaimed,

“What do you want?

I offer everything I have, and

Still, you tease and taunt..”

 

When her reply was a mournful sigh

Emotions hit the wall.

And so, with a sad and heavy heart,

He said, “I guess that says it all.”

 

In the Jungle

There is a jungle, dark and deep,

Where countless secrets are defined,

Where questions probe

From lobe to lobe

In the jungle of the mind.

 

Do not dare protest to know

The inner workings of the brain.

A million questions answered, yet

A billion more remain.

 

Running such a frantic pace

As to give a cheetah hesitation.

Spinning, twirling, twisting with

No hint of halt or hesitation.

 

Struggling to calm and quell

The clatter, chatter and the swell

Of mindless clutter, oceans deep.

Impossible to make things still.

 

We may never understand the

Workings of the human brain, but

Our journey through the jungle

Will never, ever be mundane.

 

Boiling Over

Copper kettle boiling over.

Too much water,

Too much fire.

So many inane distractions

Tend to turn the flame up higher.

 

Kettle whistles out a warning

With a sense of urgency.

Begs attention in response

To quell the fierce cacophony.

 

Who began this process, and

Where might they have gone?

Don’t they care the consequences?

Don’t they know it’s wrong?

 

Why, oh why would anyone

Begin a task

Then walk away?

Seems so feckless and so reckless,

But it happens every day.

 

Red Sky in the Morning

Something about early morning

When the earth is cool and still

Brings a peaceful calm that lingers

Soft upon my window sill.

Lifted from sweet slumber

By the light that tweaks my eyes,

My heart beholds the miracle

That bursts upon the skies.

 

No sight is more pleasing

Than the breaking of the gentle dawn.

Red sky in the morning

As a brand-new day begins.

Brightening the eastern sweep

In dazzling display,

To light the skies

And tease the eye,

To get the morning underway.

 

So, brew the coffee hot and strong

To stimulate the senses.

Then sit and watch the splendid show

Before the busy day commences.

 

The Best in Me

When I happen to witness a true act of kindness,

It always brings out the best in me.

I want to reciprocate

With open mindness,

Without excess hyperbole.

 

Doesn’t need be complicated:

A smile, a hug, a friendly hello.

The smallest of gestures

Can make a big difference

In stonewalling worry and winnowing woe.

 

The larger gestures: the money, the deeds,

The role of the volunteer to those in need,

Designers of dreams always out planting seeds

So that others may harvest the prize.

 

Never asking for favors in turn,

Giving to others the only concern.

Eager to join, eager to learn,

Eager to see the joy in their eyes.

 

Giving with love,

Totally free,

Always brings out

The best in me.

 

Cosmos

A flurry of imagination

Begs the cosmos to expand

Til I view the wonders of the universe

And hold it in my hand.

 

Tease me, please me, help me

Understand the secrets that you hold.

Take me deep into your center

Where your miracles unfold.

 

Slip beyond the way that’s milky.

Launch to unknown galaxies

Where none have gone and

None can know your sundry eccentricities.

 

I have marveled at your marvels

From this marble where I stand,

But the breadth of your expanses

I will never understand.

 

If I live for all eternity

Your secrets would be safe and sure. 

For the cosmos is the only thing

That is destined to endure.

 

Communication

“We need to talk.” Four simple words

That send a shiver down the spine.

Might as well begin by saying,

“Something’s really wrong.”

Pardon me, but I thought

Everything was going fine.

Why must we talk things out to get along?

 

Now, I know the importance of

Sincere communication

In keeping a relationship on track.

And I will open willingly

And without hesitation

If it will keep the monkey off my back.

 

But there are times when

Less is more, and silence avoids trepidation.

So, pick and choose

For there’s much to lose

In mismanaged communication.

 

Right Now

Right now, things are looking up.

Got some bacon. Got some beans.

Got some money in my jeans,

Enough to buy a Reese’s cup.

 

Don’t need much to make me happy.

I’m a jolly kind of guy.

Don’t take much to change to crappy,

And I really hate to cry.

 

But right now, I won’t think on that.

I’ll just say,” Que sera sera.”

We can sit and chew the fat or

Sail away to Shangri La.

 

Plans are for the distant dreamer,

Impatient right down to the core.

Malcontent or desperate schemer

Always wanting something more.

 

It’s a long time til tomorrow.

Doesn’t matter anyhow.

The only thing of true importance

Is what’s happening right now.

 

On Being Human

Being born with all the tools

To shape the future of the earth

Brings a certain cross to bear

Of wardenship and agency.

 

And though we often falter in

Achieving our true worth, 

We cannot hide from or deride

Profound responsibility.

 

We are but a trifle,

A brief cycle in the span of time,

But while we’re here it should be clear,

We are accountable.

We can despoil or we can flourish

In this peerless paradigm

As we leave behind a legacy

That’s pure and proud and full.

 

Earth is not our toy to play with

Then just toss away.

It is home and sanctuary

Each and every day.

 

This I Believe

I believe that truth is

Our most precious commodity,

The only thing in life

That can truly make us free.

I believe in kindness,

Single-mindedness belayed,

Reaching out to those in need

With lives in disarray.

 

I believe that meditation

Offers stillness to my mind,

Offers peace and sweet balance,

Helps to leave all stress behind.

 

I believe in love.

If you find it, hold it dear.

True love never lets you down,

Will never disappear.

 

I believe in Heaven’s gracious promise

For eternity.

Without denying

Anybody’s right to disagree.

 

These and many other truths

Conjoin and interweave

To create the mangled network

Of the things that I believe.

Landslides

Mark the landslide’s devastation,

Mass upheaval, lives destroyed

In sudden seconds, tons and tons

Of earth uprooted and displaced.

 

Mobilize the apparatus,

Any trappings that need deployed,

To minimize the suffering,

To clear the chaos with due haste.

 

In the wake of wreck and ruin

Staunch survivors reassess,

Pick up any bits and pieces,

Deal and barter for the rest.

 

And kindness and benevolence

From strangers keen with empathy

Will fit the pieces back together

Just the way they used to be.

 

Fear the landslide if you must.

The peril lurks on every rise.

Just keep your feet on level soil

With no need to apologize.

 

Up

Up is the way to hold your chin

When the world has put you down.

Up is the incline of your lips

That forms a smile from a cheerless frown.

 

Up is a million miles in space

And many millions more.

Up is a thumb to indicate

It was just what we were looking for.

 

Up the river. Up the creek

With paddle or without.

Up each morning bright and early.

That’s what life is all about.

 

Up to snuff, fit as a fiddle,

Ready for whatever comes.

Up to date on rhymes and rhythms,

Quite prepared to pound the drums.

 

Up is more than a direction,

More than we propose to know.

When we’ve fallen to the bottom,

Up is the only way to go.

 

I Don’t Get It

Why do people stretch the truth

To a point where it will surely snap?

I swear, as a child, if I’d done such tricks

My rear would have felt the razor strap.

 

And why should these liars think others so shallow

That they cannot see past their rants?

If only that time-ridden adage was true,

We could tell by the sudden fire in their pants.

 

Luckily, most people are of good nature,

Trusting and forthright, noble and kind,

But also naive, often prone to fall victim

To swindlers whose moral conscience is blind.

 

Must always be vigilant. Must be aware

Of the villains and varmints lurking about

Who will lie and deceive without worry or care

And leave the world reeling in doubt.

 

Here is the answer, my best advice,

Which I offer with wisdom and couth.

You won’t have to remember about lies you might tell

If you always tell the truth.

 

 

Going, Going, Going Still

Time is a universal fact.

It only moves in one direction.

Never yielding to mistake,

The closest thing to pure perfection.

 

Humans, on the other hand,

Keep starting, stopping, backing up,

Sideways, longways, upside-down-ways,

Worried about that half-filled cup.

 

But time is a soldier, marking cadence.

One to two to three and four.

Hut! Repeat, repeat again to

Infinitum evermore.

 

Time was here before beginnings.

Time continues past the end.

Time will never need to know what it means

To begin again.

 

And when we all have made our climb

And passed beyond that lonesome hill,

Time will keep on marching strong,

Going, going, going still.

 

 

Catch Phrase

Do you have a catch phrase?

Something you are prone to say

In certain situations

Regardless of the time of day.

 

You might simply blurt it out

Without a doubt that it applies

To every situation that may

Likely come your way.

 

My catch phrase is ‘Excellent.’

A term of swift acknowledgement

To honor and congratulate a

Happy positive event.

 

Getting married? Excellent!

Having a baby? Heaven sent.

You can name it after me

And that would be just excellent.

 

Keep your catch phrase tried and true

And people will remember you.

Keep it clean and keep it sweet

For all to echo and repeat.

 

Rain Coming Down

Gently on my window sill

Tiny pellets sound their voices

Telling me the clouds are weeping,

Giving up their provender.

 

Nestled soundly in my chair

I hark and happily rejoice in

The cycle of life-giving rain

Those fleeting melodies infer.

 

In the distance, faint but growing,

Rolls on rolls of thunder grumble.

Praying that the storm clouds slacken,

Feeling frayed and slightly humble.

 

But the rain, my fervent friend,

Speaks with unrelenting ease,

Seeking shallows to be filled

To nourish flowers, fields and trees.

 

In the grand scheme, in the end,

There is really nothing like the sound

Of the tender murmuring of

Sleepy rain coming down.