Empathy

I can feel your joy…

Your pain…

Your love… Your anger…

Grief and elation…

Your ecstasy and dark despair...

The empath extant in your air.

 

Looking deep into your soul,

Breathing your aura,

Stroking your brow,

Following in your broken shadow,

Mimicking your every move.

 

I am the master of perception,

Impervious to bald deception,

Harmonious to stealth compassion,

Sensitive to foil and fashion.

 

Sympathy, my handicraft,

Encompasses my fragile sphere,

Reaching beyond ethereal bounds

To esoteric atmosphere.

 

Borne on wings of gossamer

In darkened worlds that know no end, 

Seeking nothing in return

I find a rare, a needed friend.

 

Discipline

Discipline is passage that

Is ascertained – or not – in youth.

The gentle nudge from caring hands

That wheels the circle round.

 

The unbelieving attitude

That masquerades as hidden truth

Until the will of self-controlled 

Composure can be found.

 

Difficult to learn the drill,

To find the will to see it through

When patronizing ne’er-do-wells

Come prancing round the May-Day pole

Taunting undue governance,

A vitriolic pill to chew,

Creating arduous obstacles

To grasping final goals.

 

Only after all the trials to

Bring about a fruitful end

Can day’s end leave a heart with smiles

And discipline becomes a friend.

 

Discretion

No, thank you, I’ll pass.

Temptation be damned.

Let prudence prevail

Where desire glints its spark.

 

Only a fool storms the castle gates

Without a plan

To get back to his mark.

 

Wrestle with conscience a while

If you must

In running the bluff

Between just and unjust,

And saddle your forethought

With judicious trust

While caution and tact

Write their names in the dust.

 

The rules of discretion ride

Cool in the air,

The scion of solicitude.

Soul of a diplomat,

Sight of a seer,

Patient, dynamic and shrewd.

 

Discernment

Lord, give me the insight

To comprehend the many

Dilemmas I face,

And a sense of awareness to

Wear like a friend

To keep my feet firmly in place.

 

Gasping for wisdom and

Searching for vision to

Foresee the end of the race, while

Winging a prayer and

Completely dependent on

Copious eminent grace.

 

Swift, level judgement,

My cold sober friend,

Delivered in haphazard haste,

Considered but little and

Caught in the middle

Can only bring heartache and waste.

 

We strive for perfection

In shards of perception

With steps we can never retrace.

 

Diligence

There are no handy shortcuts

When it comes to competence, and a

Failure to commit can

Leave one sitting on the fence 

Until a trifle of a trouble

Can evolve a prominence

In the helter-skelter

Swelter of the day.

 

With the conscientious notion

And a touch of eloquence

Moving in a constant motion

With no slovenly pretense,

Ever-tireless to attention

Brimming in self-confidence

The solution can become

An old cliché.

 

So, be mindful to take care

Achieving earnest excellence.

The tariff for success is

Herculean diligence.

 

Devotion

Wonderful to know that you will

Always stand beside me.

Even more to vow

I’ll be forever there for you.

The caring and the sharing

Like the petals of a rose

Surrounding and enfolding

In a dulcet billet-doux.

 

The notion of emotion

Is the potion we require

For the motion of devotion

To fulfill our hearts desire. 

And though we face erosion if

Trust cannot be maintained,

I would slay a hundred dragons to

Be by your side again.

 

You are my Penelope,

My faithful, tried and true,

And I, your brave Ulysses,

Shall devote myself to you.

 

Determination

In the rumble crumble circus of

Intensity and grit

It’s a jumble not to stumble,

Tell yourself you shouldn’t quit.

You may mumble as you grumble.

Try to make the pieces fit,

Staying humble as you tumble

From the highest parapet.

 

But persistence in this instance

Is the truest way to go

With a penchant for insistence

Striving hard to run the show.

While you take a stance to brave the dance

And test the afterglow,

With vigilance you can advance

Like falling dominos.

 

With resolve and pure conviction

And an unrelenting drive

There’s no level of affliction

In the world you can’t survive.

 

 

Dependability

Just knowing that you’ll be there

When forever starts to fade

And a wrinkled brow bears

Witness to our vows

Creates a peaceful presence of

Unfailing surety that

You’ll always be my when

And where and how.

 

And I will ever steadfast be

Through pleasure and through pain

With every precious moment that we share.

We’ll walk together hand in hand in

Sunshine or through fields of rain

And spread our joy with people everywhere.

 

And I will be the one you can rely on,

While in return you can depend on me.

A history of honor and devotion

And the pleasure of your faithful company.

 

If only everyone

Could know the feeling,

Imagine how much better life could be.

Depending on the trust we build together,

All the world could live in harmony.

 

Curiosity

They say curiosity killed the cat,

An attribute much overstated.

His quest to explore opens many a door

Until his desires are sated.

 

They say there are some things

It’s best not to know,

Though inquiring minds tend to pry.

Without their endeavors life’s secrets may never

Be privy to quizzical eyes.

 

They say nosey people are just an annoyance,

A pique to the meek and the mild,

But crazed looky-loos can give wings to the news

That can spread like a fire in the wild.

 

They say that a child may be seen, but keep mute.

Don’t interrupt adults at play.

They need to keep quiet and stir not a riot

No matter what cruel adults say.

 

I say there’s a need for a curious cause.

Without them where would progress be?

No one to implore, no one to explore,

No champion of diversity, So,

Go ask your questions,

Pose fearless suggestions,

Dance boldly in sweet reverie.

 

Creativity

I love being lost in the live company

Of people steeped in talent and originality.

To watch the caterpillar morph

Into a butterfly

And spread exquisite supple wings

In prayer toward the sky.

 

The vision and the genius of

Keen ingenuity

Absolves ideas from the bonds of

Vacuous obscurity.

Once unleashed, the limits of

Free inspiration fly

Into a new unfettered rush

Beyond perception’s weary eye.

 

Digging deep into the folds of

Grandiose imagination, 

The profits of inventive minds

Breathe magic to the air.

Giving life to new concepts of

Crafty innovation,

Spreading optimistic hope to

All who listen, learn and care.

 

Courtesy

“May I help you?”

“Thank you.” “Please.”

“Beg your pardon.”

“Yes, I agree.”

A cheerful “Bless you” when I sneeze.

Courtesy is made of these.

 

“After you. Please, go ahead.”

“Won’t you sit and break some bread?”

Can’t read what’s inside your head, so

Some things better left unsaid.

 

Fair to you is fair to me,

The boon of reciprocity,

The bedrock of civility,

The heather’s breath upon the breeze.

 

Every heart craves sympathy

With soft indulgent chivalry,

The precursor to comity and

Laughable affability.

 

So, grace be kind and courteous

Replete with geniality,

And life be kind to bear in mind

That this is how it’s meant to be.

 

Courage

Courage dwells not in the fight, for

The melee yields no vindication.

The truly brave will find a way

To mediate a situation fraught

With angst and argument,

A good old-fashioned donnybrook.

Tis in the pause he finds a cause

To contemplate a second look.

 

Comes a time when courage means

The acumen to walk away

When bellicose belligerence might

Seem the watchword of the day.

But lion’s roar and tiger’s teeth

Expire on the spit,

While prudence and discretion are

The archetype of true grit.

 

There is a grace in courage

To impede the inner fiend,

To rein the fire of unrest and

Capture dawning’s gleam.

 

Cooperation

I will if you will if she will if he…

Life flows as it grows and

We find synergy.

But no one can know what

The answer should be til

The barrister files the defendant’s plea.

 

Can I depend on…?

Will you, or no?

Can we move forward?

Who’s running this show? Can

We find ample compromise apropos

And come to some fair remedy?

 

It matters for nothing who’s right, who is wrong,

Who has clout, who has leverage,

Who’s weak or who’s strong.

What matters, in truth, is how we get along

In deciding and guiding our destiny.

 

So, tell me, please, what can I do

To see it through til the race is run?

In symbiotic harmony

We can agree.

We can get this done.

 

Consideration

The limits of respect and favor

Stretch unbounded on all sides,

Gameless, blameless, even shameless,

No one can intimidate the

Dauntless steed upon whose back

Consideration rides.

The simple truth of tact is

Far too valued to innumerate

 

Nothing wrong with looking inward

Where desire is overgrown,

But the sweet reality is knowing

We are not alone.

 

Every other has a need,

A passion and a dream

Furious to score the spotlight,

Desperate enough to scheme.

 

We are wise to sate the selfdom,

Gorge the goblin with respect.

In the end and in return

We get back more than we expect.

 

Confidence

Children learn from tender years

About the little train that could

Who had to overcome some somber doubts

Before he understood

Determination, clear and simple,

Magnifies the likelihood of

Reaching cherished destinations

The way he always hoped he would.

 

Every arduous situation,

Every frown or cautious smile,

Every challenge to adventurousness

Becomes a test or trial.

And while the winsome winds of

Wisdom may not flow mile after mile,

The bold pluck of tenacity

Exceeds the need to reconcile.

 

There are times to back away,

To knuckle under in defense,

But passion and determination

Overcomes with confidence.

 

Compassion

In a world where hearts are hardened

From the brine of stormy seas

Pounding with relentless fury,

Battered by the broad debris.

Hard to deal with sympathy

And feel the plight that others know

When every turn tends to confirm

We’re drowning in the undertow.

 

Praying for epiphany or

Maybe some grand miracle

Where we might be a giving tree

And feel magnanimous and full.

Even with the smallest gesture:

(Kinder discourse, simple smiles)

New directions break horizons

Stretching on for miles and miles.

 

Choirs of angels beckoning with

Softness purified by light from

Somewhere far beyond the spectrum

Known to ethnologic sight.

Sweet compassion, mercy forward,

Filled with tender clemency,

Feathered with the grace of kindness,

Underscored with empathy.

 

Commitment

The world can be a frightful beast

With gnarled fangs and cuspate claws

That author pause, creating cause for

Hesitation to commit.

 

Decision this, selection that,

The oddest twist of tit for tat,

The sinking feeling of concern for

Premonitions of regret.

 

Fear invokes the perfect storm of

Doubt and indecisiveness,

Trails lined with divisiveness

Of baleful bane and benefit.

 

Cannot opt for second best

When mettle quickens to the test.

Make a choice, reject the rest

With no prerequisite.

 

There’s no need to please the masses.

Seize the moment ere it passes.

This may be the perfect fit

If fate is kind and you commit.

 

Cleanliness

I cannot speak to Godliness, as

It’s never been my bailiwick.

If holy scripture was my sea

I’d wind up floating like a brick.

 

But cleanliness is something that,

As age advances, I embrace with

Open visage as a sign of

Elegance and humble grace.

 

The great unwashed may have their reasons,

Muck and mud may have a season, but

It seems barely short of treason

With soap and water near at hand.

 

Stop the crying, no more sighing,

Doesn’t take a lot of trying.

There is simply no denying,

No way to misunderstand.

 

Nasty has a time and place.

Grungy has its hour,

But when the dirty work is done

Be kind enough to bathe or shower.

 

Caution

Danger walks on narrow paws. It

Prowls and stalks on quiet haunches,

Shadowing the tremulous and fearful

Masses to their peril.

 

Virgin corners wreak from watchful

Challenges of gut and grit

Putting mind and matter to the test

Against the fit and feral.

 

Little wonder caution speaks in

Measured whispers, “Warning, warning.

Take your time as you approach

This nameless path. Use extra care.”

 

Break the reckless roller coaster rush

That wants to bleed the bone by

Heading herald’s harbinger to

Sidestep hazard’s baited snare.

 

Choices seethe with consequences

Where the seas of fortune flow.

Caution, deftly contemplated

Helps avoid the undertow.

 

Charity

Wedged between a smoky screen

Of muddled muck and clarity

Where choices wan to fits of pain

And hope grows cold and ashen.

 

No one wants to be the one

In need of parceled charity,

Even when the offer comes from

Kindness and compassion.

 

We are one when come undone

And standing in harm’s path

Where fate demands a helping hand

To assuage fiendish wrath.

 

Too often pride’s impediment

Stands staunch in firm embrace

Til charity is left to

Disappear without a single trace.

 

But when accepted as is given,

With humility,

She carries high her

Consequential banner of nobility.

 

Caring

God will bless the caring soul

With treasures unexplainable

To those whose focus can extend

Beyond their own perimeter.

 

Expanding auras often offer

Fostering that otherwise might

Go unnoticed in a world

Ambiguous and immature.

 

In the tasking and the asking

Will we stop to lend a hand?

In the helter of the skelter

Shall we help our fellow man?

 

We take and shake an offered hand

Presented with sincerity,

Then fill our hearts with kindness

For the plight of all humanity.

 

Haste to attend a needing friend,

Give ear to his concern.

You never can be certain when

There’ll be a lesson to be learned.

 

Bravery

I’d like to think that I am brave,

But in the ‘over all’ of things

I shudder as I stutter and I

Wonder just what I would do

If, when confronted with the dangers

Tribulation often brings,

I would rise to the occasion

Or melt into a mound of goo.

 

Face to face with fierce encounter

Might I find the fearless fervor

To resist the fancy of flight,

Stay my station, test my might.

Or do I quiver, shake and shiver

Ever hapless to deliver,

Fearful to rise to the height and

Do what I believe is right.

 

Mournful woe? Unnecessary.

No want for reckless rant or rue.

When time sings out for bravery

I’m sure I will do what I have to do.

 

Benevolence

Ply me not with compensation

For any gift of charity.

I ask for nothing in return

But commonplace civility.

 

Many may, in many ways,

Begrudge blind generosity

With but one question to be answered:

“What’s in it for me?”

 

Benevolence begs no return,

No payment for its gracious favor.

All it needs are fronds of fondness

Bathed in altruistic flavor.

 

Kindness makes its own reward

To stroke congenial behavior.

Steadfast to the test of time

Its sweetness is a treat to savor.

 

The world may judge us with despair,

Devoid of human common sense,

But praise to he whose epilogue

Is one of pure benevolence.

 

Assertiveness

Power is born from a fearless thirst

Of fierce combustibility

That must be sated at all cost,

But begs responsibility.

 

Must admit to overstepping,

Hardly taking time for prepping or

Thinking through before accepting

Sense and sensibility.

 

Vaulting forward in a rush of

Mad disquiet brushed and flushed

And pounded into paltry dust

Til all control is lost.

 

Wait! Back up and start again.

Consider what it takes to win

And keep your conscience as a friend,

All while pondering the cost.

 

Nothing wrong with taking charge;

Someone has to do it.

But ego oft gets in the way

And before you know the score…

You blew it.

 

Accountability

Not my fault,

            Not your fault,

                        Not their fault,

Not our problem.

 

Yes, things happen. Understood.

Mixed results both bad and good.

Did we? Should I? Wish we could’ve

Made a better stratagem.

 

Owners need to take the knock,

Shouldn’t be a test of will.

Time for someone to step up to

Take control and foot the bill.

 

Prone to seek the easy out,

To hide behind convenient lies.

But lies are feeble to disguise

The truth echoed in guilty eyes.

 

Let me stand the reprimand,

Bear the blame for all to see.

Justice finds its best reward  

Linked with accountability.

 

Acceptance

I waft a sigh,

Suppress a cry,

Considering alternatives.

This one, that one, which one

Holds the recipe acceptance gives.

Must I seek to die to find

That Xanadu where comfort lives

Or is there something in between

Where hope can breathe

And life forgives?

Acceptance is the thorny prize,

The brass ring on the carousel.

The more often we can grab it

The less likely we are bent to fail.

The process may be fraught with doubt,

Denial and anger too may follow

And pride may tend to overstep

To make decisions hard to swallow,

A step away from yea or nay,

A courtship of insanity,

The last step in the grieving process,

The first step toward humanity.

 

We Are But Flesh

We are but flesh,

Muscle and bone

Housing a miracle known as life.

Blood-pulse nourishing every breath

Daylight to midnight,

Winter to fall.

 

Keen for awareness

Looking for answers

Even before the questions are spoken,

Vaulting a world of trivial madness,

Seeking everlasting peace.

 

Guidance of angels

Brilliance of aura

Never to dally where substance is void.

Searching the sky

For something beyond

This meager existence

That dwarfs the self.

 

We are but flesh

Muscle and bone,

Silent in stealth

But never alone.