Focus

Listening is not understanding.

Focus! Damn it! Focus!

Filter out the smoke and mirrors

And the bogus hocus pocus.

 

Fixate on the target’s center,

Concentrate… Concentrate!

I’ll stay here until you get it right.

Don’t worry. I can wait.

 

Honing senses razor sharp is

Skill not mastered easily,

But it may yield the needed tools

To stave major catastrophe.

 

Every nuance, every tinge

To be examined one by one til

Doubt becomes a stranger and

The outcome cannot be undone.

 

Diagnose to finest pinpoints,

Unafraid of irons that stoke us,

We can douse the fiercest fire

If we can only focus. Focus. 

 

Flexibility

It’s okay.

I don’t mind.

Let’s just say, “I’m fine with that.” 

Get it done and

Then move on to

The latest, greatest task at hand.

 

Pliable to circumstances,

I can play the diplomat to

Find a stronger middle ground

And grow to be the bigger man.

 

My young Turk self far less resilient,

More resistant to mad change.

My way or the cliched highway,

The mantra of pubescent youth.

 

But actions and experience

Becomes a tempering tool

And time a patient pundit

Plainly targeted for truth.

 

Life is plump with problems

And alternatives abound, so

We strive to remain flexible

Until prospects turn around.

 

Faithfulness

I uttered a promise years ago

To always be faithful and true,

To take all the hard times along with the good

And forevermore stand by you.

 

It has ofttimes been more than chaotic

On this rough roller-coaster ride,

But I knew I could always see it through

As long as you were by my side.

 

The years may have weathered our outer veneers,

And our thoughts may be muddled with age,

But our hearts have grown closer and stronger

With the turning of every page.

 

All the youngsters have flown

Into lives of their own,

No more time for the old folks these days,

And the loved-ones who mentored us for

So many years have silently all slipped away.

 

Just the two of us now,

No one else to take care of.

Old friends have all drifted afar. 

So, we sit holding hands,

No words necessary,

And wish on our own falling star.

 

Faith

I believe it, every word

Brim to border.

Tell me more of

Fascinations, lamentations, exultations

Waxed and wailed.

 

Proof is but a juggernaut

Of misbegotten certainty

Pretending to be gospel truth

When little more than fairy tale.

 

I don’t need your crust of credence.

I have dogma all my own to

Battle bouts of boasts and bluster

Spouting theories past reproach.

 

Trusting in a greater power

Gives me strength a thousand-fold

To deal with any dreaded demon

Bent to make monstrous approach.

 

I will lean on faith abundant

When the wind whips wild and free,

Never rail in rants of discord,

Never seek apology.

 

Enthusiasm

Whoopie! Yahoo! La di Dah.

Yippie kai aye yay, my friend.

Move aside and let me at it.

I’ve got lots of time to spend

To make it good,

To make it right,

See it through right to the end

With all the joy, all the zeal

An eager heart might recommend.

 

Bring that here so I can fix it,

Turn a trick with flair and zest.

There’s no need to eighty-six it. 

Use me. Put me to the test.

Boost me with protracted passion,

Flowered with vivacity and

A restless sense of fashion

Tackled with alacrity.

 

Pumped and ready,

Get it done.

Doubt defeated.

Battle won.

 

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.