Learn to Be Still
sometimes the best words
are no words
letting the world speak its piece
not talking over it with fears
nor marring it by marking it
adding nothing to what’s given
remaining content
sometimes the best words
are no words
letting the world speak its piece
not talking over it with fears
nor marring it by marking it
adding nothing to what’s given
remaining content
You’re alone, in the dark.
With the light off
you feel
lonesome–
so lonesome
that you feel
like the lonesome
will haunt you. That’s
when you know that you need
to go outside and get some fresh
air and you do that and there’s
a boy staring
at you.
He likes you.
The next month
you marry him
and then
think to yourself
I will
never be lonesome
again.
Seeking respite from the news,
I watch the egrets glide in to land–
listen hard enough to hear them
splash down in the water,
drift silent as a cloud.
Out my morning window
the world appears unharmed
unmolested, herons glide by.
Ibis peck on orange legs
attentive to each morsel
yummy bugs in the belly.
Fog shrouds, silences,
the world holds its breath
waiting.
Windy rocky slopes
hold steady as whitecaps
crash without mercy
testing the firm resolve
of nature against itself.
The familiar cadence
sing barely remembered
songs known to our soul
where forgotten words slip away
yet we hum softly along.
The eloquent origins
we all once knew fades away
more each day as we
are reduced to us and them
as baseless hatred grows.
The song is within
everyone that will listen
to those who still know
the counted generations
and lifecycles labor.
while the sun was still shining.
i thought for sure that blood and tears
would evaporate.
i put my heart up wet
with the weight of lost love
and hefty good intentions.
i put my heart up wet
cause it’s often proved too big
and things tend to shrink up
when they’re hung out to dry.
“Someone’s soaking up the Mother’s energy”
I have no Mother, only a Father
He did make this ground, these trees
I wake up
and I miss you
and I want to call
or text
or send smoke signals
(Any contact will do).
But decide
that I can’t handle
the disappointment
today.
she rubs her cheek
against my hand and
settles into my lap with a purr.
she stays there for hours-
providing quiet comfort
even as my tears wet her fur.
her face has become more white
and her eyes aren’t as bright as
they once were.
I realize I’m still in my prime
and I’ll likey live a long life.
My vision begins to blur.
why do all the most loyal creatures
have lifespans that are so much shorter?
wear shimmer eyeshadow
add a cheek of highlighter
(eyeshadow also works for this)
most your collarbone with body
shampoo and conditioner frequently
– smell like flowers
smile as if it’s a special act
but laugh abundantly
but both should always be honest
go an extra mile
and bend over backwards
(every now and again)
care and
care and care
and care for everyone, including you
Have you ever sat so still as to have a honey bee take rest from her labor on your hand?
Or comforted a frightened child late in the night?
Or been greeted by a robin, while planting a garden in the rain?
Or had a neighbor stop by to chat then stay till dinner?
Or gazed up into wonder, of the eternal expanse of stars while roaming through fields of fireflies at midnight?
Or held the hand of a dying stranger, lying there gasping then fading, like fireflies.
Have you ever sat so still to listen and watch? To feel within the love, the pain, the joy and sorrow. To drink it in, to welcome it all, to hold it all, to feel it all and to release it all.
To smile and laugh, to cry and shout, to feel the pain of darkness choke.
To fly on firefly wings into the stars, to be comforted by a familiar embrace, to die holding a strangers hand.
For everything beautiful in life,
None is more so than love.
