END OF LIFE

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END OF LIFE SITUATION

My heating pad died

Stopped working, will not heat

It still looks like my heating pad

But it will not get warm anymore

It remains room temperature

Useless as a heating pad

So, what is it?

Not a heating pad, it is a room temperature pad

Which is useless to me

I unplugged it and plugged it back in several times 

Nothing

Pushed all the buttons vigorously

Nothing

Whacked it with the flat of my hand

Nothing

So now it is a Nothing

Even if it looks like a Something

It is not what it was 

What it is now is simply something I must responsibly

Recycle

Return to the cosmos with my thanks

For all the coziness it provided

I am glad it didn't suffer

But now my mind turns, as it must

To the replacement for the now defunct 

Once-was heating pad 

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SHUFFLE

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SHUFFLE

Hell is lit with florescent lights

While insipid music plays

The damned walk down endless corridors

And dream of better days

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THE GIFT

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THE GIFT

If a guru offers you a gift 

Don't accept it

Unless you are prepared for everything to change

If your hands reach out and you accept the gift

The valuable, unique, mysterious gift

You naturally bring the gift back to your home

Set it down gently and reverently 

To admire it in its new location

Dazzling rainbow lights beam out from the gift

Filling your eyes with glory

Suddenly the room looks drab 

Your perspective changes, you instantly see

How much there is to be done

Who you need to be to own such a gift

Perhaps a guru someday, and you can give this gift

To some new unsuspecting soul who will be delighted 

At first

So stop and think before you accept the guru's gift

Because bit by bit, hour by hour

Everything will change, rise, unshackle itself

From the mundane world you see now.

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DAPPLE MAP

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DAPPLE MAP

The patterns of sunlight and shadow

Move across my floor

Until night glides in on slate blue wings

Then they are visible no more

The patterns of hopes and discouragements

Moves across my mind

Until sleep moves in on silent wings

And I leave consciousness behind

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THE MYSTERY

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THE MYSTERY

At the bottom of the rabbit hole

Is another rabbit hole

Oh yes

It is rabbit holes all the way down

But no matter how many we might explore

No rabbit will ever be found

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CENTER

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CENTER

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Where is the center of the Universe?

Right where you are is the center of the Universe

How can this be? you ask

How can there be billions of centers of the Universe?

Heisenberg or Schrödinger might provide an explanation

Perhaps Einstein could write out an equation

Until then you will just have to be the Center of the Universe

Without credentials or proof

Except for that tiny place in the corner of your mind

Which knows exactly who you actually are.

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THE MAD HATERS

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THE MAD HATERS

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The Mad Haters can't be reasoned with

The Hatefields and the Malfoys will fight without ceasing

They are a tribe from the Hell-With-These islands

Notable for their belligerent ignorance and violent tempers

Can they be soothed into pleasant compliance?

Can we convince them to try reasonable negotiations?

No.

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