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EXPLORERS OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Some of us don't travel the regular roads and highways
Some of us use roller coaster tracks, canals
Dirigibles, underground tunnels in cave systems
Dirt tracks or snowy mountain trails to get from here to there
So watch your step, stay safe, keep hydrated, and above all
Enjoy the journey because, at least, in retrospect
You have already made it this far..
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ANATOMY OF PANIC
I thought I saw a drop of blood
Where there shouldn't be blood
In a fraction of a second
My entire inner environment changed
Hormones flooded my systems with the jet fuel of panic
My mind ran through every possible diagnosis
Faster and more dire than Google
Breathing, blood pressure, temperature
All sped up as the brakes of common sense failed
In less than a second I had gone from normal
To a life and death, flight or fight situation
Blood!
My shaking icy hand touched the blood
And discovered it was a piece of red skin from a peanut
(I love red skinned peanuts and eat them almost every day)
A peanut skin! Not blood!
What a relief!
My heart rate slowed, breathing returned to normal
My mind stopped racing around the race track of disaster
A peanut skin, that's all it was
Nothing more, except a few bad moments when I believed
Everything in my existence was in mortal danger.
It was just .... nuts.
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MY METAPHYSICAL MORNING
I hold the invisible hand of my tulpa as I walk
My mind visits my long dead guru for a talk
I ask my Guardian Angel to lift me up
While the wisdom of the ancients fill my cup.
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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
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
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
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
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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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 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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LAST RESORT
When we have a lot of considerations to consider
In a complex, convoluted, confusing situation
And every plan ends in "Yes, but ..."
When we are dumbfounded and spinning in circles
There is always the Last Resort
To ask the Universe for help
A solution, a clear path, a guiding star
The right person with the right word at the right time
The Universe responds to a cry from the heart
So once you send out the requerst for help
Watch for a sign
Prepare yourself to accept the gift of what
The Universe might offer you, in whatever form that takes
Because our tiny voices are made enormous by a heartfelt
Request for guidance.
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DRIVEN
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There are people who want nothing more than to explore caves
Or arduously climb to a mountain top,
Dive to the bottom of the sea, walk on the moon
Make useful robots or go faster than light
As much as any other urgent requirement
We have the compulsion to explore
As basic as the need for food or shelter
Or the necessary skills for our survival
But caving, diving, blasting off, or climbing
Do not promote the individual's survival
It only works for humanity's survival
In the long run
We not only live for ourselves but for the good of everyone
To come in the future
They can build on these discoveries
Thanks to those who must explore, expand, invent and know.
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BRAND NAME INFLUENCER
I put "Anti-Worry" cream on my forehead
And "It's a Beautiful World" drops for my eyesight
I slip on my "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" socks
I use "Kind Helpful Words" toothpaste, morning and night
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GUARDIANS
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A woman in a ponytail and a purple windbreaker
Ran down the road in front of my house
I saw her out the window and thought it strange
She wasn't jogging but running full on
I thought it was odd enough to step outside
And see if she was being chased by something
She was just jogging along fine, no longer sprinting
I watched her swinging ponytail disappear down the street
She didn't know I was checking on her
Concerned for her well being and safety
It made me wonder if sometimes
When I am out and doing something
There might not have been a Guardian watching me
Concerned with my well being and safety
I will never know, as she will never know
About the invisible watchers, Guardians all.
Who are everywhere and anywhere, ready to lend a hand.
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BECKONING BEACON
Even in my most troubled times
I can still see the light drifting through the pines
It might be the only light I see
But that light is enough to help guide me.
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AT THE BOTTOM OF MY GARDEN
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What kind of bells do fairies prefer?
Silver or Gold?
How can we know, who can tell us?
We could ask a self identified Fairyologist
Someone who has studied fairies extensively
But half of them say definitively silver, the other half gold
In fact no one has actually seen a fairy to check their bells
We can not prove fairies even exist
There are those firm in their beliefs
That they are the fairy experts
Having read every book and treatise on fairies
Books which are rather unclear or self-contradictory
On the life and preferences of fairies
If we can't rely on Fairyologists
We have no way of knowing what fairies want
Or what they consider to be an abomination
We have to make up our own minds about fairy lore
But one thing we know for sure
It is ridiculous to get in a fist fight or war
Having people suffer and die over whether fairies
Want silver or gold bells.
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BLUB BLUB
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The thoughts that escape my subconscious mind
Rise like fizzy bubbles to awareness
My subconscious makes these thought bubbles
In some hidden process
Like the rainbow bubbles in pink champagne
Or the turgid green brown blubs of methane
From some hidden dismal swamp.
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WHEN A WOMAN STANDS IN THE DOORWAY
If a woman stands in her doorway
That can mean any number of things
She might be guarding the entrance to her home
Preventing entry by an unwelcome visitor
She might be waiting for the first glimpse
Of a beloved person she is eager to see
She might be surveying her surroundings
Out of natural curiosity or concern for something
That got her attention outside the house
She could be getting a breath of fresh air
From a house filled with smoke or steam
Or unrest
When a woman stands in the doorway
It can mean many things
But if she looks at the horizon and sighs
She is considering leaving a situation
She considers irredeemable
Her mind has already flown out the door
And into the future
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ENLIGHT YEARS
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There should be a word for the feeling you get
When you finally figure out someone lives on
A planet in a universe you haven't visited yet
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BREAD CRUMB HELPLINE
The only way to love someone who is talking about ending it all
Is to believe that they won't really do it if they can only be helped
That they can be coaxed back from the edge
Farther and farther back, until we are in the woods together, holding hands
Looking for the Path to the Garden
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EYE OF NEWT
The only one who understands what an alchemist
Is really saying is another alchemist
Who can correctly decipher nonsense ingredients
Into a real life formula without a bit of nonsense at all
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SOOTHING SAYER
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The morning of the eclipse everything looked normal
The Sun rose as usual painting the sky with glory
If I didn't know there was going to be an eclipse
Today would be just another day
Only the sudden onset of darkness across broad daylight
Would have attracted my attention, caused a momentary pause
At the cosmic event taking place seemingly right over my head
Even though the eclipse was precisely predicted a long time ago
A much longer time ago my mind would have wondered if the Sun
Would return to us once again and shine radiantly on all?
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ANNOUNCEMENT
Once in a blue moon
We can get rid of a pesky problem
By simply declaring, "This is no longer a problem."
(You can use a loud booming voice if you like)
Suddenly
It's no longer a problem
That means you don't have to worry about it
Heck, you don't even have to give it another thought
Because there's no problem to think about
Where there used to be a problem
Now there is open sky, rolling hills, clear running water
Whatever you want because you are now officially free
By Declaration.
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ECLIPSE WISH
I see London, I see France
I hope that we all have a chance
To see the World at peace this year
We can almost see the peace from here.
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IDEAL VS REALITY
How humanity should grow is to rationally and intelligently
Evaluate and design society so all are safe, free, happy
Wishing to benefit all with improvements
How humanity actually grows is to build, learn or acquire something
Immediately get in a brawl over it, fighting until all is rubble and ruin
Aghast, we paw through the rubble for what can be salvaged
When the rubble is cleared, the bodies decently buried
New more modern things are built, learned, or acquired
New roles open up for the lower rungs on the ladder of life
Policies are put in place, programs are developed
Life is good until the next big kerfuffle when everyone goes
Ballistic again
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THE RULES
Politics used to be a lot like sports
We were fiercely loyal to our teams
You had your team, I had mine
A good natured rivalry
Rah Rah Rah
With the rules of the sport and sportsmanship understood
And understandable by all
No one would have gone to a pitcher's home
And attacked their spouse with a hammer
Because that's nuts
No fans would have broken into a sports center to tear down
Any mention of the other teams
Making violent threats to guards
No, when politics was like sports
We were passionate about our teams
But abided by the rules of common decency
Now politics is more like a fanatical religion
With those who believe sure that they have a mandate
To destroy the other "false faiths" - and launch
A crusade, a mission, to completely overwhelm the infidels
No room for compromise or negotiation
There can only be one Supreme Being
But there are uncounted politicos who come and go
As the voters deem
No real religion says to torch the churches of the others
Eliminate those who don't share your beliefs
Politics is not a sport or a religion, however
It is a method of making laws we will all live under
Lawful behavior is the rule, the doctrine, the political mandate
The most good for the most people, the least harm for the fewest people
The sacrament of politics is voting, the peaceful transfer of power
Our holy ideal
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DRUTHERS
I would rather have a bunch of broccoli
Than a dozen roses
Roses are lovely
But broccoli is healthy
And I can cook
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THE PATIENT WARRIOR
The temptation to force things is strong
To insist on our way, right or wrong
To do whatever it takes
Until we collapse or it breaks
There is a gentler way
Patient kindness in work and in play
Mindfulness in all we do
The right results will come to you.
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BEGINNINGS
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Hang in there, you are molting
Getting rid of what no longer serves you
It is a chaotic time
The value of a cup is its emptiness.
You will fill your cup with what is right and fitting for you now
Like the Fool we must leave things behind us
Take the few important and relevant things in your little bag of tricks
And move forward.
The first thing the Fool does is come to the edge of a cliff
So be aware of every step you take.
It matters that you avoid that cliff
When the old gives way to the new
Also don't let barking whining dogs trip you up
If any come to impede or discourage you
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