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NECESSARY
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It is a feature of the human brain
No two of us is quite the same
Due to a million trillion variations
We are each unique creations
Each with special talents and gifts
You are necessary because you exist
You are needed without a doubt
For a myriad of reasons you must find out
If you are not sure what is brewing
Just look around for what needs doing.
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FILL YOUR CUP WITH NOW
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Everyone has a now
You have one, I do too
Everyone that ever drew breath had a now
The great thing about now
Is that it is always shiny and new
There are uncountable nows for each of us
If your now is not so great do not be concerned
You can immediately hail a new now
Going in a different direction
And you are zooming along in the new now
Clean, fresh, uncommitted
Where will you go in your new now?
For me, I am driving my now into the kitchen
To put the kettle on and celebrate
The now when I will be holding the steaming cup
In my universe created hands
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BRIEF
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A flower a flower
Lasts only an hour
A life lasts only a day
When one is a mayfly
The day seems to fly by
Before a gentle breeze lofts it away
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WE SALUTE YOU
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America might be in trouble
But we've been in trouble before
Dealing with civil unrest
We've even gone to war
I have faith in this country
So far we have passed the test
But no matter how all this plays out
Our Armed Services did their best.
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TROPIC OF ENTROPY
Time silently glides by
Slowly, inexorably, but not invisibly
I look at the back of my hand
Where veins are increasingly visible
They look like the blue roads on a map
To eternity
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FOR SALE
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A big bunch of nothing
It costs time, money, effort, hope
It needs constant thought
The price doubles every few days
All this nothing can be yours
For a down payment of hopes and dreams
Then one huge lump sum payment
Of peace of mind, frustration and heartbreak
You pay and pay
In tears, prayers, sweat equity, good faith
When you are drained dry of any shred of hope
You get nothing!
That's right, nothing on a silver platter
Like a severed head
Resting on a slimy pile of lies and deceit
Don't miss out!
Get your nothing today
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SHADOW
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Doing something self-destructive
Because of unhappy feelings of rejection
Is like blinding yourself
Because a dark cloud drifted over the sun.
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PLAYDATE
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When a child meets a possible playmate
They don't evaluate their current net worth
They don't size them up as a potential romantic conquest
They don't case the child's toys with a felon's eye
They don't leap from their Little Tykes car in a homicidal fury
No, when a child meets a potential playmate
They want a playdate to have fun, goof around
Cook up a play kitchen full of shenanigans
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How much simpler life would be
If we could just begin things as playmates
For thousands of years all over the world
Every little boy and girl knew how to have all kinds of fun
With rocks, leaves, sticks, mud and found objects
Fun is needed by everyone you know
I am so glad to have you here in the playroom
We will have juice and cookies later but right now
TAG! YOU'RE IT!
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PHILOSOPHREE
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Some things are both a blessing and a curse
Like the concept of fairness - which is worse
To have the ideal of fairness in our minds
Which justice and equality refines?
Or do we just accept "it is what it is"?
Like a rabbit or bird, none of their biz
If the hawk, farmer or winter is fair
Surviving and procreating are the nature born's only care
Fate is neither fair nor kind
But this must not unhinge our minds
Seed by seed, grain by grain
Critters meet their needs again
That's as much as Nature can do
Your philosophy of fairness is up to you.
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HOLE-Y PLACE
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The squirrel baby peeks from the hole in the tree
That grows in front of my house
I have been watching these cute fuzzy baby squirrels
Since they were the size of a mouse
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A few years ago Mama Raccoon used the tree
She had beautiful babies, I think there were three
Then on a fine day she picked them up one by one
Carried them down the tree and poof they were gone
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Now I have some squirrels who peek out and play
From the tree with a very fine place to stay
When the squirrels are gone off into the wood
I will hug my dear tree and whisper "You did good."
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NO MORE WAX WINGS
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The human urge to improve things
Is perhaps the brightest spark of divine inspiration
Could Icarus have wanted to capture this awesome creative fire
To distribute to humanity?
Like he wanted to say, "Wake up people, look around. We can do better."
Could he have wanted to ignite the righteous passions
Of mankind, so we could transcend our lower natures?
If so, it was a nice gesture (with an unfortunate ending)
But unnecessary because our deep urge to
Improve, enhance, upgrade, refine and implement
New better ways of going forward is the very definition
Of civilization
As long as we see and know that things could be better
Fixed, or something new and amazing invented
Our divine spark of starlight is alive and well
Leading the way, lighting the darkness
Ever forward into the great Unknown
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FELLOW EARTHLINGS
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We must keep it together
We simply can't afford to lose it now
So much hinges on the next little while
We are bloodied but unbowed
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Our collective fuses must be lengthened
Our hearts can fill with hope
By efforts our resolve strengthens
Bit by bit we are learning to cope
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Be mindful of your state of calm
Maintain your inner balance
Just because the Path is narrow
Doesn't mean we can't dance
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EXPERTS ALL THE WAY DOWN
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When you want an expert
You don't want a phony bologna expert
You want a real deal expert
For the expert advice we seek
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How do we find this trustworthy expert?
We look for an expert who can validate
That the expert we chose was reliable
But how do we know the verifying expert
Knows what they are talking about?
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From a trusted source
A source vetted by a bunch of experts
Because it's experts all the way down
We must become experts at spotting the experts
By using our rational minds, common sense
And perhaps tarot cards and runes.
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WHEEL OF FORTUNE
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The numbers the numbers
We have to crunch the numbers
The pluses we gladly add
The minuses make us sad/mad
But the numbers do not care
If they make sense or are fair
The numbers decide the nation,
Science and our current situation
So we are stretching and crunching
Wretching and punching
Kvetching and scrunching
The numbers the numbers
Those pesky facts
Of days flown by and cold hard cash
We study the numbers night and day
To see what the signs have to say
The numbers can fly off the page
And enter our minds as fear or rage
We will keep the numbers where they belong
They are our servants, weak or strong
We are not victims of our fate
We only need to recalculate
Take those number from the shelf
Get them to work for your future self
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CHANGE UP LIKE PROTEUS
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I like a deity that can change their mind
That can pronounce something an abomination
But then decide that, on second thought
It is not an abomination, it is perfectly fine
This is a reasonable deity, an accessible one
Because everything changes, doesn't it?
New information reveals new aspects to a situation
New causes, motivations, capabilities
A deity that can change their judgements and laws
Is better than one that is stuck
In pointless consistency
That's why I like Proteus
Who is into change, transformation, playing with form
Proteus could even shape shift, perhaps into other deities
That we are more familiar with
Hypnos and Athena will help me if I need to persuade Proteus
But since he's such a cool guy, he's usually down for most anything
Though we will most likely not invite Hecate for now
She's a whole nother story
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PRIVATE PARTY
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We don't need the thought police
But we do need thought bouncers
When a disruptive, problem making thought tries to enter
The private party of my thoughts in Club Grey Matter
The thought bouncers will stop those problem thoughts
The Club is built above a much more ancient primitive structure
The Subconscious -- filled with fears, complaints and anger
Those thoughts try to sneak in
The bouncers will card and frisk them
Fold their beefy arms and block them, turn them away
Those burly bouncers at the gate keep things running smoothly
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PAID IN FULL
The wages of sin is death
The wages of doing the right thing
Is also death
So the righteous are not in it
For the reward
Yet they are paid in full
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DOWN BY THE OLD MILL STREAM
When a writer finds a source of books
About any significant topic
It is like giving a baker
A field of ripe wheat
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GRIM VOTER
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Up and down, over the top
Round and round we go
We must remember in November
We will harvest the seeds we sow
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PLEASANT JOURNEY
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I like to order a used book from Goodwill
Besides being economical and supporting a good cause
They are slow shippers
Sometimes taking weeks before the wanted book
Is unwrapped and in my reader's grip
At times like these I think of Thomas Jefferson
Who ordered books from Europe through a purchasing agent
The books were shipped across the stormy Atlantic
In a ship with billowing sails and a stalwart crew
The books, oh all those enlightening books
In a barrel, packed in straw or excelsior
Daring a voyage over water, one of the enemies of books
Some of these books eventually became the second Library of Congress
After the first library was burned by the British in 1814
I think of Jefferson's joy at receiving a barrel of books
More fun than a barrel of monkeys
While I wait for my online purchase to arrive
This means weeks of happy anticipation that my book
Like Mighty Mouse, Is on the way.
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PEEK A BOO SUN
When the Sun comes up in the morning
But you know it's going to rain
The Sun may shine for a little while
Before it disappears again
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We know the Sun is still there
Just hidden by grey skies
The Sun will shine on us once again
As soon as the storms pass by
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If you are having a dark and dismal time
If your sky is dark and grey
Let me hang out and reassure you
There will be better brighter days
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FOLLOW THE LEADER
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We dump all our problems on our children
So, we must prepare them to cope
By being wise supportive role models
Before we hand them the end of our rope
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Maybe they will come up with solutions
For the problems that vex us today
If the future can be a wonderful garden
The children will lead the way
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PASSAGE (SIX OF SWORDS)
Paranoia is contagious
Though the claims might be outrageous
If the germ of doubt takes hold
Suddenly our blood runs cold
What if all these things are true?
Can I trust them? Can I trust you?
This is the time for evidence
For asking yourself "Does this make sense?"
I only know the facts today
As for the future, who can say?
I don't want to walk around
Freaking out over every sight and sound
So, I will treasure any hope I find
While keeping a steady course towards Peace of Mind
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REBUILDING
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When you fall from the Lightning Struck Tower
You go flying off into the Void
It's a sudden massive upheaval
The one you worked so hard to avoid
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You fell on the rocks in the maelstrom
Nearly broken and bloody and sad
You use up your last bit of substance
To crawl inch by inch to dry land
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We bind up our wounds and sculpt new plans
We carve them from the rocks of misfortune
Little by little we rebuild
But this time on a better foundation
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From the stones that were thrown or fell
The boulders you didn't let crush you
Day after day you rebuild
Don't let anyone rush you
The New Tower you build will be better
Stronger and very well guarded
And to top the New Tower off
Now that you're feeling stout-hearted
There will be a beacon that shines day and night
To help the broken, the shipwrecked, the lost
Your light will guide others to safety
You bring hope to those who are tempest-tossed
So, if your tower is crumbling
If you fly off into the night
Reach out for the first solid handhold
Look for that beacon of light
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ACCUMULATION
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When all our memory drawers are empty
Because we are brand new on this green Earth
It is easy to throw in all kinds of things
Until one day the drawer is so full of random items
That we can scarcely close or open it.
And we have no idea what-all is in there
We hope it's something useful, that we might need someday
But we strongly suspect that much of it is not useful
That it is essentially junk, or worse, dangerous, hazardous
These memories pop up at random times,
Which is a good moment to examine them
For valuable content
The useless, upsetting, unpleasant ones?
They can go into the great dump of useless stuff
Those memories can be tossed into the abyss
They are biodegradable and will fertilize the fields
Of the future where we grow new pleasant memories
To place in the main memory drawer we will use everyday.
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WHEN A TODDLER THROWS A TANTRUM
When a child has a tantrum they lose all perspective
On the past, present and future
Of the entirety of their situation
They lose themselves in the experience of protesting
The unfairness of life
They are 100% invested in the physical act of saying "NO"
When an adult throws a tantrum
They too are entirely caught up in the moment
In the act of saying "NO" to the unfairness of life
Life will always be experienced as unfair and actually is unfair
The difference between the child's tantrum and the adult tantrum
Is the escalation of the adult tantrum and the availability of dangerous tools
To cause destruction, mayhem, self-harm or even death
The advantage the adult has is years of experience
To learn how to react to the unfairness of life
In creative, productive, nonviolent ways
They can use each instance of unfairness to grow past
Expectations and rage, until a tantrum becomes a shrug
A sigh, an "oh well" ... and results in no farther harm
We grownups need something better than a tantrum
We need a plan, a good orderly direction
To push back against the unfairness of life
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SCHOPENHAUER IN THE BATHROOM
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I met with Schopenhauer in the bathroom
And he said to me, " Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.
But there lies the difficulty.
For by a single unworthy action it is gone, irretrievably. "
This got me thinking about my own honor.
Oh, I have done some things I am not proud of. This hurt me.
It tarnished my self-esteem, which is the same as my honor.
To lose honor in one's own eyes is a dreadful thing
It made me realize that without my honor I am nothing.
I can't feel strong in my center if my honor is not strong
Over the years I have worked very hard to fully restore my honor
My word is my bond. I can be trusted. I can't take advantage of another's vulnerability.
No one can dishonor me with their dishonorable actions.
I came to realize that honor comes with maturity
Dishonor comes from childish fears and resentments
And when I was a child I thought like a child
Now I have a healthy respect for my self-esteem
Which is reflected in the shining surface of my honor
Honor is the wellspring of self-esteem
Fame means nothing, honor means everything
The philosopher didn't smile when I told him this
He has the lion's mane and stern countenance of a deep thinker
But he did wink when I told him we will meet and talk again
Perhaps about Thinking for Oneself, or Prosperity.
