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CALM AND CENTERED
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When we are calm and centered
We have fewer accidents, make better decisions
Cut back on errors of inattention
When we are calm and centered
We see with greater clarity, spend time wisely
Look after our health and well being
Getting calm and centered is the trick
Keeping calm and centered is an even trickier trick
But CaC can become a habit
If we practice practice practice everyday
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YOUR REAL NAME
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Remember when you were a child
Right before sleep
You would whisper a name
A name only you knew
A magical name?
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It existed before caves became buildings
The name grew on the Tree of Life
Plucked by a great angel
Spoken secretly to you at birth
And will be given as a password
On the Four Watchtowers
As you go to your dwelling place
Among the stars.
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ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL
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Queen of Heaven, hear my prayers
We have problems, we have cares
We are worried the bad will win
The Dark Ages returning once again
Yet time will eventually reveal
What the power mad try to conceal
That while one small voice might be weak
We are a deafening roar when we all speak
Though we might never get full restitution
We still have the Constitution
That sacred instrument is number one
And will lawfully prevail, when all this nonsense
Is done
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BASHFUL
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Until humans become more intelligent, educated and rational
We will continue to settle our differences
By bashing each other with weapons we devise
Nobody wants to be bashed
But many people want to bash things
So, bashing it is
Until reason, empathy and common sense prevail
Sometime way way off in the future
If we don't bash our way into extinction first
With an out of control inner rage we must somehow control
First in our own hearts and minds
Then spreading out to the world, and whatever worlds we inhabit
When the light goes on in our mind to show the way to peace
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WONDERSTRUCK
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When we grow and learn new things
A better way
We encounter the temptation
To reconsider all our past decisions
In the light of this new information
Information we did not have when we were making
These decisions, some of which were obviously
Blunders of the first magnitude
This reconsideration is a huge mistake
To think we were fools back then
What we were was uninformed, naive
A babe in the woods
Wide-eyed, innocent, untutored
Inexperienced
So, while we learn, grow, renew our minds
We never critisize our younger selves
For being wonderstruck
By the overwhelming spectacle of life
Swirling rapidly around us, younger us
Unwise us, now growing in wisdom and that great gift of time
The power of discernment
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ONE NEVER KNOWS, DO ONE?
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There is an element of doubt in many situations
Because there is always another way of looking at something
With a different explanation
If it is an article of faith, then there is no reason to keep seeking
If we are unsatisfied with only that belief framework
We can choose facts, science, news, research
Which changes year by year, sometimes day by day
Plus, we must have faith in our information sources
Knowing that perfection is unattainable by human minds
What it is, what it was, what it will be
Are the Cosmic Jugglers spheres of chance
Always moving, in constant play, hidden behind the
Seven Veils of Wisdom is Naked Truth
Which our eyes are not ready to see yet
Yet we sense it is there in our very bones.
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WHEN A GURU HAS A GARDEN
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When a guru has a garden
It is not what you might expect
No beds, no plantings, no weeding
Because the guru's garden is just whatever grows
Wild, uncontrolled, exuberant
The appearance of the garden is not the point
Food and herbs are not the point
Enjoyment of an observer is not the point
The point of the guru's garden is life
Joyful, struggling, chaotic untamed life
Happening all around the narrow path
The guru's reverent feet tread bare.
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SKILL SET
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The fastest runner in the world
Started out learning to crawl
The smartest person in the world
Started out learning to say Mama
We each need unique skills to live our unique lives
Skills learned, developed, perfected
Over time and trial
We can learn how to be peaceful
In our hearts and minds
We can learn how to express ourselves clearly
And respectfully to find common ground
We can learn how to allow others to be
Very different from ourselves
The stranger, the oddball, the nut job
The criminally insane might also have
Some redeeming wisdom or talent
Or they might just need to be shut out of our thought life altogether
Another valuable skill we can learn and develop
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YOU SHALL PASS
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What I need to know
Might be quite different from
What you need to know
I must trust and honor your process
As you must trust and honor mine
Each student of Life has important lessons
Taught by that greatest of all teachers
Trial and Error
In the School of Hard Knocks we all attend
The world being what it is
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SAME OLD SAME OLD
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While I can't say anything new
I can say something true:
Your very best friend
Will be you, in the end
So honor yourself in all that you do
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BUY THE BOOK
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Biblio biblio biblio mancy
A simple idea that sounds rather fancy
Just open a book, any book will do
To a random sentence, read it through
It might contain wisdom or it might not apply
But you can't bibliomance until you try
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KING KONG KRAZY
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Rudeness is a weapon
A dramatic show of agitated threat
To disguise the lack of intellectual skills
They resort to a display like a gorilla beating his chest
Hoping to win by intimidation what they can not honestly come by
Using information and negotiation
This display of aggression has no traction in society
Where manners and mores are the grease that lets the wheels of progress
Turn, baby, turn
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DESPAIR NOT
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Goodness can use evil
For the ultimate purpose of good
Goodness can not be contained nor stopped
But evil has an expiration date
Wickedness is unsustainable
While goodness, found in so many hearts
Lives forever, is the very fabric of society
Evil is trampled underfoot
While goodness rises on the wings of an eagle
And blesses each moment with liberty and kindness
For all
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BOB BOB BOBBING
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Spring, spring - What will it bring?
It could be about anything
Snow or a heat wave, rain or drought
We must wait to see
How this spring plays out
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I have Spring in my heart
A spring in my step
This could be
The very best Spring yet
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I first saw one robin
Then the whole flock
All is working flawlessly
On our Mother's clock
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PLAN B
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The vulnerabilities of a system become obvious
When there is a failure - sometimes a catastrophic failure
Of the current system
So if you have failed, even spectacularly
Over a long time
YOU ARE NOT THE FAILURE
The system might have failed
Perhaps a flawed system, perhaps misdirected efforts
On our part, based on the information available
At that particular point in time
There is a weak point in any plan
Which can be analyzed and fixed
As long as you don't become the failure
You can become the fixer and overhaul the thing
Or put it in the round file
A new path to success always opens up
For the resilient one
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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
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Nobody wants to be the fly in the ointment
The traffic jam on the highway of life
The pimple on the ass of progress
We mostly go along to get along
Preferring to not rock the boat and make waves
Until
A real and credible threat
Rears it's ugly unconstitutional head
Then we are prepared to stand up
And use every tool we can muster
Oh we might look like ordinary citizens
Going about our daily routines
In our chest beats the heart of a Patriot
We are a hidden militia, hidden in plain sight
We will not give up our rights without a fight
If we must take to the streets we will - to express
Our dissatisfaction with government actions
We hold these truths dear to our hearts and mind
Together
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GRATITUDE/ ATTITUDE/ PLATITUDE
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"This could work to your advantage"
I say to encourage myself
When events take a sudden turn
"No one can foretell the future"
I reassure myself when things look alarming
"Every cloud has a silver lining"
Words like a clapperless bell, but I repeat them anyway
"Where there's life there's hope"
This is embroidered over the heart
Of the ragged teddy bear of philosophy
I drag along behind me everywhere I go
A teddy bear named "All Is Not Lost"
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HERE COMES THE SUN
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When Ego pays us a visit
Everything must go their way
Because they have Main Character Syndrome
They are the star of the play
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Just when you start to get sick of them
You've had about all you can take
They can steer you off the course of reality
Because everything about them is fake
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It is best not to confront Ego
Best to just smile and nod
Until you can escape their orbit
Even if elsewhere is flawed
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It is still better than being a hostage
When the ego's agenda is done
Then suddenly everything's brighter
Cause they have stopped blocking the Sun
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The Sun, the actual main character
Shines warmly on you and on me
It is a wonderful equality teacher
And always the sunlight is free
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TIME OUT
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What we all know now
Is not what we all knew three hundred years ago
Or three thousand years ago
What we all know now
Is not what we will all know
Three hundred years from now
Or three thousand years from now
So, I hold what I know in this moment loosely
Letting it slide, giving it slack
Because knowledge is constantly on the move
We can but follow the flow
Knowing that knowing is just an illusion
A mirage
Existing only in this moment
Shifting with the sands of time
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PARTYING WAYS
A demon stopped by for a cup of regret
And a thick slice of fault and blame
But I've had this pointless party before
I'm done playing this losing game
So I picked up my broom
Chased this grey imp of doom
Right out the ever-loving door.
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UNARMED
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Two guys went out on a Saturday night
Had a lot to drink, got into a fight
They threw a few ineffective punches, wasn't much of a fray
They apologized and laughed about it the very next day
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Two other guys went out on a Saturday night
They had words about something, got into a fight
Since they both had guns they had a shoot out
The guns made a difference, I have no doubt
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We have our rights, but we also have sense
Why bring out your gun to win a fight?
Someone can always take offense
But a bullet can't decide who's right
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FREEDOM FIRST AND LAST
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We all want peace, but it ends in war
Sometimes we don't know what they're fighting for
All I know is I need to be free
To nurture and grow peace inside of me
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So many want to control our ways
Rein us in, take our days
But from childhood we have been wild and free
That is the natural state of you and me
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We do what we must to meet our needs
Our spirits unbroken we do as we please
We are willing to stay with our band
As we roam free, we take a stand
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No one owns your body or mind
No contract can be sealed and signed
That forces us against our will
We were born free and remain free still
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