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IRON-ICK
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Sometimes I start to fret over the time, tears, money and effort
I wasted
Fretting over silly things that turned out to be meaningless
In the long run
In the grand scheme of things
In the big picture
Instantly the pointlessness of fretting over
What I fretted over
Becomes abundantly clear and I move on to a fretless mode
And clear skies for the day.
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THE GAMBLE
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We all live in a house of cards
We must play the hand we are dealt
Occasionally the cards get shuffled
Then we don't know what to expect
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We get better at this game
Which still requires luck
If we blow up and lose our cool
We have to play "Fifty Two Pick Up"
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Your hand might not be terrific
Or it might be surprisingly great
Whatever hand you hold right now
Will eventually be shuffled by fate
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We don't know who is bluffing
Or hiding a cheat card up their sleeve
But we are always all in
Cause it's a game we just can't leave
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SOMETIMES I THINK I SEE GODZILLA
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Sometimes I think I see Godzilla
But it always turns out to be a tree
Yet, to this day, I sometimes imagine I see Godzilla
I wonder if he sometimes imagines he sees me
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RUSHING ROULETTE
You don't have to gamble to gamble
Because everyday we play the odds
Every time we do something
There's a chance it can go dreadfully wrong
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Since we can't do absolutely nothing
We make choices but we are not hasty
Choices that are mindful and deliberate
Are the best bet for our safety
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BALLOTS NOT BULLETS
Behind the scenes, under the table
A fig leaf that covers disgrace
The power mad, the greedy grab
This is where politics takes place
Is it any wonder things are a mess
In any political race?
I can't fix it, neither can you
While the fanatics scheme and gloat
But we can make our voices heard
If we get up and get out the vote.
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RECIPES TO BECOME OTHER CREATURES
Pangolin - scatter shelled organic pumpkin seeds on a plate and pick them up with your tongue
Giraffe - hold a lettuce leaf up over your head and stretch your neck to reach it
Squirrel - hide nuts around the house, forget where you put them, then randomly hop around the house looking for them
Eagle - spot a brownie a mile away, swoop in and grab it with your toes
Beaver - get a bag of thick pretzel sticks and gnaw through the center of each one
Lion - place a protein source on a plate on the floor, crouch down inching your way over to it, POUNCE!
Cat - put a bowl of food in front of yourself, sniff it disdainfully and saunter away
Dog - put a bowl of food in front of yourself, eat it so fast you don't even get your teeth dirty
Butterfly - fill small cups with fruit juices, hold a straw in your mouth and flutter from cup to cup, sipping from each one
Viper - slither up to a peeled banana, bite it, then swallow it whole
Elephant - stuff an entire bunch of bananas in your mouth using your nose
Monkey - put a piece of fruit on top of a step ladder, say OOOoo OOoo EEee EEeee, scramble up the ladder and hold the fruit in your mouth to climb down.
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OUR WAY
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Harmonious relationships are delightful
Not possible for the mean and spiteful
The way they speak and act is frighhtful
They are definitely not on my path
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Path people are working on their insides
Their ethics and their primal drives
Where goodness and mercy grows and thrives
The beautiful jewels that line the path
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Who wants to be angry, bitter and sour?
When we can be glorious beings that flower
Petals of kindly goodwill we shed and shower
For our beloved companions on the path
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NO POINT
Once upon a time, many years ago
When my sister and I were children
My sister stabbed me in the leg with a pencil
The graphite left a mark, a black dot under my skin
A literaral punctuation point like the period under an exclamation mark
A souvenir of a sisterly squabble that ended in violence
As they often did because we lacked any other coping skills
Not being raised in a household where kindness and communication
Had value
Something brought this incident to mind the other day
I looked at the top of my thigh for the dark spot that had been there for years
But it was completely gone
Absorbed into my ever-changing flesh, erased by time
As every act of every person will be swept away eventually
Leaving only "Once upon a time there were two sisters who fought
Over heaven only knows what or why."
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AGREE/DISAGREE
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When people are wrong, they don't know they are wrong
In their heart they believe they are right
Since they can't see your point of view
There is no benefit to fuss and fight
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I have been sure about something I knew
Something quite obvious to me
Yet later I discovered I was mistaken
Another step towards humility
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Not many can admit they are wrong
When they have their egos invested
But time and proof will always reveal
The validity of a belief that is tested
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We can save ourselves countless hours of frustration
By simply letting others be wrong
We don't need to add any aggravation
When it shows who was right all along
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GIDDY, YUP
Trying to control my thoughts
That I generate from inside my very own head
Should be fairly easy and convenient
Like riding a glorious Winged Pegasus
Through delightful and lofty clouds of reason
With intrepid me lightly holding the reins
Unfortunately, this is not always the case
Sometimes my mind becomes a bucking bronco
A wild racehorse, temperamental, touchy, easily spooked
Plunging and kicking while I try to hang on
Until I can gentle the wild eyed critter down
Soothe it with magical words like "quantum physics"
And the fact that there is no "there" there
Here in Wonderland, where I must make my own path
No matter how fickle my steed
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SEARCHERS
I love to do word search puzzles
Recently something occurred to me
The exact word that I look for
Is the exact word that I see
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The letters are all in a jumble
Yet give me a word to find
Suddenly, I can see it!
A clever trick of my mind
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I wonder if life is like that
As we look around curiously
The exact things that we look for
Are the exact things that we see.
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DUH MANI PADME HUM
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No one knows less than a Mystic
They have no idea how things should be
They watch in wonder as things arrive
They watch in wonder as things leave
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A Mystic has no way of knowing
All the causes and reasons and whys
The Mystic vision will focus on
The Divine in every guise.
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GAMBLER
Life is like a Magic Casino
When we walk through the doors we discover
What assets we have to gamble with
There are so many tables, one armed bandits, wheels of fortune
We can hone our skills but chance is a big factor
Always with the knowledge that behind our cleverness
And the fickle finger of fate
The game is rigged, very slightly, in favor of the House
When we cash in our chips and leave the Magic Casino
Winning and losing ceases to have meaning
The real question becomes "Did you have fun?"
Did you roll with the good times, shrug off the losses?
Did you have the time of your life?
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UNFAIRNESS IS OUR ACHILLES HEEL
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Instead of fairness, Nature has balance
Only humans think about what is fair
Nature works within ecosystems
Maintaining balance among the components there
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If we're in a situation
Where things are obviously unfair
This might disrupt our inner balance
It can blow you off course, so beware
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As others jostle for the top spots
Fairness might not factor in at all
Then we must maintain our own inner balance
So we don't trip up, stumble and fall
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GOOD ENOUGH
We can eat out of a chipped bowl
With a spoon that is dented and bent
On a table with a slight wobble
We can still be quite content
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HOT AUGUST IN NEW ENGLAND
This will all be different in October
When the air is crisp and cool
The leaves turn orange and yellow
The season of ghosts and ghouls
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The clouds are different in October
Raveled shrouds across the moon
The coyotes howl in October
Singing "Winter will be here soon"
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THE POINT OF POINTLESSNESS
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When you realize something is pointless
At that exact point you are free
You have struggled and tried repeatedly
An exercise in futility
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We don't give up very easily
But at some point we clearly see
There's no point in bashing against that wall again
At that exact point we are free
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AVOCADOCIOUS
This morning I had an avocado that came all the way from Peru
Three thousand eight hundred and ten miles
If I flew there to pick one it would take nine hours and six minutes
One way
I could fly back from Peru with my avocado for around nine hundred dollars
Yet the one I had for breakfast was priced two for three dollars
What a bargain, what an amazing thing is an avocado
It's round pit designed to move through the digestive system
Of the Giant Sloth, now sadly extinct
So we have replaced the giant sloth, discarding our pits
Wherever we want because, giant sloth or no giant sloth
Avocados will find a way to travel around the globe.
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DON'T FALL FOR IT
Prioritize your safety
First and foremost you must be safe
Before you move on to the next thing
Evaluate the steps you will take
To protect your life, safeguard your limbs
Shield your thoughts and mind
Secure your possessions and your money
From any skells you might find
It's wonderful to be a loving soul
Being kind and having fun
But safety and security, that is number one
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STAY TUNED
What will I wear? What will I eat?
What kind of shoes will I put on my feet?
What will I think? What will I say?
I'm going to have what kind of day?
So many questions, my hope and my doubt
I'll just have to see how this day plays out
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THE RACES
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Sometimes they go off to the races
Leaving only footprints in the dust
Racing off to do whatever
What they want or what they must
I wish them good luck at the races
I hope they have fun and are well
Sometimes they return from the races
With many a tale to tell
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IN THE PINK
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Fill your mind with happy things
Bubbles and rainbows and dragonfly wings
Think about something you can do
To make today pleasant and fun for you
Think about history, think about stars
Think about walking around on Mars
Above all don't forecast disaster
Your ruin, your defeat - you must master
The content and direction of your mind
Thoughts that are curated and defined
To shoo away fear, block out dread
Cause we're only as happy as the thoughts in our head
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THE REAL PRESENT
Regret is only the wrapping paper
Not a thing in and of itself
Only the outer covering of a gift
Tear the wrapping off
Inside you will find a jewel of great value
A lesson that will save you untold heartache and worry
Once you hold the treasure in your hand
Crumple up the wrapping paper and throw it
In the trash
You don't need it, so it can be recycled into wisdom.
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THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY
Today is the most important day of your life
Because today is the day you have
The future isn't promised to us
The past is a story in our memory
Today shines like a golden sun coin in your hand
What can this coin buy?
Anything you can name or imagine
At midnight your hand will be empty
The golden coin spent
Never regret what you bought with your coin
Like the sun at dawn, a new coin will be given you
You might want to plan a shopping trip
The richest person on earth has only the same coin you do
I hope you buy a wonderful day, a vital day
The most important day of your life
