WHEN

 .

.

.

WHEN

.

.

She'll be coming round the mountain

She'll be coming round the bend

The mountain trail is so winding

She can never see the end

.

.

Onward she will travel

Over hill and over dale

Sometimes friends walk with her

As she hikes along her trail

.

.

There are many glorious beauties

There are dangers out there too

She must factor in the weather

She must make her footsteps true

.

.

We each have our mountain trail

Sometimes our paths converge

Someday we'll reach the trail's end

Where all our paths will merge

.

.

.

.

.

.

CH CH CH CHANGES

 .

.

.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

.

.

Some creatures, when they molt

Are just slightly larger versions of their prior life

Some creatures, when they molt

Change so dramatically that they emerge looking nothing like

The old version

There is no missing link, no Mr. Inbetween

Just one day it becomes obvious that things

Simply can not go on as they were

Change is needed, required, the only viable option

Then we need a safe cocoon of quiet and solitude

As the changes magically occur

(Because if this isn't magic, nothing is magic)

One fine day we emerge in our new form

Reborn, a new creature, a blessing to the world

With colorful wings and a new mandate of peace and good will

Towards all

.

.

.

.

.

.

VISITATION

 .

.

.

VISITATION
.
.
Out of the corner of my eye

I saw a ghost nearby

I sat very still

Felt an icy thrill

It hovered in the air

I felt it was aware

It was someone, I could tell

That had come to say farewell

.

.

.

.

.

.

UPHOLDING

 .

.

.

UPHOLDING

.

.

The Pillar of Severity is carved from the Rock of Truth

It is a Pillar that can never be moved

But it can bear the weight of sorrow and regret

To hold up the Holy Temple of Life

.

.

.

CALM AND CENTERED

 .

.

.

CALM AND CENTERED

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

HAS BEAN

 .

.

.

HAS BEAN

.

.

If we want to make a recipe with dried beans

We must buy the beans, sort through them for stones

Soak them over night and then cook them

Only then do we have the beans we need to eat

.

.

Was this preparation time wasted? Futile?

Of course not

All those steps were necessary for the finished product

The same is true for the uncountable steps it took

To get here, now

.

.

Regretting those steps is regretting the very nature of movement

Fruitful or futile those steps were needed

To get to the solid ground where you know with certainty

Because knowing something with certainty

With a united mind and heart

Is a very powerful place to stand

To see what is coming next.

.

.

.

.

YOUR REAL NAME

 .

.

.

YOUR REAL NAME

.

.

.

Remember when you were a child

Right before sleep

You would whisper a name

A name only you knew

A magical name?

.

.

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.

.

.

.

.

.

.

ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL

 .

.

.

ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

NAVIGATION

 .

.

.

NAVIGATION

.

.

The flashes of light

Inside the pitch-black cave of my skull

Reveal everything

Yet explain nothing

Like snapshots of fleeing moments

I must interpret and integrate these pictures

Into a cohesive narrative

.

.

They are all I have

To inform me

To remember my past

Plan my future

Orient myself each day

.

.

No wonder I make mistakes

Blundering along

Trying to plot my course

By a fickle moon on a jet-black night

While dense oddly shaped clouds

Scud by, parting for a moment

When I can imagine I see

The path I must take

.

.

.

.

.

.

BASHFUL

 .

.

.

BASHFUL

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

WONDERSTRUCK

 .

.

.

WONDERSTRUCK

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

ON EDGE

 .

.

.

ON EDGE

.

.

Is that pink glow the rosy fingers of dawn

Or a warning for sailors

Are those popping sounds holiday firecrackers

Or distant gunfire

Did they say "That's an interesting outfit" as a complement

Or a snide dig at my eccentric taste

New things are happening all the time

But are they improvements?

Time alone will tell, the answers are in the future

Near or far, we will eventually know

Best to remain calm for now, hope for the best

Prepare for the unexpected, and make this day count

Towards your peace and happiness

.

.

.

.

.

.

ONE NEVER KNOWS, DO ONE?

 .

.

.

ONE NEVER KNOWS, DO ONE?

.

.

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.

.

.

.

.

.

.

WHEN A GURU HAS A GARDEN

 .

.

.

WHEN A GURU HAS A GARDEN

.

.

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.

.

.

.

.

.

.

SKILL SET

 .

.

.

SKILL SET

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

YOU SHALL PASS

 .

.

.

YOU SHALL PASS

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

SAME OLD SAME OLD

 .

.

.

SAME OLD SAME OLD

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

BUY THE BOOK

 .

.

.

BUY THE BOOK

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

KING KONG KRAZY

 .

.

.

KING KONG KRAZY

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

DESPAIR NOT

 .

.

.

DESPAIR NOT

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

BOB BOB BOBBING

 .

.

.

BOB BOB BOBBING

.

.

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

.

.

I have Spring in my heart

A spring in my step

This could be

The very best Spring yet

.

.

I first saw one robin

Then the whole flock

All is working flawlessly

On our Mother's clock

.

.

.

.

.

.

PLAN B

 .

.

.

PLAN B

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

 .

.

.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

.

.

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

.

.

.

.

.

.