We Don't Talk About War

It's hard to read words describing what

our sisters and brothers are living through.

The danger they are experiencing breaks my heart.

"We say we are fine, as if silence can keep us safe."

May it keep them safe...and may the silence

one day be made audible in a poem

so others can witness their troubles

and send empathy and compassion

to them over the invisible air waves

that join us all.

The sarrow is huge.

As is our caring and our hope

for an end to their suffering.

 

Little Hope

It feels very pertinent to 

"need a clean hard rain to wash away the world's troubles..."

We also need this clean hard rain to fill out rivers and streams...

to nourish our plants and trees...

isn't it wonderful that we benefited from this current "hard rain"?

May "hope itself gather in puddles overnight".

How I'd love to see giant puddles of water and hope

where children (and adults) can splash and play.

 

The Sea In Me

(editted 2026)

 

Deep Peace

This is my wish for you today and every day....

along with a weekend of moments satisfying to the bone.

 

Every Shade of Necessary

Every fiber of my being leans into this...

wants this to be the state of things...

here and now...in every molecule 

breathing on this earth...

in the universe.

"How we need to begin fresh."

As much as I want to blame one person, 

or one group, or one "other" who isn't me,

when I do so, I lose the thread...

what if I were to pick it up;  tie a tiny knot and begin again 

to drop seeds of kindness everywhere, especially where

I am most reluctant to do so...especially in the

unkind places living inside me? 

Pat them on the head and repeat, 

"I get where you're coming from but

there's a better way."

"let us place the word precious on every single thing."

What if I were to begin to do this?

Attach the word precious to my rage, 

appreciate my heartaches,  every fear, 

every unkind thought and action,

every burning desire for revenge,

recognizing each as a misplaced kindness,

a misguided act borne out of love?

An opportunity 

to make a U turn, and begin fresh?

 

When I Stop Comparing

"When I stop comparing and 

allow myself to be ordinary...

I taste a piece of eternity."

May the grace of no comparing (or competition)

be bestowed upon me...for they are deeply

etched into my psyche.  I wish I could

reach in and unravel them from 

their tightly woven pattern

in the neural pathways of my brain.

I wish there was a tool or an app for this.

"...by accepting the assignment,

which is to beautify and repair

our own small corner of the world."

How's this for a reason to keep things tidy?

At least reasonably well cared for.

The biggest challenge for me is 

knowing what to repurpose in some way 

and what to discard because discarding

feels like damaging Mother Earth.

"...I am stained...with the evidence 

of my delight in these daily rituals

that can never be washed away,

the ordinary being at least one

gateway to the holy."

I love, love, love the belief that

the ordinary is a gateway to the holy.

Especially as I've been known to grumble

inwardly about some of these "daily rituals".

I've also breathed giant sighs of graitude

for others, like this one, that enhance

my life in countless, invisible ways.

Note: Crew's poem brings this quote to mind.

“Eternalism is the belief that everything that is, has been, 

and will be exists right now and forever, all at once. 

Presentism is the belief that only what exists in the present exists at all.”

― Lily King

 

Be Yourself

Aren't we something?

So ridiculous and amazing all at the same time?

Who in heck is doing all the heavy lifting?

Let us train our sights on the beauty so often

lost in the absurd of it all.  

Put yourself first/Don't be self absorbed.

You are a tiny, tiny, tiny drop in an endless ocean/

You are everything and everywhere. 

A see saw of opposites forever shifting...

back and forth; up and down, inside and out.

I'm doing my best to enjoy the ride since

I won't be getting out alive.

There has to be at least as much to smile about 

as there is to weep over, right?

Spinning wheat into gold, 

is my course of action

for as long as I'm here and 

my spinner is functioning.