Stop and smell the flowers

It’s never a bad idea to stop and smell the flowers, 

Even when the flowers don’t exactly smell, 

Because to take that sniff requires you 

 To take a breath, slow down, 

And then become, however briefly, 

Present to the beauty that nature has to offer.

Taking a chance

What’s life, without a little mystery? 

An invitation to explore, 

An opportunity to try something 

That’s just a little different… 

It’s so easy to assume 

 That the way things always were 

Is the way they’ll always be: 

Why risk a possible fall from normality?

Divisions real or imaginary

And when I saw how the cloud bisected 

Both sky and sea, I found myself 

Feeling the echoes of our divisions; 

The painful split in our unity, 

And wondered: is ours, like this, 

Simply a reflection of the times? 

Or does it — as I fear it may — 

Divide to the depths of being?

Always making choices

I woke to an amazing morning sky 

And now my non-zen mind 

Wants me to choose: Which pic is better? 

Before or after the sun has risen 

And the mountain fades to smoke? 

So worldly, that mind, always dividing 

Into right and wrong, better and best… 

When will I fully comprehend 

The indivisible unity of being?

Bright side

Let us always seek to find 

The rose amid the thorns.

Artful practicality

A museum piece, to be sure;

 A reminder of times gone by, 

When craftsmanship was a value, 

And we spent our time, 

Not staring at our phones, 

But creating; beautifying,

 Blessing practicality with art.

Inspired to be light

As somewhat of a sunset connoisseur,

 I didn’t find this sunset that impressive, 

As the sun was mostly buried in the clouds. 

But then I looked again and saw 

The power of the light: 

 The way that it reached up and through 

 The gray that weighed it down and found 

A way to light the blue that lay behind — 

An inspiration for us all to still be light 

Though we’re weighed down 

By all the darkness that surrounds us.