Minor annoyances

All those gorgeous colors 

In a picture that would be perfect 

Except for that distracting contrail —

 Or mightn’t it be true 

 That that irritating streak across the sky,

 Like other slight annoyances in our lives,

 Is what helps us to appreciate 

 The surrounding perfection?

Gratitude

Find time today 

To look into the face of a flower: 

To revel in the scent, the colors, and the grace 

Of forms you had no part in creating; 

To let your heart be filled with gratitude 

For all the goodness and beauty in the world.

What lies before you

Be sure to notice them: 

Those rare quiet moments 

When there’s no one else around 

 To distract you with their actions, 

Expectations, or projections. 

Take a moment, in those times of peace,

 To listen for your heart’s desire 

And still the voices in your head 

That keep you from enjoying 

Whatever lies before you in the Now.

The path to healing

The path to healing — 

Whether you’re dealing with brokenness 

 Or simply seeking peace, or resolution, 

May well be long, with no clear end in sight, 

But each step you take, each day you make 

The hard choice, not the easy, 

Will bring you closer to your goal: 

Those of us who watch applaud your courage.

A walk at sunset

Take a walk at sunset, 

That golden hour when all the world takes pause 

To revel in the colors 

 Cast upon the sea and sky 

By the consummate artist 

Whose infinite creativity is the wellspring 

 Of all beauty humans bring into the world.

When lyrics echo

Standing by a lighthouse, 

Looking at this stretch of beach,

 Littered as it is with driftwood,

 I hear, echoing in my brain, 

A song we learned in elementary school, 

Meant to instill in us a spirit of hospitality 

For those less fortunate than ourselves:

 “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me”

(Words from Emma Lazarus’ poem, 

 The New Colossus, on the Statue of Liberty) 

Which, here, might end, 

“I lift my lamp beside this golden shore.”

Behind the scenes

It’s funny: sometimes we get so focused 

On what we want to see 

 That we completely miss 

What’s going on behind the scene we’ve set…

Reflected in their eyes

I’m not a hunter, but I think sometimes 

Of the soldiers in the trenches 

In the two World Wars and elsewhere, 

Who are taught, “Don’t shoot 

Til you see the whites of their eyes.” 

It’s so much easier to be cruel 

To those whom we don’t know or understand, 

But so much harder — for most of us, at least — 

When we see ourselves 

 Reflected in their eyes.

Reclaim your joy

Sometimes it’s the little things that bug you, 

But it’s easy to get so focused on them 

That we blow them out of proportion, 

And they end up looming so large 

We completely lose perspective. 

Take a moment today to step back 

And see the larger picture… and reclaim your joy!

Sharing peace

Gilded, rosy in the morning sun, 

The cat sleeps quietly at my feet. 

I breathe in the peace and light 

And breathe it out again for all who struggle: 

Illness, surgery, loss, depression, war, fear — 

We are surrounded; overwhelmed — 

Yet still the cat sleeps on, 

Empurpled in light and love.

Calla lily’s promise

As we age the losses grow: 

White calla lilies leave the garden, 

Falling onto caskets, into graves, 

But leave behind this unexpected 

Promise of new life, new friendships; 

A garden that will overflow again in spring.

 Love never dies, but comes again and multiplies: 

Lives lost leave love in their wake.

The safety of seclusion

After three years of living as islands, 

Desperately separate with all defenses up, 

It’s not surprising many of us are eager 

To launch ourselves back 

 Into the seas of society. 

And yet, having done so, 

Do we also find ourselves 

Happy to return to the safety of seclusion?

Let it go

Let it go.

Let it wash away. 

It’s a new day; it’s a new week; 

And whatever leftover resentment you’re carrying? 

It needs to be released —

For your health and for the world’s. 

Let forgiveness be your challenge 

And the watchword of this day. 

Let it go.

In celebration of presence

Each of us is so much more 

Than what we see reflected 

(And reversed) in a mirror. 

We are each complex composites 

 Of all we’ve seen and learned: 

The skies above, the grassy fields 

Or noisy streets we played on as a child;

 Our parents, whether angry, 

Supportive, detached or simply absent; 

Our companions, teachers, pets,

 The shows we watched and the wars we fought 

All blending in our hearts and minds 

Into one unique and wholly vital presence. 

Let’s celebrate that we are here!

Industry and Perseverance

Two words which may have gone out of fashion: 

Industry — in the sense of diligent labor — 

And perseverance, or as my dad would say, 

“Stick-to-it-iveness:” the willingness 

To see a task or challenge through to completion. 

These are rarely the easy choices, 

But often the most rewarding ones — 

Which can be hard to remember in this era 

Of sound bites and instantaneous responses.

Praying for a break

For all those who are struggling to stay afloat, 

I am praying for a break in the clouds: 

Some sign to remind them 

They are safe, they are loved, 

And the current storms will soon pass away.

Make time to rest

Make time to rest today: 

However magnificent your role or challenges, 

You’ll be better able to manage it all 

If you stop pressing forward and just breathe.

Abundance of perfection

We marvel at the perfection of a flower 

Whose color, shape, and scent 

Seem magically designed to please 

 Our hungry eyes, and yet 

It’s only one of many, and might easily 

Go unappreciated among the profusion 

Of healthy blossoms on a bush, 

Made invisible by the generous abundance 

Of surrounding blooms. 

Like a lover presenting a single rose 

To a beloved, the photographer plucks 

And shares, but without destroying; 

Leaving the original to be discovered 

 Once again by passers-by.

Mourning a Queen

Not just a country, or a family, but a world 

In mourning for a loss indescribable.

Dangerous divisions

After so wet and long a rainy spring, 

This long dry summer, and now the fires, 

As if to let us know how dangerous it is 

To be so divided; all one way or all the other. 

Nature cannot handle these harsh divisions, 

Nor can we: our politics, like our climate, 

Need to be more blended, 

Lest the wildfires consume us all.

Magnificent adventure

There are those seminal moments in life, 

When you finally arrive at the crest of a hill 

After a long journey, and suddenly 

 All the future that lies before you is revealed. 

You may not see a clear path forward, 

And clearly there will be low spots, 

And more and higher hills to climb, 

But you’re once again inspired to stride forth; 

To take whatever steps are needed 

To reach the next stage 

 Of your uniquely magnificent adventure.

Volunteering

My neighbor used to call them volunteers — 

These unplanned plants that crop up 

In unexpected places, 

 Brought in by birds, or bees, or traveling roots — 

But seeing what delight they bring 

Reminds me to find time to do 

Some surprising kindness; to volunteer 

To brighten someone else’s day 

As these flowers brightened mine.

Universal awe

Each day the clouds perform a different dance, 

Each day clothed in different shapes and colors,

 Inspiring us with their beauty, grace, 

And infinite originality, 

And everywhere, humans clothed 

In different shapes and colors, 

Thinking different thoughts, beliefs, 

 And facing different challenges, 

Stop, look up, and breathe 

A universal sigh of awe.

Late summer jewels

As summer slowly fades into fall, 

Drink in what jeweled colors 

Still ignite the gardens that you pass 

And store them up to feast on 

When the grays of winter start to get you down.

Beneath it all

No matter how cluttered 

 And complex life may become, 

Beneath it all 

The steady stream of love runs true, 

Nourishing everything in its path.

Valuing what’s present

"Age cannot wither her, 

Nor custom stale her infinite variety.” 

Appreciate what lies before you, 

For such appreciation blesses 

Both the beholder and the beheld.

Breathe

Breathe in the light,

 Breathe in again, 

And feel your heart expand.

Non-conformity

Ah, the contortions we go through, 

To fit into the molds 

 We believe we’re meant to fill, 

When we could, like the trees, 

Take on the shapes 

 That we were born to, 

And challenged to discover, 

Delighting and enlightening the world 

 With our unique individuality.

The invisible beneath

Each delicate strand of the spider’s web 

Made iridescent by the fog, 

Whose gray haze masks 

So much of what we’re used to seeing, 

While highlighting what might otherwise 

 Have been totally imperceptible. 

Perhaps that is the job of both love and art: 

To ignore what is most obvious 

And celebrate the invisible beneath.

Inciting imagination

What I love about abstract art 

Is the way that it excites imaginations. 

I showed this one to friends yesterday 

And they saw, in turns, the following: 

Film, a fish, a transistor radio, 

A TV set, a fence, smoke, and a city. 

What fun, to spark so lively a discussion!