Visions of Myself
Sometimes like driftwood
Swept along by the current
Caught in whirlpools
Cast aside on the shore
Wet and defenseless
Sometimes like a leaf
Dropped from a tree
Buffeted by the winds
Piled on the sidewalk
Drying and lifeless
Sometimes like a pebble
Lying on the street
Kicked by children
Walked on by passersby
Alone and purposeless
Sometimes like a cloud
Suspended in the sky
Attacked by the sun
Pushed with urgency
Wispy and shapeless
Sometimes like an eagle
Soaring in flight
Riding the thermals
Seeing all beneath it
Serene and fearless
Sometimes like a bee
Buzzing along with purpose
Collecting drops of nectar
Making sweet honey
Busy and tireless
Sometimes like a sea
Stretching across the horizon
Cradling life in its bosom
Ebbing and flowing
Deep and bottomless
Sometimes like a lover
Yearning for the union
Drunken in ecstasy
Lost in another
Detached and selfless
Sometimes like the Infinite
Beyond words and description
The doer of all deeds
The dancer and the dance
Pervasive and limitless
Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed
Bugbears
I am disturbed by evanescence.
I am disquieted by ephemerality.
I am disconcerted by expediency.
I am bewildered by instability
I am befuddled by inconsistency
I am bemused by infidelity
Somewhere
Somewhere a leaf falls silently
Somewhere a wind blows harshly
Somewhere a shadow falls darkly
Somewhere a tear drips slowly
Somewhere a hurt grows inexorably
Somewhere a hope fades slowly
Somewhere a love dies fitfully
Time Was
Time was, when life was revelations unfolding
And every day a dawn of discovery
Time was, when my mind was an open vessel
And every book a chance to imbibe
Time was, when there were teachers all around
And every conversation an opportunity to grow
Time was, when stepping forth was an act of faith
And every relationship a reason to believe
Time was, when falling made me get up stronger
And every rebuke a gift of learning
Time was, when I saw the world without lenses
And every person just a fellow human
Time was, when friends were easy to make
And loving an unconditional act
Time was, when ignorance was a badge of honor
And every question an honest one
Time was, when spirit was not clouded by religion
And every prayer an echo of the soul
Time was, when I stood so much in awe of creation
And every living thing a part of the pattern
Random Ramblings (Poem from long ago)
I said I loved you
and wanted to be with you every moment
I wanted to hold you
and guard you jealously from covetous eyes
When I protect and possess you
I become your enemy
As then I am blind
to your glory as an individual.
I bought you a book, a book I really liked
hoping that you would like it as much
you read it and told me you hated it
now I feel that you don’t love me
but I am I and you are you
why should you like everything I like ?
we can still like each other, can’t we ?
by accepting that you can be different, yet nice
I have begun to love you truly.
You have done well in life, they said
you are brilliant, and I tended to agree
Then came the time I failed miserably
and they pulled me down from my pedestal
Between these violently differing perceptions
of my abilities, I couldn’t choose
Till I realized that I was seeing my reflection
in a very uneven mirror
The facts had never changed !
Only when I looked for a shoulder to cry on
did I realize that I was really alone
More lonely when in a crowd
the deafening silence amongst the screams.
People disturb my essence
acquaintances pollute my communion
I have a very small circle of care
within which I put a few friends
The rest are just drifters
destined to become relics of the past
Theirs is just a passing significance
a coincidence in time and space.
Sitting alone in judgement
over my inner conflicts
And did I arrive !
at conclusions, or confusions!
If you are sensitive to my depression
then I’ll die for you
But please tell me if you care
I’ll love you for your truth
if you admit that you hate me
Its your shallow love that kills me
please don’t do this to me.
If it is such an effort to be myself
isn’t the unnatural self the real me ?
My life has had moments of joy
but sadness has been the larger truth
when I am happy, I am myopic
my life takes on pretences of permanence
If my boat never rocked, I would think
that the ocean is only a surface
In my depressions, I see the light
and in sadness, I create
So if you ask if I’m happy or sad
I’d say I’m happy I’m sad..
A Dark Poem
So it unravels
One thread at a time
The fabric we weave
Of living and loving
So it darkens
One cloud at a time
The horizon we seek
Of hoping and arriving
So it crumbles
One hurt at a time
The foundation we build
Of supporting and believing
So it flickers
One gust at a time
The candle we light
Of caring and comforting
So it weakens
One fight at a time
The bond we forge
Of having and holding
Yin and Yang (a Poem to end the Year)
in every dusk a new dawning
in every cloud a new lining
in every storm a new calming
in every winter a new warming
in every hurt a new caring
in every frown a new smiling
in every silence a new calling
in every crime a new forgiving
in every sleep a new awakening
in every shunning a new welcoming
in every condemning a new redeeming
in every betrayal a new believing
in every coincidence a new meaning
in every being a new becoming
in every hiding a new revealing
in every end a new beginning
Words on Words – a Poem
Words are wings for ideas to take flight
Words are rays that bring feelings to light
Words are bridges that span heart to heart
Words are arrows that can tear us apart
Words are legacies we leave when we pass
Words are clothes for our naked thoughts
Words are a balm that can heal our sorrows
Words are paths to yesterdays and tomorrows
Words are mirrors of our minds and thoughts
Words are windows that look into our hearts
Words are memories of loves lost and past
Words are dreams of journeys yet to pass
Words can imprison us and set us free
Words were, words are, words ever will be
Butterflies
My thoughts flit around
Like butterflies
On gossamer wings
Soaring on currents
Of glorious memories
Only to descend steeply
Into melancholy valleys
Pausing on a flower of love
To drink your heady nectar
Till it is time to move on
To lands unknown
And gardens unseen
To fly is to keep living
For thoughts want to be free
Like butterflies
On gossamer wings.
A poem I wrote on a plane this week
Memory Lane
Today I walked down memory lane
Thought I’d visit with myself in the past
It had been a long time
As I rummaged through my mind
Dusting off cobwebs from what was
I uncovered a scene that lay forgotten
Faded and dimmed by passages of time
As I began to play it back in my mind
It slowly came into focus
I slipped effortlessly into in the past
I was back in the moment
I began to feel like I had felt
And to think what I had thought
It is as if a dam had been broken
I was awash with emotions
And overcome with feelings
As I slowly brought myself back
I realized
That the past lives in the present
Memories are here and now
So be careful when you walk back
Sometimes it is best to let sleeping dogs lie
If the caravan must pass
with the minimum amount of commotion.