we had it all backwards-

WE’VE HAD IT All BACKWARDS

Don’t pray to God to get love,

Pray from love to get God.

WHY YOU AREN'T DEPRESSED

WHY YOU AREN'T DEPRESSED

Because you blame situations and other people 

for your upsets,

and avoid taking ownership of your own feelings,

You direct your anger and criticisms

outward

instead of taking responsibility 

and learning how to manage your emotions. 

In other words...GROW THE FUCK UP!

DREAM ON

you awaken one morning

and every important thing you didn’t do in your life,

every broken promise to yourself and to others

stands before you, a neglected “to do” list

regret has been writing for years now.

suddenly

the bell has rung

and all those things undone

are due today

at noon.

the unfinished painting,

the “someday” novel,

the adventures to foreign lands,

the song you wrote

and never played

for the woman you chose not to love,

so many dreams un-seized

arise now like ghosts,

and rocking back and forth

in a dreamlike stupor

you ponder the details

of the life you didn’t lead

and  wonder: 

“who made the very first rocking chair?”  and when, and where?

and you're still rocking back and forth

inside yourself,

haunted by the ghosts

of deeds undone,

hoping that this morning's rising sun

will lift you up and carry you high

into the blue sky of your desires,

without you having to lift a finger.

dream on…

Does this Poem Know What It Needs?

My spirit calls me home,

Am I listening,

Will I follow?

When my soul weeps, 

tears turn to laughter,

I hold hands with myself

and my soul takes my spirit to

the dance floor as I twirl

into the wholeness of myself.

My shadows peek around corners

cautiously stealing a glimpse of light,

I reject, then provoke, then seduce and invite them

to the parts apart party,

where all the exiled aspects of myself

are welcomed with delight.

God loves a trouble maker.

He made these bodies for play, 

He likes to work with wood,

 he gave us hands.

Works of art,

Works of love, 

It is all the same thing.

Praising the Lord

Is no better

Or worse

Than cursing him.

God doesn’t care. 

He would wish for you to honor 

Your own soul and it’s hungers. 

Nurture your soul 

And 

You feed your spirit. 

Does this poem know what it needs?

Probably not,

But this soul knows it needs 

this poem.

Otter

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