HALF FILLED

  HALF FILLED

You go to sleep grieving 

what you do not have.

You awaken in the morning mourning

what you have lost.

It’s just a habit shaped by darkness.

Why not sculpt a new one shaped by light?

Emit joy instead of grief

into this fragile aching world.

Convey trust instead of fear.

Gratitude in place of complaint.

The same half empty glass 

is a glass half filled.

Thankfulness  improves one’s sight.

Go forward bravely,  arms opened wide.

Celebrate the blessings of life,

as life itself 

is an unearned and holy gift. 

EVERYTHING TOUCHES ME

Everything Touches Me

Waves of sadness,

Rivers of sorrow,

as grief not grieved flows

to the healing sea.

Not attached to any 

one wound in particular,

but to all woundings denied,

I pretended didn’t hurt me.

That facade breaks,

    and  the heart breaks

open.

Life returns to me,

I touch everything.

      Everything touches me.

THANK GOD I'M NOT GOD

Thank  God I'm not God

Everything is okay,

The earth is turning at the appropriate speed

And the sun is cooking the plants as per usual,

Everything is okay,

No one has shot or blown anyone up in my vicinity,

Cars are staying in their lanes and stopping at red lights.

People are transacting more or less politely

With each other,

The internet still works,

We have electricity

And there is food in the fridge.

I guess I can give myself

The rest of the afternoon off

From managing the universe.

EMPTY NEST

     EMPTY NEST

This house is so quiet 

you can hear a tear drop.

I could 

fill this empty house 

with activity and noise:

cook, clean, paint, fix

or just create a list of things to do,

get lost inside the doing.

I could look away from this loneliness

but don’t they say

the salve for the wound

is in the wound?

If my head was as empty

as this house,

there would be nothing here to fear

but like a child’s bad dream

I am threatened by monsters

and  forget that I'm dreaming..

There are plenty of rooms

 in this house for imagination,

I think I better get a dog-

EMBRACE

EMBRACE

I long to round the urban corner, 

Leave behind measurements of distance,

Doings and achievements, 

Fall

Into that sweet field, 

The one that Rumi speaks of,

Where we somersault

Free of our judgments

Of Right and Wrong 

And One Another. 

I long to achieve a perception of you, 

That no longer requires me to forgive you, 

A perception that never demands 

That you be any different than you are.

Until I round that corner,

Until I meet you in that field of love,

I pray to do the next best things:

Forgive, 

Accept, 

Embrace.