LIKE A RIVER ROCK

Like a River Rock

Trust:

Be patient like the rock, 

feel life rush through and around you,

Gushing streams of grief

 will wear away your jaggedness,

wash away your madness,

and smooth you like a stone,

Faith:

Be uncertain like a river

and meander to the sea.

That route of least resistance

will speed you home to me,

Strength:

Use courage like a fist

to break thru what would hold you back,

Persevere and friends will support you

with the love you think you lack,

When all else fails, pray 

and be lifted from your knees, 

The light of your divinity

will carry you to me.

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GOOD WEED WROTE THIS POEM

GOOD WEED WROTE THIS POEM

I’m pulling old poems out of the archives. 

Because there is nothing new I’ve learned, 

Nothing new to share. 

It feels like the journey is over.

But really, happily

It’s the stress and struggle that’s gone.

No body promised me a bowl of cherries. 

But no one ever taught me how to handle the pits. 

I’ve survived myself

As I like to say to the men

My age who are still here as well. 

Against the odds. 

Here’s to adventure. 

The hero's journey. 

Here’s to not knowing where you're going

But clarity about what it is you are going for.

It usually isn’t until my own honest pain

drops me to my knees

that i surrender who i think i am 

and let that frightened uncertainty

channel wisdom through God

who writes all the poems, 

the good ones anyway.

9/24/19

Playful Otter 

THEY LIED

THEY LIED

Lies:

They taught me to be polite

I said thank you without gratitude,

They taught me to do right and I did 

but it didn’t make me happy,

They said, “Follow the rules” and I did

but it didn’t make me feel safe,

Lies lies lies,

They did the best they could.

Love:

They told me that they loved me

But-I don’t have time for you right now.

They asked, How was your day,

But didn’t take the time to listen.

They said, Go to your room,

When they had no love to give me,

I learned to read by the light of night,

Those stories took my pain away.

Live:

They taught me to survive

In a cold uncaring world,

They said that men don’t cry

So I stuffed my grief inside,

They said, Do good in school

And everything will work out well.

But they were wrong,

They did the best they could,

They celebrated when I walked,

Was joyous as I learned to talk,

 And then I ran and made some noise, 

Sit down, shut up, they said to me,

Or we’ll take away your toys!

When I did as they asked they smiled at me,

When I didn’t obey their love went away,

When I was wild they shook their heads

They wanted me to be more dead,

 I frightened them, I was too free,

They needed me to be like them,

They needed me to not be me.

JUST BY OPENING

JUST BY OPENING

I was told to read something spiritual everyday

So I reached for Rumi but stopped-

A dog barked,

a crow squawked,

I stood and walked into the wild green world before me.

Why read poetry when you are

Surrounded by poetry?

Why read poetry when you can

Become a poem yourself

in an instant 

just by opening to the world around you?