The Wise Crone

Her old and grizzled graces
Hold up amongst the faces
That pass her in their races
For what they see as freedom

To her they are all wandering
As she sits calmly pondering
The true joys they are squandering
For she knows they cannot see them

She knows regret as revelation
Forgiveness as a true salvation
And suspension of one’s expectations
Can grow such endless joy

Still green is grass as well as money
With one as vinegar and one as honey
And some may find her answer funny
But she knows want tends to cloy

So she walks on uninhibited
With a smile life once prohibited
And a regalness exhibited
By the looseness of her spine

For those who actually notice
In this world so out of focus
She floats much like the lotus
And is equally divine

In the Lurch

Don’t shame the mouth that speaks
All they have simmered in
Now pushed into release
By a furious roiling din

Don’t mock the tears that fall
From eyes assailed with hatred
Lives covered in a pall
After power was made sacred

Don’t brush away the feeling
That something is awry
A choice once thought appealing
Could soon find you asking why

The crawling in your stomach
You felt from time to time
May cause the high to plummet
Leaving you with quite the climb

Let your imagination teach you

You can learn from wonder
You can grow from dreams
You can learn to see the world
for more them what it seems

You can tell a story
You can sing a song
You can paint a picture
that makes joy last twice as long

You can find a hideout
You can find a heart
You can find a friend
who will rejoice your hidden parts

Follow me

Follow me said the sun
as it spread out its rays
and bathed me in light
so warm in its way

Follow me said the wind
as it threw back my hair
and blew away cobwebs
I ne'er knew were there

Follow me said the stream
as it twisted along
and the bubbles it made
sang an unyielding song

Follow me said the stars
as they twinkled above
hearing all of the wishes
I had e'er spoken of

Follow me said the moon
casting shadow and shine
fearing no darkness
not even mine

Follow me said my heart
dreams can fade oh so fast
you have to live life
if you want it to last

Warrior Woman

The warrior woman emerges each day
stepping her toes to the line
armed with a heart that is open and free
and a wisdom that reaches through time
She never attacks but stonelike she stands
advancing with boldly made steps
She leaves her impression in day dreams and smiles
fueled by the tears she has wept
She loves unabashedly, helps with abandon
and heals with uncowering spirit
Her words work like magic on souls once thought lost
with a truth for those willing to hear it
Queen, witch, or sorceress she pays no mind
to the names that so many have called her
She knows who she is and what she must do
no matter what fate may befall her

Just Words

I fasten new meaning to innocent words
the things that they said aren't the things that I heard
my mind seems intent on hostile derivation
assuming the worst without hesitation
a drop of sarcasm a smidgen of spite
a simply spoke syllable didn't sound right
contemptuous consonants, volatile vowels
I feel the fury boil up from my bowels
the obvious judgement that sits on their face
oh how I long to put them in their place
the smiles fade too quickly becoming a smirk
it takes a saint to hold back from these jerks
just as my spine is shored up for attack
I breathe for a moment and take a step back
despite the sincerity they have or have not
what lured me to this trap in which I've been caught?
the impact imagined, the ire misplaced
they don't get to choose if I will be disgraced
I am the owner of these very ears
I am the curator of what sounds they hear
so I block out the angry the rude and absurd
and all that remains are quite simply just words

The Work of Art

A head holds words as can a page
Of any color and any age
A galaxy or grain of sand
A cannon or a shaky hand
But with these worlds come other thoughts
of times we blushed and times we fought
When devastation was our flavor
be it choked upon or swished and savored
So then blue skies become monsoons
and manors become tiny rooms
much like the dust upon our shelves
the walls that stand we built ourselves
Time now to lay askew the stones
that snare our souls and bind our bones
Our minds are meant to drift and soar
not fester chained to others bore
We've suffered sin and forged our follies
Faked our smiles through others jollies
but now we heal through reckoning
the truth in you is beckoning
so find the art that lives inside
and tell us why you've smiled or cried
it's not a burden you must hold
release and let your wings unfold

Celebrate

Here begins a brand new story
An exciting tale of truth and glory
Promises of a shining year
Plots unfolding, future clear
Youth and age begin a dance
Brace yourself within your stance
Incite your dreams now, cast your wishes
Reel them in like thoughts and fishes
Try a new thing everyday
Hear the things your heart will say
Daydream often as you can
Always hold tight helping hands
You can always try once more
Reach up higher then before
Every moment make it better
Eat some ice cream, write a letter
Seek yourself somehow someway
Enjoy who you are everyday

Destination

A peak so high there seemed no top
and yet he still would climb
He never showed a need to stop
He never had the time
The clouds that ringed the precipice
Were ones he could see through
His arms would ache, his aim would miss
Yet his distance grew and grew
The path he used would peter out
He'd pause just for a minute
And with an effort and a shout
He'd find his footing in it
Though slips occurred he never fell
We'd watch him as he rose
His hands would bleed, his feet would swell
But his eyes would never close
He knew one day with certainty
The peak was his to claim
And at the zenith he would see
The peak did bear his name

Broken open

I once thought I was broken but the truth is I'm broken open,
That nerve that screams from the slightest breeze,
The skinned knee that means adventure,
That succulent orange freed from it's rough skin ready to be devoured,
That snake that now shows a new skin, more vibrant then before,
That boring rock that hides earths lustrous treasures,
That sentence or sound that you could never let slip,
the one that could end everything or begin the healing,
That present that you never knew you wanted and now it is the best one you have ever received,
I am unwrapped, I am exposed, I am naked, I am raw,
The useless discarded,
the substance within ready to be tasted

life lessons?

Today at work I was confronted with a situation in which a person was showing disagreement to something I was saying regarding an issue that is important to me. Now a less calm version of me would have issued a challenge followed by a fierce debate. Now being that I was at work that most likely would have been the wrong choice, either because I would have gotten in trouble or the argument would have been fractured into meaningless pieces because of, well, work. So I walked away and despite coming up with a single pointed thing to say I refrained from engaging entirely. This is completely out of nature for me and frankly I felt somewhat proud that I had shown such restraint. It's an important issue but not one that people will switch their view on simply by debating or even discussing it. The other person's point of view was not affecting the way they treated customers or anything like that so there really was no need for a discussion especially since the other party didn't seem eager to have a discussion about it. I ended it by say "Well, that's what I believe." and a shrug.

I am still proud of my withholding skills, however there is that certain feeling that I could have changed a mind about something and didn't. As I think of it tonight I realize that confrontational debates don't help much in the conversion of ideas process and honestly most of the time people I disagree with use those tactics times 10. Now I must leave it up to life and it's natural process to hopefully change this person's mind. I know that most people reading this will know most of what I'm stating here already, but for me this is an epiphany of sorts. If someone says something offensive and I feel that it could offend someone other then me, I will say something. I can't help but recall the most poignant experience I had on this subject happening in a very casual exchange between me and a work friend from a previous location.

This coworker thought that all homosexuals got A.I.D.S if they just had sex with each other for long enough. It wasn't a virus that was passed around from one innocent victim to the next, as with any virus, but was actually contracted from the act of having sex with a same sex partner. I was shocked (and about 500 other emotions) especially since this person had worked in the medical field for many more years then I. I showed my dismay at the misconception but then explained to this person that it was just that, a misconception. They seemed baffled by this information, clearly illustrating that this was never even a possibility in the scope of how they learned of that horrible disease.

There was nothing angry or confrontational about the whole experience. For them it was informative, for me it was a clear sign that people are passing around a lot of bullshit about a lot of things in order to make it seem more terrible. The person today simply indicated a disagreement in something I said, and that was it. My debate-y mind wanted to GO, but ultimately I held back. Hopefully life will teach this person better then what their understanding is now, or maybe another opportunity will arise in which I can express my side. Perhaps today's experience will help me do it calmly.