Poetry Challenge Day 208 (Sat Apr 30)
I’m trying to understand
how meditation can save the world.
I know we desire to better ourselves.
Meditation can do that
How does this translate to a better world.
I suppose the answer lies
in how we live.
Meditation gives us the ability
to touch lives and take action.
So this becomes our challenge.
Poetry Challenge Day 207 (Fri Apr 29)
This is a poem of encouragement to myself.
A Bodhisattva I am not
but do I have what it takes,
to be calm when feeling
anger and fear,
to help alleviate
the suffering of others,
to find a purpose in life
that brings joy, peace, and balance
to my life and the lives of others.
I believe that is my intention.
Poetry Challenge Day 206 (Thu Apr 28)
Take your pick…
Methodist, Mormon, Catholic, Buddhist,
the list is endless.
Which one holds the secret to the universe?
None of them do.
The secret to the universe
is an equation that will unify
Relativity and Quantum Theory.
When science achieves this holy grail,
we will have the answers
we have been seeking…
What existed before
the Big Bang.
What is on the other side
of Black Holes.
Are there other
universes…
other dimensions…
These questions and more
will be answered,
including where does
God fit in the equation.
My Catholic middle name is ‘Thomas’, I chose to be named after the saint known as ‘Doubting Thomas’. You are free to draw your own conclusions.
Poetry Challenge Day 205 (Wed Apr 27)
Who am I to give advice?
I am no one.
Let me give it anyway…
There is no better therapy
than to keep a journal.
Write down your thoughts,
good, bad, indifferent,
it doesn’t matter.
You will discover in time
that you know yourself better.
You must be the only one
you are writing for,
but isn’t that the best reason of all?
Sadly, I regret to think how I would be viewed if anyone read my shit… but still, I write.
Poetry Challenge Day 204 (Tue Apr 26)
Surprisingly,
I think of you often.
I’m not really sure why.
I suppose it is because
I have always wanted
to be closer to you.
Thinking about you
brings me closer.
Poetry Challenge Day 203 (Mon Apr 25)
I need to sit
for fifteen minutes
each morning and evening.
It’s called meditation.
I need to see
if it truly can
make a change.
Writing has.
Poetry Challenge Day 202 (Sun Apr 24)
I love the feel of a book
in my hands.
I take great satisfaction
in turning the pages.
I try to remember
the words I have read,
sometimes I succeed.
Most of the time
I am left with only an impression.
That’s okay,
I am the sum of my impressions.
Poetry Challenge Day 201 (Sat Apr 23)
The first thing I should do
when I wake in the morning
is:
smile.
The second thing I should do
when I wake in the morning
is:
acknowledge the gift of twenty-four hours.
The third thing I should do
when I wake in the morning
is:
promise to live each moment.
The fourth thing I should do
when I wake in the morning
is:
commit to view all beings with compassion.
Of course these ideas come from Buddhist teaching. What makes them special, and why I decided to write a poem about them, is simply that they resonate with me. My hope is that writing this poem will help me try to live this teaching.
Poetry Challenge Day 200 (Fri Apr 22)
The Jefferson County Library District in Oregon is sponsoring a “Poetry Jam & Tea” today at the Madras Public Library. They have some suggested themes for the Jam, one is “Community.” I plan to attend the Jam and read this poem. At least that is the plan…
In a community,
everyone recognizes one another.
We greet with kindness and caring.
There’s no need to fly a flag
because everyone understands
that their views are respected.
We share a helping hand
without question or strings.
When someone is hurting
we step in to console,
when someone is happy
we share our happiness with them.
How do we create
this community?
Poetry Challenge Day 199 (Thu Apr 21)
What is it you do
when you are most at peace
with yourself?
For me,
it is when I am riding my bicycle.
We all need to find
that thing that grounds us
and hopefully makes us
more capable of living
with and for others.
For me it is GOMBAR…
Get On My Bike And Ride.
Poetry Challenge Day 198 (Wed Apr 20)
I remember the early days
of the Internet.
The notion of ‘blogging’
was fresh and exciting.
I was captivated by the idea.
I wanted to take part,
but didn’t know how.
For awhile,
I read “Toshi’s Lunchbox” every day.
Toshi (whomever that was)
would list the contents
of her lunchbox.
It could be the reason
I didn’t try my hand at writing
until much later in life.
The fact that someone was writing a lunch menu while others (me among them) were reading it, should have been enough to persuade me to start writing then-and-there. But it wasn’t. Now that I have undertaken this project, I hope this writing rises above the level of a lunch menu, but of course, that judgement can only be made by you. (It’s probably best if you keep your conclusion on that subject to yourself.)
Poetry Challenge Day 197 (Tue Apr 19)
Baby I love you.
Hop in my truck
and we’ll go for a ride.
There’s a cat in the back.
I hope you don’t mind.
He loves you too.
How do I know I love you?
you have to ask?
Because the cat told me so.
Inspired in part by the song “Take It Easy” by the Eagles, and of course Doctor Seuss.
Poetry Challenge Day 196 (Mon Apr 18)
To not be concerned
about the future of our children
is the most
selfish
irresponsible
attitude
that a human could possess.
Mother Earth could use a little help.
Poetry Challenge Day 195 (Sun Apr 17)
I actually wrote a poem
that had a rhyme in it.
That’s not likely
to happen again.
Poetry Challenge Day 194 (Sat Apr 16)
It doesn’t have to be
the man
that is the first one to say
this is what I want.
Poetry Challenge Day 193 (Fri Apr 15)
I was thinking…
Maybe I should get one
of those fancy
plastic fishing rod cases
for the top of my truck.
That way the folks on Oregon
will think I’m one of them.
Poetry Challenge Day 192 (Thu Apr 14)
Who are the U.S. supporters of
Vladimir Putin?
One might also ask
who are the enablers?
This is not a hypothetical question,
it’s one we all need to ask ourselves.
I’m writing this today to express, in no uncertain terms, just how I feel about war, killing, greed, and power hungry immoral people that want to control your every thought. I can’t help but think about the person in my town that drives up and down the main street every weekend with a big flag on the back of his truck that says “Fuck Biden.” The question is not how did we arrive in this place. The question is, how do we insure that our children do not repeat our mistakes.
Poetry Challenge Day 191 (Wed Apr 13)
Thank you
for letting me
share the last two days
with you and your family.
It means a lot to me
that share your time.
It makes me happy
to see all of you.
You are my brother
(from a different mother…)
Until I meet you
in Flagstaff,
stay well my friend.
Poetry Challenge Day 190 (Tue Apr 12)
She has told me not to write about Her.
How can I not?
She is the love of my life.
I’m fortunate to have met Her.
Even more fortunate
to have known Her this long.
I hope I continue to know Her
for a very long time to come.
Who is this Her?
She is a part of me.
Poetry Challenge Day 189 (Mon Apr 11)
We all hike
the trail of life
with two backpacks,
one in front
and one in the back.
The one in front
holds the faults of
everyone we know,
the one in back
holds our own faults.
There is little difference
in weight between the two,
the only difference
is which one we
tend to look at the most.
Of course, credit for this goes to Aesop.
Poetry Challenge Day 188 (Sun Apr 10)
Life rushes through us
and past us
like a stream.
Nothing is lost,
it only returns to nature.
Poetry Challenge Day 187 (Sat Apr 9)
Cognition 1
Engage, Engage, Engage…
Engage the foot with the boot
Engage the boot with the ski
Engage the ski with the snow.
Cognition 2
Transition, Transition, Transition…
Transition weight to new ski before the turn
Transition ski rotation in unison
Transition eyes to new turn location.
Cognition 3
Do it without thinking
you are now a master
or as a good instructor might say
you are now executing “cogautomously.”
Cognition 4
There is no such thing as a master.
This poem is dedicated to Eric. Eric is a ski instructor at Alta. His knowledge of skiing will change your life (or at least your skiing). A day spent with Eric is the first step towards becoming “cogautomous” with your skis.
Poetry Challenge Day 186 (Fri Apr 8)
Forty nine years ago
I went into a dive bar
wearing a stupid hat.
The man sitting next to me
told me I was a hippie son-of-a-bitch.
Yesterday
I went into a dive bar
wearing a stupid hat.
The man sitting next to me
struck up a conversation
like I was his best friend.
Old men are allowed to wear stupid hats?
Poetry Challenge Day 185 (Thu Apr 7)
If you believe
the 2020 election
was rigged…
Send me $20.
Poetry Challenge Day 184 (Wed Apr 6)
I like my coffee
the same way
Mormons like their women.