Life Is Messy

Besides the proverbial

blood, sweat, and tears,

there's mud

and slime and filth,

worries, fears,

bugs and rodents,

dashed hopes,

unfulfilled dreams,

betrayals,

disappointments,

sorrow, pain,

unhappy times,

embarrassments,

humiliations,

and thwarted expectations,

and a seemingly endless litany

of grief and loss.

Yet through the blinding mist

and darkness of the mess

shines a light,

which draws us onward

toward joy and peace

and love

and laughter - 

to Life!

All the ugliness

prepares our eyes

to see the beauty;

and 

the beauty

strikes us deeply,

lifts us up,

gives us a song,

and air to breathe.

Memories of the Future

There seems to be a Hall of Fame for everything;

And an International Museum for All Things;

And a National Day for everything else;

Plus a Facebook page,

a Twitter feed,

and a LinkedIn Group

to connect them all, and then some.

Mr. Warhol’s “fifteen minutes of fame” has become

a serial virus of momentary flashes

in the seemingly eternal

digital ball of string

that is the internet.

What is memory?

Is there a collective universal memory that is storing all the experiences of the ages?

What is legacy?

What do we leave behind when we go on to the next level of existence?

What is immortality?

Do all of us live forever, one way or another?

What is heritage?

Does it change us when we discover the lives of our ancestors?

Will one small blip in the digital libraries

of all the devices in the world

remain forever for someone to discover

untold ages from now?

Tides of Life

The tides of life will ebb and flow,

And time will not stand still.

No one has ever found time waiting;

I know we never will.

Some days seem slow,

While others speed before our eyes.

Some things change, some things don’t,

As we watch each day materialize.

Happy faces, sad faces,

Faces bored to tears

Every face, like our own face,

Has lines that show the years.

Let the lines show joy and peace,

And love and life and truth;

And may the light shine through your eyes,

To prove inside is youth.

Looking Up and Out

From first to last

Step by step

Our journey through this life

Keeps us looking up

And looking out

(if we look down

We are looking out

And we know which way is up)

Beseech the sky

Or roll our eyes

We ask and wonder and judge

We see

We don’t see

We anticipate

We get blind-sided

The light and color

Our eyes translate

To beauty, love, peace

Or sorrow, pain, loneliness

Put on a show

Pretend you know

What comes next

Then close your eyes

And sigh.