Twisting Facts

Start to tell facts with a story

any time needed is long

but telling just ordinary facts

time needed is short but all wrong.

Facts don’t excite

and are dusty and plain

Story paints pictures

of mountains and plains.

To communicate details

may need a quick list

but to communicate heart,

story brings facts a new twist.

“The computer can’t tell you the emotional story. It can give you 

the exact mathematical design, but what’s missing is the eyebrows.”

~ Frank Zappa

Magical Journeys

My magic camel and I nestled down to rest.

Travelling far and wide, we had seen and heard much.

Abundance and emptiness of spirit.

Poverty and great riches of the heart.

Stories fashioned from imagined lives.

Lives lived from imagined deeds.

All within the covers of books

pages inked with tears of joy

sweat of hardworking brows

blood of family and ancestors.

Magical journeys of communication and story

how life might be lived

what parts of living that may need avoiding

that each life has a story of it’s own.

My magic camel carried me safely

back to where I sit curled in my chair

in the comfort, abundance and safety of my own home’s richness.

“There’s always room for a story that 

can transport people to another place.”

~ J.K.Rowling

Re-connecting Humanity

A heart torn by thoughts swaddled

in past present future

and what if 

and must do 

and no one else will help.

Finding the spot of care and logic

in a careworn and illogical life

to bring focus and calm awareness

no matter if a bit cloudy.

Communication is challenged.

Sanity, order and respectful kindness

delve into swirling unreliable thoughts

without disturbing too much of the muck.

Thoughts that should not be disturbed 

threaten to eddy into a vortex filled

with muddied voices and hum

pulling even stability inside.

A nugget of humanity glows faintly, faintly

in hearts dulled by years of abuse whether 

    alcohol or drugs, 

    physical or mental

    emotional or spiritual.....or maybe all.

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; 

if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Noise Pollution

Communication needs time and patience ~

Not enough of either 

when other conversations 

in closed spaces 

or high echoing ceilings

with extraneous beeping, scraping or whirring

clutter and cluster within a hive of activity.

“Some days, we just need to turn the quiet up.

~ Dr. Sunwolf, professorsunwolf.com

Sampling Cloudy Communications

Scattered.

Bouncing here and there.

Words staccato, head jerkily bobbing

Speaker wordily throwing sounds that flit like humming birds hoping to find worthy flowers.

******

Eyes locked soul to soul bridging electric space

words rising and falling riding the current connection

arms waving hands intently shaping idea and story.

******

Tense. Wordless. 

Eyes dart away.  Avoid contact.

Sparks jump from blue to brown crashing mightily in midair.

Air thick and heavy - lightening strikes threaten from an invisible horizon.

A knock on the door or a ringing phone.

Frosty build up thaws below frozen eyes.

Conversation shifts.

******

One sided conversations makes hearing, listening difficult 

when words carom through the air.

Listener reaching and straining to catch a stream of consciousness

trying to make sense of disjointed phrases.

“Body language is a very powerful tool. We had body language 

before we had speech, and apparently, 80% of what you understand 

in a conversation is read through the body, not the words.”

~ Deborah Bull

Thoughts about Labour/Management Relations

Our labours are traded for dollars and cents,

yet not always exchanged with any good sense.

Militant language and behaviour not liked

but bosses and members have issues that spike.

Confronting issues of ethics and economy head on,

no gentle parties to give folks some balm.

Workers seem always to want some more money,

but work site conditions are really the honey.

Conditions kept from workers because of a budget

management speaks a language of logic that's set.

Communication between these two sides, not that always that easy,

needs common ground found without getting so beastly.

Both labour and management have families and homes

deserving safety, security however their income.

But no rules should there be at the expense of the other.

Stop fighting, starting talking - be true and kind to each other.

“Everything in the world is purchased by labor.”

~ David Hume

Chitter Chatter Communication

“Line up!” “Line up!

Feathers fluttering, tails flipping

heads bobbing, sparrow-like pushing and shoving

clear directions communicated

every one had space

almost all were accounted for 

some stray rogue sparrows

fluttered away in indignation

having to wait their turn

“Isn’t it time to flock and fly?!”

“Communication leads to community, that is,

to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.”

~ Rollo May