When I Stand

When I stand outside 

the life I’ve chosen to live 

I see loneliness or a life

without meaning yet 

When I step inside the life 

I’ve chosen to live 

I feel fulfilled and

meaning is all around. 

When I stand outside the life 

I’ve chosen to live, I love the busyness of community 'til

I long for the quiet of home 

When I step inside the life 

I’ve chosen to live 

I sit down with pen and paper 

to frame the meaning of my heart.

When I stand outside the life 

I’ve chosen to live, 

my life is a joy 

with friends, with family.  

When I step inside the life 

I’ve chosen to live, 

I miss them all but am surrounded 

by the gift of their presence in my life.

“Even the longest journey must begin where you stand.”

~ Laozi, philosopher

(604 BC ~ 531 BC)

Never Pruned of Family

An old and stately tree grows

between sidewalk and fence 

never pruned of family 

feels and lives through seasons 

lives a steady life to grow

wider each year. 

Each spring branches out 

tender sprouted limbs with

a new crop of leaves 

roots growing deeper with time

between sidewalk and fence

an old and stately tree grows.

“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”

~ George Santayana, 

philosopher and poet

Sound Strange?

Today

a day off

sound strange?

no appointments, 

shopping or gatherings. 

Attending to home.

Home

where family& friends surround me

in memory, photographs and things.

Things

paintings, china, knick-knacks

ideas, gifts, and blankets

Today

a day off

sounds just right.

Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind.”

~ N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season

Any Other Day

Any other day 

could have been filled 

with sunshine or raindrops 

but today is 

not like any other day 

even though filled with 

the decisions of any other day. 

Which mug to fill with tea, 

which task to do, 

which part of life to live, 

which time to be here or there, 

which friends and family to enjoy. 

Any other day 

could have been filled 

with sunshine or raindrops 

but not the same ones that filled this day.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

~ Muhammad Ali

(1942 ~ 2016)

The Silence of In-Between

In the spaces between 

 family name 

   schools

    

     group membership

we live alone 

   

   to know ourselves.

 To belong to the wider world 

    fills us with vulnerability. 

In groups of family or friends 

  we risk being lost. 

Lost in 

    ideas, 

   opinions 

         beliefs 

       image

until we know that

   belonging begins in 

the silence of in-between.

“Longing, felt fully, carries us to belonging.”

~ Tara Brach, psychologist

Ownership

I own very little in this life. 

Chairs and a table, 

a rocking chair and a bed, 

the walls of my condo, 

other little bits and bobs. 

The greatest that I own are 

my memories even though 

they are poked through 

with holes on some years, 

clear as crystal on more. 

Memories that cling to the stuff I own. 

Memories of family, 

book shelves filled with books and

why they are there, 

the sounds of discussions and laughter

photographs, paintings, and stories 

resonate with the voices of what I own. 

“The greatest ownership of all is to glance around and understand.”

~ William Stafford, poet

(1914 - 1993)

No Time

Getting on with day to day 

is merely a foot on the floor

 a cup of coffee, no worries 

about whether age matters. 

The joints may be creaky, 

the constant jabber on TV 

selling  pills and adult diapers 

is annoying and the calendar 

tells me where I slide on 

the continuum birth to death. 

I have little time for those details. 

That’s one of the rabbit holes 

too deep for me when

I have bills to pay and 

bread to bake; 

my family, working, living, 

going to school, having fun, 

is my joy and love ~ So,

I do have time for getting on 

with each day in front of me.

“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”

~ Maya Angelou