Funny Face

Entertaining the face 

in the mirror seems unreal, 

that face with lines and 

wrinkles secured by life.

A face like a newspaper 

crumpled into a ball, 

but like a newspaper 

stories live in each line, 

the years spent living life, 

emotions etched on your precious face. 

So to stick out your tongue, 

hook your fingers in 

the corners of your mouth,

pull it into a crazy smile, 

put a finger on the tip of your nose

push it up, down or sideways. 

Laugh with joy 

at the goofy person in the mirror 

~ just hope that no one is watching, 

but if they are ~ make it a competition.

“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”

~ Victor Hugo, poet

(1802 ~ 1885)

Return to the Heart

Belonging is when 

we are born into a family, 

 shaped by those around us, 

  the moments in our lives, 

    the travels of the heart 

Deciding where we belong  

 ~ a grand adventure full of vulnerability and excitement, 

   placid lakes or frothing rapids of change. 

To live calmly 

 amid the noise of life ~ 

a challenge that returns

 belonging to our heart.

“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”

~ Maya Angelou

(1928 ~ 2014)

To Sense the Rhythm

To find the words 

to sense the rhythm of life 

is to slip away 

from habits of a lifetime, 

to sway to new melodies 

in the moments 

of each passing year 

to sense the grace of our age.

“Sometimes when I am writing, 

I am aware of a rhythm, a dance, a fury, 

which is as yet empty of words.”

~ Stephen Spender, poet

(1919 ~ 1995)

Into Life

Set adrift in my own mind 

it was time to stop, 

settling gently to the ground,

much like Mary Poppins 

with her umbrella. 

The earth solid 

     

    beneath my feet, 

  purpose built from stillness 

and I moved on into life.

“I’ll stay till the wind changes.”

~ Mary Poppins

Living in the Moment

Calm and quiet 

after a day filled 

with energy and life 

each piece from early 

to this moment cherished 

for each separate moment. 

Living in the moment is 

like sliding shining beads 

on colourful yarn. 

As days and weeks pass 

a tapestry evolves that is 

a life shared and lived.

“Forever is composed of nows.”

~ Emily Dickinson, poet

1830 ~ 1886

Under the Blanket

stay cozy under the blanket ~ 

  normal feels good 

    but not strong. 

don’t have to surrender 

  to belief. 

That would take energy ~ 

feeling ‘not 25 anymore’. 

a distressing thought. 

at both ages ~ lying down, 

  feet up feels the same. 

No worries about being tired, 

  being out of balance,
    being afraid of our own mortality. 

With every age and stage of life 

~ being in the world changes. 

How anyone adjusts 

to these minute changes ~

one of life’s great mysteries. 

But adjust we do with 

the same wants and needs - 

balance shifting from wants to needs. 

But oh, how do we still

 ‘want’ the bright shiny things.

“I fall into all kinds of inauthenticity 

when I conspire to forget my mortality.”

~ Sam Keen, author

More than 'Thank You'

So many things 

 to be grateful for in this life. 

the list is long, 

  longer than this page, 

    longer than any book

with each passing year, 

  each day is more precious. 

no need to wait til Thanksgiving Day 

  to feel them, 

    to voice them 

to be kind to that youngster 

 who didn’t know that gratitude 

   was anything more than saying 

            ‘thank you’.

“What if, today, we were grateful for everything?”

~ Charlie Brown

The Biggest of Lies

When you know 

that the sun will always shine, 

the wind will always blow 

whether your life 

spins out of control or 

is as placid as a lake on a summer’s day, 

you will also know that your heart 

will let your spirit and soul soar 

despite the naysayer’s surrounding you. 

And when one of those naysayers is

your own voice

telling you all that you can’t do 

let your spirit and your soul 

guide the way past that biggest of lies 

to the facts that are true.

“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes 

to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him.”

~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, novelist

(1821 ~ 1881)

In Your Bones

Acceptance is believing truth 

not the truth of someone else 

but the truth that 

lives in your bones 

that tells you 

what you don’t want 

    to believe 

that your life is of 

    your own making 

the little life that came with you 

but without instructions. 

Instructions whispered, spoken or yelled 

through each day of your life 

until all of them make sense 

but shaped with your own wisdom 

because you know the truth 

that lives in your bones.

“Knowing others is intelligence. 

Knowing yourself is true wisdom.”

~ Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching