Easy, breezy, light and freezy
squeezy, sleazy, sometimes squeaky
Fluttery, buttery, I’m not nuttery
Cattery, splattery, but no flattery
Speedily, bleedily, just not greedily
Eerily, blearily, eyes are tearily
Quakery, shakery, give me cakery
Flakery, bakery, do not takery
Snuggle me, bungle me, don’t tungle me
Spangle me, dangle me, please jangle me
Laughy, gaffy, just plain daffy
Play with words every dayfy
I am the sole of your shoe,
the dirt that you spit upon,
and the excrement of fish
that sinks into the silt
quickly becoming invisible.
I am the one who sits in the
last seat, in the last row,
who never says a word, or joins
a group, or makes any sound,
trying to be invisible.
I am the one that you never see,
even when you brush against
my back or shoulder in a crowd,
the one that you never grace with
a smile, for I am invisible.
I yearn to have a friend of my own,
someone who shares secrets with me,
holds my hand, carries my books,
asks for my phone number, so that
I will no longer be invisible.
I am tired of sitting alone, day after day,
munching on my cardboard lunch
while others around me joke and speak
of adventures of which I will never know,
for I remain invisible.
I ask for your attention, your time,
which you so willingly give to your
chosen few, the “in crowd,” those that
raise your status, your time card, but
not me, for I am invisible.
I beg you to stop just once and ask
my name, to hold the door and let me
enter first, to invite me to join your group
for lunch, or to be my partner, to wipe away
my cloak of invisibility
so that I may be seen for who I am,
a child of God
a blessed soul
a friend in waiting
I’m tired, so tired of:
persistent whiners,
constant complainers,
nay Sayers, and
ne’er-do-wells
who get their jollies
by belittling others
as playground bullies.
I’m tired, so tired of:
lazy nonperformers,
excuse finders,
procrastinators and
incompetents
who destroy the efforts
of hard-working people
through gross manipulation.
I’m tired, so tired of:
jealous intellects,
devilish reviewers,
self-protective chumps,
and feeling-bashers
who denigrate works
to bolster their own
feelings of competence.
Instead of finding fault,
look for joy.
Instead of whining,
seek peace.
Instead of creating havoc,
settle the inner voice.
Instead of destroying dreams,
offer solace through
kind words,
constructive criticism
designed to improve
rather than ruin.
For everyone thrives
when voices of hope
fill the earth.
And then I’ll no longer
be tired.
What do you tell the children
who find no quarters under their
pillows – the missing gift of the
tooth fairy – when the proper
homage has been paid?
What do you tell the sad little girl
whose stocking is empty
Christmas morn – after leaving the
last cookie and a small cup of
milk – the thanks for the Santa
who never came?
What do you tell the young boy
who has no basket to leave on
the table – decorated with colorful
paper eggs and filled with shredded
newspaper – and all that’s inside are
a few stale jelly beans?
What do you tell the teenager
whose fifteenth birthday came and
went – with no party, no gifts, no
happy times – to mark the majestic
coming of age?
What do you tell the lonely ones
who never get a heart-shaped card
or candies – a sign of friendship and
love – who had only wished that just
one person would care?
What do you tell the children
who have no masks, no quirky
costumes – in celebration of All
Hollow’s Eve – and so can’t knock
and threaten tricks?
What do you tell the little ones
who have no feast to cram into
their mouths – in honor of those who
survived – and so bite into stale
peanut butter sandwiches?
What do you tell all the unloved
children, young and old, who rise
day after day – wanting nothing more
than a gentle hug – and receive
harsh words instead?
For some children have everything
they could ever want while others
have nothing but emptiness – no
hope for more – the rejoicing washes
over, leaving not a drop of joy.
Let us cry for them
And then pick up our mantle
Of gentleness and offer whatever we can,
Whatever small bit of joy
Lurking in cabinets and pantries
Deliver it to a charity
Where we can witness the joy
That abounds in simple giving.
When delicious dreams dance
Through your sleepy cerebrum
Do you see ghosts galloping by?
Are angels announcing successful situations?
Or decidedly deadly demons destroying
Your timely treasure trove?
Might competing cherubim choruses clash
Creating unheavenly harmonies, or
Little leprechauns lustily leap through,
Waving windswept rainbows bending
Toward the lavish land?
When unlucky lions lust for
Momentous meals does your being believe
It’s treacherously true, or does
Righteous reasoning untangle gigantic gnomes
Grappling on your luscious lawn?
Carefree cats carouse in your yard
Delirious dogs dangerously stalk prey
As your heavy head haltingly falls back upon
Puffy pillows of dainty down.
Soldiers slash and burn buildings while
Crafty commanders shriek scrabbled sentences
Waving wicked wands that sprinkle sparkles
In the deepest, darkest night.
Vicious venomous vipers sizzle zooed zebras
Lounging lazily behind links while
Porcine pandas ponder bulky bamboo
Priests praise gods in unholy ululations
While communities corrupt into chaos
Rioting right through your lonely life
Mothers majestically cradle crying babies
Born in proud poverty while
Faith filled fathers find superior strength,
Saving all from untimely death.
Logic, luckily leaves as soon as eyes
Close and delirious dreams drip
Drop by drop preparing paths for
Dream logic to wind its wicked way
Into your nightly nirvana.
Never can one predict what may emerge
When the eyelids languorously close and
Dream logic descends.
Alone
In the middle of a crowded room
Silent voices scream for recognition
Fear
Twists guts into compressed clay
Paralyzing limbs, numbing throats
Degradation
Fills the ears of the emotionally injured
Ruining scarce moments of hard-fought joy
Depression
Carries sinking hearts into oblivion
Erasing memories of happiness felt
Hands
Reach out, begging for salvation
Yearning for one sign of love
Answers
Arrive in rain-soaked clouds
Pouring down tears of understanding
Compassion
Clears the night of unmasked terrors
Awakening remnants of esteem, long forgotten
Joy
Blooms in multi-colored bursts of words
Spoken, thoughts shared, kindnesses felt
Light
Seeps into the crevices of the heart
Obliterating shards of self-doubt
Happiness
Explodes in multicolored bursts
Opening souls to welcoming voices
Surrounded
Encased
Enfolded
Alone no more
Music calls me
To fly with angels
In an azure sky
With gossamer wings
And crowns of golden filigree
Cymbals, harps, and lutes
Create magical tunes
Giving glory to God
And all His mighty works
Music of the soul
Heavenly prayers
Voices lift in harmony
Filling God’s ears with
Sound rejoicing
Blending, splitting, lifting
Toward heaven in
Wondrous rapture
Joining in mysterious
Psalms choruses praise
God day and night
Filling my soul
With delight
Praise God all ye peoples
Of the earth
Join in perfect harmony
Sing with me today
Alleluia! Alleluia!
When my eyes closed,
Your image remained
For hours and hours
Afterward
You walked my dreams
Blessing me with love
For hours and hours
Through the night
Your arms held me
Your kisses bathed me
For hours and hours
With tenderness
When I awoke
You at my side
For minutes and minutes
In unity
In awe I stared
Loving your eyes
For seconds and seconds
Beyond time
We drift through time
Missing moments
For years and years
To eternity
all of life is a series of
nonstories
the might-have-beens
the almost becames
the things we dreamt of
doing
but never did
the wishes unfulfilled
presents never delivered
or received
places never visited
near-misses
chance occurrences
that developed into nothing
the left-behinds
and
soon-to-be forgottens
all stories untold
mysteries locked
romances closeted
things never experienced
foods never tasted
but secretly yearned for
nonstories frozen in place
and time
with no characters to lament
plots stagnant
themes dragging behind
do we obsess
over the lost stories
and live life in a
vacuum?
NO
we constantly create
our personal life stories
our dreams springing to
a life lived luxuriously
laughing joyously
over the endless
possibilities
Papers, lifted by a gutsy breeze
Flapped about like feeble gulls’ wings,
Until, at last, their drunken flight ceased
Abruptly, like puppets on strings.
Through open window they had fallen
Landed in a puddle quite deep.
Now the spell of written words broken
Quietly, they drifted to sleep/
Letters danced in the mind’s ballroom
Exposing every faux pas.
Signal fires of humanity’s doom
Unwoven, like arrows of straw.
Windows blackened shatter by gunfire
Pain inflicted on those who dream
Forgotten the words to inspire
Leaving behind a crooked seam.
Until one morning with the sunrise
Rays impaled the heart of the mess
Erased and cleansed, papers did arise
United, with tuneful address.
Soared again with joyful abandon
Like children enjoying their play.
Through window papers excitedly spun
Yesterday’s worries away.
Words and Thoughts 