Despair and Its Hope

-------Despair and Its Hope-------

A night witnessed 

the shouting grow too loud for a boy to take,

and I put a hole in the wall.

A wall 

in the home 

that for years had held me like a son

and I now too weak 

to bring to life those memories 

of playing and joy within it.

It's the lonely, 

violent side of sorrow,

depression is,

and but one form 

taken by complacency

under the rule and demands of another.

Isolating oneself in this way 

from the world

is not the principle of solitude shared by the mystics,

but it is on what vice 

and the injustices which act upon them 

depend.

Being told for too long what to do

frustrates the mind to anger

with a fist,

and holes are driven

into and across

the earth.

Years, 

and many holes later

I still hold that sorrow.

But it is its other side - of

humility and compassion,

patience

that I now let guide 

what I do with my hands -

to make a place for seeds to grow 

and faith to forever remember

that every problem 

we will ever know

carries 

on its back 

its own solution.

-------

Dig

-------Dig-------

Our story 

is buried beneath 

a pile of books.

Books filled with a kind of knowledge 

so depending on the moral state

of the author, the editor and of the time within which it was written.

But a story.

A story 

is timeless.

It can be told and retold 

over, around, through 

and foreverly over again.

For the moral of the story, 

like history 

itself repeats in principle;

transcending beyond 

individual moments and belief

into the commons.

There are no best-sellers in the story world,

just one's we'll remember; one's that get us dirty in a good way,

like grass stains on a pair of khaki pants.

And so when things get too serious 

and the days begin to pass 

without their brilliance,

remember the story underneath, 

take off your gloves 

and with your bare hands

start digging.

-------

Harmony’s Sweater

-------Harmony’s Sweater-------

A mind at peace

clear 

and 

beautiful

will keep the body warm

through the coldest of days.

-------

The World is Only One

-------The World is Only One-------

If the intent of your solitude 

is to be alone,

may you go about it by yourself.

But if it is to join that hallow space

you share with all things,

then I will meet you there.

-------

Going Home

-------Going Home-------

The less I choose to carry

the easier 

will be my travels,

and wherever I settle

there will be a place 

for everything.

-------

Wars of Separation

-------Wars of Separation-------

It is the balance of things 

we must unlearn ourselves 

back towards.

We've been taught 

to take sides, to favor one hand over the other,

in towns separated by color, and schools awarding trophy's to intelligence and athletes,

to console the vices of pride.

We've grown to pledge allegiance 

to one god, 

one country, 

and intolerance for another's.

We have created the imbalance 

by creating a way to measure difference,

justifying our wars and our charity 

upon this idea.

Somewhere within this short amount of time, 

the World broke into three, 

and today the Third manifests a sickness 

of the First one's dis-ease;

for money will not prevent Ebola, 

nor hunger, nor homelessness;

for it is the accumulation beyond necessity 

which begets imbalanced wealth and poverty.

True philanthropy is a willingness not only to give, 

but to receive;

just as those who listen,

will be heard.

So be calm,

be quiet, 

smile and

accept difference as beautiful.

As we all must

let go 

to balance.

-------

Easy Does It

-------Easy Does It-------

The efficiency gained by any advance in technology

will never compare to the ease

and ultimate productivity

of letting go to every desire to advance.

The higher we build,

the further we get from our roots.

The more we develop,

the more burdens we create.

To again know

the richness of simply living

will take progress in the other direction

than where we have been told.

There's no paved road

to take us

where we need to go;

no new seed

that could feed us better

than those passed down from a time before poison would fake fertility;

no written law

to defend the justice deeper

than the righteousness inherent to our nature.

There is nothing beyond

what we already have,

and everything we will ever need

needs only to be uncovered.

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