needs/wants/dreams

what do we need today?

perhaps to forget about greed

and to remember the joys of simple lives;

perhaps we need to remember the times

of our grand fathers, when time used to run slower,

kids had fewer toys but more time with their mothers.

we still need to work on solving our conflicts

and learning to love our neighbors

even if they are different.

we still need hope and faith

and to search for a good direction of thoughts

and a coffee table or two at the edge of the street

 to allow for public debates.

do I really need perfect fruits even if they poison the kids?

do I really need fast growing chicks, cows or pigs;

are they not allowed to grow at their own pace any more

because of our greed?

do I really need 10 pairs of pants, and a shiny new car?

perhaps, but give me a friend to talk and think with 

in my free time I spend  around of the coffee tables

that line our street. 

give me time so I can take a trip 

and see other people 

and feel their needs

my boat needs to go 

my brain wants to see

my heart needs to dream

of people, places and rules

that allow for healthy simplicity.

pink buds

One of the wonders of the world

descended right from heaven onto mother earth

she smiled and from her smile were born

pink buds onto the trees who line the street

this  january in medium cold Durham,  NC.

The spring like air I breath and both my lungs 

expand with joy anticipating sunny spring

but winter's here and snow has fallen.

the pink buds blush at their mistake

cause they were born one month or two too soon

and thus gave us an unexpected winter break.

hope and virtue

"Hope and virtue" : keywords from the presidential inauguration discourse.
How does my memory compare with the computer generated analysis of the discourse?

prayer

photo courtesy of David Orias: photo.net/photos/orias
I pray that the skies will clear out
light will win against dark;
hope will grow
green shoots from healthy soil;
logic will prevail
love will stay strong, and patience
will heal;
while memory will preserve best
the sweet aspects of life.

poem of the day

Hope; An Owner’s Manual
By Barbara Kingsolver

Look, you might as well know, this thing
is going to take endless repair: rubber bands,
crazy glue, tapioca, the square of the hypotenuse.
Nineteenth century novels. Heartstrings, sunrise:
all of these are useful. Also, feathers.

To keep it humming, sometimes you have to stand
on an incline, where everything looks possible;
on the line you drew yourself. Or in
the grocery line, making faces at a toddler
secretly, over his mother’s shoulder.

You might have to pop the clutch and run
past all the evidence. Past everyone who is
laughing or praying for you. Definitely you don’t
want to go directly to jail, but still, here you go,
passing time, passing strange. Don’t pass this up.

In the worst of times, you will have to pass it off.
Park it and fly by the seat of your pants. With nothing
in the bank, you’ll still want to take the express.
Tiptoe past the dogs of the apocalypse that are sleeping
in the shade of your future. Pay at the window.
Pass your hope like a bad check.

importance

some people look important and rush
about their business
some people sit back and relax
at the same times;
who's right, who's wrong
I do not know;
there is a time for everything
if you try hard enough
probably;
keeping the balance
between important matters
urgent ones
and loved ones
matters
most