Tag: progress

Whose Earth Is This?

Whose Earth is this?
ask the trees reaching
to kiss mountainous sky.

Who cares for her?
ask the creatures all,
grateful for her bounty.

Machines rumble
forests fall – a stand
for progress answers none.

(Image my own.)

Spirit Stands Strong

Progress – seldom linear –
tosses me into unexpected decline –
stranded and incapacitated.

My son – with labour-hardened strength
leaps to my side, steadying me
and I feel the fear in his caring grip.

My daughter, ever compassionate,
reaches out for me with horror-filled eyes
as my body crumples onto the bed.

My husband, my oak, seeks to comfort
his voice betraying the helplessness
this futile predicament imposes.

Beloveds, I know that you see me
this dis-abled, non-functioning shell
weakened and sickly, lying on this bed.

Do not be deceived – that is not me –
it is only an illusion –
a vessel – temporarily fettered.

I am, in essence, beside you –
ambitions and desires intact.
Feel me there, tall and proud.

Sense the wholeness of my being
remember me for the woman I am yet to be –
My spirit stands strong.

(I first wrote this poem in August of 2015, when efforts to sit up and visit with friends caused a collapse.  I wrote it as reassurance for my family that the woman they knew was still strong.  I post here now as a reminder to myself – of how far I have come, and how strong my spirit remains.)

Grandchildren Are Carrots

Motoring through duality,
straining, in the middle –
socialized, yet reticent –

My heart is overflowing,
like an unwatched sink
falling apart, too much

Driving, the past’s rain
blurring any joy; feel
dirty, taut, losing control

Harm vanishes, comes
back around; hosting
good intentions, rank;

Progression entirely
defined by vulnerability
smothering celebration

Towed along by sweetness
of children, dining on their
innocence banishes despair.

Day 259 “Tao vs The World”

Everywhere I look: collisions.
Ambition struck down by mindless consumerism
defeating progress;
social networking defying purpose,
mutilating communication,
disrupting movement;
victims splayed, traumatized, numb,
flaying, bloody.
Consciousness obliterated
by blind compliance;
intrinsic motivation / instinct extinct.

Values – not possessions- endure;
understanding eliminates dominance;
integrity ensures power for all.
Mindfulness calms chaos
quenches grasping urgency
restores hope;
direction and purpose
harmonized with communal focus
realizes potential
creates greatness.