The Present

"And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep."
Anon...

The Dreaming Soul

The dreaming soul of he human race believes life will come out right.
Thornton Wilder

No one ever knew...

I was a person and no one ever knew....Jean Harris

No Excuse

There is no excuse for life without coffee.

I Know Something Good About You

Louis Shimon

Wouldn't this old world be better
If the folks we meet would say...
"I know something good about you!"
And treat us just that way?

Wouldn't it be fine and dandy
If each handclasp, fond and true,
Carried with it this assurance...
"I know something good about you!"

Wouldn't life be lots more happy
If the good that's in us all
Were the only thing about us
That folks bothered to recall?

Wouldn't life be lots more happy
If we praised the good we see?
For there's such a lot of goodness
In the worst of you and me!

Wouldn't it be nice to practice
That fine way of thinking, too?
You know something good about me,
I know something good about you!

Loyalty

To Wayford 'Booger' Bryant....my friend

Loyalty
by
Berton Braley

He may be six kinds of a liar,
He may be ten kinds of a fool,
He may be a wicked highflyer
Beyond any reason or rule;
There may be a shadow above him
Of ruin and woes to impend,
And I may not respect, but I love him,
Because...well, because he's my friend.

I know he has faults by the billion,
But his faults are a portion of him;
I know that his record's vermilion,
And he's far from the sweet Seraphim;
But he's always been square with yours truly,
Ready to give or to lend,
And if he is wild and unruly,
I like him...because he's my friend.

I criticize him but I can do it
In just a frank, comraderly way,
And back-biting gossips will rue it
If ever they knock him to me!
I never make diagrams of him,
No maps of his soul have I penned;
I don't analyze...I just love him,
Because...well, because he's my friend.

Then Laugh

Bertha Backus

Build for yourself a strong box,
Fashion each part with care;
When it's strong as your hand can make it,
Put all your troubles there;
Hide there all thought of your failures,
And each bitter cup that you quaff;
Lock all your heartaches within it,
Then sit on the lid and laugh.

Tell no one else it's contents,
Never it's secrets share;
When you've dropped in your care and worry
Keep them forever there;
Hide them from sight so completely
That the world will never dream half;
Fasten the strong box securely,
Then sit on the lid and laugh.

The Embrace

rlp

The texture of one's touch
Filling my heart
The embrace
Making our own world.

Feel no more...risk no less

rlp

Ma chandele est morte
Mon ami Perriot
The soul is scourched
The heart sad
Such happy times
So many gentle touches
All have vanished.

Backaway...seal your heart
Lest it be scourched again...
Feel no more...risk no less.

What are you going to do....

rlp

What are you going to do when you want to cry?
And you can't be alone with yourself?

When people just can't seem to let you be?
Or when you're away for the day?

Well, you can just tough it out
and wait for the weekend to cry.

But

You hope that by that time
you may not have anything to cry about.

Reassurance

rlp

Reassurance is a friend's hand in yours.

A Smile

rlp

To smile with your mouth is a mere hello.
To smile with your eyes is a thousand words!

Friendship

Here are three little poems I wrote as a young teen on friendship:
rlp

The silence of an embittered friendship
to one of long, enduring, silent pain.
A friendship that is still, but barely...
Once, dear friends,
Now, mere friends,
Later maybe enemies.
An embittered friendship is stiff
never easy or carefree any longer.
This silent friendship is a deep wound,
Maybe never to be healed.

~~~

Friendships are like leaves that
fall from the old tree in the autumn.
The wind blows it
and it has a hard time
Finally it rests
on the ground in peace.

~~~

To have light, one must have fire.
To have fire, one must have a torch.
To have a torch, one must have a purpose.
To have a purpose, one must have inspiration.
To have inspiration, one must have a friend.

Won't you be my friend and help
me brighten my light?

I dreamed these words...

I was meeting and speaking to someone in my dream one night and this is what he said to me:

From this time to yesterday,
I shall not go further.
My heart can not be in it,
as I am not in my heart.
Others may go forward,
but me, I am a foundling of the earth.

I shall tell you why I come.
I come to hear you speak of your thoughts
about man and his works,
For they are what we are all interested in.
As man can bring his thoughts back to his home
To sleep and dream of lost treasures
that they will someday find.

Sounds of Death

rlp

The sounds of death
fill my numb ears
As through life I spin.

The dirge of death
calls me ever so softly
And all the while
I scream back at it...
Go Away!!

It sounds so sweetly
when speaking to the tortured.
It sounds so harshly
when speaking to me.

And all the while
I scream back at it...
Go Away!!

The Pit

rlp

I loved
But I love no more...

You loved
But you love no more...

We loved
But we love no more...

The sounds of no more consumes me in a pit
A pit called sorrow.

If One Can See

rlp

If one can see the beauty,
If one can see the lustre,
If one can see the long sweet smiles,
Then one can see the love in a heart.

If one can see the clear sky,
If one can see the shining sea,
If one can see the rippling meadows,
Then one can see the love of God.

If one can see,
If one can hear,
If one can whisper,
Then one surely has the love of God in his heart.

Life and Love

rlp

Things that are now
Are so beautiful but not yet complete
Yes, they were beautiful then
And they were my now...
But love and life has changed
Which makes me see differently
Life is not simple I now see
But it is not complex enough to scare me away.
Life makes me rap at it's window!
Life dares me to come in...
Love is still love...
But stronger.

Lifeline of the Soul

rlp

When do you start to love someone?
When is the seed planted?
How do you dare let another soul touch your core?

The lifeline of the soul is where you meet your own skin. That comfortable soothing place in the me-in-you-in-us space in time...never beginning...never ending..always is... Give up the past, take today as a gift and tomorrow as a promise.

What if...

To JDR

Would that you could safely let me hold your heart lovingly and carress it for a time, leave my fingerprints in there, then place it back into your body all healed and loved...

Dream

Do you dream or take potluck?

Dream Catching

rlp

There is a path
to Dreaming
Catching
and
remembering
remembering.
working the fingers
into the practice called
touching
Dreams may find their way
to the Heart
not
afraid
of
Opening

What is Beautiful

Can you imagine looking into the mirror and seeing a beautiful face looking back at you? In my opinion, it happens every time we/you look into a mirror.

What we/you see in a mirror from early childhood is what we/you base our/your opinion(s) as to what is beautiful. All judgements refer back to that mirror. We start accumulating judgements as to the level of the beauty we see in the mirror.

Only when we become older and see other 'beautiful' people, do we compare the image in the mirror with what is outside of the mirror. At one point in our life, what we see in the mirror is not the beauty we see in magazines or television.

We sometimes look at people and think how can that person look into a mirror and see beauty. They may be saying the same about us. Then again, we may be the ones others are comparing themselves to.

It would be nice if a mirror could only reflect our soul....or our goodness...

One of my all time favorites:

Dave returned from a doctor's visit one day and told his wife Doreen that the doctor said he only had 24 hours to live. Wiping away her tears, he asked her to make love with him. Of course she agreed and they made passionate love.

Six hours later, Dave went to her again, and said, "Honey, now I only have 18 hours left to live. Maybe we could make love again?"

Doreen agreed and again they made love.

Later, Dave was getting into bed when he realized he now had only eight hours of life left. He touched Doreen's shoulder and said, "Honey? Please? Just one more time before I die." She agreed, then afterward she rolled over and fell asleep.

Dave, however, heard the clock ticking in his head, and he tossed and turned until he was down to only four more hours. He tapped his wife on the shoulder to wake her up. "Honey, I only have four hours left! Could we...?"

His wife sat up abruptly, turned to him and said, "Listen Dave, I have to get up in the morning! You don't."

It's Only A Quarter

Several years ago a preacher moved to Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, you better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it. Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway the bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet."

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change."

The driver with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change."

When my friend stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, and held on, and said, "O God, I almost sold your Son for quarter."

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read.

Love Is Never Ending

Always finds a place to hide....Picture....inside your heart for your whole life...dedicated to the late J.E.D.....what's the least we have to do today?

Artist/Band: Paisley Brad
Song: Love Is Never-Ending
Album: Time Well Wasted

Seasons come and seasons go
One day sun, the next day snow
Flowers die and flowers grow
But love is never-ending

You can't kill it with goodbye
It always finds a place to hide
Inside your heart for your whole life
Love is never-ending

(Chorus:)
When the lights have all gone down
It'll still be hangin' 'round
Even when you think it's lost, it can still be found
When every memory has been made
And the pages start to fade
And every prayer you ever prayed is heaven bound
When you think the ride is over
You're back at the beginning
Love is never-ending

When a man and woman start growin' old
The fire of passion may grow cold
But what they got still warms their soul
Love is never-ending

(Chorus)

It keeps goin' on and on
Long after we're all gone away

Time may change what you believe
But one day the truth will set you free
Just have faith and you will see
Love is never-ending
Love is never-ending

How Many Times....

How Many Times...
rlp
02/11/06
For JenBB and me...

How many times does he have to not call you?
Before you understand that he doesn't want to hear your voice...
How many times does he have to not plan ahead to see you?
Before you understand that he doesn't think of you...
How many times does he have to not touch you?
Before you understand he doesn't desire you...
How many times does he have to not reach for you in the night?
Before you understand that he doesn't need you...
How many times does he have to tell you he doesn't love you?
Before he kills your love for him...
How many times?
Before it finally sinks in....

Four words

Fuzzy Furry Fucky Feelings

I'm growing into me...

I'm Growing Into Me
rlp
02/10/06

Slowly but surely
Two steps forward
One step back
Learning to love me
Learning to like me
Accepting my faults
Delighting in my mind
Secure in my soul
Struggle some days
Excited the next
The wonderment of my life
The blessings I'm given
Stepping outside the line I draw for me
New boundaries
New adventures!
Making peace with my past
Trusting in my future
Adamently determined
Equally trepid
Slowly, so very slowly growing into me.