Until you don’t care
what everyone else thinks
smile,
always smile —
it protects against pity.
Watch for the smallest
deviations in your path.
If you fail to pay attention,
they will pitch you out
onto the ground
to lie helpless
for what seems like eternity
until you get moving again.
Don’t travel on air.
Opt for solid, sensible tires
so sudden spikes in the road
will have no effect.
Expect your personal space to be invaded, especially at airport security where you will be legally molested. Prepare for your privacy to be invaded. Strangers feel entitled to ask you…
Who will save us all?
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and karma seems to pause
the world lies deep in murky haze
obscuring sacred laws
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps,
the fortune-monger thrives
and peddlers sell their souls for keeps
endangering all our lives
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and countries fall astray
the people lose true North again
while Love is kept at bay
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps
and spiders weave their webs
they spin and spin until our wings
seem caught in endless threads
On zombie days when Buddha sleeps and Gaia’s almost played she crowns the smallest…
To a life played out in clips
“You can come
and pick her up now,”
the receptionist says
over the phone.
We take the short drive
to the vet’s —
shortened further
by my state of mind.
Lately, I can’t remember
how I get from
point A to point B.
Ever since Daddy and I left you
at the veterinary hospital
our lives have been playing out
in clips (clip to clip)
with none of the mundane
scenes in between.
I long for all
the mundane scenes
in between —
to hold them
frame by frame
to memorize
memorialize
every moment
from point A
to point B…
Write a Love Hir a Thoddaid
What the heck is a Hir a Thoddaid? It’s a six-line Welsh poetic form, structured like this (the Xs are syllables and the As and Bs are the rhymes):
xxxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxbxx
xxbxxxxxa
Give it a whirl and share it in the comments or refer to this article. It’s a fun way to express your love, and your poem becomes a timeless Valentine. Don’t spend more than an hour writing it.
Here’s mine:
On this day of love, in COVID time
you’ve been the vaccine that keeps me fine.
There isn’t anyone else more kind
or that I would ask: “Will you be mine?”
You are my life, my hope and my true love.
Don’t ask why! Just be my Valentine!
Happy Valentine’s Day. ❤️❤️❤️
A good tale might be more magical than you think
An imperceptible door opened in the fieldstone fireplace’s rear and a small, barefoot creature stepped out. He made his way across the hearth to the weathered oak bar and struggled to pour himself a pint. Then he sat down in a dark corner and waited.
Moments later the pub’s front door unlocked. Tolkien searched the quaint room barely lit by the dying embers.
“I feared you weren’t coming back.”
“Aye. The journey’s getting increasingly harder,” the hobbit replied. “But someone must record these epic battles before all magic’s gone.”
Nodding, Tolkien poised his pen. …
