When was the last time a stranger
Whispered something in your ear,
Whether something that was naughty
Or perhaps a secret fear,
Saying something so important
That they risked becoming near
To share with you a datum
Only you were fit to hear?
If you’ve never given quiet
I think you ought to try it.
Filed under Poems
Just about everyone has asked “What’s the meaning of life.”
Just about everyone has learned the answer.
What got lost was that they weren’t asking the right question
And the right question is:
“Have I ever been unhappy?”
If you say “no,” then you apparently know the meaning of life already
But just about everyone says “Yes, I’ve been unhappy.”
And the right question continues:
“Have I ever been happy?”
And if you say “no” then you need to keep reading
But just about everyone says “Yes, I’ve been happy.”
And the right question continues:
“So what happened that made you change
“From being unhappy to being happy?”
There are many answers to this question
And just about all the answers are correct:
When you were born and became distinct from mother, you were unhappy
And when mother held you you were happy
And so the meaning of life is to be held and loved.
When you were scared and confused and lost, you were unhappy
And when you got comfort, knowledge, direction you were happy
And these too are the meaning of life.
When you were sad, you laughed.
When you were alone, you fell in love.
When you were hungry you ate.
When you were tired you slept.
When you couldn’t go on, you kept going.
Every single time you’ve been unhappy you did something joyful.
Every time you were hopeless you hoped one more time
And when you couldn’t, the universe gave you hope from outside yourself.
The meaning of life is about becoming happy
And if you’re happy you can’t become happy.
Life is the opposite of unhappiness
And so happiness is life.
If you are unhappy, you are alive,
If you are happy, you are living,
And when you make your final choice in this life, choose to be happy again
Because just about everyone can.
Filed under Poems
There are ten-quintillion insects
In the world, we estimate
Who deal daily with the fact
They’re objects of our hate.
They’ve never read a poem
And they’ve never seen a play
And we just go and murder them
As they go about their day.
Lots of people say things:
“Love your neighbor,” “Peace not war,”
But they don’t even bat an eye
When vacuuming their floor.
I think when we begin to care
For the welfare of bugs
Humanity will finally see
The real value of hugs.
Filed under Poems
Somewhere near you is a man
Who has a loaded gun
And a heart full of unspoken pain.
He cannot see the sun,
Nor can he hear the laughter
Of the squirrels and birds and trees.
He walks upright, but out of sight
He’s fallen to his knees.
Somewhere there’s another man –
It might even be you –
Who gives the first a little nod
That says “I feel it too.”
And sometimes just a nod like that
Is all you need to say
To help a wounded warrior
Put the loaded gun away.
You don’t need superpowers
Or a cape to save the day.
Smiling is enough sometimes
To make the world okay.
Filed under Poems
Someday in the future
Somebody will share
A painting so perfect
Nothing else can compare,
And most everybody
Will say “Ooh” and “Ahh”
Except for the few
Who insist there’s a flaw.
All other artwork
Before it and after
Won’t evoke the same awe
Or inspire such laughter,
Won’t bring to the eyes
The same sweetness of tears
And from then to the end
There will be the dark years
Where no art seems special
Like the ultimate piece,
So exhibits will dry up
And artists will cease.
New adventures will stagnate
When our needs are all met
So let’s just be happy
That we’re not perfect yet.
Filed under Poems
The hours we spent painting gnome houses
And the hours we spent playing games
And the meals and walking
And laughing and talking
And whispering each others’ names,
The hour we spent after bedtime
Just wrapped in each other, in love,
And the sweet half an hour
That I was your tower
And your lips glowed from starlight above,
A greeting, a morning, a breakfast, adventure,
The downtime, the party, the kiss:
I cannot be lonely when you are my only;
No time was spent better than this.
Filed under Poems
I remember a game
I played when I was childish
Where up I’d pick a fancy stick
And proceed to go quite wildish.
It would be, at the same time,
A lightsaber, a gun,
A steering wheel, banana peel,
A ticket: Admit One.
I could walk around the woods
With some tree’s lifeless limb
And make of a day of naught but play,
Walking and swinging him.
Now I’m big and childish
But have less inclination
To go outside and take a ride
On my imagination.
Today I pray to everything
That before I’m old and sick
I’ll meet just five folks more alive
Than my beloved stick.
Filed under Poems
Tonight I watched a movie
That made me cry
About an awkward redhead
Who can travel through time.
He learned that living every day
As if it is your last
Is the key to perfect happiness,
Not reliving the past.
Unlike awkward redhead dude
I can’t control the ages,
Can’t redo my past mistakes
Or rewrite history’s pages.
What I can do that others can’t
Is make the time you spend
Be used to wish my poetry
Would finally freakin’ end.
Filed under Poems
Somebody decided
To take a piece of land
And implement a strategy
A capitalist planned
Wherein they’d charge some strangers
A fee for a ticket
To try a lot of fancy ways
To get all cold and wet.
They’d make a lot of slidey things
And fountains you can climb
And lazy lilting rivers
Where you can waste your time
And pools that make big waves
Like the ocean, but controlled.
I don’t know whose idea it was
But I know that I’m sold!
This poem is dedicated to Steven,
The lifeguard at Boulder Beach
Who saved this poet’s glasses
Which had fallen past his reach.
Filed under Poems
I love you, my sunshine,
My sniffer of books,
For more than your laughter
And stunning good looks.
I love you for doubting,
Examining life,
For wanting to be my
Spectacular wife.
I love you for giving
With no hint of greed.
You’re all that I want
And more than I need.
I love you for being
The woman you are:
A dreamer, a doer,
A fighter, a star.
Filed under Poems
The Daily Travesty 