Tag Archives: Poem of the Day

1 July 2014 – We are free

There is something special

about human nature.

It is an all absorbing granter

of the graces which we hold dear.

It is what sets us apart

in our unity as a species.

It is what gives us the hope

that tomorrow will be better than today.

And no matter what one person may say

to limit the freedom of anyone

of our brothers and sisters

those limitations are limited

compared to the power of nature.

No matter what may be said or done

I am free.

Hatred, fear, violence, wrath

these are all tools used to achieve goals.

But compared to compassion, kindness, sincerity

those tools are like useless rusty bits of metal.

No matter what may happen

to me, to you, to our friends

we are all free.

The final question is:

Are we brave enough to embrace that freedom?

30 June 2014 – Here, There, and Everywhere

Work continues

No matter where it may be.

Labouriously we wander

through an endless maze of infamy.

First one recipient then another

Followed by fifty more

Some in English, some in French

Some even in Hindi and Russian to be sure.

Work continues as life goes on

like ants we march on with this song.

Here, There, and Everywhere,

the work goes on.

25 June 2014 – Hearts and Spades

Have you ever wondered why

a spade is shaped like a heart?

Perhaps it is to make things easier

when one seeks to bury a heart in the ground.

Perhaps a spade is that shape

because some fellow couldn’t think of how

to fix the spade-head.

Perhaps a spade is shaped so

for the simple reason that that was how

it was intended to be shaped.

A heart and a spade

they are similar in nature:

each has among them thirteen parts.

24 June 2014 – Comedy in the Morning

There is a special providence in the dawn of a morning.

What is to come on that day is yet to be known

What has passed is beyond recollection

What is present is perpetual yawning.

Yet that yawning, no matter how contagious

may be mended with the providence found

in laughter, joy, and humour.

Comedy awakens the mind

enlivens the spirits, brings laughter to the heart.

Comedy wakes you up

So you can stand on mountains

so long as you don’t suffer from altitude sickness

and are actually in a mountainous place.

Comedy is what makes you think

It questions the world,

challenges the collective understanding

You’ll soon find an elephant of laughter in your pyjamas

and won’t want to spend much more time in them

as by that point they’ll be rather tight.

It will get you up, and ready for the day

awaken your mind and enliven your heart

which is a good thing as an un-enlivened heart is dead.

Best of all,

you can be sure you’ll have a good day after.

23 June 2014 – Humanity

I don’t care who you are

I don’t mind if you are conservative or liberal

nor if you are a communist or a fascist.

I don’t like that you might see this person or that person

as lesser than yourself

and am more saddened that your view of the world is so small.

Beyond all other possibilities we have seen

throughout history that narrow-mindness dies out

as it blinds the observer from pluarlity

and the ability to change when necessary.

I don’t care who you are

I don’t care what you think

I don’t care if you love me or hate me.

You could put the gun to my head

You could drag my name through the mud

You could desecrate all that I hold dear

and I would still have respect for you.

Why? How? Am I mad?

Perhaps to some I may seem unhinged.

My respect for you comes from something simple

derives from something beautiful

born from the sea-foam like Aphrodite

or out of the head of the divine like Athena.

It is sacrificial like Christ’s death

it seeks truth and wisdom like the Buddha

it sings out like the Adhan from the minaret.

It burns eternally like the fire of Zoroaster.

I respect you for one simple reason

I respect that name by which we are all called

I respect your humanity

Thus I respect you.

22 June 2014 – Sunday’s

The day of rest has come

the day of silent contemplation

mixed with the roar of F1 V6 turbos

and the odd restaurant visit for brunch or dinner.

The day of rest has come

happily we all sit back and enjoy what is left

of that marvellous institution devised

by our friends in the labour movement

that is called the weekend.

The day of rest has come

a day to spend time with family and friends

to not worry about the next day’s work

but only about this day’s leisure.

The day of rest has come

At long last, it is Sunday.

21 June 2014 – Kindness

Always be kind to others

no matter whom they may be to you.

Nothing matters – just be kind.

After all, wouldn’t you want the same for you?

20 June 2014 – Exiting

Rush hour in Kansas City

The 5.00pm Central headlines commence on NPR.

There I sit, in my car, waiting patiently, silently

not finding it hard to imagine that I’m back in Chicago

as I wait to exit 435 westbound onto State Line Road.

The left turn lanes move at a snail’s pace

as if the world is at a standstill.

The first green light is like a far away lightning bolt

to distant to make any impact.

The second green light comes five minutes later

its glimmering verdant glow lasting but a faint minute

until overcome by the urge to bleed red once more.

I edge closer to the halfway point on the ramp

halfway to the starting gate

the horsepower in my engine revving to go

the twenty cars in front of me impeding my path.

Third green light.

At last the miraculous verdant flaring is causing some good

its impact reaching my car, who has finally moved within jumping distance

of the intersection ahead.

A homeless man, seeking work walks alongside the cars.

Fourth green light.

At long last I let out a cry

of “Go, go, go!”

Through the intersection my car roars,

wanting to break free from the shackles of traffic

and back onto the open road

that runs along the Kansas-Missouri state line.

19 June 2014 – Triumph over Indiana

On a plane this past March

as I flew from DC to KC

I found myself fast asleep

for much of the first part of the trip.

As I slept my dreams turn’d away

from the thoughts of that past day

and into a vision of some great orchestra

a chorus behind, playing that fam’d

1812 Overture of Tchaikovsky’s making.

It roared in my head, filling the mind

as ever it could with sound

abounding throughout the inner ear.

Yet the noise woke me,

forc’d me to recognise my place.

And as I open’d my eyes,

the music came to a grand finale

as the orchestra had stopped

the men of the chorus continued

singing triumphantly their final refrain

the melody from God Save the Tsar

resounded in my ears from within

triumphantly welcoming me

to the skies over Indiana.

Never before has a dream

been so grandiose as to remain

in my memory for months thereafter

as that chorus on that cold March day.

18 June 2014 – Humidity

I don’t know what I would have done

in decades past prior to the invention

the fantastic invention of air conditioning.

As it turns out, I probably would have

most undoubtedly sweated to death

in these unreasonably humid

Kansas City summers.

There is something quite pleasant

that comes to mind when one steps

out of the a/c and into the heat,

after all, it means that there is always

the a/c to go back to if one wishes.

So, as I offer my thanks to God

and the inventor of air conditioning

whichever of the millions of saints that may be

I react fondly to the fogging up of my specs

each and every time I step out of my car

and back into the summer heat.