I BELIEVE IN YOU

 

 Have you ever noticed 

as each day you grow

how far in life you are able to go

how much more you are able to do

If you have someone in your life

someone…who believes in you?

And have you also noticed…

when it comes to your friends and family

as each day they grow

how far in life they are able to go…

how much more they are able to do

If they have someone in their life

someone…who believes in them too?

Isn’t it amazing…

of all the things we can say or do…

how much we can enhance a life

with just four words…

I believe in you?

EVERYBODY EATS

I like to think I’m ‘woke’ at least I try

to fight oppression to promote diversity, equity and inclusion

(also known as DEI).

As I look around at our political system…and the ruin that befell

I have a hard time understanding why everyone…isn’t woke as well…. 

We returned to Rosetta’s Kitchen for lunch the other day…

It’s tucked between old buildings down one of Asheville’s busy streets.

we like the food they offer…but more than that

we love their philosophy…

Everybody Eats!

Their mission is to feed everybody…

with their vegan/vegetarian cuisine

from the wealthy 

to the homeless 

and everyone in between.

They ask for donations from those who have the means to pay…

so they can provide the homeless and others…healthy meals every day.

They are doing their part…to make a kinder more compassionate world

by feeding people living on the streets…

showing the rest of us what humanity looks like…

with Everybody Eats.

I wish we were all a little more like Rosetta’s Kitchen…

that we had their compassion, their empathy, their tenderness…

If we did then maybe our world…wouldn’t be in such a mess!

For I have no doubt America and the world could truly be great…

If everybody felt loved

felt welcomed

felt included

had clothes to wear

had a place to live…

if everybody ate.

 

BRAIDS

 

It doesn’t matter when…it doesn’t matter where

But I always smile when I see any man, woman 

or child with braided hair

Because it reminds me how across indigenous cultures 

these beautiful braids are worn

as a tribute to women…from whom all creation is born. 

The wisdom of these cultures is both sensible and broad

they understand how women…are the next best thing to God.

So they wear their braids to honor women…every mother…every wife

to show their gratitude to the people…who give the gift of life.

Each braid consists of three strands…honoring women is their goal

one represents the mind

one represents the body

and one represents the soul.

These three strands are plaited together so when the braiding’s done

there is a living link to all their women ancestors…coming together as one.

This is why I smile…when I see how each twists of hair cascades

when I think of how they honor their women

It makes me love the symbolism of the braids.

We live in a world where to these indigenous values many do not adhere…

where women feel vulnerable…are threatened…harassed and raped

where many of them live in fear.

Where many men have forgotten to honor every women…every mother…every wife

forgotten to show gratitude to those who give us life.

Forgotten to cherish the ones who first teach us to care for one another…

forgotten there is a reason we call our planet…Mother.

Perhaps we should use the three strands of the indigenous braids…

To remind us…again…and again…and again…

How we are born of women

raised by women

And we are who how we are…because of them.

It’s time we honor our women…

It’s time their dignity and humanity we preserve…

It’s time we find a way to braid into our lives

the respect they all deserve

WAY BACK WHEN

 

There are times as I grow older…

I find myself happily remembering way back when

to a time that seemed more innocent

without computers…when we wrote with only pencil and pen.

I remember, attending Catholic school….and in church looking around

thinking, since I could not see the nuns’ feet,  

they must miraculously float above the ground

Here’s a belief I had…that I’ve never shared with anyone…

I believed that lifesaver candies could keep me alive

even the pineapple ones

There is something to be said for that kind of innocence…

way back when no one seemed angry or hurried…

when I could play away from my house all day

and my parents never worried.

Way back when I was happy 

when there was so much I did not comprehend….

when my friends did not have labels…

my friends were just my friends.

Way back when I would play outside for hours

when we let our imagination soar…

when we did not know of hatred, 

of prejudice or war.

Way back when I had great role models…

a kind father and a loving mother…

when I thought all people got along…

when I thought everyone loved one another…

But somewhere along the way I grew up…

I’m not sure exactly when

and learned the world was not the world I remembered it to be 

way back when.

Which is why every now and then if find myself wishing 

to go back to that time 

when we wrote with only pencil and pen

to a time that was more innocent…

the way I remember it…

way back then.

NOTHING COMPARES

 

With so much beauty all around…a beauty of which I am perfectly aware

I try to enjoy each tiny piece for it’s uniqueness…I try not to compare.

Every sunrise stands alone……painted with one-of-a-kind effects

Why, then, would I waste time comparing one sunrise to the next.

Every sunset is exclusive…creating it’s own beauty to adore….

Why would I waste the beauty of the one I’m seeing

by comparing it to any sunset that has graced the sky before.

 

And long ago, happily, I came to understand…

I should never compare the smiles on babies faces

or the touch of their little hands.

There is an inherent never before seen beauty 

and elegance…an unparalleled style

in every baby’s touch

In every baby’s smile

I believe beauty…all the beauty around us…

is a blessing to be shared

and that beauty…with other beauty…

should never be compared.

Which is why when it comes to beauty.  

I follow this simple rule of thumb

I try enjoy every slice of beauty today will offer

then excitedly await…

tomorrow’s beauty yet to come.

SOUNDS

 

Autumn has come to the mountains…it’s easy to perceive 

when we feel the cooler weather upon our skin

when we hear the crunching of the leaves.

There is something comforting walking along the ground

where fallen leaves have randomly decided to bunch….

you find yourself smiling because…there’s something satisfying in the crunch

As I listened to that crunch of Mother Nature’s quilt…

with it’s colors on full display

I started wondering what other sounds in nature…make me feel this way

The music nature creates each day…her melodies…without words

The wind, 

a gentle rain, 

the ocean waves

a waterfall…

the singing of the birds.

Sounds that when I stop and listen …even if only for a little while…. 

immediately soothes my soul…and evokes from me… a smile.

As I was thinking of the plop a stone makes

before it sends out ripples on a lake.  

I began to wonder if there are soothing sounds

we human beings make

Do we make sounds like nature…

that soothe the soul…of course we do…

the laughter of a baby

when we whisper… ‘I Love You’.

How lucky we are as humans…

for the wide variety of sounds we’re blessed to hear

from the crunching of the leaves in Autumn

to all the ‘I Love Yous’ whispered in our ears.

Perhaps what we need a little more of in this world

is to find a way to interweave….

more ‘I Love Yous’ whispered in each other’s ears

with more time crunching in the leaves.