GOODBYE ROBIN WILLIAMS

It was with deep sorrow I heard of your passing and the melancholy you went through

Perhaps the best way to express my sadness is to say...you had me at Nanu.

FIN!

I made a crazy decision 364 days ago; my reasons were unclear;

To try to write a poem a day for one entire year.

To show I wasn’t thinking straight and what naivete it took

Not only did I decide to write them but to post them on Facebook!

Is it irony that the first poem I wrote in what was to become a year long chain

Was a little rhyme, 8 stanzas long, containing a message from Mark Twain?

In all likelihood it was Abe Lincoln who first these words did christen

But if Lincoln and Twain said the same thing perhaps I should have listened.

Tis better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool, was the message they sent out

Than to open our mouths and at that point suddenly remove all doubt.

Perhaps I should have heeded their advice from that first little rhyme...before...

I sat down at my computer and wrote another 364!

But I didn’t, I kept churning out poems, it was part of my daily grind

About anything I could think of, about whatever crossed my mind.

In a year of rhyming, while I thought about every sentence, every word and every letter

Along the way I came to know myself a little better.

I came to understand the importance of words and the power they possess

I came to understand what a great life I have, how lucky I am, how blessed.

I found a celebration in words--I learned it’s not only important how we choose them

But, once selected, it’s even more important deciding how to use them.

For you never know what meaning your initial whispers will pack

Or, after you’ve allowed them to fly, what words will echo back.

With today’s poem those echoes have come full circle which is the reason why

365 poems later...it is time to say goodbye.

Oh I imagine I will write again if you are sad, don’t get fanatical

After a year of writing a daily poem...think of this as a sabbatical. 

When I return fresh from the rest and unconstrained by time

I’ll offer up, not a daily, but perhaps an occasional rhyme.

Until then remember any time you look out your window at the world and are enthralled

You realize in that moment...there is a poet in us all.

THE LAKOTA SIOUX

I’m no expert on the Native American culture but I like the point of view

Of many of their beliefs and traditions...take, for instance, the Lakota Sioux.

Look at their name for example, and you’ll begin to comprehend...

They chose the name Lakota because it, essentially, means...friend.

The Lakota were very spiritual and with the land they would connect

They believed that all life, visible and invisible deserved reverence and respect.

They believed in the Morning Star, the first star shining in the East,

Which would greet them in the morning once the evening tide had ceased.

They gave great importance to this star and on it they would pray

For they relished what it meant to them...the gift of a new day.

They kept dream catchers over their beds so once they bid the day adieu

It would catch the good dreams in its web while the bad ones would slip through.

They believed in a healthy mind and body, and when the day was done

They believed in nature and trust and balance before the passing of each sun.

As I look at our America today and wonder could it possibly get any worse

Perhaps is’t time to heed the words and traditions of the people who settled here first.

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Our bodies are getting older by the day yet we don’t accept this truth

We feel somewhere out there is the answer so we search for the Fountain of Youth.

We spend billions trying to stave off time; in some cases it’s become bizarre

The steps that we will go through to look younger than we are.

Buoyed by advertisements on TV, we think the effects of age can be chopped

We forget the people appearing in the ads have been air brushed and photo shopped.

We see and feel our bodies age on this Earthly carousel

And we make a simple assumption that our youth ages as well.

But what if we are wrong assuming the body and mind age simultaneously?

What if youth, for instance ages more transcendentally?

What if our bodies age from outside, hence the wrinkling of our skin

But what if the youth we so diligently desire to keep...what if youth comes from within?

We cannot control the ravages of age, no matter how much we conceal.

But despite the changes in our bodies, we can control the way we feel.

Sure it may take me longer to stand up now, and I may have more aches and pains

My hair is gone, my eyes are sagging but still I don’t complain.

Because underneath the wrinkles, sags and spots that age displays

Flows my very own Fountain of Youth and I sip from it every day.

Now when I look in the mirror I see that age has it’s own appeal

And every day I am amazed at how much younger I can feel.

LOOK WHO'S WATCHING

We are a funny creatures...man and woman...I’m sure everyone agrees

We have an odd sense of what’s important...some strange priorities.

We are upset to think Big Brother is watching us, we look on this unfavorably

We see it as a loos of freedom--a loss of privacy.

Yet we post our private lives every day on the social media spiral

Knowing our friends will see it and hoping it goes viral.

They are filming us on hidden cameras from New York to Amsterdam

But have you seen the pictures we post of ourselves on Snapchat and Instagram?

The National Security Agency is watching, I’m not quite sure where or how

But there’s a good chance in one way or another they are watching us right now!

As disturbing as this is to think about, I wonder about all the fuss

I wonder if we’re not too preoccupied with governments watching us.

The eyes we should worry most about are not hidden or federalized

They are not on our phones or computers, they are not concealed or disguised.

They are the eyes of all our children and on this point I do avow.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, their eyes are watching you right now.

WHAT MAKES US BEAUTIFUL

Sometimes I wonder if we’re the most advanced species...Look at the things we say and we do.

Sometimes I wonder if we’re as intelligent as we think...Sometimes I wonder-don’t you?

Take beauty for instance; in a world overflowing with beauty don’t you think it a little bizarre

That we humans are the only life form that needs to be told how beautiful we are.

The cardinal who comes to my feeder, or the blue bird or yellow gold finch

Never imagine as they get a little older their face needs a lift or a pinch.

The trees that majestically stand up to the weather with no shelter day out and day in

Never think about losing their leaves in the fall or worry about the wrinkles on their skin.

The animals that swim in the ocean never dream of Botox injections

They don’t worry what the sun and salt water are doing to their silky complexions.

The flowers that color the landscape don’t care if their sepals are tilting

They aren’t looking for some flower surgeon to keep their petals from wilting.

No, nature isn’t worried about bags under her eyes, or tummy tucks or frizz

Because nature doesn’t need a mirror to know how beautiful she is.

If we start viewing everyone as we view nature then beauty becomes a little more concrete

Before we know it we’re able to find beauty in all the people we meet. 

We’ll find our natural beauty, we’ll find our distinctive appeal

When we realize beauty comes not form what we look like but more from the way that we feel.

We’ll look past those little imperfections, those wrinkles, those bags and those scars

And we’ll know we don’t need a mirror or TV to tell us how beautiful we are.

Yes sometimes I wonder if we’re the most advanced species...Then again when I give it some thought

I don’t need to wonder if we’re as intelligent as we think...Because when I think about it...I’m sure we are not.

WHERE IS HEAVEN?

I was brought up quite religiously; we were taught heaven was up in the sky,

When we died, if we were good down here, there was a place for us on high.

A place where miracles happen every day where we’re surrounded by angels and love

Where we walk among the softness of the clouds, where our paradise floats above.

When I grew up and began to think for myself, to question and clarify

I kept returning to this concept of Heaven and couldn’t help but wonder why...

Why do we look up to Heaven, for when we look straight ahead, side to side, up or down

Look at all the miraculous sights we can see right here on the ground.

Look at all the life that’s created from the earth we find neath our feet

From natures beauty that surrounds us to the daily foods we eat.

I have been at the birth of my children and grandchildren and don’t think it’s preposterous to say

In the maternity ward of a hospital you walk among angels every day. 

I’ve experienced love and I’ve seen beauty, I’ve seen a family grow, blossom and thrive

I’ve known happiness and peace, I’ve seen sunrises and sunsets, all while I’m still quite alive.

I wonder if I’ve had this concept of Heaven all wrong...if religions aren’t a little remiss

As I look around at the blessings in my life I wonder can it get any better than this?

Sure there may be a Heaven high up in the sky which we may experience in our rebirth

But for me I prefer to think I’m already living in Heaven; today...right now...here on Earth.