Unabashed

Let me ask you something:
Are you the one
in the circle
not saying
anything,

the one at the
Ice Cream Shoppe
silently digging out
the chocolate chips
with a spoon and
arranging them
to say
“Help me”
across the scoops
of vanilla?

While the others
are laughing and
interrupting
each other with
loosely constructed
opinions about
the final episode of
“Game of Thrones”
or the benefits
of hot cycling?

I know you think
this “why are you
always so quiet”
moment
marks a defect,
a connectivity error,
but it doesn’t.

If you have the
courage to be
unabashed
in your silence

you might just
find a previously
unopened
entrance to
The Mystery

that will open
itself to you
while you
absent-mindedly
rearrange the
chocolate chips to
say
EUREKA!

(Photo by Steven Lasry, UnSplash)

 

Spoiler Alert

When’s the last time
you listened to
the demon
say
you’re not
enough?

Not friendly enough,
not kind enough,
not helpful enough,
not enough of a
hard worker,
not enough of a
lover.

Listen to this:

You must decide.
The decision
that bears the weight
of every other
decision.

Are you,
right now,
in this moment –
sitting on your ass
at the saggy end
of the couch,
reading
your phone or
watching
Seinfeld reruns –
Are you,
right now,
in this moment,

Enough?

Spoiler alert:

Yes
you
are.

Followup Question:

When’s the last time
you made someone
feel like
they’re not
enough?

(Photo by Nik Shuliahin, UnSplash)

 

The Trick Is To Remember

When you agreed to
play the character
that is you,
and read the script,
you loved your part.

You hugged
the director
and praised
the playwright
and danced around
with such delight
about the laughs
you’d get
and the tears
you’d feel,
so real you
wouldn’t have to
fake them.

Now the trick is
to remember
it’s an art:

You are not
your part.

You are the
pure heart
that will know
precisely when
to improvise.

(Photo by Sebastian Kurpiel, UnSplash.com)

 

Sometimes I Imagine

Sometimes I pray,
like this morning.
Sometimes I imagine
I hear answers:

“Why do you see
yourself
as a criminal?

“Who told you
I keep track of
your sins
of omission
and commission?

“As if I need
a CPA or I
keep a prosecutor
on staff, or I
spend my days
on the bench
wearing a black robe
and dividing
sheep from goats?

“I’m more into my
Parties for Prodigals
Program, my
Rags-to-a-Robe-
and-a-Ring
thing,
my Sit At the Head
of the Table,
This One’s for You
Banquet.”

Sometimes I’m not
sure where to
draw the line
between what
I imagine and
what I hear.

(Photo by Anthony Delanoix, UnSplash.com)

 

The Keeper of the Button

Sometimes in the darkness
before you arise
you may feel lost
in a jungle of
unfinished tasks, or
unrequited love, or
a shameful lack of
diligence about
this or that;

to the point that
you wish for
a button
you might push that
whisks you away into
nothingness.

Imagine that
The Keeper of the Button
requires this:
You must first
sit down for
one hour
and inquire of
yourself if there is
one thing
you can say for certain
you were born to do.

When you find something
you will know it
by the way it
stirs a sense of
Mystery,
a touch of the
Divine.
But you will know it.

Then you will say to
The Keeper of the Button
that you have
changed your mind.

You see a way out
of the Jungle.

(Photo by Ajit Singh, UnSplash.com)

 

One More Cup of Tea

It has been suggested,
with the best
of intentions,
that what you
do today
should be measured
by how many
heartbeats you
have left.

As if your desire
to have one more
cup of tea
with that last
ginger cookie

must be reconsidered
because it cost you
one hundred beats
to read this.

My suspicion that
“Life’s too short”
is one of Fear’s
most subtle lies
is growing stronger
with every
breath.

(Photo by Svitlana, UnSplash.com)

 

Imaginary Friends

You think you’ve
outgrown having
imaginary friends.
But you haven’t.

It’s just that
the ones you had
as a child were
much better friends
than the ones
you have now.

They didn’t tell you
how lazy you were or
that you were ugly or
untalented.

They taught you
to play and
paint with your fingers
and talk back to
your parents
when necessary.

It’s not too late
to make some new
imaginary friends,

or even just one
who will say to you,

“Wouldn’t it be fun
to sit down and
write about
grownups having
imaginary friends?”

(Photo by Roberto Nickson, UnSplash.com)

 

Tourist Traps

If you find yourself
stranded
in the State of
Cause-and-Effect and
What You See Is
What You Get,

remember that
your Country of
Origin is
The Mystery,

where such
antiquated notions
are seen as
tourist traps, like

The World’s Biggest
Cheese or
Come See the
Petrified Doughnut.

When you’re from
The Mystery,
you’re never truly
stranded.

Have a laugh
at the Doughnut,
take some photos,
then

turn the key
in the ignition.

As soon as you
remember where
you’re from,

the car will
start again.

(Photo by Roberto Nickson, UnSplash.com)

 

Safety

I believe
it is our birthright
to feel
safe.

Not the pseudo safety
that comes from
numbers
of accounts
or Facebook friends,

nor the
fragile and breakable
safety of
people, places, things,
nor the
imaginary
safety of
oaths and promises.

Rather,
the safety of
your Being
exactly
Who You Are
and always
will be.

Think of it as
the Safety of
Divine Intention.

You were meant
to Be.

(Photo by Serge van Neck, UnSplash.com)

 

ERLEICHDA

It is a quiet
delight
to see that
being divine –
as are you,
by the way –
doesn’t diminish,
by a single iota,
the unobstructed
pleasure
of the coffee
that rests,
warm,
in my Special Cup
that says
ERLEICHDA
on its side,
which means,
I am told,

Lighten Up.

(ERLEICHDA: a word
from Tom Robbins’
Jitterbug Perfume.)