human living


the more we accept the world as it is,
the more readily forgiveness and gratitude appear





in the grand drift of evolution
human beings: Special only to ourselves.
lineages come, lineages go.

still, leaving the room,
I turn off the lights





that all things are empty
doesn’t mean that any thing
is other than it is

a thing is what it is
by virtue of how
we interact with it

drink up!





while everything is evanescent, gold and glory pass more, much more, quickly than wisdom





our notion of God is a tool that shapes us as does any tool

(with thanks to Marshall McLuhan and Lewis Lapham)




window

04/23/2010 · 1 comment

in human living


today — the window in the chest is open, songs fly in and out





everyday the doves come by to visit,
lured by scattered seed,
a small gift for the guests





Happy emotions come and go, so do unhappy ones. These are, in themselves, not signs of suffering, potential or actual. They are signs of living.




faith 2

04/15/2010 · 0 comments

in human living


faith is the skill of living without a net




riddle 2

04/08/2010 · 0 comments

in human living


Q: What is both easiest and most difficult?

A: Click here.





when the body is still,
the heart can blossom,
the mind enjoy itself

azure-skyed April afternoon,
even the bees are idle





giving up success and failure,
there is nothing to regret





retired? no
I’d rathered be leisured

which poet will I read
will I be
today?





inspiration is everywhere,
some days I’m just too lazy to look





too much money denies the pleasure of a simple life




riddle 1

02/10/2010 · 1 comment

in human living


Q: What is most wondrous?

A: Each day death takes lives beyond counting,
yet none who live think –

this day
death
can come to me.

(Adapted from William Buck’s translation of the Mahabharata)





true enough: we cannot be happy in the future,
we can only be happy now, in the present

the same is true for unhappy

go figure





not distinguishing pain from suffering is itself suffering





the experience of free will is neither proof of nor
an explanation for it





past and future exist only in the conversations we have about them




shoulds

11/04/2009 · 0 comments

in human living


each moment is as it is;
to say that it “should” be some other way
only burdens the one who says, “should”





the one free extension is almost done,
taxes are due in three more days,
I have no IRS approved excuse for delaying any longer;
I could do them now,
but there’s still three days

instead I write thes lines;
absent a true emergency
they’ll be filed on time,
they always are

I used to worry and call myself a procrastinator,
now I worry not and just call me me





gratitude arises along with the preference for what is





what turns you on is what turns you on . . . and sometimes it surprises you





in America one speaks not of the attendant sorrows of aging lest one be thought old