To the Next Generation – Thoughts from an Aging Grandpa

 

Wake up to your own

indifference,

the natural world needs

your utmost attention.

 

Place limits

upon that which distracts

and blurs

the keen eye of the

conscious mind.

 

Pay attention to

life's fleeting moments,

the source of joy

and exhilaration,

as well as pain

And heartache.

 

Teach yourself

where others have failed,

let self-reflection

remind you that

though you may be special

you are not that special,

though you may be smart

there are many others

much smarter than you.

 

Be thoughtful,

be honest,

be kind and compassionate and

be true to yourself.

 

Listen always

for that is how you will

learn.

 

Wisdom does come with age,

but not always.

 

Always seek out what is true

be mindful of groundless

speculation,

be skeptical when required.

 

Believe in your passions

for that is where you will

do your best.

 

Seek out and encourage

relationships based upon

deep respect,

integrity and love.

 

Never be afraid to

speak your truth

  

With birth comes

no guarantees,

reality always has

the final word.

 

Never forget to

recognize the inevitable

interconnection of events,

the intricate web of

existence.

 

Treasure all the

precious gifts

of consciousness.

 

Take in

with every breath

the exquisite beauty

of this world.

 

Finally,

take full ownership

of your own

remarkable life.

 

Life, Death and Consciousness

 

Incessant wheel of life

ceaseless motion

throughout the generations

the creation of empires and

their undoing,

on and on

impaled on time’s arrow

moving, ever moving.

 

Life and Death and

consciousness -

evaluating,

discerning,

experiencing,

perceiving,

knowing,

acting,

reacting,

concluding.

 

Rhythmic drumbeat,

life and death

generations unfold

Into the hapless future,

perennial dance of time

within the aching grip

of gravity and the

formidable tenacity of reality

stubborn and fearsome and

true.

 

Though I am

in my eighth decade

I remain grounded

to this time

this place

embedded within

this moment

and aware.

 

Though I am

in my eighth decade

I will continue

to avoid

delusion’s comforting

embrace.

 

Though I am

in my eighth decade

I take full

ownership

of all my choices

and their consequences.

 

I embrace

the gamut of my emotions

and remain

the guardian of

all my memories

and the person

I have come to be.

Thousands of Years of Civilization

Thousands of years of civilization

and yet,

echoes of all the

unnecessary pain and

suffering and

bloodletting

still reverberate

within the walls of this

supposed and theoretical

age of reason.

Thousands of years of civilization

where innumerable tomes

of history fill the libraries

throughout this world of humans

and yet,

blinding hatred

still propels humanity

on its reckless course of

self-immolation.

 

Thousands of years of civilization

and yet,

stultifying stupidity

continues its reign

leaving unmistakable tracts

of horror,

its blinding chaos,

its agonizing carnage,

leaving mothers with

dead and dying children

burning cities,

rotting corpses and

nights filled with terrifying screams

and utter despair.

 

Thousands of years of civilization

and yet,

shallow brains

filled with petty differences

still provoke

wild and unimaginable

horrors of such magnitude

that populate

innumerable nightmares,

that test the boundaries of

hope and resilience.

 

Thousands of years of civilization

and yet,

humanity remains fixated

on delusional ideas

and fails to see the

connection between choices

and consequences,

and fails to see the distinction

between the real and illusion,

between truth and lie,

between what is significant

and what is not.

 

Thousands of years of civilization

and yet,

the immutable reality is not seen

or recognized

that we are all,

eight billion of us,

members of the

same human family.

 

Thousands of years of civilization

and yet…

To Julia -Thirty-One Years

 

Thirty – one years

so much wondrous time

together.


Joined through our bodies

in blissful connection,

in our private ocean

where our thoughts are left

to their own devices,

leaving us free to

explore the essence

of the purest communication,

where the spirit of life is

liberated,

free to frolic

and savor the

very nature of giving.


Thirty-one years of

shared experience,

of expansive travel,

of successes and disappointments,

of joy and grief,

of good and robust health,

of illness and injury.


Sharing both sorrow and grief

the passings of family and

friends.


Sharing the promise of

tomorrow and

fearing the future.


Thirty-one years

such a magnificent ride

such a splendid journey

I love it all



I Love you, Completely

and Always.

Journey to the Unknown

 

Within the vastness of space,

the unchartered terrain of

passing time,

there is abundantly more

silence than sound,

sameness than transformation,

darkness than light,

quiescence than turmoil.



The night sky an

introduction to the

voluptuous panoply of stars,

planets,

black holes,

stretching out to the

innumerable galaxies

beyond reach,

beyond the realm of

expectation.



The individual span of time of a

singular earthly human

infinitesimally small in stature

so brief,

so fleeting that

upon the cosmic clock

it does not register.



Yet, in spite of

such meager proportions,

human mind can comprehend such

exquisite realities of time and space,

can embrace these truths,

can apply this formidable knowledge,

an exquisite reality

fundamental to the

very nature of human existence.

Fragile Spirits

 

Like fragile spirits,

evanescent blossoms,

ethereal wind-blown

enigmas of time,

masters of wistful illusions,

we are thrust into

fitful existence.



Echos of the past

precede us,

shaped by the present,

anchored by gravity,

we navigate towards

an unknown future,

forever uncertain,

propelled by the

raucous energy of life.



Like fragile spirits

prisoners of birth,

love and desire,

we grasp for meaning,

longing to break free

into the light.



Like fragile spirits

brimming with hope,

we ride upon time’s currents

until we inhale that

final wisp of air and

come full circle.

Even the Bamboo Sings

 

The earth sings in ways

we cannot fathom.


The seas instruct us

on the nature of rhythm

as tides caress the shoreline,


The sun shepherds its planets

across the limitless sky

with infinite precision.


Black bamboo

has its ritual of dying

on a global scale,


The earth sings in ways

we cannot fathom.