Stumbling along the sidewalk

Harness happiness in a temple.
Promote goodness in an open hand.
Sweep up forgiveness, and spread it around.
Question stubbornness with optimism.

Pour in gentleness, stir it smoothly.
Laugh in good measure.
Sprinkle a little whisper,
Then rub a few cramped necks.

Ask a childish question.
Touch a heart, with a contagious spirit.
Climb to the peak of imagination.
Dream. Just dream.

Creativity takes various forms.
Sometimes, it is just shedding a tear.
Sometimes, it is letting someone go.
Sometimes, it is speaking your mind.

But all these things have potential pitfalls.
We can go too far, too fast.
We can get reckless.
We can want to do more than we can handle.

So, what to do?

Do we tone it down a little,
So we fit in people’s little boxes?
Do we stop being creative?
Do we only seek to be constructive,

Because, as everyone knows,
You can point to a result,
And say, That’s what I did today!
What did you do?

I cried. I spoke up.
I shared my heart with someone.
I left. I came back.
I battled my feelings. I gave up.

What does it all mean?

Does there have to be a concrete result,
A number, a price, a measurable gain?
What if the result only matters to you?
Or, what if only you can see it?

Was it still worth doing?

Sometimes, I wonder,
Was it all worth it?
Was shedding my blood,
Sacrificing myself, worth it?

In loving memory of Beth Stevenson

You were a very special person.
A mentor, to so many.
Your wonderful smile,
Your gracious style,
Your words of encouragement
Meant so much.
Though it hurts to let you go,
I know you are in a better place.
No more pain or struggle.
You can dance with the best of them.
I hope that I can grow
To be an example to others,
Like you were, so many times.
May you rest in peace.
You deserve it!

Glide up out through
Inside find experience
Explore rearrange tip
Happy forgive value
Roots dive lead real
Wear stand memory
Still clear same here
Help cue made down

Heard it in the way,
Not sure what to say.
Seems there are some issues
With how much we use tissues.

Tragedy and sin,
Outside and within.
Things are always wrong,
Just like a sad song.

What else can we do?
Seems we don’t have a clue,
What to do, or what to say,
Who to blame, or who should pay.

So many stories in the news,
So much to make us sing the blues.
Maybe we should just check out.
Maybe we should give in to doubt.

That won’t solve our problems, though.
If we don’t challenge status quo.
Things will stay the way they are,
If we don’t dream afar.

So let us keep hoping, still.
Praying with a great, goodwill.
Let us work together now,
Maybe soon we’ll figure how

To end the static, once and for all.
We must believe, we must know how,
There is a way, I’m sure of that.
So put away your baseball bat.

Violence won’t help the world.
Criticizing is the way to hell.
You are my sister and my brother.
We must learn to trust each other

Hello, goodbye, see you later.
See you sometime,
Sooner or after.
Hear you behind, full of laughter.

Follow the leader,
Come by the easy way.
Trek the flowers,
Truck the dirt.

Real words modify.
Wrong words criticize.
Beautiful names signify.
Insults don’t dignify.

Hell might be true,
If it weren’t for the lies.
Heaven might be real,
Except for the dead guys.

How about truth?
How about love?
Forgiveness is a nice invention.
If only we practiced what we preached.

Do you believe the known is knowable?
Do you contribute to the miracle?
What is in a name, and when is it in vain?
I hope tomorrow it doesn’t rain.

Dancing happy strings, smoothly.
Love flows up and down,
Around my heart, I sing a melody.
Close my eyes, I fall asleep.

Trials tax my life, but they cannot crush
Courage deep below my skin.
Behind the normal, everyday,
I live a piercing focus step.

Cringe from all the ties alive.
Wrapped in tinsel, then afire.
Reading stories all around.
Fluttering rainbows blink the sound.

Ripped apart, the angels drop.
The quietude believes aloft.
Socked a dock, a rock in stock.
Mock my words, I do not stop!