Running Things

Today 

I decided to give up 

Some of my 

Campaign -

Some of my insistence 

That all things adhere

To my 

Design. 

- my plan 

- my way 

Just some. Not all -

Just an experiment 

     In freedom 

Maybe I'm not 

     Running things 

After all 

Maybe some things 

Can 

Take care of themselves 

And not bother me 

     At all 

The drought 

Is a case 

     In point -

The garden gets by 

On much less 

Water 

There will be more gravel 

Fewer flowers 

Things change

The flowers that remain 

Looking all the more 

Precious 

And joyfull 

In the sun 

I have fewer years left 

And I'd rather not 

Take myself seriously 

When

I invent some new project 

Which -

I discover -

Doesn't have to 

Be done 

Photos

Looking through old photos 

Wishing I could go back 

     In time 

And tell myself 

To 

Lighten Up !!

Be thankful for what you have -

A younger self 

Hope and strength 

I always thought there 

Would be more 

There was something 

     I was going for

This and that 

Perfect bit of existence 

Would be mine 

Just 

     Give it time 

I had a sense of 

     Urgency

And longing for 

And always wondered why 

It all seemed so uphill 

And inflationary 

By the time we've got 

The money saved 

It costs more 

And there's no end to it 

I thought there'd be 

A light 

At the end of the tunnel 

Now I see 

There's just more tunnel 

With some light   Yes 

But the tunnel closes in 

And darkness begins to 

Descend

Friends of friends 

Pass away 

Have memorial services

Celebrate a life 

Well lived 

What have I done with mine 

How have I spent 

My time 

What choice did I have 

But to work and save 

Be the capitalist 

Slave 

And glad to have 

A job 

Or three 

Why give us dreams ?

Joyful wishes -

And then 

Make sure they 

Can't come true . . .

But now I know a secret 

It's been a lifetime 

To learn 

There is another direction 

Where it all rings true 

There is an inner wonder 

A connection 

More important than 

Perfection in 

Material things 

Waiting

Waiting for the rain. 

Waiting for the stock market to fall 

Waiting for me 

To get off of this couch 

And make some coffee

Waiting for an 

     Attitude change

Wanting this slight headache 

To turn into joy 

Magically 

There is a dancing lesson 

Today 

At which time 

I will have to 

Forget myself 

And try hard to 

Remember steps 

Oh yawn 

Great and generous 

Yawn 

I take myself too seriously 

Or not 

     Seriously enough

I have begun 

     Not to care

But not enough!

Big, Black Hat

Just a description 

Of the biggest flipping cloud

I've ever seen 

Sitting up on top of the mountains 

Looking like a big, black hat 

I'm from Southern California 

It 

Doesn't DO that !

And it rained

So hard -

The big truck I was going 

To pass 

Just moments before

Became a beacon

In the storm 

Hunched over my steering wheel

Windshield wipers as high

As they would go 

I followed those tail lights 

Through the storm 

Looking to the west a moment 

Later -

 there was light !

Looking to the mountain I was 

Going to cross -

It was black !

The sky 

Was 

So black 

And that pass is 

So high 

Tricky to drive 

At the best of times

- the rocks that would 

Come down - 

The lightening that might hit

Me!

And my little 

Car!

I looked up and some 

Part of me said no 

Really - 

     No !

Even though it would add hours 

To the trip 

-Already all day -

We turn around 

We drive toward the light 

We drive out of this 

Storm 

The valley is long 

And beautiful

Cutting through 

Canyons 

With hills all around 

Really beautiful !

Why haven't I been 

This way before - ?

Hills and ranches 

And trucks snaking along 

A gently winding 

two lane road 

Thank God I got gas !

When finally I find the 

Freeway

(I'll be home in a few more hours)

I'll never forget 

How good the smooth pavement 

Felt 

Beneath the wheels of my

Truck 

Just enough daylight left 

To see the beautiful hills and 

Valleys 

Home by 

Night -

Sunset in the 

Rear view mirror. 

The Return

Tomorrow 

I go -

I return to the life 

I live 

With 

None of my problems solved 

And 

Mail piled up behind 

The door 

I have a few new 

Resolutions

Like 

Don't let it get 

     To me 

Sit and contemplate

     Just 

     Because

Remember what is 

Really important 

And don't 

Let others distract me from 

My life's great purpose 

Which is 

To sit 

And contemplate

The truely great questions 

Which transcend

Even language 

And mentation

Those questions which become 

Oneness

And therefore 

Disappear 

All together

Astounding!

I have come here 

To discover the 

Infinite 

I valiantly begin 

And I am on the doorstep of 

Possible enlightenment 

When

I am told to

Leave 

This shrine -

Which is Dedicated to 

Meditation -

Because 

There will be a class 

Now -

About 

Meditation . . .

I arise 

And stumble out 

The world spinning 

Around me 

From my 

Quick retreat -

My heart pounding 

From the sudden effort 

Of arising from a zero point

This place is so 

Like that 

So many things so 

Misunderstood 

I am not even 

Astounded

Anymore

Quiet

Hey I'm trying to meditate

     Here -

Where I'm from 

     The sounds of the freeway 

Intervene 

But here 

I am startled by

The cry 

     Of wild turkeys 

     And the honking of 

          The Canadian geese 

And when they stop

The frogs are

Croaking 

I have come so far 

For 

Peace and quiet

I am startled by 

The deer who rests 

     Beneath the porch

And leaves in a huff 

As my suitcase rolls overhead 

And trees -

There are maybe a 

     Million trees 

Which no one planted 

     But God 

Which no one waters 

     But God 

There is landscape here 

     -naturally occurring-

A person would pay a lot 

To have these boulders 

     Brought 

And the stream run through 

     A giant 

Pump. 

All this -

So my mind 

Can slow down 

And stop

Awhile 

To remember 

     What 

Is truely important . . .

Is that the dinner bell 

     I hear ?

They now have 

Wifi

And I brought 

An iPad 

So 

It's not nearly 

As quiet 

As it used to 

Be