7 REASONS GRATITUDE IS A HORRIBLE WORD

It can’t sound

like anything but the lamest of platitudes

when exiting someone else’s mouth

(even when true).

One cannot will someone else’s gratitude.

It requires me to focus upon ants, daisies, and sunsets

instead of searching the skies for Clarence Odbody from It’s a Wonderful Life.

It does not beckon, appear like a beacon,

or saunter in on the arm of a muse.

Like exercise, and about as fun,

it requires practice and is never done.

Because a modicum of discontent is the fuel on which the artist feeds,

I must walk the razor’s edge between annoyance and despondency

to meet my needs and achieve productivity.

It is wickedly deceptive in its simplicity

and, quite frankly, that annoys me.

Because it always comes down to me,

and what I’m able and willing to see,

which can vary infinitely,

and I say this with just a scintilla of irony

REMIND ME TO FORGET

dragonfly

Next time you see me, remind me to forget for just one moment, these things:

The Meaning of Life. Commerce, Success and the Survival of the Fittest. Trying to catch up. Goals. Deadlines. Drama. Well, maybe not drama… Mortgage payments.  The Never Ending Quest.

Please remind me to forget these things just long enough to reboot my memory of who I really am:

Poet

Standing

Bleeding

Crying

Laughing

Puzzling

Preaching

Encouraging

Agitating

Moving

Breaking

Offering

Naked

Afraid

Engaging

Braving all

Remind me to forget all of the other stuff, so I can remember why I write. It is not a vocation for me, but a passionate calling. I cannot not do it.

Life is Just Moments, not goals.

It is my privilege to try to share them or maybe even provoke a few.  This is my “daily bread.” This is what gives me sustenance to go another day, another week, until those other things take care of themselves.

Give us this day our daily bread…

All that is promised is today.

All too seldom, I am seized by gratitude for all of those people whom by word, deed, and prayer or simply by their presence in my lives, have supported me in my dream of being a writer. It occurs to me that that dream is not on the far horizon. It’s right here. The ability to be passionate about something, to spread that passion and to have a loving community that supports this endeavor. What else is there?