Posted in Uncategorized, tagged continuing, generosity, kindness, poem, poetry on October 19, 2018| 4 Comments »
Kindness is invincible.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.18.ix
And though I barely know her,
she met me on the street to give me
a small bottle of perfume. Scent of rose,
amber, white musk, scent of friendship
just beginning, scent of how we might choose
to meet each other—with the wisdom
of blossoms, opening. Already
I’m dreaming of ways to continue
her mischievous generosity,
imagining how each act will carry
a hint of citrus, rose, precious wood.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged generosity, poem, poetry, universe on June 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cold, generosity, parenting, poem, poetry, warmth on February 4, 2017| 2 Comments »
Finding by chance a buffalo nickel
my son decides to spend his fortune
on a girl he’s never met
who woke one morning
with cancer in her marrow—
he tells me he’s thinking
a lot about death,
and he’s scared,
and I tell him yes,
it’s scary.
Later, I look out the window,
and though there’s not a hint
of leaves on the trees outside,
I feel some certainty
about green and summer,
and I’m amazed at how
just when we think the world
could not get any colder,
we are reminded what even
a tiny bit of warmth can do.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged generosity, poem, poetry, sun on March 31, 2016| 2 Comments »
The sun and I made a promise—
to shine with no apology,
to bring warmth,
to give until we have nothing left to give.
In the night, the sun
entered my sleep
and tattooed my body
with golden words.
Now all my limbs
glitter with this vow—
there is so much beauty
for us to make.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged abundance, generosity, giving, god, love, poem, poetry, spirit, water on September 22, 2012| 3 Comments »
After all this time
you still pour
pure water
into my chipped cup.
You know
I will spill and still
you pour,
and you pour.
You know, too,
how even
despite great thirst
I will sometimes
refuse to drink,
how even when
the water doesn’t
reach my lips
they are still
blessed
with your giving.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged generosity, light, moon, poem, shine, sun, teacher on December 7, 2011| 1 Comment »
Imagine if the sun
said to the moon
“This sky’s not big enough
for the both of us.”
Instead, it gives
unceasingly light
so that they both
can shine.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged automatic nervous system, generosity, little miss muffet, meditation, poem on December 1, 2011| 2 Comments »
There once was a woman
who sat on cushion
and sat and sat there all day.
And her heart, it kept thumping,
her blood it kept pumping
though never not once did she say,
“I think I should make
my heart slow its rate.”
Not once did she say, “I should breathe.”
She just sat and sat
and smiled and sat
and once or twice she sneezed.
And her bronchial muscles
and red corpuscles,
they did what they’re made to do.
Her urine secretion?
and pupil dilation?
They decreased and dilated, too.
Her salivary glands
needed no commands.
They simply reduced production.
And her bladder walls
didn’t contract at all
and her liver practiced conversion.
In short, she sat
on her cushy mat
and not once did she praise her medulla.
But it worked anyway
and never did say,
you don’t thank me much lady, do ya.
So next time you sit
for a little bit
and notice that you’re still living,
say thanks to your brain
though it never complains,
and try to be just as giving.
