the point of no return

the navigator

The navigator loves maps
And I love having a navigator.
That the navigation is imperfect
Doesn’t matter.

I enjoy the simple pleasure
Deciding upon our destination together
Letting you consult your maps and determine our route
Letting you take control of these decisions.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m an active participant.
I talk to the navigator about where we are going.
I offer my help as we find our way.
We make the trip together.

Since the navigation is handled
I am free to pay attention to other things.
I am interested in what the navigator is feeling.
I ask personal questions.

Not everyone will answer such questions.
The navigator trusts me.
We are beginning to make a relationship.
There are some wrong turns and corrections.

Today we take the long way around
Which is not so far, anyway,
Except for stepping through so many puddles,
And being a little lost for awhile.

There we see the display of the entire city
Every building in miniature
People would be the size of period dots.
We are two lives among millions.

The journey we are making has taken many years.
We have each had our own false steps and dead ends.
We’re not exactly sure of the final destination,
But a welcome companion feels so right.

lake skenonte

a good person

Trying to be a good person
That’s the way you describe yourself
As we go through the doorway
To where we sit facing each other.

I like looking in your eyes.
You look back and then look away
Letting me look for a moment
Like a brief touch.

I am not given to easy trust
Yet this is so easy to do with you
I gladly give myself over
Certain you are gentle and kind.

Who knew the passion underneath?
This is all unexpected
The surprise of a lifetime.
What I don’t see coming finds a way in.

You were always a good person.
Me, too. We know this.
We know a lot of where we’ve been
And what we’ve done. It’s a given.

But years later you have gotten better with age.
You are a better person now.
I see it in the way your face has improved.
I see less conviction but more empathy there now.

“Relationships are important.”
That could be your slogan these days.
I agree. That speaks to me.
And I see we are a real possibility.

I have a lot to give.
You have a lot to give.
We are worthy of each other.
We can do this.

once around the cabin

under the tulip tree

The loss of certainty
After so many years of absolute conviction,
Gone missing.

Lost your balance, lost your bearings,
You have pulled back into yourself
For the most part.

You are intact.
You have not compromised your principles.
You do not regret your life’s work.

The world is not turned upside down,
It’s more like some inside out changed topology.
Cautiously you feel your way.

You are a strong yet delicate person.
You are patient, letting your new life unfold.
It will come to you.

“I’m optimistic” you say
And for good reason.
You are an activist.

You make change.
You know how to do this.
Apply what you know to your own life.

religiosity

If you go to a weekly meeting where all the like-minded congregate,
If you have a revered leader and a hierarchy of authority,
If your mission is to transform earth into something heavenly,
Who would suggest that’s not religion?

I’m not interested in whether you worship a deity.
That’s not the point.
The fervor is about changing people, changing society,
Changing the individual purpose.

What is the one true religion?
If God is an anthropomorphic construct,
Humans place themselves at the center of the universe.
Sectarian strife is the opposite of humility.

What is so important about our dominion over the earth?
In the long run it is an illusion.
In the short run most everyone and everything gets exploited,
Even as illness pervades our fouled nest.

Religion is everywhere.
Look at the temple motif of banks and theaters
And the grand railroad stations full of majesty
And the sports stadium pilgrimage destination.

I do not begrudge anyone their community.
I myself enjoy a ball game crowd and the drama of the contest
And feel a certain reverence like in a museum
Visiting the great buildings of the past.

I have learned a lot over the years.
Experience is the best teacher.
And what I know best is that I don’t know much.
There is no shame in saying “I don’t know.”

self help circle

Like sharing in a self help circle
Speaking in the first person
Looking inward
Striving for honesty and humility

My words may speak to you or not.
What matters is that I dare to do it and care not how you judge me.
But looking inward is not at all the whole story.
Caring what goes on in the world counts big time.

I do not aspire to the poetry of self alone.
I call that a false identity in isolation.
The circle is a shared experience.
Meeting together provides support.

The world out there shapes our lives.
Our experience is not just biology and humanity.
Private property is not natural law.
The suffering of the poor is not necessary.

I have wanted to write a political poetry.
Is that a contradiction in terms?
Everyone with eyes sees the destruction of the planet.
How are we going to stop this?

Joe Hill at his execution said:
“Don’t mourn, organize!”
So heroic and yet the IWW failed
And the historical outcome is de-industrialization.

Gandhi exemplified the non-violent struggle
But mass movements heave forwards then subside
Like waves crashing on the beach
As the tide of human history ebbs and flows.

For each of us it begins with what we control.
The personal is political. Do you live by the golden rule?
That’s a start. Do you do community service work?
That’s helping to make the world a better place.