on the spot auto body

kindness

The best we can do is be kind to each other.
I want to speak to you when I see you are feeling sad.
I want to find the words to comfort you.
I want to hold you and hug you as your friend.

I feel this way about strangers in the street
And I feel this way with my family, friends and lovers
Though with those who know me
The problem may be of my own making.

You might be upset with me for something I did or didn’t do.
I don’t know what if you don’t tell me.
I don’t realize it until later I see it in your face
Though I feel something is the matter sooner.

In this life there are times when we all feel alone.
There are things I would like to talk about with my mother
Would that she were alive to listen.
We are all apart from each other sometimes.

Feeling empathy for another person is so sweet.
Feeling connected to others makes a community.
Showing and saying how you feel makes it real.
I love you. I love all of you.

sunshine shore trail

tree house

Three london planes stand in front,
Magnificent large trees all of them.
Ours to admire while we live here,
They shelter us under their shade.

A glorious tall ginko rises on the side,
Higher than any I’ve seen before.
And a huge silver maple arches over
The pin oak behind our back deck.

We have a perimeter of living wood
Around us, trees that are centurions.
We walk the ground beneath not rooted,
Casually coming and going like fallen leaves.

I imagine this dwelling as a tree house.
Up on the third floor perched under the canopy
The view looks out through the branches
And I pretend I am a bird sitting here.