meeting

We are all immigrants she said, as I nodded in agreement. All of our families came from distant lands. If we were all sent back, the only folks who’d remain would be Native Americans.

We caught up on the sidewalk outside the Methodist church. We talked about how we all just need to get along. An eagle flew over. The sky shone brightly. My cancer in check. Her dementia too.

Ukraine was on our minds. Folks there fighting valiantly against a nihilist onslaught. If only our Congress would cough up the funds Ukraine needs to fight. I sensed a sort of despair in her. My anxiety was likely palpable to her.

She’s 82. I’m 59. We’ve lived a lot, and we voiced our concern about the future. The future of our grandchildren. The eagle flew over again. Snow salt crackled under our feet. We hugged. Said goodbye. I followed the sun back west toward home.

Get You Into Me – Original Song

I wrote a quirky poem, then added music to it with the help of Dan Monroe of Media Master Design. 

Breathing

When the body and mind aren’t cooperating, breathe. Breathe a deep breath through your nose downward into your diaphragm. Then, let it out through your mouth to cleanse, or out through your nose to strengthen. Do it so that you can hear it. Doing so adds to the experience of getting the breath down from your chest and into the deep areas of the abdomen.

Try to stay in the moment. If thoughts come up, let them go and breathe. If thoughts of people arise, or issues you may have with them, let them enter. Then let them go. Your concerns with them are impermanent anyway. Continue breathing. Surrender if you can. Let go.

Energy is above you, below, in front, in back, to the left, and to the right. You are in a light-filled “egg” of de-toxification and love. Feel it. Breathe it in. Believe it. Let the earth energy flow up to mix with the heaven energy that’s flowing down. Let that warm light center in your lower abdomen. And breathe.

Smile. Give your thinking mind a break. Breathe deeply. You are light. You are love.

A Father’s Grief in Rhyming Verse

His smile, a fleeting shooting star, replaced by chilling rest.

“Lost,” the word hung heavy, cold, a stone upon his chest.

The sun dipped low, painting the sky in hues of fading light,

His heart, a shattered mirror, reflecting endless night.

The news, a cruel joke’s punchline, twisted, dark, and mean,

His future, once a playground fair, became a haunted scene.

He paced the room, a restless ghost, memories sharp and bright,

Her touch, a phantom warmth, her smile, a beacon in the night.

A Father’s Grief in Rhyming Verse