Why is it that what’s

  quite obvious is often

very hard to see?

~

Have we not become

all conditioned to distrust

obvious easy answers?

Lazy Saturdays

filled with glorious sunlight;

what better way to recharge?

~

Space, time, and sunlight – 

restorative indeed when

received with a grateful heart.

Beneath the many

layers that separate us

don’t we share a common core?

~

Even common cores

hardly seem universal

when pursuing selfish goals.

You can’t “Wag the Dog”

without a war to trumpet!

Is there not a better way?

~

If it’s distraction

you want, there is no trumpet

stronger than the threat of war.

When we can see that

what we’re doing doesn’t work

 why do we persist?

~

When compassion fails

and intellect is absent,

grit’s the only thing you’ve got.

Harshest hardened hearts

can not even compromise.

How can healthcare be improved?

~

It’s often only

when we feel the burn that we’re

driven to put out the fire.

When we back ourselves

into a corner, should we

learn or just angrily tweet?

~

Roy Cohn has taught us

there is no corner too big

to escape with bigger lies!

When one finds oneself

lost at sea without a chart,

who’s to blame except oneself?

~

There’s always someone

else to blame – just ask our new

president. It’s Obama’s fault.

Shouldn’t we pause to

celebrate the many small

acts of kindness done each day?

~

Kindness isn’t cause

for joyous celebration.

It is a more simple joy.

When plans go awry,

and we scramble to regroup,

must we trooper through and why?

~

Sometimes what we do

next is even better than

our initial plan.

When I’m sure I’m right,

how can I avoid a fight

when they are so clearly wrong?

~

Sometime you must fight

your impulse to prove them wrong,

especially when you’re right.

How can we keep cool

when the noise drives us to blow,

leaving us to look the fool?

~

Grace under pressure

is no easy feat. Mindful

practice helps us lose our heat.

Enemies unite

when faced with a common foe.

Gravestones righted; bigots fall.

~

Humanity shared

rights wrongs perpetuated

by all bigots everywhere.

How does a nation,

cowering behind its walls,

differ from a prisoner?

~

Such a nation is

truly a prisoner of

its own making.

Do walls keep all that’s

new out so that the old can

pretend nothing’s changed?

~

They build parapets

so they can deny their fear

of open societies.

If he’s too afraid

to buy a cup of coffee,

how’s this the land of the free?

~

We must not forget

our immigrant ancestors

came here to thrive and be free.

When governing proves

hard, is turning to twitter

and golf the best he can do?

~

He’ll just double down,

like he has so many times.

Time to call his bluff.

What can parents do

when children don’t do homework

and teachers begin to gripe?

~

I guess you begin

with who’s the grown-up in the

room and go from there.

Leap before you look

seems to be our president’s

momentous reframe.

~

Why should he bother;

with his golden parachute

and silver boot in his mouth?

When the strikers struck

and no one seemed to notice,

what will be freedom’s next move?

~

We must wait and see.

Freedom’s work is incomplete

but its workers do not rest.

When improvements don’t

improve and enhancements don’t

enhance, what are we up to?

~

Perhaps replacements

will replace when enticements

fail to entice change agents.

Ignorant actors

fumble across the world stage

resembling circus clowns…

~

On our own small stage

may we perform wise acts of

kindness, reason, and constraint.

In difficult times,

how is it that some folks

are still able to find joy?

~

Schadenfreude works

but at a steep moral price;

better to seek other ways.

On this day of love,

Can we hope to find some peace

from this angry vitriol?

~

We must not only

hope, we must do all we can

to bring peace into being.

Can we find peaceful

solutions when our hearts

and minds are at war?

~

If we drop our guard

in the face of tyranny 

we’ll find the peace of the grave.

Comet and eclipse:

are these dire auguries

inscribed upon the heavens?

~

We read into things

heavenly what often lies

within our own souls.