It’s soothing to clear the mind to start the day and just be still for a while …
Come on, mind, be still …
Please, mind, I’m trying to still the churning waters here …
Mind? I’d like some quiet to start the day right …
HEY! I’M TALKING TO YOU, MIND! SHUT UP!!
It happened again —
a little bit of flotsam,
perhaps the start of a poem
or a little prose poem
or just a thought
that struck my fancy
and I even
had my journal and pen
sitting
next to my bed.
All I had to do
was turn on the light,
jot it down,
and go back to trying
to sleep.
Instead,
I lay in the dark
repeating the flotsam
to myself,
fell asleep,
and woke up without it.
I never had a dog.
And then I did.
And now I can’t imagine not.
I’ve been staring at screens too long.
Yes, I’ve been staring at screens too long.
Don’t get me wrong,
It’s just that
I’ve been staring at screens too long.
Look up — Look up —
You’re staring at a screen!
Look up — Look up —
Do you know what I mean?
LOOK UP!!!
We stare at screens as if they hold all the answers.
Now, yes, there are some answers in there, but do you really think there are so many answers in there that the screen deserves your undivided attention?
I don’t think so, no, not even close.
I’ve been staring at screens too long —
Blinded by the light-emitting diode, another runner in the night —
running, running, running
till all goes dark
I scream consciousness.
I scream aloud, awake,
and I am here.
Where do I go when I fall asleep,
Where do I go when my eyes blur over,
Where do I go when the world scrolls by,
Where do I go in the rabbit hole,
Where do I go when the talking heads
Tell me a story that just isn’t true
And everyone nods and says,
. “Of course — I see.”
I can’t say, but
I do know now
that I am here.
Woe to the liars who forged the chains,
Woe to the liars who told the tales,
Woe to the liars who held us back,
Woe to the liars who closed our minds,
Woe to the liars in the light of day
When the truth of their crimes
Is so easily seen
But everyone frowns and says,
“I don’t see it.”
The moment passes,
My consciousness fades,
Yet I am here.
Where do I go?
Just when the showers convince us
winter is finally over,
the rain turns to snow.
Just when the snow discourages us,
the sun comes out
and melts it all away.
Just when we’re ready for laughs and pranks,
Something serious happens —
a Titanic sinking,
a Hitler born,
a Waco massacre.
April fools us all.
Daffodil shoots lift toward the sky
but must endure a late freeze.
Once April 30 comes along,
it’s all getting greener,
the lakes and streams resume their flowing,
and the sky even seems bluer.
In the end, April balances in the positive,
and it’s fun to be outdoors again.
But meanwhile,
April fools us all.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox
