Category: Enlightenment

NAPOWRIMO Day 2.

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We’re All In This Together
(Except For Those Who Aren’t)

Dreaming the days go drifting by,
A bit of truth in each.
Some grasp the dream and take from it,
The lesson it would teach.

So many more are lost to it,
Content to blindly sleep.
They push the dream of truth aside,
Let life it’s secrets keep.

“What good” they ask “can come from this?”
No good they say just pain.
Refusing truth they cannot see,
In ignorance remain.

Dreaming the days go drifting by,
All life about it s tasks.
And now and then some sleepers stir,
And see beyond their masks.

They’ve seen some truth, some tiny part,
Cannot remain unchanged.
But those awake, to those asleep,
Must surely seem deranged.

The choice is “Treatment” drugs and pain,
Or just go back to sleep.
And in their dreams they glimpse the truth,
And in their slumber weep.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Sixty-Two

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So, apparently I found a topic for another poem in here somewhere. I’m not sure where it came from. The creative cupboard is getting pretty bare.

I’m not prepared to advertise another full month of poems. I’m not sure I could do another 29. What I will commit to is publishing something creative every day this month

Enjoy!

My Ongoing Quest

So many things I do not know,
So much I’ve yet to learn.
The more I know, more easily,
The truth I can discern.

I read and watch and listen to,
Those who know more than me.
With everything I learn from them,
More clearly can I see.

We all should lend our ears to those,
Whose lives we have not seen.
For drunk or diplomat or Prince,
They’re something we’ve not been.

Each one can teach us something new,
Something we do not know.
And we in turn can teach to them,
And help the circle grow.

As long as I am learning I,
Am certain I’m not dead.
So learning is my lifelong quest,
It is my way ahead.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Fifty- Four

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To those who so kindly follow this blog and enjoy these poems; I apologize.  Today we opened our trailer for the season.  It’s a fair bit of work, so naturally I took a nap.  When I awoke, it was time to walk my dog.  That led to admiring the stars so far from the citys light pollution.  That in turn accounts for both the lateness and subject of tonights poem.

Enjoy!

Beautiful Life

I walk along a country lane,
No house or light nearby.
I stop and stare straight up in awe,
Into the starry sky.

A sky so brilliant and so close,
It seems I might fall in.
And hurtle to some distant world,
My travels to begin.

I pick a star imagine it,
And all the worlds there.
Some may have life and some may not,
It may be everywhere.

But mostly I just drink it in,
And try to realize,
That I just see one tiny part,
With my unaided eyes.

There’s billions upon billions more,
That I can barely see,
So far away, long dead before,
Their faint light reaches me.

And far away someone looks up
At our faint point of light.
They feel somehow less alone,
As they walk through their night.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Fifty-Three

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I saw my reflection from the corner of my eye and it took me a moment to realize that the old man there was me.  Thinking about that started me thinking about aging.  That lead to this.

Enjoy!

On Aging

Sometimes a mirror catches me,
Completely unawares.
I’ve no idea who it is,
That from its surface stares.

I don’t remember aging so,
A young man lives in me.
He’s startled when he sees the face,
He knows that others see.

Inside I’m still the man I was,
Those many years ago.
Can’t walk as far or walk as fast,
When did I get so slow?

I used to take two stairs at once,
That’s not the case today.
Thank God for elevators now,
That’s all that I can say.

But feeling bad for feeling old,
Is silly ’cause you see,
I think of all the millions who,
Are much worse off than me.

So I should thank my lucky stars,
Yes that’s what I should do.
And to my mirror I should say,
“It’s sure good to see you.”

The nice thing about getting older…. it beats the alternative.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Forty -Nine

On By WinstonIn Bullying, Enlightenment, Personal, Personal Poetry Writing Challenge, Poetry, Self Awareness1 Comment

Self acceptance and self worth are really important to me.  That’s why they are recurring themes in my writing.  I was bullied when I was young and it took me a long time to find those things for myself.  If my words can help just one person to find their own sense of self worth…. I couldn’t ask for any better reward.

Love Poem For Yourself

There’s beauty in this would of ours,
It’s what makes life worthwhile.
It’s in the bloom of every rose,
And every childs smile.

It’s in the eye of he who looks,
Not all will feel the same.
If someone judges how you look,
It’s them who should feel shame.

You must be true to who you are,
And what you feel inside.
You’ll lose yourself by thinking that,
Your truth you have to hide.

No one can tell you who you are,
Or who you have to be.
You are the one to make that choice,
So look inside and see.

Some may not like may not agree,
With choices that you make.
But they’ve no right to make you change,
Or freedom from you take.

There’s beauty in this world of ours,
It’s there in who you are.
So to yourself you must be true,
Head high you are a star.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Forty-Eight

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A friend of mine is going through a rough time.  Trying to help them keep things in perspective inspired today s verse.  The message is…. hold to hope but do what’s needed to get through the situation.

A Life Of Storms

The storm winds blow the clouds roll in,
The thunderheads amass.
But don’t forget the fiercest storms,
Must also one day pass.

So when life’s seas are wracked with storms,
And seem to rough to sail,
Within your heart know it can’t last,
Hold fast to hope and bail.

There’ve been some times life’s challenged me.
Despair my only friend.
But time brings change and over time,
Pain and despair did end.

The storms blow out the seas will calm,
Your life will sail on.
Pain not forgot but muted so,
Despair and fear are gone.

So think of this when you are tossed,
Upon life’s stormy seas.
The worst of it must one day pass,
So hope and bail please.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Thirty-Six

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Still on the personal side.  I’ll change the tone soon.  Well as soon as the voices in my head move on.

Learning To Be….

I tell a joke I get a laugh,
I tell another joke.
I tell a joke I get a punch,
No more fun do I poke.

I try to learn from my mistakes,
Sometimes I don’t succeed,
If still I keep on trying then,
That’s some progress indeed.

I try to live a life of peace,
Hurt none who’ve hurt me not.
And as for hurts that I’ve received,
Forgave if not forgot.

Sometimes I’ve helped a stranger out,
‘Cause it was right to do.
But I’ve not helped out everyone,
There’s more that I could do.

So I’m a work that’s under way,
Will be until I die.
There is no way that I can fail,
Ask only that I try.

Cheers, Winston

Personal Poetry Challenge Day Thirty-Five

On By WinstonIn Bullying, Enlightenment, Personal, Poetry, Self AwarenessLeave a comment

A little bit of introspection led to today’s tale of woe and self-redemption. It’s all about self acceptance and understanding your own worth. Figure out for yourself who you are instead of just accepting what people tell you. It’s the greatest gift you can give yourself and the sooner you do, we the better your life will be.

I Win

Back when I was a little boy,
I often felt quite bad.
I didn’t try I had no friends,
I often felt quite sad.

I wasn’t fast I wasn’t strong,
I didn’t get along.
And when I tried hard to fit in,
I’d always get it wrong.

I used to think that it was me,
Something inside was broke.
I thought that I would always be,
The butt of someone’s joke.

For many years I felt this way,
My worth was less than dirt.
I built my walls kept people out,
Saved me from further hurt.

It worked so well for oh so long,
Then cracks appeared at last.
I made some friends but trusted not,
Too wary from my past.

But still I learned that I was not,
Just what the world had seen.
There’s so much more but buried deep,
Where it had always been.

There’ve been some people in my life,
Who helped me understand.
That I am worthy I am liked,
Self loathing must be banned.

I have a wife who understands,
How deeply I am flawed.
And yet her love is so complete,
Self doubt should be outlawed.

At times it still will creep back in,
No matter my success.
That nagging voice from childhood,
Still cries out in distress.

But if I let it run my life,
I let the bullies win.
But that can’t be if I just know,
I like myself. I Win.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Nine

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Loving Life, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

I asked my muse what to write about today, and she suggested the idea of….

Paying It Forward

An act of kindness once it’s done,
Can echo far and wide.
But that is not it’s true reward,
For that is felt inside.

Some do some grand, impressive act,
In hope of gaining fame.
But in the end it’s just an act,
Their kindness is a game.

They think to score some points somehow,
They just don’t understand.
When kindness is it’s own reward,
No benefit is planned.

Some cannot see and will not hear,
The truth within their hearts.
The greater good is greater still,
When honest giving starts.

So lend a hand or give some time,
To help someone today.
And when they ask you who you are,
“Just pass it on.” you say.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Eight

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Loving Life, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Self Awareness, ValuesLeave a comment

Who was the richest person in the world the year Mother Theresa died? The greatest architect?  Don’t know?  Neither do I.  Nobody remembers them, but everyone knows who she is.  Wealth and power may be fun, but to be immortalized in the hearts and minds of the people, nothing beats outrageous acts of kindness.

The Secret of Immortality

We build it up then tear it down,
Then build it up again.
This cycle seems to be our way,
Let not the past remain.

If those who lived in times long past,
Set stone upon a stone.
We undo everything they built,
Make piles of our own.

We do this even knowing those,
To come will do the same.
We build to be remembered long,
To snatch a moment’s fame.

When our descendants have forgot,
Our names and where they’re from.
We hope our legacies of stone,
Still stand in years to come,

So tear down what we built you must,
To build your future pile.
But don’t forget that all you build,
Lasts just a little while.

It’s how you’ve lived not what you’ve built,
That stands the test of time,
So focus more on being kind,
And live a life sublime.

Cheers, Winston