NEW WEEK, NEW PERSPECTIVE

Gray Steel

I am cloaked in steel

With eyes of glass, tinted green

So, I could stare into the sun

I am strong

Feet planted firmly on the ground

No wind, rain, or storm can move me

Enter.

I will shield you

As I do all who need my strength,

and my protection from the storms of life.

Feed Me

I am hungry.

Feed me with a long-handled spoon

‘til I am full!

Walls define me

I am surrounded by walls

Four walls 10,000 feet high

I cannot climb it, it is too high

Or push it open

Or spread my wings and fly over it

I have no wings

I can only hope to make myself so small

That I can escape through its tiny cracks

Or change to water and dissipate through the ground that I stand on

Or die here because no one knows that I am here

Or even care that I am here.

A quiet World?

The World has gone quiet

No clickety, clack

Clackety click

No rumbling of the traffic down my street

No horns blaring

People arguing at the market

No noise

No talking heads on TV

The world has gone quiet

Is it a new beginning?

But, no

Not without an end

So, is this the end

The end of it all

Maybe

I am without sight

Without my sense of smell or taste

I cannot feel the breeze or wind against my face

I cannot hear the rhythmic sounds of the clickety, clack, clackety click

So, for me, the World has gone quiet

An end perhaps, and a new beginning perhaps

That day in May

It rained in bucketfuls

The weatherman said it was gonna rain

But no one believed him

It rained though

But soon, it stopped, and the Sun came out

So bright, you needed sunglasses

Then suddenly the dark clouds blanketed us

It rained again

This time in angry, bucketsful

Pelting down on us

Crystal marbles of precious water

Bathing the world one more time

But I did not care

I was snuggled up under a brand-new blanket with my lover

Holding her tightly

to prevent her from leaving

We had argued a few days before

Angry words were said, words I regret

And I know she did as well

So, we held each other

And hoped that this day in May

With the heavy rains

Our angry words will be washed away

Into the streets, into the gutters, and gone forever

And we will be friends again.

Only one of us

One candle is lit for one of us

One candle represents all of us

We live as one of us

We live together as all of us

We die as one of us

We die together as all of us

We survive as one of us

We survive together as one of us

We are together as one of us

We are together as all of us

Just one candle for all of us

We are one of us

I dream

Sometimes I dream of dancing

through the vibrant desert of our African fatherland

Stomping vicious scorpions and deadly snakes

And other times

I just dream of nothingness

I am a man

I am a man

I am the Ying or the Ying Yang

I am the seed that impregnates the soil of Mother Earth

I am the salt in the Ocean

I am the fishes in the Ocean

I am the stars in the Heavens

I am the Sun

I am the Moon

I am the Earth

I am the Hills

I am the Mountains

Even the ones under the Sea

I am a man

I am no one else

I am the man that the Almighty has made

And no one can convince me otherwise.

Twist and Twist

You twist and twist

You turn and turn

Twerking, twerking all around

Are you, my marionette?

I watch you from afar

Through the darkness of my mind

I watch you tease and tease me

As you beckon me to come to you

I am stuck.

In mud and sludge up to my waist

I cannot move toward you

Just backward and backwards

Away from you

Into oblivion

Wake me up at midnight

Wake me up at midnight

At 12am exactly

Not 1159pm or 1201am

Wake me up at midnight

At 1200am exactly

Not 1159pm or 1201am

Wake me up at 1200am

I want to go to my mountaintop in the darkness

The cool breeze swirling around me, and across my face

As I wait until the sun comes up in the east

Revealing the vast meadow below

With rivers that empty into the deep blue sea off in the distance

The sea churning and churning, and feeding the creature of the sea

I want to watch the fishermen prepare their nets

Singing their songs of hope for a great catch at day’s end

I will watch the sun intently as it rolls across the bluish sky and bulbous clouds

And over this broad expanse of sea and land, and land and sea

Lighting the world and traveling unconstrained to its destination, the evening sky

And when it gets there, I will retreat from my elevated throne, and return to bed

To sleep and dream and dream and dream of life as it should be.

Success

You did not succeed because of your talents alone

You succeeded because others nudged you

Cajoled you

Nurtured you

Challenged you

Carried you

Led you

Directed you

Applauded you

Success is not a one-man band

It is a full orchestra

So be mindful of your success

You did not do it alone