Good morning, Gentle Reader. As a random intuitive each day I am blessed with a variety of thoughts running amok in my mind. On good days I am able to focus on one or more of them and on no-so-good days I struggle to focus. I learned many years ago that all of this is o.k. These past days my thoughts have been running amok on turbo drive; there are many reasons this is occurring.
Two days ago I began to hold this question: What might you write about on Sunday? I wanted to write and post on Sunday. There were, among the many possibilities running amok in my mind, six that began to move to the front of the pack. However, as I settled in this morning at one of my favorite coffee shops – the one where my son, Nathan works (I love watching Nathan work; part of my watching involves celebrating how he engages and serves his fellow ‘partners’ and how he engages and serves those that come to the coffee shop – but I digress).
As I was typing: As I settled in this morning I quickly realized that I still did not have a focus this morning. So, I wrote a note about each of the six topics and then I went searching for a poem that captured, for me, the topic. Within a few minutes I found the six poems.
This morning, Gentle Reader, I offer them to you. Perhaps one or more of them will resonate with you or speak to you or help awaken something within you – something that has been lying dormant for a time. Then again, perhaps none of this will emerge for you; that, of course, is fine. I offer the ‘Six Poems’ in no particular order.
A BURDEN
I never understood my mother when she would say,
‘I don’t want to be a burden.’ I thought, ‘How can
you say that?’ ‘How can you think such a thought?’
As I was driving to meet a friend this morning I became
aware of a thought I was holding: ‘I don’t want to be a burden.’
My eyes began to tear up. I began to imagine my children,
Becky and Nathan, and some of my friends being burdened by
me as I grow older and eventually more sickly and definitely
even more needy than I am today.
Mom: ‘I am beginning to get it.’ –Richard W Smith, 19 January 2010
A GIFT
One day the wise elder from the West
overheard a searcher complaining about
another’s lack of respect.
The elder approached the searcher and
inquired, ‘What is in your heart?’
The searcher searched and replied,
‘The learner needs to learn respect.’
The elder gently replied,
‘This might be true, but what is in your heart?’
Again the searcher searched and, after some time,
replied, ‘My heart is full of dis-respect
and is experiencing great dis-ease.’
The elder smiled warmly, and offered the
following gift to the searcher:
‘Cleanse your thoughts of dis- and respect
and ease will enter your heart.’ –Richard W Smith 10 January, 2010
A FEW HAIKU
LONELY SNOWY DAYS
THE ELDER SITS IN SILENCE
WISDOM LIES WITHIN.
CHOOSING THE NO-PATH
THE DEER LEAPS OVER THE BRUSH
WHAT DO I RISK IN FOLLOWING?
IT IS COLD AND DARK
NIGHT SEEMS ENDLESS AND SO SCARY
A SMALL LIGHT FLICKERS. –Richard W Smith, 24 February, 2010
A CITIZEN, OR . . .
In democratic Athens, representatives were not elected;
They were randomly chosen and served for one year.
Six thousand were chosen each year. Each eligible
Citizen was expected to be well educated and well
Prepared so he could hold his office in a trustworthy manner.
Athens was far from perfect. Athenians owned slaves;
Only men who were citizens were eligible to be representatives.
Yet the Athenians demonstrated that a type of democracy was
Possible and they developed a model for the ages.
Our Founding Fathers believed that democracy, as they
Envisioned it, would survive only if we had an educated
And involved Citizenry.
It seems as if we have evolved, or is it devolved, from
Citizens to Consumers, Conversation to Competition,
From Contemplating Concepts to Crass Commercialism.
We have moved from serving our nation to serving ourselves.
We have moved from having a need to be involved in democracy
To being taken care of by those we elect in our democracy.
In a sustainable Democracy her Citizens must be educated and
Knowledgeable, her Citizens must be involved, her
Citizens must care deeply. What a test. How do I measure up?
Am I a Citizen, or. . . –Richard W Smith, 4 January 2010
Searcher-Seeker 