Try as you might,
I will not be your enemy.

Little by little,
I am coughing up
the poison pill
you pushed at us,
resisting the pull
to swallow and choke on it.

It’s bitterness
is almost sweet,
but not sweet enough
to hide its poison.

Addicted to its venom,
you have thrown your anguish at us
so we might drown in it,
as if to protect you
from drowning yourself.

I cannot relieve
your pain and anger;
I can only refrain
from giving in to it
and becoming a victim
myself.

Sometimes
a silent wisdom
speaks wordlessly to me,
and I find myself
doing what is needed
in that moment,
not knowing how or why
I came to do it.

These are the moments
when I trust in life,
feeling safe in its arms,
letting it take me
where it will.

There are two ways
to see our world:
as a sea of adversaries,
or a sea of collaborators.

And so, we have a choice
of what to swim in:
we are either all in this together,
or we drown ourselves
in an ocean of conflict.

Living with a cat
has taught me many life lessons.

One is that sometimes,
you have to shovel someone else’s shit
to make where you are
as clean as you would like it to be.

When we play together
it is not about playing faster
or louder
than anyone else,
it is about playing
in rapport with each other.

The simplest beat
may be the most powerful,
when we play together.

The slowest beat
can be the most exciting,
when we play together.

In sync together,
we are in a harmony
that goes beyond music,
that reaches into spirit,
when we play together.

Seeing the negativity
in someone else
is like a mirror.

It wouldn’t hurt so much
if it didn’t touch
that raw space in ourselves,
where our own demons hide.

It can be a little epiphany,
if we allow it to be,
a chance to cast off
another layer of denial,
to lay bare our own hurt,
so we can begin to heal,
and meet the world
with compassion,
instead of disapproval.

If you perceive me as your enemy,
please know that I don’t live in your world,
and you don’t live in mine.

Our private worlds are mere shadows
of the world we actually live in,
the world we really share.

In that world,
there is nothing that separates us,
except our worst ideas.

There are people
who are hurting so badly,
that all they can do
is lash out at other people.

They cannot bear their own pain,
or tolerate the possibility
that is was, to some degree,
their own creation.

We could hear their attacks
as cries for help,
if we were willing to let go
of our own pain
at being attacked.

Why do we let pain
separate us,
when it is,
fundamentally,
something we all share?

A human body,
as it passes a certain age,
Is like a good used car.

Though time
has had its way with it,
It retains its essence,
maintaining its functions
despite the myriad indignities
of entropy.

It allows each of us
to do what we need to do,
and go where we need to go,
remaining a trusted vessel
for expressing our own essence,
for continuing to be our true selves,
despite the little ravages of time.

Each person
has their own religion,
which we might call
“The Way I See the World”.

It has only
one priest,
one disciple,
one church -
The Church of Me.

It seeks acolytes
offering agreement,
saying “You are right!
This is how the world is!”

We each become god
in our own little church,
but we are lonely gods,
separated from each other
by our godly doctrines.

We stand alone
with our little truths,
forsaking the big Truth
for the thrill of being right.