a tribute to
Vivian Francesca Jarvis

Allow me please some bragging rights
Of this I will attest
My mom's a brave, accomplished gal
She's one of the Best

Born to be an actress
A director and a coach
She starred in Joan of Arc
I have the right to boast

She's been in countless films
A career of great yield
She played with Sydney Poitier
In Lilies of the Field

She is a character actress
Won many awards
To hear her tell her tales of stage & screen
One is never bored!

Not only an actress
My mom's an activist
League of Women Voters
There is quite a list!

She stood up for the poor man
And during Vietnam
She directed guerilla theater
And was threatened with a bomb!

Someone threw a rock
With a note attached
Saying a Molotov Cocktail
Would go through our window next!

She's had trials and tribulations
Depression. Migraines long
But she always rose above it
The Show Must Go On!

Now she is still acting!
Though West Nile Virus took its share
Of a once sharp memory
And she's in a power chair!

She starred in Mother Courage
And truly this is she
I am grateful for my mom

and proud as proud can be!**


SoulSurvivor
Catherine Jarvis
(C) 3/6/2016

As a kid when I heard the stories
Of heavens and hells
And gods and ghosts
I thought of those to be true
But as I grew
My education warned me
Not to trust that view

As a child when my elders advised
Do unto others as you would have them do to you
I thought they were impractical
Ignorant of smartness required
To manage things through

By far I thought I was the wise
To have known it all
Realized late in time
How great was that fall

Superficial logic, intellectual materialism
Cloaked my natural state of true mind
Boosting desires, sterile opinions
Leaving the true sense behind

I am thankful to the nature
For giving me an opportune
To study the greatest reality
Why humans are marooned

Time and space are eternal
I am just the part of that infinite
The one awarded with human form
For some past intentions right
I should not take pride in that
For where I am today
Later might be someone else’s part

Man who decoded the mystery of mind
Taught this decades ago
Guard thoughts, actions, and speech
To reach the real goal
Not judge anything and any being
Instead focus on developing clear seeing
As everything is ever changing
Including ones birth realms
A full mind just exhibits knowledge
Only in empty mind wisdom reaps
Don’t get swayed by extremes
Middle way is the path of keep

Now I understand
Message behind the moral stories
What one sows is what one reaps
One gets heavenly pleasures or hellish pain
Exclusively based on law of deeds
One gets what one deserves
For law of nature never fails

But latent power within
Can turn it all around
If not enlightenment
One can at least find in life
A decent ground
Now and in future!

A poet is not perfect* although some claim to be
Scribblers of thought watchers of humanity
Pen every emotion fill it with devotion
Ride waves of passion chaotic like the ocean
A poet is not perfect with more than eyes we see
What's hidden what lies between prophecy
Future unfolding the past we keep holding
Now keeps rolling do you remember where you're going?
A poet is not perfect hmm what does this mean?
From life experience write a scene
Words forever blending combinations never ending
Translation of thought keeps the message sending
A poet is not perfect neither is humanity
Speakers of truth live on edge of sanity
Recognize what's broken book wide open
Read between lines multiply the hoping
A poet is not perfect many strive to be
Most fall victim to vanity
Born reactive to what's attractive
Division of emotions leave most subtracted
A poet is not perfect or what you might think
One universal mind flowing in sync
Discovering depth waking from sleep
Breaking silence with words perfect poetry we speak

to be the light,
carry with you
a heart filled with
fiery burning passion
to help

and seek no reward
for thyself

©IGMS