The sun rises over the red horizon,
and sets again as the red clouds roll in;
The moon which had once shone so bright
can hardly be seen through the smokey night;
No more do the stars shine as they had before,
and the smokey red sky seems easier to ignore;
Red tinted buildings crowd around the one place
which seems (for now) unaffected by the waste
of the threatening endless sea of dry red sand
and the harsh hot wind that burns the dying land;

Hidden behind the stone walls of that red city
sits an old man, huddled in a chair, mumbling: "Pity ...
Oh, the pity of it all ..." and talks of things that used to be
To tired dusty children perched around his knee;

He watches their intense delight as he tells his tales
of a different world (not too long ago) without hot gales,
of how that world used to flourish in lushous green
- a colour which has never since on this earth been seen -
of how that land was covered by the most beautiful flowers,
and of how he, as a child, used to while away the hours
in fragrant fields of green grass and tall trees spread about;
He told of animals which not too long ago had roamed about;
He told takes of soft white rabbits, of ferocious lions and tigers;
He told tales of history,  of adventure and deadly dangers;

And then he'd fall quiet and smile at the children sadly
as they looked up at him expectantly;
Then he tells them in his own special way
of how such a beautiful world became what it was today:
"Oh, the pity of it all ... We had it all those yesterdays,
but we were selfish so we threw it all away!"
Then the story-teller of yesterdays would sigh in despair,
snuggle up comfortably, and doze off in his rocking- chair ...

If only
   We could close our eyes
And click a switch
   And wake up in another world

A world where happiness is the only currency
   And hope is as abundant as the air we breathe

A world where a good word is precious as gold
   And a smile is worth a thousand words

A world without senseless suffering
   Where life is a precious commodity
      And all life is in sync

Obviously
   A world far
      Far away
         From this one

But dreams are dreams
   And wishes are wishes
      So I'll just let them be

I'll close my eyes
   just one more time
And click the switch
   And one day there I'll be...

There is a song in my heart
     A lightness in my step
Serenity in my being
     The cracks in my life are healing
Hope is shining through

Softly, softly, on tip-toe she treads
     Happiness creeping in
Balance winning over chaos
     Sunshine melting the darkness
Hope has won the day

A smattering of stars
     Strewn across the sky
Little pinpricks of light
     Blinking in the soft night air

Planets and Moons
     Suns and Stars
Constellations and Galaxies
     Clustering together
Against the darkness between them

Light from far-off worlds
     Light visible to us
          Light visible to each other
     Light the language of the universe
Light the conversation in the multiverse

And yet we stand here
     Human Beings on this our planet Earth
Contemplating in the soft night air

Feeling large and powerful and in charge
     Our hand is larger than those pinpricks of light
We hold up our hands and block out the light
     And darkness swallows the night

Feeling small and insignificant and adrift
     We are programmed to seek the light
And in this seeking we come ever closer
     To understanding the true nature
          Of the conversation of the multiverse

Life is full of twists and turns

     Happiness / Sadness
          Anger / Joy  
      Passion / Indifference
           Love / Hate

Opposites at first glance,
     each necessary in their own time,
    each with a purpose.

Like the swing of a pendulum,
     each tick-tock is inevitable,
each turn in the road purposeful,
     showing us something
         we need to learn from.

If we do not learn,
     it passes us by,
          and it will pass us by again,
     and again,
          and again,
until we learn the lesson
     life intends us to learn,
          then it will move on.

Tick-tock, tick-tock,
     swing left, swing right,
higher, lower,
    until we reach equilibrium,
then tick-tock,
     tick-tock
           all over again.

Live, learn, love...
     Live, learn, love...
          LIVE, LEARN, LOVE!

Balance is the Key.
     And Love!
     And Life!

And to take each day as it arrives
     and make the most of each opportunity,
each smile, glower, crisis and peace in its stride,
     and at the end of the day
          to be able to say:
I have LIVED this day!

One day at a time
   One foot in front of the other
      One Heart
   One Head
One Soul
Sometimes pulling in different directions
   But always making us whole

The sky is an artist
painting beauty for all the world to see
all you need to see this beauty
is to look up at the sky
at just the right moment
and appreciate the spectacular array
splashes of burning oranges and reds
placed perfectly on the backdrop of blue
fading and blending to purples and greys
the wind swirls the clouds
and the sun provides the light
but it takes an artist like the sky
to make a masterpiece
as the last rays of light hit the horizon
the sky absorbs them
and holds onto them
for as long as she can
and she uses them
to make the most beautiful sunset images
just for you and me to see