I'm old
not cranky-
don't unfairly
judge me.

I'm old
too you'll be
arthritis and lumbago
naturally.

I'm old
walk clumsily
but still
maintain my mental capacity.

I'm old
Mount Everest I can't ascent
can still walk in the hill
easily descend.

I'm old
medications have too many
my medical bills are mounting
but my doctors are happy.

I'm old
still can dance and sing
though I realise
gone are my days of spring.

I'm old
part of me is still green
despite my warts and balding
to continue well-living count me in!

Life in two words:
'can't' and 'can'
but we rotate
between the two
neither is a perfect scan-

there's some can
in the can't
and the can't
in the can--
that's just human

none is deterministic
each can't stand alone
there's the inexorable mix
a part of the other in each contained

and on this I think
(despite time's different span)
of the wit of Wittgenstein :
can I make him understand?

I do my best

but am always aware

I might be far behind

all the rest


but life's a democracy

I'll have my small and gentle say:

we are each a part of society

none can force us to walk away

I do my best
but am always aware
I might be far behind
all the rest

but life's a democracy
I'll have my small and gentle say:
we are each a part of society
none can force us to walk away

I'll have my way
      and my say
      what I am I create
      not the day

      it's latent
      I give it life
      in generosity
      a precious present

      time will take swift flight
      I'll sill maintain my stay
      smile, jest, sing, dance
     watched by every day

Tomorrow we'll be younger
if our now-days are iived
in love, grace, joy, peace
jest, vigour and wonder

I can't even be
my own leader
how could I ever
lead any other?

Do not come my way
lest I lead you astray-

do not trust what I say
lest it might cause you dismay-

do not praise me
I might not be worthy-

do not be my friend
lest on me you can't depend-

do not grant me any favour
be able to reciprocate I might never-

lastly,  this I'll declare
turn away from me--go elsewhere!

Not now
not tomorrow
not in any future-
the public path
I'll never follow-

nor would its ideology grasp:

it's masked
with a hidden agenda
subtle, surreptitious
clandestine, devious
such I can't ever trust-

all that I am
a simple person
holding to my own
despite everything
faithfully to the last-

not today
not tomorrow
not in the near
or distant future-
only my own path
I'll create
and my living-net
I'll courageously cast

I never took myself
too seriously -
if I were so
how could I be ever happy?

I can help you
only occasionally
but honestly
not perpetually

I can't be
what you are:
I'm the moth
you're the star

*  from Shelley

I ask for so little
I have enough:
my poverty
doesn't put me to task

Flowers, stars and moon

each in singular beauty

endless poetry

.....but sometimes being silly
    makes me truly human and happy

I am in LinkedIn
but not LockedIn

I know you well enough
you needn't bare further
keep your most intimate part
share not with me nor any other

I'm neither
that or this:
only a man of peace
a humanist

How much do you trust?

Implicitly?

To a high degree?

Averagely?

Slightly?

Rarely?

Never, really!

I've never feared rejection
come whatever, I'm my own person!

An extra word
to a good friend
and the friendship
came to an end!

Why would I wish
  to argue with you?
  I've so many important things
  indeed to do!

Life I love
        also meaning
       if both I can't have
      the latter would be my choosing

Love-
the most abused word!
Spoken every second, everywhere
but of content void-

repeated over
and over
though there's no affection
left in each lover

A breakthrough
not a breakup:
the latter looks down
the former looks up!

Is there such a necessity?
     This is symptomatic of an inner malaise
     an indictment of discontent and failure-
     it's as though the self has fallen away!

    Life is constant self-cultivation
   a process of becoming
   the self should be intact
   it doesn't need reinventing!

Faith is stronger than will

Life owes no one any favour
beseech we should not---never!

Language has a sensitive heart
          'Me none should exploit!' it does declare:
         mindful writers in their noble art
         seek to cooperate as of such it's aware

A bee went into
         an elephant's ear
         the creature was powerless
         and nothing it could do!

West: Expand

  Zen:   Diminish

This type of success
   is deplorable
   and worse than failure-
   it has no moral fibre!

The future
will be in my hands
as the past
and the present-

life can't insist
on its own way
I alone choose
how to stay

amid its vagaries
even in its darkest day
I don't succumb
I'll have my say-

time I'll tame
and keep it at bay
I'm my own conqueror
I'll do it my way.

Free lunch?
Of course
I'll go to my kitchen
nothing will it cost

Not yet, I'll not speak
   my words are still in hibernation
    they haven't ripened
    meantime,  I'll keep-

    the rose doesn't rush
    to bloom before its time
    the song to be sung
    must wait for the right rhyme-

   to you last summer
  my poem in praise
  I sent-- but you didn't reply
  though my tears had welled for many long days-

  autumn and winter will revisit once again
  perhaps my poem might then appeal to your heart
  my words then will find their fullest flowering
  every single one in love and devotion will impart

I can't be you
you can't be me
but we can come together
in mutual respect and dignity

Because of doubt
I live more freely
my life would be static
if lived in certainty

Writing to me
is not escape
rather ideas
to shape

to do away
with dubiety
lacuna, uncertainty
in search of clarity-

I know the limit
of my ability
I'll not venture
beyond my boundary

but to persevere only
humbly and patiently-
I'll leave no legacy
in this my endless journey.

A very thin piece of paper
can cut as deeply as a knife
this proves that what's potent
has nothing to do with size

Love that's obsessional
     is close to being pathological

I don't lead
    nor wish
    to be led
    both I don't need

He who can't control his temper

will never make an effective leader

It's better
not to be liked
then to none
would you be obliged-

to be liked
is to be tied
to others
your freedom being cast aside

Your heart
  is the home
  of your religion
  nowhere else-
  it's the sacred region
  where sanctity
  and prayer bloom
  in its every chamber
  and room-

  here where silence and worship reign
  not a single harsh voice is heard
  only you and the Ultimate
  are in intimate conversation

  time and self melt away
  all that is,  is pure transcendence

Let not your hope
   be placed on a tight rope:
    the holding would be precarious
    and the outcome might be deleterious

I
  you
  other people--

  in total
  this makes
  the human triangle

Never under-estimate
the power of negative thinking:
it's rational , practical and realistic
and sets a person in preparing
for an adverse downturn
armed with some well-prepared solution-
such a mindset is eminently admirable
and enhances the person's chance of winning

while pipe-dreams dominate positive thinking
with its slogan:  '  You're born to be a victor'
such is will o'-the-wisp -- the worst error!

Never ignore the strength of negative thinking
it will bring positive thinking to its kneeling!

Change-
an ambivalent word
where will it lead?

Terra incognita
a country
alien and strange

would there be treasure
or a quagmire ?

Would it be icy cold
at the Arctic Pole
or the hottest heat ever?

Did you choose
or was it upon you imposed?

Now,  caught in this whirlpool
there's no turning back
to the utmost you are tested-

would you be victorious
or succumb to failure?

Who would admit
part of their life
is lived in myth?

The logs have burnt out
    outside the winter winds howl
    couple in deep thought