"what do you want?"
"I don't know."
"Yes you do. listen to your heart."
"how do I do that?"
"close your eyes and breathe. you'll hear voices. that's your heart talking. what does it say?"
"I don't understand. It says get better. feel better. but i'm not sick."
"what makes you so sure it's talking about you? listen closer. concentrate."
"it says it wants YOU to feel better. it wants you to stop blaming yourself. to feel happy. to be proud."

I don't know what I'm doing. But that's okay. I have time to think about what I want to say. And so do you. Time is like death. It's not really an enemy or a friend. It's just always been there. No real beginning or end.
We're so worried about the things we can't control, let's focus on the things we can. Take the time to focus on what makes you happy and you will be a better man

I peel sweet potatoes.
My phone pings.
I check it.
Messages of pride flood my eyes.
I feel loved.
I put it down.


I peel the sweet potatoes.  
My dogs sniff my legs.


I am distracted, searching and anxious.
I feel loved.


I peel a previously peeled potato.


I stop.
I lecture myself.
"I focused and worked hard.
That’s all I did."


I focus on my potatoes.
The work gets done.
I feel proud.
I feel loved.

On Sundays, I drink
more coffee and more whiskey.
Reflections on the previous week
provide for accurate predictions
about the week ahead.
Books and snacks go down easily.
Attaining clear focus
helps the writer observe society
to build the words
that raise spirits
and raze evil.

–Ron Gavalik

I was caught up in the usual daily wrangle
for my attention among the images and stories
on my phone and the computer’s tangled
tries for some small measure of life’s glories.

Then I looked up from the bright screen
and saw the long elegant leaf lit by the sun.
The tributaries of its mysterious green
softened and focused me from many to one.

I lost my crazy mind in this living blade
and found this poem waiting there for me
in the simple power of its now where I stayed
for a tender eternal moment in its joyous jade sea.

You’ve taken my soul,
You’ve taken my heart,
And I don’t know how to get out of this hole.

I can’t be here with you, tied to this guilt, still I lay here pierced on the hilt.

This is my punishment, this is my pay for treating you like **** and cheating my way...through life as I lead you, lead you astray.

I’ll focus my energy on stress and this pain, so that I can try not to hurt you, hurt you again.

I spend my days, wishing I could go back, back to the start. I focus on art, to soothe every ache. But really there’s this guilty devil on my back, I’m praying just for the sake.

You’ve taken my soul,
You’ve taken my heart,
And I don’t know how to get out of this hole.

Blinkered and blindfolded
and hooded for good measure
- I run.
And when I run out of road,
that's when I fly.

I am magnetic, and I am alive
I attract what I need in order to thrive
My mind is a magnet - an incredible power
And creates my desires hour by hour

My focus is sharp, strong as fine steel
I know my emotions, what I want to feel
My end result I can clearly see
Which is drawn magnetically right to me