Stand up
Show you matter
Bring your best to the world
Offer kindness
Open up your heart
Do the right thing
Accept everyone
We all want the same thing
We are all human
No matter where we are from
No matter where we live

Offer light instead of darkness
Inspire
Lift
Light up the world
Believe

Red maples surround the empty road
The emptiness is calming
The color of the trees is so brilliant it almost looks false
The black asphalt road is a contrast to their color
Hints of bright green highlight the red
Almost like a painting
Even the rain doesn’t dim the leaves
It creates a look like a fairy tale or part of a movie set
Yet it’s real
Part of the artistry of Mother Nature
Pure magic

Red maple rain

There once was a tiger
Beautiful and perfect in every way
It was the top of its game
Respected everywhere
It was a guardian of the world
It kept darkness at bay for eons
Then one day darkness found its way
It seeped into everything
Turning good to evil
Sweetness to sour
Helpful to selfish
Tolerant to judgmental
Kind to cruel

The tiger felt trapped
There wasn’t much it could do
Though it tried
It asked for help
For the light to come
Nothing happened for some time

Then one day
A warrior came
He was gentle
Smart and kind
He brought the light with him
Everywhere he went
Things began to change
He looked at the tiger
As if giving an order
The tiger nodded
He went where the darkness was heaviest
The tiger knew what to do
It showed its teeth and claws
And whipped its powerful tail around
Sending the darkness away
As he did this the light grew brighter
He looked at the warrior who smiled
And said thank you
Now, let’s begin

Where are you?
Where have you gone?
I don't recognize you these days
At times you bring tears to my eyes, and a deep ache in my heart
Why has hate replaced love?
Why has intolerance replaced tolerance?
Love with harshness and cruelty?
Dreams replaced with nightmares?
Smiles vanquished
Less joy
Where is the tolerance, kindness and goodness we are known for?
Where is love thy neighbor and look out for each other?
This isn't about red states, blue states or purple states
It isn't about white, black, Asian or brown
Or old, young, gay or straight
It's about all of us
It isn't about our differences, but what we are together
Someone recently said  we are an idea
The great experiment
Where has it gone?

I miss you and so long to see you once again
Please come back
Please stand up and walk away from the darkness towards the light once more
Please stand and say no more hate
Please stand and say no more
Enough
Please say not here, not now, not ever
Please come back  and do the right thing
Not just for now but forever
I am counting on you, and so is the world

Shes a small baby bird
She’s been quite ill
Got hit with more than one thing
Little by little she’s healing
Taking small steps
One at a time
Trying small activities
She’s spreading her wings
Ever so slowly
Like a baby bird

As each day passes
She gets stronger
Less symptoms
More time feeling better
The feeling lifts her up
Her spirits want to fly
She wants to try to do something
Step to the edge of the nest
Explore
Like a baby bird

Burning embers sitting amongst the wood
From time to time a gold blue flame emerges
The wood crackles against the heat
The glow is calming to the spirit and
enticing like a natural perfume
It is hypnotic to watch
As the wood burns,
the embers glow a red orange color
There’s slight stream of white grey smoke
The smoke reaches up towards the sky
In some ways they look like a work of art

Burning embers

I am slowly coming back from the brink
The edge we get pushed to by illness
It felt like being hit by a two by four
It’s a place where we may not feel ourselves
Where we may feel subhuman
The things we used to do become hard to do
Every nuance in our bodies gets serious attention
Wondering what does it mean?
We wait hoping, following doctors orders, our bodies to finally turn the corner
It’s a slow process
Sometimes two steps forward and one step back
It’s frustrating
Then one day, things seem to be turning around, though slowly
You begin to feel more like yourself
Energy starts to return
Appetite increases
It’s almost like you can feel the healing going on
It’s like magic

Finally, you step back from the brink into the light
You are becoming well