1: Be Yourself
2: Be Cheerful
3: Be Consistent
4: Be Spontaneous
5: Be Loyal
6: Be Courageous
7:  Be Grateful
8: Be Tolerant
9: Be Open Minded
10: Be A Friend

(The New Room: April, 2021)

A smile is the most beautiful form of deception.

Wasting time
is like crime.
Best to do
something new
and you will
time fulfill.
Better than
nothing can.
_

People judge you based on their own rules of play, on their own experiences, knowledge, fears, values. It’s nothing to do with you. It’s their journey to learn.
And you have yours.
You are who you are. Live authentically, live a good life, love others, love you, be kind, be selfless. Then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says because you are living from your heart. You are living God’s will.

who will run
gauntlet fierce
scythe held high
through thicket thorns
emerge alive
      stay sane      

hours fuse to
decades spent
begging bird song
soothe dispel
savage sordid
scenes

crows confer
callous cold
steal each fractured day
as suffocation
stymies step
yet he walks free

not one escaped
each tender bud
torn in turns
as all around
walked on by
blind to ****

are all afraid
mesmerized
by podium power
pious privilege
feigned
masking sleight of hand

will someone stand
despite the odds
counter hallowed hall
covert thugs' threats
of slow death
if we tell

who can dare
scarred mirror asks
shatter code hushed
defy hypnotic trance
risk life and limb
to speak

or has their curse
rendered lame
those not killed
left to bleed
alone in shadows'
listless lanes

eyes stare
probe, confront
in mirror fogged
I wipe them dry
distraught no flame remains
I can sustain

to fuel the fight
and stagger on
through forest blaze
of justice failed
as cries of children
sear the night

while
he
still
breathes

Living every word he wrote
—making all the difference

(Dreamsleep: April, 2021)

Given to wonder,
more perfect to know

Muse’s awaiting
—enlightenment flows

(The New Room: April, 2021)