Who wouldn't enter lion's den
To save a helpless child  
Or stand against oppression
When justice is denied?
Who wouldn't risk the pain
That love can sometimes bring,
Or endure, when all seems lost,
Or not to suffer betrayal's sting?

But how many can bear defeat,
When those around all cheer?
Or, how should one ever meet  
The grief of our fear?  
For me, great courage,
As difficult as it may be,  
Lies in seeking out the truth  
Wherever principle can be gleaned.

some say there's beauty
in the colors of sunsets
or the panoramic view
from a mountaintop
or in a sip of coffee

some would say that there's
beauty in the wonderment
of random acts of kindness
or art or dance or
or just sitting in silence

some might love the sounds
of waves breaking the shoreline
or laughing till you sides ache
or conversations
with a stranger you just met

perhaps you revel
in contour of female form
or some other luscious feasts,
relishing manna
or things worthy of regard

what is beauty for?
beauty's not harmony of
form, color or perception,
but without our minds
beauty would have no purpose

a hole can be an empty space:
a crater, cave, a pit, or loss

a hole can be sheer enjoyment
a dimple, gorge, or doughnut hole

a hole can also connect things
using a thread or fasteners

hope, a seed, is
minuscule, because
if much larger
it wouldn't be a
seed

i walked into the tiki room
of some resort hotel
to find a guy most gloom
who'd been caught by some woman's spell

when i said that "she's not worth it",
i got the strangest look
but when i asked this misfit,
if it felt like love
the fella' knew that he'd been rooked

while all feelings are indeed real,
a product of our brain,
whether star-crossed love, raw deal,
perhaps poor timing,
or doing something one might deign.

but, if some day, you do find me
in the tiki room of
some hotel, please guarantee
that you will be kind,
when i cry about my lost love

in the future
there'll be an app
to tell when you're
lying, so i
won't have to guess
you're lying just
because your lips moved

my clear cookie jar
filled with cutout men,
my chocolate friends,
moons and stars