When my put-upon

self came knocking today, I

didn’t munch a bunch

of cookies and look away.

I opened the door,

invited her in. We sat

together and sipped some tea,

and though we spoke no

words, it was enough to just

  sip some tea and simply be.

                                                                JDG

Strange dreams of riding

in cars rolling backward or

in cars flowing with 

the traffic, but traveling

in reverse. Drivers

don’t see a problem. One shows

me my perception

is wrong; the other is not

worried even though

the ignition keeps shutting

off. I grow anxious.

Is the problem with me, with

  them, or with the cars?

What do I do when I lack

 power and control,

when I roll back to those young

days when I first came to be?

                                                                                           JDG

Someday I’ll come to

rest between too little and

too much, neither

understating and over-

doing or over-

stating and underdoing.

Til then I’ll zigzag along.

                                                             JDG

Everywhere I turn

the roads seem too steep.  I must

find another way.

These endless detours drive me

nuts until I pause

 and ask,”What would Toby do?”

I know he wouldn’t

be barking up the wrong tree

’cause for him every

tree’s the right tree whether there’s

a bird there or not.

Could every road be the right

road if I just shifted gears?

                                                                         JDG

How I envy those

with an even temperament.

I grow impatient

with my own impatience. My

anger really stirs

me up. What if I began

to look at all this

differently, sat back, viewed it

 as life flowing fast through me?

                                                                            JDG

The focus of life’s

mathematics has changed from

multiplication

to division, addition

to subtraction as

I slowly make my way back

to the zero from

which I came and discover

how full emptiness can be.

                                                                           JDG

Tires rotated,

headlights replaced, and oil

changed, my car is road

ready again. I wish it

were as easy to

set my weary self right and

get back on the road

once more. Yellow leaves shimmer

as blue birds fly through

sun-lit sky. That’s enough. I’m

up and running once again.

                                                                                JDG

Crows squawk as rabbits

stir and deer retreat. Though still

hidden, the sun will

shortly rise as two young girls

stay wrapped in sleep. Across

the pond a family wakes to

 grief. Neighbors will soon

come bringing food and presence.

“Ultimately,” Ram

Dass says, ” we’re all just walking

each other home.”… Morning comes.

                                                                                         JDG

It’s not so much what

happens, it’s what we make of

it. Like Bartleby, Melville’s

scrivener, sometimes

we turn our heads to the wall

and say, “I prefer

not to.” On other days we

turn to the world, and,

like Molly Bloom, hold out our

 arms and cry, “Yes, yes, oh yes!”

                                                                     JDG